Hello all!

This is going to be my first fanfiction, so please bear with me. I'm trying to make this into a slow burn because I don't want to rush anything. This is definitely a Sakura centered story, and it's going to end up being a Sakura/Genma pairing. I've read a few stories with this pairing and I actually really adore it. If you have any objections over it and the age gap, I'd skip this then.

A little background - Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and all their friends are going to be 22 in this. I know that Kakashi and Genma are obviously older and I believe Genma is supposed to be older than Kakashi too, but for the sake of this story I'm making Kakashi about 36 and Genma 32.

This first chapter is focused on Sakura. It took me a few days to write the beginning for this story, so I hope I did it justice.

XOXO - BrighterHorizons444

Sakura stared at herself in the body length mirror, black smudges encompassing her bright viridian eyes. She huffed as she snatched another tissue off her night stand and began rubbing at the damp skin under her eyes. Her soft pink hair was still in neat waves, cascading down towards the middle of her back, and while her eyeliner and mascara had messily dripped down her face, the rest of her makeup had held up just fine against the tirade of tears she had spilled only twenty minutes before.

Sakura sighed as she gave up trying to scrub the black lines and smudges away and dropped both hands to her sides. Pathetic. Here she was, standing in front of her mirror with makeup running down her face, green eyes puffy and red, crying for what seemed like the hundredth time, all while wearing what she considered to be her nicest little black dress with her cutest pair of strappy black heels. And for what? To be told he was leaving her, again. To be left behind, again. To be told he needed time to himself, to consider what he really wanted, again. She was tired. Tired of crying, tired of being angry, tired of being alone, tired of this never ending merry go round Sasuke seemed to have her trapped on. Which was exactly what Sakura had said to him when he said he needed another break. This time she'd had enough, and she had let him know. And she had continued to tell herself that as she watched his back as he walked away. He never turned to look back at her, not once, and that's what broke her. She had cried as she left the restaurant, and continued to cry her entire walk home. Sakura sighed again. Pathetic.

Sakura was broken out of her thoughts by a light knock at her front door. She could sense Ino's chakra, flaring more the longer Sakura stood in her bedroom and the longer she had to stand outside. Sakura took one last look at herself in the mirror before tossing the tissue into the trash can and making her way towards the front door. She opened the door to find Ino standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently, with a glare plastered across her face.

"It's about damn time forehead." Ino stated irritably as she stepped into Sakura's apartment. Sakura rolled her eyes as she shut the door and walked past Ino towards the kitchen.

"What do you want Ino?" Sakura asked as she pulled down a bottle of vodka from the top of her fridge. Ino's glare softened.

"Naruto ran into me on my way to the bar and said Sasuke broke up with you. He was worried." Ino said, a slight trace of sadness lacing her words. Sakura placed two glasses down on the kitchen counter and poured a small amount in each before handing Ino her glass. She turned away from the counter and chuckled lightly as she took a small sip.

"For the record, he only asked for a break, I'm the one who broke it off. And if Naruto is so worried, why didn't he come himself?" Sakura asked as she took another sip.

"Oh he wanted to, but I figured I should come first and see where your head was at before the overzealous idiot broke down your door." Ino laughed. Sakura gave a small smile at the thought of her loud friend barging in unannounced, but just as soon as the smile appeared, it also disappeared.

"Well I'm fine, and you can tell Naruto that when you see him later, I'm assuming at the bar." Sakura downed the remaining remnants of her drink and placed the glass down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ino asked as she also finished off the last of her drink. Sakura shrugged.

"There's nothing to really talk about. We've been doing this back and forth dance for years and I'm just tired of it. He doesn't love me, he does love me, then he doesn't know. I'm sick of being pulled one way just to be pushed the other. I can't do it anymore." Sakura could see the pity etching it's way onto Ino's face.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine Ino." Sakura lowered her head to stare at her feet, still in her black heels. Ino's arrival had been a distraction from how uncomfortable she was beginning to feel still dressed up for the night.

"Can I be honest with you Sakura?" Ino asked. Sakura looked back up at her and nodded.

"Sasuke was never good for you. I never thought he was going to be. I only kept quiet about it because there were times you did seem happy and as much as I couldn't understand why you were together, I didn't want to ruin that for you, or have you mad at me because I didn't approve of him. I used to like him a lot when we were kids, but he's arrogant and selfish." Ino spoke softly but Sakura could hear the anger boiling in her last few words.

Sakura knew Ino was right. Sasuke had always been selfish. She couldn't remember a time when anything had ever been about her, or both of them for that matter. It was always about him and his feelings and his accomplishments. Sakura began studying under Tsunade a few years prior, enhancing her medical ninjutsu and successfully rivaling the Sannin in both brute strength and intelligence. Tsunade had offered Sakura a job at the hospital, appointing her head of surgery at just twenty one. Sakura had felt like she was finally doing something worthwhile with her life, felt like she had found her calling, found what she excelled at that no one else did. But all of her success, all of her hard work had been overshadowed by Sasuke's acceptance into Anbu. She remembered the day she had sped off from Tsunade's office to tell Sasuke about the job offer. She was ecstatic and she wanted to celebrate. She had finally done it. She had found her calling, and she was good at it. But any feelings of excitement and happiness had quickly deflated when Sasuke only barely acknowledged her achievement with a less than enthusiastic "that's good" and went into a long speech about how all his years of training had finally paid off and that they were going out to celebrate his new position among the elite. Sasuke was now an Anbu operative and that was all that mattered.

"Go out with us tonight!" Ino exclaimed, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts. Sakura shook her head.

"I don't think so, Ino. I'm tired and I really just want to take a shower and go to bed." Sakura really just wanted this disaster of a night to end. Ino huffed and quickly stood, crossing her arms again, this time in defiance.

"Absolutely not. It's only 7:30! Besides, you're already dressed for it and you look hot. You can't waste that just because that idiot can't get his head out of his ass." Ino stalked past Sakura to turn on the kitchen sink and hastily pulled a clean dish towel out from a drawer. She wet the towel with warm water and walked over to Sakura, gently patting Sakura's face.

"We'll just clean you up a bit and then head out. Just come with us for a few hours and then if you're still feeling down about everything, you can come home and I'll even come back with you." Ino did a few more gentle pats under Sakura's eyes, wiping away the last few smudges from the mascara stains. She stepped back and appraised her work before a satisfied smile settled across her face.

"Perfect. Can't even tell you were just crying your eyes out over that loser!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help the small smile forming. Ino had always been a constant in her life, always there to help, even when Sakura stubbornly resisted it.

"Fine. Only because I know you'll never leave me alone if I don't cave now." Sakura said as she followed Ino towards the door. She grabbed her jacket off the hook next to the door and shrugged it on as Ino opened the door and gestured animatedly with one hand for Sakura to go first.

Once out in the street, Ino and Sakura both pulled their jackets tightly around them as they began their walk to the bar. Sakura had forgotten how chilly the nights had been recently and internally berated herself for not grabbing something warmer. She hadn't remembered it being this cold earlier on her walk home from the restaurant, but she was so angry at the time, it must have numbed her to the biting temperature. The already partially crowded street became more dense as they got closer to the bar. Both shinobi and civilians wandered around, and the closer Sakura and Ino got to their destination, the more Sakura began thinking about the possibility of Sasuke still being out.

"Ino, who exactly are we meeting there?" Sakura asked. As if reading her mind, Ino gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Sasuke isn't there. Naruto ran into him earlier after you two parted ways and Sasuke seemed very adamant about going home for the night. It's just going to be us, Naruto, Shikamaru, Temari and Tenten. Choji had a date and Neji said he needed to be up super early for a mission tomorrow." Ino explained as they rounded the last corner with the bar finally coming into view. Ino grabbed Sakura's hand as they walked up to the doors lined with neon lights and entered the bar. Ino stopped for a second just inside the doors and scanned the crowded room before perking up and waving as she spotted the others. Ino led Sakura through the throngs of people and released her hand as they both slid into the booth their friends were occupying.

"Sakura, Ino! You guys are late. Naruto and Shikamaru went to grab another bottle for us." Temari said as she gave Ino a quick hug and then leaned over to give one to Sakura as well.

"I would have been here earlier, but best friend duty came first. I had to make sure Sakura wasn't going to waste this Friday night in bed." Ino reached for Temari's glass and gulped down the last bit of liquor. Sakura rolled her eyes but smiled at her friend as her face scrunched up in disgust at whatever Temari had been drinking.

"I would have been completely fine in bed, thank you very much. I did have a long day at the hospital, you know." Sakura retorted.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto barreled into Sakura as he arrived back at the table, enveloping her into a bone crushing hug. Sakura laughed as she squeezed Naruto back.

"Happy to see you too, Naruto." She said as they released each other. Naruto beamed at Sakura. As much as Ino had been a constant in Sakura's life, Naruto had been the other. Sakura remembered all the times her and Sasuke had previously broken up, and every single time Naruto had always been there. She could cry on his shoulder for hours and he never complained. Sakura took in a sharp breath as she realized her eyes were starting to water again. Naruto's smile only faltered slightly before he quickly turned to Shikamaru who had just arrived with the bottle and two extra glasses.

"Shikamaru, pour these fine ladies each a glass of this wonderful sake!" Naruto shouted. Shikamaru sighed as he set the bottle and glasses down, muttering a small "troublesome" while he poured the sake.

"You're so loud." He grumbled as he slid the two glasses towards Ino and Sakura. Sakura chuckled as she picked up the glass and sipped the sweet alcohol. The tension in Sakura's shoulders released as the warmth from the alcohol slowly spread throughout her chest. Naruto slid his arm around Sakura's shoulder and gave her a light squeeze.

"Granny told me you're doing really well at the hospital. She's impressed with how well you've been handling all the extra work she's been throwing at you." Naruto stated as he took a swig of his own glass.

"Well Sakura is a genius." Tenten pointed out as she and Shikamaru engaged in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"You guys are giving me too much credit. But I appreciate the confidence boost." Sakura said as she continued to sip her drink, watching Tenten laugh as she covered Shikamaru's hand with her own.

"Should I go see if there's a dart board available?" Naruto asked the group as he looked towards the back game room of the bar where a few shinobi were now exiting. Ino nodded quickly as she reached around Sakura to push Naruto out of the booth.

"Hurry! There's bound to be like a ton more people coming in soon." Temari shouted as Naruto made his way towards the back. A few moments later he peaked back out from behind the open doorway and waved to the rest of the group to follow. Everyone grabbed their glasses and scooted out of the booth as Shikamaru carried the bottle of sake to the back room. Sakura coughed a little as she and the others walked into the backroom, which was slightly more smoky than the other parts of the bar. Sakura realized that the backroom was mostly filled with other off duty shinobi, and most were smoking while playing pool or throwing darts. Sakura turned her head towards Ino as she let out an excited squeal.

"Look! Kakashi and Asuma sensei are here!" Ino pointed towards a pool table where Kakashi and Asuma were standing around, along with some of their other friends Sakura recognized from guard duty, as well as Gai. Ino grabbed ahold of Sakura's arm as she beelined it for the table. The rest of the group followed closely behind, with only Shikamaru breaking away to stake claim on the only open dart board left.

"Hi guys!" Ino shouted, waving at the other group as they approached their table. Kakashi's uncovered eye crinkled as he smiled at them, giving a quick wave before he positioned himself for his turn at their game.

"Good evening young youth of Konoha! It is a fine evening to engage in some youthful fun, is it not!" Gai greeted, his over excitement lacing every word. Naruto laughed as he walked up behind Sakura.

"Sure is Gai sensei. We would never miss out on a Friday night at the bar. Didn't you guys just get back from a mission?" He asked as he watched Kakashi's striped ball fall into one of the pockets, causing Asuma and one of their other friends to groan.

"Yeah, just a few hours ago. It was simple enough, but we definitely deserve some recovery time with a few drinks." Asuma said, now stepping around Kakashi to position himself for his turn. Kakashi walked over to Sakura, placing his hand on her shoulder, as he smiled down at her.

"I hear you've been making a lot of progress at the hospital. I'm proud of you Sakura." He said. Sakura couldn't help the wetness forming in her eyes for what felt like the tenth time that night. It seemed everyone couldn't help but praise her that night, something she should be very much grateful for. Sakura wasn't sure if it was all the years of not hearing those simple words from Sasuke, or the alcohol just making her extra emotional, but it was all compiling into a tightness in her chest. I'm proud of you. She quickly averted her eyes from Kakashi and glanced over at Ino, who seemed to catch onto Sakura's silent plea for help.

"Well, it was nice seeing you guys, but I think we should head over to Shikamaru now. He looks like he's getting antsy." Ino stated as she placed her arm around Sakura's shoulder and turned to steer them away. The others nodded as the girls walked away.

"I'll be over in a minute." Naruto said as he hung back with Kakashi. He waited until Sakura and Ino had made it over to Shikamaru at the dart board before turning to address Kakashi.

"Is she ok? She seems quiet tonight." Kakashi asked as he spared another quick glance in Sakura's direction. Naruto sighed. Asuma, Gai, and the others all leaned against their pool sticks as they listened intently. All shinobi were naturally curious, even if it was about something as simple as the inner workings of a fellow shinobi's private life.

"She's as good as she can be right now. Her and Sasuke broke up, I think for good this time." He responded. Kakashi nodded in understanding.

"Ah. I was wondering why Sasuke wasn't here with you. Well, Sakura is strong, and she's got a lot to look forward to. This won't keep her down for long." Kakashi said, patting Naruto on the back.

"I know. But I think all these years of the constant tug o' war Sasuke's been putting on her has done its damage. She's hiding it really well sensei, but I can tell she's hurting." Naruto peeked over his shoulder and watched as Sakura cheered after successfully hitting a bullseye.

"Well of course she is. I don't even know her or the Uchiha even close to as well as you two do, but even I could see he was stringing her along. He's been doing it since you guys were kids." Asuma said, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it.

"The Uchiha is something else, I'll tell you that. His arrogance is definitely going to be his downfall one of these days. He's too stubborn for his own good and he's always pissing off his mission leaders, me included." Kakashi and Naruto looked over at the speaker. Genma leaned against the wall on the other side of the table, arms crossed, senbon in mouth. Naruto knew Genma through Kakashi, had been on a few missions with him, and knew that he was one of the best shinobi on the Hokage's guard platoon. He had also heard rumors about Genma being one of the biggest womanizers in Konoha, but he knew better than to put too much thought into rumors.

Naruto let Genma's comment sink in. Sasuke was one of Naruto's best friends, but he knew he was also everything everybody said he was. Stubborn, arrogant, rash, impatient. Naruto loved his best friend, but he also knew that Genma had a point.

"Sasuke has always been a lot of things. But I also don't think Sakura is the only one that's going to be hurting. Regardless of how insensitive and unsure Sasuke can be, I believe Sakura is the only one who's been able to somewhat tame that reckless side of him. He's going to feel it eventually, and he's going to want that safety net back." Kakashi said. Naruto nodded as he and Kakashi glanced back over to Sakura. Sakura was smiling as Ino and her doubled over, laughing at something Temari had said that caused Shikamaru to break his usual stoic and calm demeanor.

"She can't take him back, Naruto." Kakashi stated. Naruto let the finality of Kakashi's comment sink in. Sakura had always been a force of nature. She was confident, smart, and funny. She had been the rock that kept her team together for so many years. Naruto wondered when she had first started losing her light, and it killed him to think that it all began when Sasuke finally accepted her feelings for him and seemed to return the sentiment.

"Naruto! Get over here already!" Sakura shouted, breaking Naruto's train of thought. Naruto smiled and waved at her. Sakura turned back to the other girls, all giggling as Shikamaru appeared with another bottle of sake. Shikamaru shot Naruto a look, begging him to rejoin the group.

"You better go before Sakura-chan comes over here and forces you back. We both know how painful that'll be." Kakashi chuckled. Naruto nodded and waved goodbye as he sprinted across the room, wrapping his arms around Sakura and lifting her up. Sakura shouted her objection at first, but it quickly settled into a joyous laugh, as her best friend twirled her around before setting her back down. Sakura playfully slapped Naruto's chest but let him slink his arm around her shoulder as they watched Ino and Tenten take their turns throwing darts.

Kakashi watched his students as they continued to laugh and hold onto each other. He could hear the genuine happiness in Sakura's laugh and couldn't help but think back to the last time he had heard it sound so real. He found himself realizing that it had been a very long time. Kakashi then found himself feeling a faint tinge of sadness, as it dawned on him that Sakura's current state of happiness was most likely just going to last through the night, but when she woke up in the morning and reality of her current situation set in, the pain was going to be more than evident.

Kakashi sighed as he walked back over to the pool table where his friends currently argued over whose turn it was. He picked up his mug of beer and chugged a good portion of it before setting it back down and positioning himself to take another shot at one of the cue balls, ignoring his friend's protests.

He had decided to let that be tomorrow's problem.

And scene…

Please let me know what you think. Do you think this is headed in the right direction so far?