Minato looked at his sleeping wife. Her red hair framing her small face, her eyelids hiding her beautiful eyes. Almost 25 years have passed since they got together and Minato never regretted a day in his life meeting the woman. It was even strengthened even more after she conceived their only child, Naruto. He would watch over her whenever she's sleeping, it became a routine every night for him. An hour had already passed when they called Naruto. Though it was a short call, it made his wife happy and made her sleep serene tonight. After staring at his sleeping wife for a long time, Minato finally had the courage to stand up.
He went to stand by his table at the corner of their room. He sat down on his swivel chair and inspected all the documents in front of him, though he was doing some papers concerning the city his thought stayed on the anonymous text he received, a day had already passed and he didn't receive any follow-up message from that person. He moved from paper to paper until all were piled up at the corner of his desk. He leaned back when he saw his phone lit up. He immediately grabbed it and saw Itachi's name on the screen. He stood up quietly and moved to his balcony, he glanced at his wife before closing the door. He couldn't give his wife another stress, knowing she was already stressed out for a month with Naruto's new mission and some family problem she had with her sister.
He answered the phone and leaned on the wall. He stared at his wife's mini garden from above. Though they don't live in a mansion like what people expected since he's the mayor but he loves the land that they purchased. It was not too far from the city yet the place was surrounded by the earth's greatest wonders. A lake behind their house, surrounded with trees and to his right a perfect view of the Hokage mountain.
" Itachi-san. " He could hear Itachi gulping down some liquid before answering. Probably drinking in his room as he would always do on his day off.
" Minato-sama, I have suspicions on who this traitor might be, but I don't have enough evidence yet, since I can't be acquainted with this person because of his deep hatred for us Uchiha's. " Minato could hear Itachi's annoyance in his voice. Minato ran a hand on his hair and leaned his head on the wall.
Everything was even more complicated than he thought. He was so confident that Itachi and Shisui would work as his spy since they were both the most loyal to him. They were cunning, smart, wise, and could penetrate into any defenses. They were an unstoppable duo, seeing they've seen the dark and light side of politics, business, and civilians, they could formulate any plan at any time.
" I doubt Shisui could also help us since he is also an Uchiha, I cannot let this problem be known by the others or it'll spread like wildfire. " Minato sighed and rubbed his forehead.
" Ah, do you have someone in mind then? Who could spy on him? " Minato looked at the paper he was holding and stared at it.
" Minato-sama? " The redhead in the paper stared back at him. This boy is too young, he's around Naruto's age, yet he had already experienced worst than anyone he knew since his father was too evil for his liking but he trusts him as well as his siblings. If Chiyo didn't introduce him years ago, he wouldn't have known the demon of Suna. He was the devil that everybody feared, and if they were right that Danzo is doing shit in Konoha then Minato trusts Gaara to infiltrate Danzo's defenses. Minato crumpled the paper and pocketed it.
" Gaara, he is a friend of Naruto, so that makes him a friend of mine. He will help you with this. I'll send you his information and I want you to meet him discretely since he'll be arriving this week. Danzo won't know what he's up to. " Minato heard Itachi snicker and hung up.
Itachi was one of the kindest, most loyal, smartest, and respected people he knew of, he trusted him that he'd help Gaara capture Danzo and those who assisted him. Everything was even more chaotic than he expected it to be. He only wishes to know who sent him the message. He wanted to unravel more secrets that these damn corrupted politics that would jeopardize the people and the village.
He stared up at the moon, trying to clear his mind. When his thoughts were calm, he went back inside and threw the paper on the table. Just when he turned off his table lamp, he heard ruffling and saw his wife sitting up rubbing her eyes.
" Why are you still up? Come in here and lay with me. " Minato smiled at Kushina and laid beside her. For tonight he wished for the gods to assist him in capturing Danzo and his dirty work.
Sakura sat beside the loud Ino who was talking now to Sai. Obviously, the blond was now attracted to the curious pale man. She had been seeing more of Ino and Sai but to the blond's ignorance, a certain pineapple head was getting jealous. Sakura stared at Shikamaru who was a table away from them, glancing once in a while at Ino. She had a handful of problems right now, the growing cases, her worried parents, the cure, her experiments, and a certain raven, she doesn't want to add Ino's love triangle in this situation even more. She drank her coffee and looked around. She spotted her blond teammate heading to the cafeteria with Kiba. Their voices loud and annoying, probably talking about nonsense, again. She looked to her left and saw Kakashi-sensei with a Rin and Obito, who by the way she met earlier, seated at the table, talking seriously, probably from their mission last night, but no sign of the brooding Uchiha. She sighed and sipped on her coffee. She placed her chin on her palm and took the toast from the plate. She stared at the jelly dripping on the side, she pouted and bit the corner of the bread.
" Why so gloomy forehead? " Sakura glanced at Ino and shook her head. Sakura placed her toast back on the plate and moved to lay her forehead on her arm, blocking anyone from her view. Ino shook at her friend's gloomy state. She rolled her eyes and was about to ignore the pinkette when she saw Sasuke approaching their table, trailing behind him were 3 people she was unfamiliar with. Ino followed Sasuke's gaze and saw him staring at the bummed pinkette. Ino immediately nudged Sakura, who swatted her hand away, Ino smiled at Sasuke while nudging Sakura.
The area became silent after sensing the moody Uchiha approach the pinkette. His aura definitely screamed dominance and power. If Ino had no respect for the pinkette she would have seduced the young Uchiha till he gives up but of course, Uchiha's aren't easy to seduce. Sasuke continued to approach their table with long strides and was inconspicuous with the attention as he was too focused on the gloomy pinkette.
Ino kept nudging the now annoyed Sakura when the Uchiha moved even closer. Sasuke stopped in front of the pinkette who was laying her forehead on her arm and whining at Ino. Ino looked up at Sasuke and waved. Sasuke nodded at her and bent down at Sakura.
Sakura who was too ignorant of the people before finally felt a presence before her. Sakura felt someone's heavy gaze and minty breath on her, so she looked up ready to glare at that person when she saw onyx eyes staring at her. The same onyx eyes that she spent with last night on the cliff. She could see Sasuke's sweat probably from his training with Suigetsu and Juugo. He was definitely looking like a god and a warrior right now. She could also pick up his usual body scent.
Mint, fire, and earth. She thought.
She was late to realize Sasuke's face was only a few inches away from hers. She immediately turned red and stood up, almost knocking off her coffee. She held on to the mug avoiding it to topple down and make a scene. She smiled at him for a while and saw the Uchiha smirk at her. She felt like they were transported in another universe. Ever since last night, what she felt for Sasuke pretty much changed. Maybe not much but there's something yet she couldn't explain it for now. For a while, they stared at each other not until Sai opened his mouth.
" Uchiha and Haruno, we have rooms inside the base. " Sakura blushed even more and smacked Sai. She looked away and saw that everyone was staring at them. Sasuke followed her gaze and glared at those who stared at them. Everybody then looked away, trying to mind their own business. Trying to ignore that the broody Uchiha who hated women out of his family circle is now talking to a female species and is showing romantic interest. Everybody's trying not to stare but that doesn't mean they couldn't peek or glance. For them, it was another historical event for the young Uchiha an achievement as to what men would usually say.
" Did you sleep well? " Sakura nodded at him while avoiding his gaze. Sasuke cleared his throat gaining the attention of the pinkette and pointed his head to the redhead behind him. Karin crossed her arm and looked away definitely not liking the up-close interaction between the pinkette and the young Uchiha. Suigestu snickered at the redhead and winked at the blond. Ino smiled back at the three and faced Sakura.
Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead. " Right, Karin. " Sakura puts her hand on her hips and turned to Ino. " Ino, can Hinata assist you today? I need to evaluate Karin. " Ino glanced at Karin who was glaring at Sakura. She smiled wickedly and nodded at her. " Leave it to me Forehead. "
Sakura nodded and handed Karin a portfolio. " This will be today and tomorrow's tasks, we'll be traveling in different parts of the city. A few medics, the Anbu, and the police force will be assisting us. We'll leave in 2 hours, just enough time for the medics to prepare for the medical equipment and for you to study this. Since I was informed you knew only the basic medical aid. " Karin glared at her then snatched the portfolio from her hands.
Sakura had to force a smile at her, stopping herself from trying to punch the redhead. Luckily, a certain sunshine blond came and budged in their 'conversation'. The gods must have sensed Sakura's annoyance towards the redhead's sassy attitude. Sakura smiled at Naruto who slung his arm on her shoulder. " Hey teme, Sakura-chan, have you tried Hinata's cooking? it was soo deli-" Naruto's eyes landed on the angry redhead.
" Oi, Karin?! " Naruto immediately move forward and inspected the redhead. Karin's eyes widened at the blond and pushed him away.
" Stop it, you idiot! " Naruto stared at her. Definitely, something was up. Sakura stared at Naruto and Karin.
" Why did you run away? Did you know your parents were worried sick? They even approached mom for help! We were worried sick! " Karin rolled her eyes at him and looked away. Suigetsu came into her view and shook Naruto's hand.
" Hey blondie, names Suigetsu. Say how do you know Karin? " Naruto smiled at him and shook his hand as well. Ignoring the fuming Karin. They were ganging up on her, Sakura bit her lip, as much as she hates the redhead, she doesn't like the scene it was too time-consuming and the redhead was definitely feeling guilt and sad, it was written all over her face.
" Well Karin's my cousin, his mom and my mom are sisters. " Suigetsu nodded and faked a shocked face to annoy the redhead even more. Karin glared at Suigetsu and stomped on his feet. Sakura had to contain her giggle and placed a hand on Karin's shoulder.
" You boys are making a scene here, off you go. Let's go, Karin, you still need to study that. " She dragged the redhead and Ino away from the crowd, everyone smiled at the pinkette who was dragging both girls away. Karin stared at the pinkette holding on to her wrist and unconsciously smiled. Though the pinkette may not know about her family issues she saved her ass back there. She hates family drama. Karin had to roll her eyes at the idiot blond. Once they reached the entrance of the base, Sakura had to wipe her sweat off and lean into Ino.
" Well geez, forehead no need to save this freak. " Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino and nudged her. She glanced at Karin frowning at the blond.
" You can go ahead now Karin, I'll meet you later in here okay? and you pig, go and inform Hinata so she could prepare for today. " Sakura's sweet voice instantly shifted into a commanding one. Her aura held leadership and Karin can't deny she feared the pinkette at that moment. Both girls nodded at her stern command and went off to their respective path. Sakura sighed and leaned on the wall staring at their backs until they were out of sight.
" People do change. " She smiled and went to her room to prepare for her stuff. Ignoring the Naruto who was calling for her and the girls.
Sakura spent her remaining 2 hours packing her stuff then moving back to the laboratory continuing her unfinished experiment on herbs. When she heard a knock on the door, she wiped her hands and approached the door. She peeked through the curtain of the windowpane of the lab door and saw no one. She checked her wristwatch and saw she still have 30 minutes left before they head out to their tasks this day.
Slowly she opened the door and felt someone push her back the laboratory. In the darkroom with the only light illuminating from the table lamp. She could hardly comprehend the person who had interrupted her in her experiment. With the darkroom and person's sudden action she feared they were ambushed and she would be held hostage. She was about to scream when the person covered her mouth.
" No need to scream, it's just me. " Sakura squinted her eyes and saw Sasuke's handsome face up close. He was breathing heavily against her neck. He was also sweating, it's either he was avoiding the teasing and annoying Naruto or Karin was trying to tie him down and plan to rape him. Sensing she calmed down, he removed his hand from her mouth. Sasuke stared at her and noticed their proximity, so he leaned even further to the pinkette.
" S-sasuke? " Sakura bit her lip and stared at his onyx eyes. She could still see his face despite the low light that her lamp gave her. Under the light, he looked like a regal king ready to command over you but in the dark, he looked like the god of death, he blended well with his dark features, dark hair, and his eyes, these fierce eyes, memorizing you in a blink and ready to put you in an illusion. Sakura had to pinch herself for describing Sasuke in such ways.
" Ah " She stared at his lips when he opened his mouth to respond. Sasuke in turn looked at her biting her lips, he brushed his thumb over her lips, stopping her from bruising her lips. He stared at her pink plump lips. It feels like his body was taken over by someone. But despite his recent weird actions around the pinkette, he couldn't deny that there's always a time where he could stop his body from showing such interests to the pinkette but he chose to pursue her.
He was being tactless whenever he was around her and he didn't know what spell she used on him. Maybe it was her confidence, the way she held leadership and bravery over anyone, or was it her smiling face for the people she holds dear or was it her beautiful jade eyes, showing so many emotions, like an open book but she still remains a riddle to him despite the emotions she shows. He just doesn't know, he was still trying to unravel her because to him, she was an enigma.
Sakura stared up at him at his sudden action then back at his lips. Sasuke on the other hand leaned even closer. He could feel Sakura's lips calling out to him. Only a few inches left before their lips would touch, Sakura panicked and scoffed. Sasuke quickly grabbed the handkerchief behind her that he left last night and immediately pulled away. Sasuke cleared his throat and showed her his handkerchief.
" You didn't wash it. " Sasuke looked away and moved to her table and inspected her work. Sakura who was frozen on her spot immediately moved to stand beside Sasuke and apologized. Sasuke scoffed at her when she snatched his handkerchief.
" I'll wash it tonight, I forgot to do it yesterday since we uhm went to that cliff. " Sasuke nodded at her then went back to read her work on her journal.
" Do you uhm wanna spar tonight? I mean, I need to practice since we'll be having another mission- " She looked up when Sasuke approached and poked her forehead.
" Some other time. " Sakura turned red and rubbed her forehead and glared half-heartedly at him. Sasuke smirked and was about to leave when he looked back at her.
" Get ready we'll be leaving in 10 minutes. " Sakura's glare instantly disappeared and nodded at him.
Sakura was on her 16th patient already and it was already past noon. She was dressed in her blue medical gown, surgical gloves, and boots, while her face was covered with a surgical mask and face mask. She was unrecognizable if her pink hair wasn't special. She checked her patient again who was still bleeding from her wound. She reassured the old woman and continued to treat her. When she was finished with her patient, she went to move to their tents where all medics and soldiers were huddled. She moved to the corner and removed her PPE then moved inside a plastic-covered room to be disinfected. She walked out of the room damp and tired. She sat beside Karin who handed her lunch and a spare towel. Sakura smiled at her.
" Thanks, Karin " Karin who was slightly annoyed wanted to choke the pinkette for stealing her crush but of course she can't knowing she was still being evaluated and she wanted to at least be kind by repaying her for helping escape her family drama that Naruto was about to start. Karin sighed and looked up at the pinkette who was spraying her hands with alcohol for the 5th time. The redhead rolled her eyes and pointed to the Uchiha who was talking to Naruto and Shikamaru. " He was looking for you. " Sakura followed Karin's finger and coincidentally saw Sasuke stare at her. Her cheeks instantly heated up after recalling their recent encounter inside the laboratory. She looked back at Karin and smiled at her avoiding the Uchiha's stare.
" So, what have you noticed about the patients? " Sakura munched on her food and would glance a Karin during her explanation. So far she and Karin are making a progress by not killing each other, or Karin bullying her. She smiled at the redhead who would glare at her once in a while and went back to explaining. They spent talking and Karin was fascinated with the pinkette's achievement, based on what she heard from her colleague. She stared at Sakura expecting to see her look down at her or punish her for her old actions but she was still kind, like how she was in primary. Sakura raised a brow at the redhead and pointed to her lunch. Karin shook her head and showed her the list of patients with the same symptoms. Sakura paused her eating and glanced at the paper and nodded at her and pulled out her own journal and showed it to Karin.
Both females exchanged information about the symptoms from the patients that they had encountered. After Sakura's lunch, she pulled out a vial with a blood sample from her last patient. She held it closer to Karin who then inspected the vial. Karin then wrote down in a sticker the name of the patient and labeled the vial. Sakura thanked the redhead and placed the vial inside another container and handed it to Karin.
" Please take care of this, I'll be using it later. " Karin nodded at her and placed the container inside an insulated bag. Sakura tidied up her lunch pack and was talking casually to Karin until another medic ran up to her calling to her. Sakura looked at the medic and pointed outside.
" Sakura-sama, patient 103 is having an internal bleeding! His heart rate is also dropping! " Sakura immediately stood up and called out to Karin and the brunette medic seated on the same table as them. Ignoring the stares, she ran to the corner followed by Karin to wear their complete PPE. She stopped on her tracks when she saw the other medic she called still seated. Sakura glared at the brunette who was still staring at her. She immediately called out to her sternly and ran outside. The brunette immediately moved to change and followed Sakura's tracks.
" Wow, Sakura-chan can really be scary when she wants to. " Naruto commented when he saw the pinkette shouting at the poor brunette who was surely going to collapse because of Sakura's heavy stare. Shikamaru sighed beside him while Sasuke stared at the pinkette who walked out of the tent. Definitely pissed off and annoyed.
" Of course, lives are on the line, having slow actions and no initiative by a second can kill your patient. " Shikamaru added and drank his water. Sasuke nodded and went back to their plan. Sasuke started marking the map with his red marker then looked at Shikamaru.
" Nara, since you're working under Itachi, report to him the recent details we gained. Inform him as well about the strategy we just formulated for suggestions and backup reference. " Shikamaru nodded at him and took his radio. He stood up and moved to the corner of the tent. While Shikamaru was too busy, Naruto used the time to talk to Sasuke.
" Teme, so what's up with Sakura-chan, you two have gotten closer, yeah? " Sasuke glared at him and pushed the map to him.
" Dobe, focus on this problem, not on other people's business. " Naruto grinned widely at him and pushed back the map to Sasuke.
" Come on teme, just tell meeee, we've been best friends since we were born, can't you tell your best friend about your first ever crush? " Sasuke snickered at him and walked away. Naruto pouted and glared at Sasuke's back.
" I'll know your secret teme! " The blond shouted and saw Sasuke sent a middle finger at him before walking out of the tent. Naruto had to contain his laughter. He was so sure that the moody bastard was having a crush, and he too was happy for that bastard. Knowing Sasuke never showed any affection for any female not until now. He almost doubted his sexuality but now seeing the youngest Uchiha's recent action towards the pinkette, he was immediately filled with joy for that bastard. Naruto grinned and sipped on his juice box.
" I hope you realized you looked like an idiot grinning. " Shikamaru commented and sat in front of him. Naruto pouted at Shikamaru and looked away. Suppressing his wide grin he stared at the entrance of the tent.
I don't know what spell Sakura-chan used on you, teme but this is nice.
Dun dun dun, It's so looong but why is sakura-chan avoiding Sasu-cakes. :
Lots of love! Stay safe and stay healthy!
- Luna