Chapter Text
Surely the path was the same.
The trees, the stones, the packed dirt of the road, they couldn’t have changed that much, nor the tall green panes of the Western Gate and its painted hiragana. They had to be the same.
And yet to Sakura’s eyes they felt strange and anew as if she was seeing them for first time.
Excitement and anticipation were rising in her chest as they closed the distance to Konoha’s walls, as the road grew wider and busier around them. The red torii flanking the gates peaked out through the trees, and then she could make out the buildings past the entrance, already trying to assess whether some were new or renovated.
She wondered if there was something or someone in the village more changed than herself.
At her side, Jiraiya was rambling happily about all that he would do once they were through with their report and various duties and he was free to wander Konoha’s streets and bars. Sakura tuned him out with practiced ease – she had learned to ignore most of his talking, for both their sake.
She was grateful for all he had taught her, for the strength and experience she had gained under his tutelage, but she couldn’t deny she would welcome getting rid of him for a while. Although she didn’t think she would so easily lose the habit of stirring him clear from any woman within a five miles radius.
But despite his many, many, many flaws, Jiraiya had turned out to be a great teacher, far better than she had thought he would be, once he had recognized in her a worthy successor. He didn’t think she had it in her, when they left – truth be told, she didn't either.
They had both been proven wrong, and she felt no small amount of pride at the fact.
Haruno Sakura had made a name for herself in the shinobi world.
As eager as she was to display it though, to show off the results of those two years on the road with the obnoxious Sannin, what she was looking forward to the most, above all else, was simply seeing her friends again.
She had written as often as she could, not as often as she would have wanted, and had received very little news, seeing as they were constantly on the move, and that Jiraiya insisted his toad network was for “important spy business only”. She knew for a fact he also used it to send the chapters of his trashy romance novels to his editor, but what could she do.
The toads still favored him. For now.
So she didn’t know what happened while she was gone, and she was impatient to hear it all, and to tell in return all she had done and seen. But there was this little core of apprehension too, lodged square in her throat, that prevented her from walking faster and hurrying their long-awaited return.
Because maybe they weren’t awaited at all.
Jiraiya had sent words to the Hokage that they were on their way back two weeks ago, because they were supposed to leave Tea Country and go straight to Konoha then. But an incident involving a marriage celebration, a lot of alcohol and an idiotic old man with whom she had no association with whatsoever mistaking a red kimono for a napkin had delayed their departure for several days.
They were late. And that was assuming that the Hokage had relayed the words at all. Maybe she hadn’t, because no one would care.
A lot could change in two years.
She stopped one step shy away from the stone slab paving the way to her home.
Two years and some, since she had crossed the threshold, and she wasn’t too proud to say that she hadn't spared that much thought to the village during that time. To her defense, she had a million other things to worry about, between her training, the managing of their day-to-day life, and the hassle of looking after a man with the mentality of a fourteen years old rascal. She had allowed herself little time to miss her friends, her family and her home, had endeavored to quench down the longing and the homesickness seizing her at times. It was all catching up to her now.
She had missed it all dearly.
“Come on, you’re not going to cry, are you?”
A good thing she could always count on Jiraiya to obliterate any foray into emotional territory.
“Now I’m certainly not,” she shot back, exasperated. He was allergic to feelings of all sort – that was the reason why she would never read any of his books.
Well, it was one of the reasons.
His callousness worked though, in a roundabout way. She wouldn’t go as far as to credit him for it, but he had effectively pulled her out of her melancholia.
She crossed the gates.
Home, at last.
“Sakura! Finally!”
Kiba jumped over the desk of the gate outpost to run to her, Akamaru in tow. At least she assumed it was Akamaru, even if he was thrice the size she had last seen him.
Behind him, Shino rounded the desk and followed at a much more sedate pace.
Kiba clasped a hand on her shoulder, shaking her a little, looking unorderly pleased. She wouldn’t even have been surprised if he’d forgotten her entirely, and yet here he was, greeting her with great enthusiasm, as boisterous as always. She couldn’t contain her smile.
“Ino is going to be so happy! She’s been bitching around all week, complaining to everyone who cared to listen that you were doing it on purpose just to mess with her.”
“She worried,” Shino interjected. Kiba laughed.
“Ah, yeah, probably! Though she would never say it of course. Oh, that reminds me! Akamaru!”
The dog barked happily and took off through the streets, expertly slaloming between the worried passersby.
“She knew we were stuck on gate duty this week. She asked me to warn her if I saw you,” he explained with a wink.
It wouldn’t do to cry so soon, so she did her best to fight it.
“We’re still on duty,” Shino remarked pointedly, earning a dramatic sigh from his friend.
“Yeah, yeah… We’ll catch up later, Sakura. It’s good to see you!”
“You too,” she said dumbly, a little mystified, as the boys went back to their post. To be guarding the gates, they had both made chunin then. She would need to get on with it too.
She turned to Jiraiya to ask to be dismissed, but he was already walking away without a care in the world. She decided not to care either, though she would have to find him again later. She had nicer things to focus on.
Sakura didn’t hear nor see her arrive as much as she felt her, felt her presence close the distance quickly, radiating excitement. She didn’t move though.
Ino barreled into her with the full force of her joy. But Sakura could wield a very big sword now.
She didn’t budge.
“Don’t start showing off already!” Ino complained, though the effect was quite dampened by her radiant smile. She wasted no time wrapping Sakura in a strong embrace and there was nothing else to do but respond in kind, holding tight.
Ino broke it off quickly though, both hands on Sakura’s shoulder to keep some distance between them and assess her, eyes sharp.
“Wh-what?” Sakura asked, unsure of what to make of Ino’s now hard expression.
“How dare you?”
“What?”
“How dare you get taller than me!”
Ino’s tone was so serious, so heavy that for a moment Sakura didn’t register she was totally being played. She laughed, free and unrestrained, joy sparkling like bubbles in her chest and on her cheeks as Ino did a very bad job of trying to look stern.
“I can’t believe you would do this to me,” she said dramatically, making Sakura laugh even harder.
“I missed you so much, Ino,” she said through her smile, sobering up when she realized how earnest she sounded. Ino smiled, soft and knowing. She took Sakura’s wrist and squeezed, grounding.
“Welcome home, cherry pie.”
And then came the tears.
.
Ino insisted to accompany her to the Godaime, claiming she had nothing better to do, and was immediately refuted by the woman asking her “why the hell” she wasn’t working on those decoding as soon as they stepped into her office.
“I finished this morning, the transcription team just needs to get a move on,” Ino declared with no small amount of satisfaction. The Godaime rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too, so Ino wasn’t in too much trouble. Though it begged the question…
“You’re working for the Intelligence Department?” Sakura whispered on the side.
"Codebreaker, among other things. I'll tell you later."
Right. Because Sakura was standing in front of the Godaime with her master, and she was supposed to participate in their reporting. Jiraiya had sent regular updates of their findings of course, but he still gave a thorough recollection of the information they had gathered, essentially on the Akatsuki.
Their main focus, for the man to whom Naruto had most likely gone to, Orochimaru, and his business were the affair of Anko’s team, to Sakura's frustration. They had crossed paths a few times – they were due back in Konoha a few weeks ago but had ran into delay too, something more dignified than her own misadventures she was sure, so she didn’t know if they were back yet.
The Hokage dismissed her quickly, both because she wanted to speak with Jiraiya alone, and also out of mercy, Sakura suspected, by the way she assured that Ino could catch her up on the rest and that they could both leave.
“Can I just ask… Naruto?”
Sakura felt small under the woman’s wistful gaze.
“Ino will tell you too. Now get out of here. Unpack your bags, go greet your friends. We will talk later.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. She didn’t need to unpack though, and if she was being honest there was only one thing she wanted to do, before anything else.
“Where to then?” Ino asked casually, sounding like she already knew the answer. She most likely did – Sakura still hesitated.
“I… would like to see Sasuke.”
Ino smiled warmly.
“Of course you would. Let’s go to the hospital. It’s the best bet with him these days.”
Ino offered to make a detour by her house so that she could at least put down her bag, but Sakura refused, giving a feeble excuse about it being in the opposite direction. She knew that if she went home, her parents wouldn’t let her back out for hours. She felt bad for them being so low on the list of people she wanted to see, but they didn’t need to know. She would go home soon enough.
“Tell me what happened?” she asked as they started strolling through the busy streets. “What are the news?”
She tried not to get too distracted by all the little changes she noticed, some freshly painted buildings, extra houses squeezed along the streets, new shops and new owners. Both familiar and foreign.
She discretely catalogued the changes in her friend too. Sakura’s body was almost as angular and sharp as when she was a child, but Ino’s was much rounder, softer. Her hair seemed longer too, but they were gathered in a thick, loose braid on the side of her head, so it was hard to tell.
She was beautiful.
“Well, I made chunin for a start, last year in Suna. We all did. It has to do with my position in Intelligence, actually…”
“How so?”
"I did some good snooping. Sasuke put me up to it because Naruto got close to that boy, you know? Anyway, I was the one to figure out he was missing.”
Sakura gaped at her. Ino chuckled.
“That was you?”
They had heard about it much later, when passing through Suna.
“Turned out Suna wasn’t any better than Konoha at keeping their asset on the line… But they were just as good as hiding it. They had no idea either, about Naruto. It caused a bit of a... an incident, not gonna lie.”
Suna had been pretty unwelcoming to Jiraiya and his disciple, as they seemed to hold Konoha responsible for Gaara’s disappearance for some reason. The fact that Jiraiya was there specifically to discuss the Akatsuki and their hunt for the Tailed Beasts had not contributed to put anyone in a good mood.
“Do you… know? About Naruto, and that boy too.”
“Sasuke explained, the gist of it anyway. I tried to do some digging, but information is scarce, you can imagine."
It was so… So relieving, the bitterness in Ino’s voice, how she talked about it with distaste and disdain. That she knew, and that she agreed that it wasn’t right, that she shared Sasuke and Sakura’s indignation. Were they all in this then?
“Tsunade-sama was pissed, but she was also impressed. She recommended me for the Department – there was nothing they could say against it this time. I think it was also a way to stick it to the Kazekage. He was enraged, he wanted me to be punished, but she wouldn’t have it.”
It was so strange, how she talked about the Godaime, about politics they used to be as uninvolved in as was possible. She could only imagine how much pushing around Ino had done to get into all this so young, but the girl was an unstoppable force when she set her mind to something, and she had the skills to back it up.
“Do you think that Naruto…”
“I should have known that’s the only thing you’d care about,” Ino chided, though her tone remained light. “We don’t know for sure, but it would make sense, right? That boy, Gaara, he vanished from Suna like, three months after Naruto left.”
They had no way to be sure, but she found it oddly comforting, to think that he had done exactly what he had set out to do.
Where was he now, she wondered, with who? What was he doing? Was he alright? She longed to know. She thought about finding Uchiha Izumi, to grill her for answers, but then figured that if the girl was back in the village Sasuke would have surely beaten her to it.
She couldn’t wait to see him.
“We should have dinner tonight,” Ino suggested. “I’ll bully Shikamaru into cooking something, he always complains but he loves it actually, and he’s gotten pretty good too. He’s the only reason Sasuke has not starved to death yet really.”
“What?”
Sakura had a feeling she was going to say that a lot.
“Oh shit, that’s right, you don’t know that either. You missed so much drama around here, you have no idea. Yeah, it’s a long story, I’ll leave it to Sasuke, but it ended with them rooming together. They share a flat near the hospital. And believe it or not, it worked out pretty well.”
It was… she couldn’t imagine it. First of all, it meant Sasuke had moved out of the Uchiha district, which couldn't have happened for a trivial reason. She wasn’t aware of the two boys being particularly close, but then again, it could have been out of convenience before anything else. And they had had time to become friends, hadn’t they?
“I always thought Shikamaru would be the type to live at his parents until he was like, thirty.”
“I know, right? I’m sure that was his plan too. But he had a fallout with his father. That’s… been kind of a theme. I'm sure they bonded over that."
She would have hoped Sasuke had moved out for a different reason, but it made sense. What else but conflict with his father could have driven him away from his family home?
She had so many questions.
"I… should spend some time with my parents tonight. Tomorrow?”
“It’s a date.”
She liked the sound of that.
They finally made it to the hospital. The first thing she noticed was the extension – an entire new wing on the North side, spotless and shiny like only recent constructions were. The hospital looked busier too.
“They’ve been working hard to upgrade this place,” Ino commented as she led them through the corridors with an ease claiming familiarity. “It takes in people from the neighboring villages and farms now, they can treat chronic illnesses and pain, all sort of stuff like… You know what, I don’t actually know, but I’m sure Sasuke will be happy to nerd out about it to you.”
And as if on cue, they rounded a corner to reach an open consultation room and here Sasuke was, a mask around his neck and taking off disposable gloves while scolding a chunin she recognized as Yamanaka Ichinosuke, who had a fresh bandage around his arm and his friend Namiashi Ryoma hovering guiltily next to him.
“Next time please refrain from taking out the kunai yourself. And for Sage’s sake if you do, don’t put it back again.”
Ryoma at least looked a little sheepish. His friend just sighed.
Sasuke hadn’t seen her yet, but then he turned around to grab something on a nearby shelf and…
He froze entirely. She did too.
She was rooted to the spot. She didn’t know if she ought to move forward or wait for him to come to her, if she could call his name or if that would be ill-advised in the hospital. If he was too busy and she needed to come back later.
It stretched to an extremely awkward amount of time before he snapped out of it.
“Sukui, can I take a break? I’ll send Itachi to help if you need.”
“Don’t worry, I’m good,” a young woman answered from the other side of the room, giving him a thumb up. Sakura spared a quick thought at the information that Itachi worked around here too, apparently, but it was soon out of her mind as she followed her friend’s every move.
He ditched his gown and mask and made his way across the room. Sakura didn’t move a muscle. He stopped a respectable distance away. They stared at each other.
“Well, I see you have it handled. I’ll leave you to it, I need to go make fun of my cousin.”
Ino, the traitor, was out of there in seconds.
“Let’s…”
He motioned vaguely to the corridor behind her and she followed him out of the room, back into the maze of the hospital. She thought he was leading them outside, but they ended up in an empty office she thought was the Hokage’s. He closed the door behind them.
They stared some more.
He was taller, but apart from that, he hadn’t changed much. The only noticeable difference was a striking one though – square in the middle of his forehead, there was a small seal in the shape of a purple gem, much like the one sported by the Godaime.
“It’s… good to see you,” he managed to get out.
“You too.”
She didn’t understand what was happening. She had missed him so much, had thought so many times about going back just to see how he was doing, to talk to him and hear his voice.
Was she alone in this? Maybe he didn’t want to see her. Maybe he was still bitter about how she had reacted, back then when Naruto left, how she had blamed him even though she knew he was the least at fault in all this. Maybe she should have written more, tell him she was sorry, tell him she believed in him and the changes he would work to bring.
Maybe it was too late.
“It’s… it is. It’s really…”
He didn’t look annoyed or embarrassed. It occurred to her then that this was Sasuke.
And Sasuke was just… plain overwhelmed.
She let out a wet chuckle and took the reins because he surely wasn’t going to. She wrapped her arms around his neck, touched their foreheads together. His hand came to rest on her waist and he looked so stunned still, so out of his depth, she had to laugh again. She drew them closer to hug him properly. He was taller, but not by much. He was trembling a little.
“I… I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure…”
“Don’t be an idiot. I’m so happy to see you, Sasuke.”
He sunk against her and they held on tight, finally, finally closing the distance after two years apart. She was crying again, it was inevitable. She believed he wouldn’t mind.
They had to look a little ridiculous, clutching each other like this in the middle of an empty office, half laughing half crying. They managed to let go after a while, though they didn’t go far. Sakura wiped her face, unable to keep from chuckling, light-headed from the sheer relief and joy she felt of being home at last, by her friends’ side.
“My shift is still a few hours,” he said, piecing back his composure despite his reddened eyes and blotchy face. “I can come to find you after if you want. We can… talk."
He seemed mildly distressed by the idea. She chuckled.
“I’ll be at home. Don’t be too long rescuing me.”
That earned her a little smile and a lighter heart. He walked her back to the entrance of the hospital and she had a feeling he would have come with her right away if he could. But Sasuke wasn’t one to ditch his duties, especially this one, she could imagine.
She made her way to her parents’ house. It was unchanged, safe from the plants in the front garden, lush and blooming. Her father had taken good care of it.
She stood for a long while at the doorstep of her home, paralyzed by an unknown reluctance. It felt insurmountable to just put her hand on the door handle, to cross the threshold.
In the end, her mother took care of it for her – she opened the door wide and almost crashed into her daughter on her way out.
“Wha- Sakura?”
“Hey Mom. Huh, I’m back.”
Her mother was immediately in tears.
“Oh my, oh my! You’ve grown! And you’re… My little girl, you’re so different!”
Her voice was strangled by emotion and Sakura chose not to hear anything negative in the exclamation. She didn’t want to fight with them, and she was different. It wasn’t all that much of a physical change, but she assumed her mother could see that kind of thing. She hugged Sakura tight before ushering her inside, calling after her husband with great cheers.
“Sakura!”
Again, she was unsure of how it was going to go, and again she didn’t get what she bargained for at all – her father hugged her even tighter, if possible, smiling widely with shining eyes.
They had missed her, she realized, a lot more than she had missed them.
“How are you? You have so much to tell us!”
So she set out to do just that, bearing through their questions and the two liters of tea her mother insisted she drank. She skimmed over most of her time away though, both because it wasn’t that interesting, and because two years apart had not made talking to them any easier. She abused the excuse of confidentiality, as if their work had been so secretive. As if any work done by Jiraiya could be anything but a loud mess – it was a wonder how he could even do any spying. Oh, she was familiar with his style now, he did get good results, it’s just that his methods were unconventional to say the least, and not always very dignified.
She didn’t see herself telling her parents that though. She felt weirdly protective of those times and of the judgement they would cast upon it.
She was grateful for Sasuke knocking at her door.
“I won’t be home late,” she promised on the doorstep, battling the guilt her parents’ saddened face stirred in her. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up. I’m not going anywhere.”
Yet, she added for herself. They didn’t protest – hopefully they would observe a grace period before resuming their quiet disapproval act around her.
“Maybe I should get my own place too,” she pondered aloud as they left the house.
“It’s not that great,” Sasuke answered with a pout.
“Really? Ino told me it was going fine.”
“I guess it could be worse.”
She waited for him to elaborate, but it didn’t look like he would.
“What happened?” she pried gently, to get a feel of how sensitive the topic was. He grimaced.
“I had a fallout. With my father. About… six months ago. It was… bad.”
“Bad” he said, when it had resulted in him moving out of his house, despite being from a clan where they spent their entire life all piled up in the same streets and built their lives in the family house more often than not. “Bad” probably didn’t begin to cover it.
“Will you tell me?”
He bit his lips, looking pained.
“Later?”
She nodded, agreeing to drop it for now. She had a feeling it would put quite the damper on any mood, and she was on board with trying to keep the evening joyful. They could lament later, she decided.
“I can’t believe you live with Shikamaru of all people.”
"It was a question of timing mostly, though he moved out of spite, sort of. His father told him if he wanted to keep living under their roof, he would have to start taking his future as a member of their clan and the shinobi force seriously. And… well. He doesn’t like being told what to do.”
She wouldn’t have pegged Shikamaru as the rebellious type, but then again he always had this weird dedication to his claimed lack of ambition. She wondered how much of it was a reaction to everything he had been told he could do, if only he applied himself, if only he used the great gift he had been given, if only he cared to.
He didn’t. She suspected he didn’t want to care, wanted to less and less the more he was told. Maybe he would change his mind one day, but that would be when he decided to, not before.
“I clean and he takes care of the food. It’s such a hassle. I don’t know…
He stumbled on his words, face turning somber. The sun was setting and the residential streets they were crossing were dimly lit – she could hardly make out his expression, let alone the emotions hidden in his lightless eyes.
“I don’t know how Naruto did it.”
They were ten when Naruto had been sent to live with Shisui. Up until then he had been on his own, something they never questioned at the time. It was just how things were.
It made no sense though.
No wonder he would… In retrospect it made such terrible sense.
Sasuke looked sour now, and she knew he blamed himself for this, for never bringing it up before, for how blind they had been to Naruto’s life and its many daily, mundane struggles.
She had made peace with the fact that there was nothing they could have done, nothing that would have kept him by their side. His fate was sealed long before they had come into his life, from the start maybe. That didn’t mean she had given up on looking for him, far from it, but…
She wasn’t angry at him anymore.
Sasuke was different. He was closer to Naruto, closer maybe than he would admit, and he had a greater influence on his life. He still believed that he was at fault somehow, that had he done something different, sooner, had he said, if only… That it could have ended differently.
It wasn’t the first time, was quite common even, for him to manage to take the blame somehow. Harsh words thrown Naruto’s way during their Academy years – “Had I said something.” Right after their disastrous mission in Wave Country – “Had I been stronger.” After the chunin exam when Naruto withdrew for good – “Had I been better.” When he had eventually left – “Had I been enough.”
She had scolded him once, exasperated, that it was awfully pretentious of him to think he was good enough to be responsible for everything. She’d seen on his face that he did consider himself to be that good actually.
There was no changing it. And so he blamed himself.
She had added to that burden too, when she still believed it could be salvaged, that Naruto could be made to endure by their sides. She couldn’t imagine what it would have been like, had they dragged him back to the village back then.
It was best not to dwell on it, she thought.
“No news?” she asked, because it was better to look forward, to keep going. She had chased many leads about him and his… kind, with Jiraiya.
Jinchuuriki, he had explained, with great reluctance, having grown tired of her stubborn insistence and incessant questions. She had not talked to him for a week after that conversation.
“Anko and her team came back a few days ago. Izumi wouldn’t tell me much but… They did learn some things.”
“Really? What did they say? Do they know where he is?”
She knew it was a stupid question as soon as she asked. If they knew where he was, they would already be on their way. In fact, it was probably better they didn’t – she didn’t know where they stood now, the village, the senior shinobi, the Hokage.
“Naruto did go to Orochimaru. Ino did some digging – you know he’s the third Sannin, right? He was on the same team as Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama.”
“I know. Jiraiya told me about him.”
Another discussion that was like pulling a tooth. Sometimes it felt like the old man withdrew information on purpose.
And sometimes, like that time, it just felt like those things that are too painful to talk about. But Sakura wouldn’t be deterred.
“They… used to be friends.”
The three Sannin. Both of them had brushed up their history, it seemed. Sasuke was Tsunade’s disciple after all.
“It’s kind of funny,” she said, though she didn’t feel much like laughing.
“What?”
“Well… each of us went to one of them.”
Sasuke frowned.
“Ah. Yeah.”
Their fate would be different though.
“Izumi said… they are sure Naruto is not with him anymore.”
“What? How? Where is he then?”
“We don’t know. But for the past eight months at least Orochimaru’s men have been after him too, to no avail. No one can find them.”
“I know about Gaara,” Sakura added, pensive. “We did our research and… the host from Takigakure went missing too. As well as one from Kumo. The others, we’re not sure. And we don’t know if… If they just left. Or if it’s-if the Akatsuki got to them.”
No one was willing to breach the subject, each village staying stubbornly tight-lipped on the matter of their jinchuuriki. Jiraiya had warned them that the organization was after the hosts, and they had heeded his words, maybe, but they had refused any sort of help, any offer to share resources and knowledge, so that they could protect their own. Jiraiya said it was because they were all wary of other villages trying to steal a Biju for themselves in the process. It was infuriating.
She wanted to believe the missing-nins were safe, because they would have heard, right? If something had happened to them.
If something had happened to Naruto.
It wasn’t backed up by any rational thinking, but she just couldn’t accept that he could disappear from this world without them knowing about it. It couldn’t be. Naruto was somewhere out there. They could find him again.
“Tell me about your trip,” Sasuke asked. She was content with letting this subject go for now. Tomorrow the mission reports and the update on a worrying situation – tonight the catching up of the more mundane aspects of their life.
She mostly talked and he mostly listened. He was never much of a chatterbox, unlike her, and she felt a bit self-conscious of it at times, but he didn’t complain and she didn’t bring it up either. Her tales must have been quite disjointed, her mind jumping from one memory to another without much consistency. All evening a soft, private smile stayed rooted on her friend’s face though, so she figured it wasn’t that bad.
.
She had been waking up at dawn for the past two years and thus was also up with the sun the next day. But when there had always been something to do then – mostly training, wandering around, or apologizing to the owner of a hostess bar. Sakura found herself with a sudden abundance of time and nothing to fill it with.
What was she supposed to do? Did she need to report to the Assignment Desk, go back on futile missions? They had done their fair share of fighting with Jiraiya, but not in the way it was done in the village at all. Jiraiya did complete missions, in a way, just not things that had been assigned or that he was paid to do.
He called them “missions” but they weren’t really. Retrieving a girl kidnapped by bandits, driving away some wild beast from a scared village, helping a very old lady to bury her dog. It seemed to come naturally to him, and he didn’t ask for anything in return, although the people he helped would often give him something anyway, if only a meal, a place to stay the night, a worthless trinket.
Jiraiya had quickly gotten into the habit of offering her services too, whether she liked it or not, especially when those favors entailed physical labour. She had spent an absurd amount of time picking some strangers’ vegetables and helping fix their barns or fences while he fanned himself in the shade. And then he had the gall to take all the credit.
She couldn’t really be mad. It was nice, to be useful this way, to put her talents to good. She had built up quite the muscle's strength to be able to handle Zabuza’s sword. Jiraiya had taught her how to use chakra to increase her body’s strength too.
She was stronger than most now. She could protect herself, she could defend those who couldn’t. Even chasing a runaway cat had felt more rewarding this way, despite getting only a basket of apple and numerous cuts on her arms for her trouble.
She was quite aware that was no way to make a living though. Did that mean she had to help only those who could pay her for it? That didn’t appeal to her at all.
She thought about seeking out Sasuke or Ino, but her friends had their own life now, they had their part to play and the duties going with it, they were busy.
She would have to find her place too.
She settled for going through her morning training routine to start with, even though she didn’t dare pull out her sword, afraid of destroying her parents’ very small garden. She had worked up quite a sweat when someone interrupted her.
“I was going to suggest some friendly sparring, to assess your progress, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Kakashi-sensei!”
“Yo, Sakura.”
She ran to the gate to greet him properly. He pat her head with a smile in his eyes. He hadn’t changed one bit.
“Afraid I could take you on?” she laughed. It would be fun for sure. She didn’t overestimate herself, but she was sure she could give him a good show.
“I’m an old man now.”
She snorted.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to fetch you. The Hokage wants to see you.”
She nodded, grateful at how fast that was – she needed to know what she was expected to do now. They set off side by side.
"Was it good then? Your time away?"
There was some measure of guilt in his tone, she thought. She nodded.
“It wasn’t always easy. But I’m glad I went.”
He seemed relieved. She was okay with easing his mind over this, even if she did feel at times that he had simply not cared enough about her to be a proper teacher. It didn’t matter now either way.
“What about you, sensei? Trained some other terrible kids?”
“Yes.”
She faltered, caught off guard.
“Really?”
“For a little over a year. They’re not quite ready for the chunin exam yet, but they’ll get there. We have time.”
Things would have been quite different, she thought, had they not entered the exam when they did. They would have been spared a lot of heartaches and needless pain for one.
“Cool. That’s cool.”
She didn’t know why she was so weirded out by the idea of Kakashi training another team. Maybe because they had been his first, and so she had never wrapped her head around the fact that there would be others.
Maybe because she didn’t feel like he had quite earned the right to move on to the next so easily. Which was absurd – their team 7 didn’t exist anymore.
Jiraiya was in the Hokage office when they stepped in, joking with the Godaime. It was a little jarring, to know that they got along, were close and respected each other a lot, when she knew what a slouch the old man was. At least it helped to see the Godaime in a more approachable way.
“Sakura, hello. Thank you for coming.”
Sakura sketched an awkward salute, hating that she was still shy with the woman when her friends had obviously become well acquainted with her. What was that about anyway?
“You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?”
“Hm. You must know that all your fellow ninja made chunin during the last exam. I wanted to discuss your own promotion.”
“I imagine the next exam isn’t too soon…”
“It’s several months away. And you don’t have a team anymore.”
She didn’t have to say it so bluntly.
“But you’ve been training under Jiraiya for more than two years, and he was very praiseful of your skills. Besides, you completed enough missions that it wouldn’t make sense to keep you as a genin.”
Sakura glanced at Jiraiya, but he looked up to avoid her gaze. She smiled, both exasperated and fond – the norm, when it came to the old man.
“What are you saying?”
“Kakashi has agreed to do your assessment. If he judges your level to be adequate, and if you pass the written exam, you’ll be promoted to chunin right away.”
She couldn’t help but feel a bit skeptical – wasn’t that too good to be true? But if a fight against Kakashi was all it took…
“Are you sure? Why would you want to rush it like this?”
“Genin can’t get more than C-level missions, but you’re way past that. It makes no sense holding you back. Unless you’d prefer to wait?”
She couldn’t tell if the woman was genuine or fucking with her. Well, she supposed it wasn’t in the interest of the village to deprive itself of higher ranking shinobi. And she did intend to go on missions… Specifically, one mission.
Indeed they wouldn’t send genin after the missing jinchuuriki.
“Alright. Thank you, Hokage-sama.”
“Don’t thank me yet, you’ve yet to pass.”
It would be arrogant to comment on that, even if she thought it. She bowed politely and turned to Kakashi.
“Ready when you are, sensei.”
He smiled.
“Right now it is then.”
.
Sakura was different, Kakashi pondered.
They all were, he supposed, after two years and some, but it wasn’t so obvious for the others, probably because he had been there all along to watch them grow and change. If he paused to think about how they were when Sakura had left, he could draw up the differences. But it wasn’t as flagrant as getting Sakura back like this.
There was something serious, almost menacing in the way she carried herself, the way she looked at the world around her. She had gathered a bit of a reputation among the people in the Land of Fire, as Jiraiya’s fiery apprentice, and he could picture it now, the one she defended and the ones she fought against, how they would all remember crossing her path.
There was no fear nor apprehension on her face and in her stature as she faced him on the training ground. That wasn’t to say that she was relaxed or carefree. But she was confident in what she could do against him. She had always been moved in part by fear, of getting hurt or seeing others hurt too, and she managed to turn it into fuel but it also made her reckless and easily destabilized.
It didn’t look like something that could happen now. Sakura knew her worth. She knew what she was doing.
Kakashi wondered who would win now, between his students. Maybe he would have them fight to find out. Sasuke was exceptionally talented and strong, but he hadn’t focused on battle training the way Sakura had in their time apart.
“What are the rules?” she asked, pulling out dark gloves from her weapon pouch.
“One hit?”
“That’s it?”
She seemed almost offended.
“One death blow then. Don’t actually kill me though, please.”
She nodded seriously and put her guard up. Kakashi thought she would draw her sword, but she seemed content to stick to her fists for now. Just as they were about to get going, a few spectators came to join them.
“I heard there was a show,” Ino said, waving at them with a smile, Sasuke in tow. Kiba was following with Shino – done with gate duty then. Or maybe they were on the run? Ah, Kiba would, surely, but Shino would never let him.
Kakashi ignored them to focus on the fight – they could infer what was going on for themselves. Or Ino would take great pleasure in telling them, since she probably knew everything already. It was frankly worrying that no one could figure out how she gathered her intel, but well, as long as she used it for good...
Well, not for harm at least.
Sakura didn’t seem bothered by the attention, though she was just a touch tenser than a moment ago. She didn’t back down nor say anything tough – she launched herself at him.
Her hits were fast and precise, packed tight with power. Efficient too – she was mobile but seldom flailed her limbs around, posture solid, close to the ground. Much more grounded than the usual style, including his.
She was spacing herself, he realized. Stamina was always one of her weak spots, so she didn’t waste any energy on unnecessary moves. She chased him near the tree line and launched her fist at his head – he dodged, as she wasn’t fast enough. It was too late to stop her hand from colliding with the nearest tree.
It turned out it was the tree they ought to worry about. There was a dent in the trunk and she didn’t bat an eye when she spun around to face him once more.
“That must hurt,” he said airily. Looking at the tree, he was glad he had moved out of that one. She gave a light chuckle, a little sheepish.
“It’s Tsunade-sama’s technique. I’m nowhere near her level but… I needed strength to wield my sword.”
“And you have great chakra control. It’s perfect then,” Kakashi praised with a smile. She blushed, caught a little off guard.
He had gotten better at this.
“Why don’t you take out your sword? I’m curious to see what you can do with it.”
“I can?”
“Of course.”
She looked pleased with the prospect, although she could be proud of her taijutsu already. More had gathered to witness the display, and they all paid rapt attention at Sakura unrolling a scroll directly from her weapon pouch, tapping lightly at the seal inked in the paper and pulling out…
It was even bigger than he remembered – even with the tip broken off, it was almost as tall as her. The muscles on her arms tightened to hold its weight, but she didn’t look to be struggling. She rested the dull edge on her shoulder, crouching into her guard.
“That must hurt too,” Kakashi commented. He was serious behind his carefree façade though, having recognized that she was too. He couldn’t help the wave of nostalgia and regret that seized him at the sight of Zabuza’s sword. When had Naruto taken it, and why? He wondered if, beyond Sakura’s affinity for heavy weaponry, she felt a particular kinship to the sword and what it had brought upon their team. Was she paying tribute by using it, or on the contrary, exorcising? Maybe he would ask her later.
The sword, massive as it was, didn’t slow her down – she was as fast as she had been with a regular katana, though she seldom waved this one around with only one hand. Kakashi had a hard time approaching her, and it was no use when he managed, for she wasn’t of Zabuza’s stature at all – the blade was large and sturdy enough for her to use as a shield.
Kakashi recalled her saying she liked kenjutsu because it allowed her to keep the distance between her and her enemies. In that sense, this sword was perfect for her.
There was something strange though, in the way she wielded it, that he couldn’t put his fingers on. She was focused and determined, didn’t brag nor taunt when Kakashi took a few steps back, assessing. She still looked a little proud when he reached up to uncover his left eye.
The next time she swung the sword, Kakashi put up a long kunai to block it, but she twisted it at the last moment, skidding across the kunai, aiming straight for his forearm.
He wasn’t fast enough to get his arm out of the way.
But when the blade crashed against him, though he let out a surprised cry under the heavy blow, there was no blood in sight, where it should have cut his arm clean off.
She drew the sword away, looking smug.
“It’s dull,” Kakashi said, frowning.
“It’s hard to control it still. It would be too dangerous to sharpen it.”
“But then…”
She didn’t let him continue – she threw the blade in a wide arc that would have cut him in half had he stayed where he was, but the move was slow and obvious and he had no issue jumping back to avoid it.
He recognized it too late. She grinned.
“You’re dead, sensei.”
Though the blade had flown a good ten centimeters from his chest, his uniform was cut open and there was a long line of red trickling lightly across his skin. She had only grazed him, because he wasn’t an enemy. But there was no doubt if she had wanted the blade to be longer, it would have been.
“It only cut when I want it too,” she explained. She was a little embarrassed still, like she was trying not to brag.
She could though. He whistled, impressed.
She had been able to lengthen her sword against Sasuke during the chunin exam, but it was far thinner than this one and easier to wield around. Kakashi’s wound was visible but shallow, which meant she had controlled the length perfectly, so that he wouldn’t be wounded too badly but wouldn’t come out unscathed either. This, plus the chakra running through her arms and legs, all her muscles, to give her the strength to lift the sword…
Kakashi knew her chakra control was off the chart, but this was ridiculous.
“Any other tricks you wish to demonstrate?” Kakashi asked, gesturing at the gathered crowd. She blushed, only now realizing the sparring session had turned into quite the show.
“I’ll keep some suspense,” she said around a laugh. He wondered what else Jiraiya could have taught her. What he had seen wasn’t any passed down secret though, wasn’t anything rare or unique. It was just the result of tremendous work, a mastery of basic skills so refined that it took it all to the next level.
What would she top that with?
“As far as I’m concerned, you pass with flying color, Sakura.”
She beamed.
“Thank you sensei.”
.
Kakashi praised her and she couldn’t help but blush, her friends cheered and she reddened even more. She knew the scope of her improvement, knew she could be proud of how far she’d come, but it wasn’t the same to hear it from others, from the people she valued and cared about, from those she admired. Hayate and Yugao approached them, smiling lightly.
“I see you took care to make us look good out there, Sakura,” Yugao said, flustering her even further. She couldn’t handle the pride and softness shining in her teachers’ eyes, and she could only exhale an embarrassed laugh and avoid everyone’s gaze.
Fortunately for her, she had pretty good friends.
“Oï, Sakura!”
Sakura braced herself for Ino jumping on her back with great enthusiasm. She didn’t budge, to Ino’s delight.
“You know what, I like that. Carry me!”
Sakura rolled her eyes but complied, sliding her hands under Ino’s thighs for better support. Ino grabbed her shoulders more firmly. Only then did Sasuke join them.
“That was good,” he said, sounding genuine despite his neutral expression. Sakura tried to shrug – not easy with Ino weighing down on her shoulders.
“Sakura! We need to fight some times!” Kiba exclaimed, looking extremely taken with the idea.
“Ah, sure.”
“Not afraid to get your ass kicked Kiba?” Ino taunted.
“Hey! I’ve been training too!”
“How did you even know we would be here? Did you meet on the way?” Sakura asked. Sasuke scoffed.
“No. She slept on our couch, again. I’m going to start charging you for rent, Ino.”
“Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that. And I just know everything. We snatched the others on the way.”
He clicked his tongue, annoyed. She just laughed.
Sakura was seized with the urge to interrupt the exchange. Kakashi did it for her.
“We can go back to the Hokage right now Sakura, if you want,” he proposed. The rest of the group was dispersing, but Sasuke and Ino lingered.
“Yeah, that’s good. Huh, are you coming?” she asked her friends, Ino still firmly perched on her back. She sighed dramatically, blowing air on Sakura’s ear and cheek, making her shiver.
“I am,” Sasuke said. “Jiraiya is supposed to talk about his findings to the higher-ups.”
“I’m not,” Ino went on, pouting. ”I have work to do.”
“Just say that Tsunade-hime won’t let you sit in.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll still find a way to know.”
“Or you could just wait until I tell you,” Sasuke shot back with an eye roll.
“And let you have more information than me? Never.”
Sakura could hear the grin in her voice, and despite his annoyance, Sasuke looked faintly amused too. This was familiar territory for them, she could tell. Usual, a habit.
A habit that certainly didn’t exist two years ago.
“And you can go, Sasuke?” she kept on asking, not knowing what else to say. They started walking toward the Hokage Tower.
“Hm. Tsunade-sama lets me attend to this sort of thing, if I want to.”
“Really?”
“Didn’t he tell you? He’s her personal slave now.”
“I’m not her slave Ino, seriously.”
“She makes him write reports and official letters in her place,” Ino went on, ignoring him. “And fetch documents from the archive, assess the mission reports, make tea…”
“You’re just jealous because I get way more intel than you do.”
“In your dreams.”
Sakura tightened her grip on Ino’s thighs hard enough to divert her attention, and odd weight lodged in her throat.
“I thought she would only teach you medical jutsu,” she said.
“At first yeah, but he asked her to mentor him in her other duties as well, and she’s been taking advantage of him ever since.”
“She’s not taking advantage of me. I’m her best student, it’s normal that…”
“A-ha!” Ino cut, triumphant, while Sasuke’s expression soured as if he regretted his words. “Congratulations, you held on what, ten minutes, before mentioning it? You’re getting better.”
He cast her a murderous look.
“Am I missing something?” Sakura interjected before she was cast out of the conversation entirely.
“He didn’t tell you? You talked for hours yesterday and you didn’t tell her, Sasuke? You are getting better!”
“Ino, would you please stop.”
"It so happens, cherry pie, that our Sasuke here turned out to be exceptionally gifted at medical ninjutsu. A “natural talent with a promising future”, those are the Godaime’s exact words. And how do I know that? Because Sasuke has quoted them back to me many, many times.”
Ino was obviously taking great delight at teasing Sasuke, who was red and embarrassed and muttering curses under his breath. Kakashi was also amused. He was also in on it. Sakura was the odd one out.
Unpleasant.
“What about your brother?” she asked, regretting it instantly. That was unnecessarily mean – Sakura had listened to enough ranting on Sasuke’s part to know there was quite a large amount of frustration to be found in him when it came to his older brother. They were very close – Sakura was awfully jealous when she saw them together, as she always dreamed of having siblings instead of being stuck alone with her parents – but he also suffered from Itachi’s reputation as a born prodigy. Granted, it had lessened in the years before her departure, as Itachi had inexplicably distanced himself from his shinobi duties, but it was still a strong incentive for Sasuke’s drive to always push himself one step further.
To her surprise though, Sasuke didn’t look upset at all. He looked, in fact, like he was very pleased, but trying very hard to hide it.
“It… turned out he wasn’t gifted at everything after all,” Sasuke mumbled through his teeth, glaring at Ino when she laughed again.
He smiled, despite the teasing. As inconsequential as he was trying to pass it for – he hadn’t even mentioned it to her before – she knew what it meant to him, to come before Itachi for the first time in their life. He had seemed so at ease at the hospital, so confident, completely in his element. He had found his path.
“Yeah, yeah, we all know you’re the very best, Sasuke.”
Sakura was glad when they reached the Hokage Tower. Ino hopped off, taking the direction of the Intelligence Department, promising she’d meet them later knowing more than they did. Sakura stuck her tongue at her.
The Hokage office was crowded with jounin and clan heads. Sakura greeted them with a nod, smiling politely at those who recognized her – namely, Ino’s father and her friends' instructors. Sasuke’s father looked grim and even grimmer when he spotted Sasuke, who deliberately looked elsewhere. Jiraiya ruffled her hair quite rudely, looking way too pleased that he could get away with it – she couldn't very well punch the Sannin in front of the village commandment.
Those were all expected faces. Except…
“Huh, Sasuke. What is Hinata doing here?”
She was flanked by two members of the Hyuuga clan Sakura didn’t recognize, a man and a woman, the first quite young, the other middle-aged, both standing straight and tall, serious. There was nothing to be read on Hinata’s blank face.
He gave her a look, as if to say “isn’t it obvious?”, and she rolled her eyes. No it wasn’t. It certainly was for him, but not for her. Understanding dawned on him and he bit his lips, embarrassed.
“Oh. Right. You don’t know.”
She made a face at him. Of course she didn’t know. She was tumbling around the countryside with an old jerk, she wasn’t keeping tabs on the Hyuuga clan.
“I should… have told you about that. It’s, well, Hinata… she’s the Hyuuga clan head now.”
What.
“Since, hm, since Neji left the village.”
What?