AUTHOR'S NOTE

Ahh I'm having so much fun with this story! Thanks so much for the kudos, follows, and comments so far. The pace starts to pick up with this one. Hope you enjoy it… :)

Chapter 2

"Excuse me. Dr. Haruno?"

Sakura's eyes shot up from the clipboard in her hand and found herself mere inches away from a wall she would have walked straight into if it weren't for the interruption.

She had been quite immersed in perusing a patient's file in between a hospital board meeting and hosting a seminar for medical residents.

She redirected her gaze towards the unfamiliar voice and tried to appear put-together. A woman with braided black hair and wearing casual civilian clothes approached. Sakura smiled at the woman who she presumed was a patient. "Yes, that's me."

The woman bowed respectfully. "I don't mean to take much of your time. You must be busy."

Sakura waved a hand dismissively. "I have a few minutes," she said while lowering the clipboard. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"My son is a patient at your new clinic," the woman explained.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "The pediatric mental health clinic? Is he doing all right?"

The woman nodded as her eyes glossed over and her lips began to tremble. "He is. And I can't… I just don't know how to thank you. Your clinic saved his life."

"Oh," was all Sakura could get out, her own eyes prickling.

"You don't understand the relief you've brought us. For my whole family. And for my son most of all. He was starting down a difficult path, but now… there's hope." She placed a hand on Sakura's arm. Her voice wavered as she whispered, "You've given him a chance."

Sakura took a breath to collect her emotions while images of former teammates who had shouldered their difficult paths alone flashed through her mind.

She touched the woman's hand with her own and swallowed.

"That's what we're here for."

Sakura knew it was a blessing to have found a calling. In a world ruled by mighty nations that prided military strength, where ninjas were shaped by duty and discipline and following orders, finding one's sense of individuality and personal fulfilment wasn't easy.

Perhaps there was an element of duty and purpose that tethered Sakura to the medical arts, though. While natural aptitude and intellect fuelled her passion for it, ultimately, it had been the urge to channel her skills into something useful, something that would make a meaningful impact, that had been the catalyst for it all. Witnessing her teammates and comrades suffer all kinds of physical and mental traumas over the years, and sometimes in order to keep her safe, was more than enough incentive for her to throw everything she had into her work, to protect them, and future generations like them, in a way that she knew how.

But the work wasn't all praise and success stories.

In fact, most days were filled with setbacks. Grief. Failures. Patients who couldn't be saved. Long hours. Not enough staff. And then there was the advocacy work, which Sakura found to be the most draining part of all. With her children's mental health clinic being a new addition to Konoha's medical facilities, with hardly more than baseline data to show for its effectiveness (as it was too soon to generate much more than that), the threat of budget cuts was always looming.

Demonstrating her clinic's potential for international relationship building had been one of her more effective arguments for sustaining funding so far. While she hated the idea of work like this being commodified for political purposes, if that's what it took to secure the clinic and its growth, she was on board. Plus, the prospect of expanding the impact of her work beyond Konoha's boarders was encouraging.

The international work had begun as written correspondence and resource exchanges, which had quickly evolved into in-person meetings, and, more recently, international tours.

These tours were becoming a highlight of Sakura's work. While uprooting all of her routines for weeks at a time was daunting and tiring, leading small squadrons of medical personnel to neighbouring villages and towns to present data and guidance for establishing similar facilities abroad was the closest thing to a vacation as she'd had in as long as she could remember.

There was also the added bonus of these trips reminding her of ninja life. The tours didn't involve any missions or crime-fighting, and even though they really were just the same hospital work but in different places, they held an illusive promise of change.

And just a hint of adventure.

"We'll miss you around here, Haruno," said Riku from behind the gym reception desk, wearing his usual attire – a shirt exposing his muscular arms and his wavy blonde hair partly tied up.

Sakura snorted from where she was squatted to unlace her running shoes. "Yeah, right," she huffed. "You'll be richer than ever, with all the machines I won't be around to break these next two weeks."

He chuckled, his eyes flitting her way briefly before returning to his paperwork. "You keep me on my toes when you're around."

Sakura's ears prickled as she intently directed her focus on changing her shoes and packing her bag with clammy hands. Of what she'd observed in recent months, Riku had a flirty and rather forward approach to women he was interested in. And, oftentimes, this approach had been successful amongst other gym patrons.

Ino had once explained to Sakura that she intimidated most men she came across, being one of the physically strongest ninjas in the world, with unusually striking and memorable features, and a mark of her elite ninja career status smack dab in the middle of her forehead in the form of a purple diamond.

Despite that, a few brave souls had tried to shoot their shot.

Would Riku be one of them? She didn't care to stick around and find out.

When her bag was packed and shoes were changed, Sakura straightened up and said, "Well, see you later then" and turned to leave.

"Maybe we'll hang out sometime when you're back."

There it is.

Sakura froze at the door. A quick glance over her shoulder towards Riku's pointed and confident look told her as much as she needed to know about his intentions.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. "Ha ha. Maybe," she mumbled before racing out the door.

The day before departing for her upcoming medical tour, two important visits were in order.

The first was to her parents' house, who still lived in the very home Sakura had grown up in. As they always did when Sakura announced spending any prolonged amount of time away from home, her parents' responses were both disapproving and doting.

While her parents had never condoned her enrollment in the Ninja Academy all those years ago, having preferred if she'd taken a less dangerous and more socially expected path for a girl of civilian status, even now that she was fully grown and had attained a formidable reputation, they still underestimated and fretted over her wellbeing.

Not in the mood for a confrontation, Sakura endured their spine-snapping hugs and their coddling reminders that she'd "always be their little girl" and to "watch out for any strange characters out there" and that she'd better "hurry home to help with a few things that needed done around the house."

Sakura was immeasurably grateful for her parents' affection and concern, but ultimately these suffocating encounters tended to be the perfect reminder of how desperately she needed to get out of the village every now and then.

After accepting a packaged lunch and plethora of snacks for the road, she ventured to her second destination: the Hokage Tower.

Half because it was protocol to report to the Hokage before leaving the village, and half because she missed him, Sakura dropped in to see Kakashi. He watched fondly while she confirmed the towns her medical team was stopping at and for how long, and the goals and outcomes she wanted the tour to achieve.

"No objections or concerns from me, as always. Thanks Sakura," he said, crows feet appearing at the corners of his eyes as he smiled beneath the signature mask covering his mouth and nose. "And I won't bother assigning any ninjas to escort you because, well… it's you."

Her face glowed on instinct. Kakashi might not be her sensei anymore, but she'd always be a sucker for his praise. "Right. We'll be fine."

"But if you need back-up, count me in!" came a familiar voice from the doorway.

"Naruto, what did I say about eavesdropping on my meetings?" Kakashi drawled, though he looked more amused than annoyed.

On cue, said ninja bounded into the office, clad in casual orange pants and a black jacket. Sakura folded her arms and lifted an eyebrow. Age had no effect on Naruto's enthusiastic demeanor.

"I'll be fine, Naruto," Sakura huffed. "Besides, I thought you were all excited to decorate your new house?"

"I'm done!" he announced. "Well, sort of. Hinata told me I'd earned a break and it would be a bigger help if I stopped."

Sakura covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laugh. "Right. Clearly she suggested you take a break because you're so good at it, and not because you were messing things up."

"Exactly!" With a burst of energy, Naruto leaped forward and slipped an arm around Sakura's shoulders, nearly sending her toppling into the desk. Sakura never stopped laughing when she flexed her fist and pretended to knock him with an uppercut, stopping her hand a centimetre from his jaw. Naruto flinched before joining in the laughter and shoving her back.

"Guys, this feels like a Team Seven family reunion!" he cheered.

Kakashi chuckled and surveyed his former students over clasped fingers. "Almost," he said.

Naruto and Sakura lowered their arms as a more somber mood fell over the room. "He hasn't mentioned anything about coming back soon, huh?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing to me," Kakashi confirmed while Sakura shook her head. She'd only just sent her latest letter to Sasuke a few days prior, so it would likely be at least another month before the next reply. After weeks of puzzling over how to respond to his thinking about you comment and coming up short, she'd opted to ignore it and change the topic altogether, as not to stall the conversation.

Naruto punched Sakura's shoulder fondly. "Well, if you see him on your trip, you can drag him back, okay?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto, Sasuke could be anywhere in the world! I'd be more likely to run into him here."

"Guess you're right," he said, but then a mischievous look sprouted on his face. "Watch him come back while you're gone. That would be hilari –"

He faltered at the sight of her fingers curling into another fist.

Sakura's medical tour, which consisted of visits to four small towns along the boarder of Fire and Earth countries, went just as she expected it to.

Her days were jam-packed with delivering lectures at medical schools and hospitals, and networking with governing bodies and politicians, all while commanding a small squad of five medical personnel from Konoha who had accompanied her for the journey.

Knowledge was exchanged. Relationships were built. They'd hit every destination they'd planned for and travelled just as slowly as Sakura had estimated (given her squad was entirely comprised of civilians who needed frequent breaks).

Yes, everything was smooth sailing.

Until they hit a snag on the return trip.

They were still several hours away from the town they would spend their final night in, before embarking on the home stretch to Konoha in the morning. However, given her squad's excellent performance on the tour (and utter exhaustion from many days on the road), Sakura had agreed to a pit-stop on the way.

"We'll have two hours to do anything we want at the next town," she announced as she led the entourage through a forest-lined path about twenty minutes out from said town. "Feel free to shop, restock your rations, get something to eat, or do whatever you want. I don't care. Just remember we've still got another three hours of travel this evening." She cast them a meaningful look. "Oh, and I hear they have a lovely hot spring here."

As anticipated, this comment was met with much enthusiasm. "Oh hell yeah! I know where I'm going," one of Sakura's apprentices named Emi, who reminded her of a younger Ino with long blonde hair and spunky energy, exclaimed.

Sakura smiled and observed her hand-picked squad as they chatted amongst each other while trudging along. The two men and three women in her group had assorted medical skillsets and roles, from medical residents to lab technicians. Two of them had some affinity for using medical chakra, though none had any ninja training nor the ability to use their chakra for anything other than healing. Rather, they had settled on medical careers from early on, unlike Sakura who had only tapped into her passion for the medical arts well into her established ninja career.

Sakura adjusted the medical pouch fastened to the back of her black waistband and smoothed out the front of her short, red combat dress, ridding it of dirt and dust from the long day on the road.

While Sakura wasn't nearly as exhausted as the others, after being generally confined to the village for so long, she began to miss comforts like her bed, shower, and proper food when away from home for extended periods.

But just when Sakura was thinking about how a dip in the hot spring didn't sound half bad, she got the unsettling sensation of being watched.

She paused and raised a warning finger. Following her lead, the squad fell silent and stopped.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a slow breath to focus her senses. While she didn't detect any chakra signatures, suggesting there weren't any ninjas in close range, there were undoubtedly bodies lurking in the bushes lining the path, and at least several of them.

On cue, a group of men emerged from different spots along the path and instantly, the squad was surrounded.

"May we help you?" Sakura asked sweetly as she backed towards her colleagues and examined the newcomers. Unfortunately, based on their tough and scrappy demeanors and the lecherous looks she and several others in her squad were receiving, she could tell they were here for trouble.

Civilian thugs.

Ignoring her question, one of the intruders, an enormous man with a buzz cut and tattoos covering his arms and neck, addressed the group. "Take out the guys first. Then take the women you want."

Sakura's hand was around the man's throat before he moved an inch, levelling him with her iciest glare.

Got it. They're total lowlifes.

"I would suggest you keep your hands off them and move along," she hissed. The man was too tall for Sakura to lift by the throat, but her gloved fingers were pinching his windpipe warningly. Generously, she didn't crush it, offering him an out.

Instead of backing down, however, the man laughed and raised his eyebrows. "I'll take this feisty pink one," he leered. "Seems like she wants to pl–"

The man was interrupted by Sakura's free hand slamming into his gut, forcing him to buckle over. Then she drove her elbow to the back of his neck and the man smashed into the ground with such force that the path cracked below him.

Sakura flexed her arms as the familiar feeling of chakra rolling beneath her skin spiked her adrenaline.

She curled her fingers towards her mouth and softly blew on them, like she was drying her finger nails. Her eyes flicked up to the other men surrounding her huddled squad mates. "Anyone else?" Sakura taunted, hoping the first man's swift defeat would deter their advance.

It didn't.

Well, it's their funeral, she thought and she failed to suppress her grin.

With a familiar crackle of energy chasing down her limbs and a flicker in her Strength of a Hundred seal, Sakura made quick work of the next two men by leaping into a hand spring and knocking each of them out with a single sweeping kick, the block heel of her boot cracking into each of their skulls.

When her feet landed, she spiked chakra into the earth, forming a web of rumbling cracks along the ground in a circle around her squad. As planned, the disruption in the ground caused all of the attackers to lose their footing.

Bingo.

With a burst of speed, Sakura raced around the circle, taking out each thug in a series of fluid strikes before any of them had the chance to steady themselves.

One man took a stubborn swing at her on his way down. Though she was facing away from him, Sakura caught his fist behind her back without turning around.

"You sure you want to do that?" Sakura asked calmly.

With a delicate squeeze, his knuckles popped and snapped.

He screamed and clutched his hand before collapsing the rest of the way.

Sakura straightened up and admired her handiwork. In less than a minute, she'd taken down every last one of the lecherous men, and now the few who were still conscious were cowering or cradling injuries.

She clapped her hands dismissively and redirected her attention to her squad, who were still huddled together and ogling the scene.

"Everyone okay?" she asked and was met by nods and affirmative sounds.

Suddenly, Emi's eyes drifted over Sakura's shoulder, her mouth opening in warning.

But Sakura already sensed it – one of the injured attackers was clambering to his feet.

She gritted her teeth and glared over her shoulder, catching the glint of a rusty machete in his grasp. "I won't be humiliated by some freak like you," he spat as he stumbled forward and raised his hand.

Just as suddenly, the man emitted a pained groan and dropped to a knee, like one of his legs could no longer support his weight.

It didn't take long for Sakura's trained eye to bee-line for the kunai embedded in his thigh.

Someone had gotten to him first.

The kunai was strategically placed to destabilize the muscles in the man's entire leg. Sakura couldn't help admiring its beautiful placement, and at the same time, realized there was no way anyone from her squad had fired that knife. Hell, firing a weapon with that level of precision and at such an untraceable speed was rare for your average ninja.

Sakura held her breath.

There's no way.

Sasuke dropped onto the path.