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The Mission
By: Yumi
Notes: Thanks to everyone who gave me info on Sai (esp. RedLotusNin and IceHunterNin, you gave me a lot of insights). I admit I'm writing out of curiosity, so I’m not sure about the quality of this. I’m all AU, after all. I just had to write this though, even though I haven’t finished anything else. Flame me, I think I deserve it, haha.
Sakura grunted as streams of bright light flooded pass her eyelids. She blinked, 6:27, and promptly cursed. Yesterday night had been particularly tiresome—people were practically stacking up in rooms and several cases had been more severe. Fortunately, upon seeing one particular group, she felt relieved to an extent.
So she was a little late. What harm would it do? Brushing her teeth and dressing quickly, Sakura finished her morning preparations by tossing her hair on the top of her head in a make-shift bun. Her breakfast consisted of a blueberry muffin the bakery owner insisted she have when Sakura passed by as she was closing up the night before.
The office was empty when she arrived, and she should have thought as much. Tsunade sama had to do several emergency operations last night, Sakura only had to take care of two. Sighing, she picked up the empty sake bottles that tipped over, piling them up neatly against the table leg. It seems that Shizune also didn’t have an easy night. Usually, she was the one that did the clean-up-Tsunade’s-room chore, but apparently she had her hands full as well. Stacking documents and stray papers in place, Sakura took the liberty of completing several of the simpler forms for her teacher’s sake. Satisfied, she slipped on her medical jacket and decided to make her fist round a little early. Just for him.
That idiot.
There was a cool breeze in the room when she entered. For a moment, she was afraid that he might have escaped through one of the windows but smiled in knowing that he wouldn’t be able to move fluidly for a few days. Wait no, that’s no smiling matter!
“Yo.”
“Good morning. Feeling better sensei?”
“I’ve been better.”
“Which is no surprise,” Sakura frowned as she took the clipboard and skimmed through the first two pages. He was no longer their sensei, but none of them had ever dropped the habit, except Sasuke. It was kind of reassuring knowing that some things never changed. She raised her eyes to glare at him, but his eyes told her that he was grinning at her from behind his cursed mask. Mirth.
Damn you.
The mission was not supposed to be an A-rank. Kakashi had told her over lunch that he was to lead a few chuunins over to the Mist to deliver a scroll. It was more of a training-diplomacy thing than anything else, supposedly. They were to be gone for about a week, and Sakura hadn’t thought much of it until the second week rolled by. She was scared. She comforted herself in that she knew Kakashi was a remarkable ninja—a former ANBU—and that he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and his comrades. But that was the part that scared her. He would sacrifice for his comrades. It was well understood that it was perfectly fine to die as a shinobi for one’s belief and the mission’s goal, but it was unacceptable to allow comrades to die. Being a ninja had bucket loads of double standards, and Sakura knew that Kakashi would give his life to save the other three chuunin. It was his duty as the captain.
And that was why she was afraid. Even Tsunade was starting to consider sending reinforcements, which might have looked fishy to the Mist, but Sakura knew her teacher was worried. She drank more sake than usual, which was quite a statement. Thankfully, the third week came about and a medical squad found and brought back Kakashi’s group. They were badly battered. Kakashi had sent one of his summoned dogs to report to the Hokage, and fortunately ran into Asuma along the way. Kakashi was the least damaged, so of speak, so Sakura was in charge of taking care of him when the four bloody pulps were brought in last night. It was another small miracle. Everyone survived, and Sakura took a mental note to never take her perverted sensei for granted…even though he had the disgusting habit of reading that stupid little dirty book in front of her.
“Sensei.”
“Hm?”
“You’re supposed to stay here for a week, but since I know you’ll attempt and successfully escape in a day or two, I’ll come by and change your bandages and check on your deeper wounds.”
The twinkle was in Kakashi’s eye again. His forehead protector was lying on the little table next to the pitcher of water and the flowers that, no doubt, Sakura had arranged there for him. It never surprised him, but it always pleased him to see what a fine young kunoichi Sakura had matured into. Even her posture, her tone, and her presence had a refined and composed air of grace and strength. A little nagging voice in the back of his head had always reprimanded him for paying a little more attention to the boys, which was slightly justified since they had more ‘problems,’ so of speak.
“Earth to sensei.”
“Hai hai,” he smiled. She was now a jounin and an excellent medic, challenged only by Tsunade herself.
“But stay. Just for another day at least. No excuses.”
Sakura glanced at her teacher with an eyebrow raised, skepticism etched in her expression. She smirked, “Or else I’ll burn your whole orange series. All of it.”
I can’t believe he has both the paperback and hardback editions. Ugh.
Kakashi’s feigned horrified expression left Sakura smiling as she shut the door behind her with a soft click.
“Hey, ugly, how long are you going to keep me here for?”
No, no…heal, not kill.
Sakura smiled as the edge of her lips twitched. She took his arm into her hands and checked for any more fractured bones a little roughly. Crack. Oops, well, she could just fix that up later.
“Ouch. That hurt you hag. Do you know what you’re doing?”
She smiled again. This time, it was a nonverbal proclamation of ‘I’ll-castrate-you-if-you-don’t-shut-up,’ which he quickly caught the hint and remained silent as she pressed chakra into his body, quickly repairing the destroyed cells and closing up his wound. Now some bandages.
Sai opted for a bemused expression. Usually the woman would have already physically inflicted some sort of punishment. Well, she did break something, he was sure, but usually he would have been bruised in several more spots. More broken bones.
“Done,” Sakura turned around to clean the area a bit before the nurses came in, “Just don’t do anything else stupid to open up the wound.”
She held up her hand before he could protest, “I don’t want to hear it. Don’t provoke Naruto. He wouldn’t have kicked your sorry ass if you didn’t run your foul mouth again.”
“The dickless idiot had it coming.”
“Stop calling him that. That is exactly why you’re here so often. I could be treating some other patient instead of fixing your stupid catfight injuries.”
“You just wanted to see my face, admit it. Or else, you could send someone else here instead. You know, someone attractive.”
Sakura smiled as the pencil she was holding snapped cleanly in two, “I would have love to, but they all seem to have taste in men and scurried away before I had a chance to ask.”
Sai smiled blankly at Sakura as she fumed. The truth was, when she got back to the front desk, the whole bunch of squabbling nurses were arguing who got to treat the idiot. She had to break them up and cracked her knuckles before they resumed their tasks, fear infused. It kind of amused her how girls squawked at Sai…it was like how all the girls at the academy chased Sasuke kun when they were young.
And Sasuke. After he returned to Konoha, albeit unwillingly, he resumed the role of a shinobi. Granted, he had to start as genin again, which obviously annoyed him to no ends, but at least he was alive. He was not granted permission to leave the village for a whole year before he started climbing the ranks again, and others had eyed him as “the traitor” and such, which he paid no attention to. Sasuke was still Sasuke. And frankly, he did not care. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were always there for him…and that was enough. When he had learned that Sai had “replaced” him on the team, he shrugged it off to protect his masculine pride, but he had been a bit peeved, if not hurt. Fortunately, Sasuke had skill. Of course he did. He was probably ANBU level but was stuck, currently, as a chuunin. Next week though, that was about to change. He would take the jounin exam and pass, with flying colors, and reenter Team 7, because—as Sakura said—Tsunade wouldn’t have it another way. She probably didn’t trust him without Sakura or Naruto around, but he didn’t really care.
“Lunch.”
Sai frowned slightly, “Excuse me?”
“Don’t tell me Naruto messed up your hearing as well,” she paused and added thoughtfully, “Although he might as well. I would have preferred that he cut your vocal cords instead, but I can’t be too picky, can I? Maybe I should do it myself.” She smiled, “And I said we should have lunch.”
Since when did she invite him to lunch? Something had to be wrong. The mission? He hoisted himself off the table where Sakura had been ‘healing’ him, “Mission?”
“No,” she was finished cleaning her work area and looked at him expectantly, “can’t I invite you to lunch without having it to be about the mission?”
“No,” he replied a little too quickly. Seeing her fists clench up a little, he added, “At least you haven’t so far.”
She sighed, “Well, I am now. What do you say?”
He smiled craftily, “Do you want to be seen with me so badly? I guess it’s only normal for unattractive people to want to be with attractive ones, but why the sudden epiphany?”
“Sai kun,” She started sweetly before she clenched her teeth audibly, “Let’s have lunch. Now.” She pointed to a pad of paper, “Or you’ll be staying in the hospital, prohibited from missions for at least two weeks from internal injuries.”
Sai’s eyes widened for a second before he replaced it with his blank smile and walked out the door with a more-than-pleased Sakura behind him.
Boy, was she getting good at treats nowadays or what?
“Ne, Sasuke-teme,” Naruto managed between bites (which never ceases to amuse Sasuke slightly), “Sakura chan is late, isn’t she?”
“Hn,” Sasuke turned back to his ramen. The idiot was right. Sakura was late, which was odd, since Sakura was never late. Maybe she had some immediate things to handle at the hospital.
“I ran into her last night, she looked really tired,” another gulp, swallow, “I hope she’s okay. She told me that Kakashi sensei was back though. Looks like he was beaten up pretty badly, but he’s okay. Sakura chan can fix anything!”
Sasuke smirked at that. Sakura did surprise him when he returned, and that was saying a lot—coming from the Uchiha. In fact, he had been moderately aware that she was one of the medics who healed him, performing the dokuniku no jutsu to perfection. Tsunade was in charge of course, and she sure as hell gave him the lecture of his life when he woke up. He also had a few more bruise marks that he didn’t remember several days before. Not that he was about to complain. He respected her, in a sense. But most importantly, that woman was scary. And about Sakura, Naruto informed him when he visited the next day that she had been under the tutorage of Tsunade herself for a good number of years now, a jounin, and a top medic. How she transformed herself, he would never find out, but he was slightly impressed. He would have never thought that she would make it to jounin level. She was ahead of him for Christ sake! But he knew it was only by title. He was well ahead of Sakura in terms of skill, but Sakura did account for that with her medic skills.
Sakura didn’t visit him the next day. Only Naruto stayed to chat, and Kakashi dropped by to wave and offered to lend him some of his prized books. Kakashi added with a serious tone that he should stay put. Underneath the underneath, Sasuke knew that it wasn’t even a warning. It was an outright demand, and if it wasn’t complied to completely, he would die. End of story.
Sakura eventually did come around the third day. Not that he would ever admit it—he would give up his rice balls and tomatoes before he did—but he wondered why she didn’t until now. He remembered the smile on her face as she walked in. She sat herself on a chair and asked him if he was feeling better yet. He gave a terse “Ah,” and “Hn,” every now and then, and she seemed to have been content with him just being alive. That was when he saw the change: her appearances, her skill, and her personality. And that was that. Ever since, the three became tighter than before. He and Naruto had their rivalry still blazing, but it had come to a comfortable understanding now. They trained together but managed to live their own lives. He had an irking suspicion that Tsunade made it possible for Naruto and Sakura to spend as much time with him as they did. He thanked her for that, he guessed.
“Sakura chan!” Naruto shouted enthusiastically, ignoring the spill on the table top.
As if on cue, Sakura smiled. You could always count on Naruto to put a smile on her face. She waved to Naruto and Sasuke and quickly checked Naruto’s change in mood as Sai came in view. She was sure. They just finished one of their brawls this morning, and Naruto, being Naruto healed outrageously quickly without medical assistant. Sai, however, didn’t have that advantage. Why the two had such passion for fighting each other, Sakura thought she had an idea. Sai was like Sasuke in so many ways. While Sasuke would always hold a special place in Naruto’s heart, Naruto was unconsciously befriending Sai, who, as far as Sakura knew, had no real friends. And she did want to help the bastard, even though he had a garbage can for a mouth. So they fought, and Sakura noted that boys would forever be so testosterone driven that they could not, and would not, lower their egos and just say, “Let’s be buddies.” She mentally scoffed at the thought.
At the same time, Sasuke’s glare was not set unnoticed. For the king of visual threats to waste his precious time to attack Sai in his Sasuke-manner meant that Sasuke really was hostile towards the man. But why, Sakura couldn’t really phantom. And that was why she invited Sai out to lunch!
Yes! Sakura Haruno had a mission!
“Sakura chan! Why is the bastard here!”
“Naruto!” Sakura warned, “Stop calling him that!” She whipped her head to Sai’s direction, “And you, don’t you start again as well.”
Sai only smiled blankly at Sakura and sat down next to her. This was obviously distressing to Naruto. The jerk was sitting next to his precious Sakura chan! Interestingly enough, this was somewhat disturbing to the Uchiha as well.
“He’s having lunch with us,” Sakura said firmly. It was enough to shut Naruto up, and she could only thank God that Naruto had more of a little thing called ‘tact’ than he had years ago.
They placed their orders and Sakura decided that it was time for some warm, friendly conversation. The goal of this whole ordeal was to let Sasuke and Sai have some time together. If they were to be a team, they better as hell act like one.
Damn right!
“Sasuke kun,” she smiled at him cheerfully, “Tsunade sama confirmed it. You are returning to Team 7 as the fifth member. Normally, it would be a four man team, but you know the situation.”
She looked carefully to see any signs of distress or annoyance. None yet. Okay, still good. Go on.
“When is your exam?”
“Thursday.”
“We’ll be rooting for you,” she continued after Sasuke gave his signature ‘hn’ which meant ‘do as you wish,’ and pushed invisible strands of her pink locks behind her ear, “And I just heard from Tsunade sama. We have a mission on Saturday. Do you think you will recover from exam injuries by then?”
Sasuke smirk, “Of course.” Ah, no shortage of modesty there. She could have sworn she heard Sai scoff. And of course Sasuke kun would have heard, so she continued before warfare could ensue, “Good. Kakashi sensei won’t be coming with us this time. He’s still in the hospital” He’d better be, she added mentally. “Sai is team captain and I’ll help with the strategic. We’ll inform you and Naruto later, after your exam. Wouldn’t want to distract you”
Sasuke nodded to this while Naruto complained and demanded that he be the mission leader. With a whack on the head and a scolding from his love, he folded his arm for a few seconds to pout before he resumed his ramen gorging.
When they were done, which meant Naruto finally finishing his sixth bowl of ramen, Naruto ran off to do some training with Jiraiya. Which left Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai standing there.
Maybe some alone-alone time would do them some good. Somehow, even thought she decided on that, she felt it was a horrible idea. She would have to give it a shot anyhow.
“That was fun,” she turned and smiled, especially at her Sasuke kun, “I need to head back to the hospital before Tsunade sama grills me.”
Inner Sakura still felt slight butterflies every time she was close to Sasuke, but kunoichi Sakura knew better. Not that she had to stop all her daydreaming all together, right? No, she still had a soft spot for the rooster-head, as Sai calls on occasion when he didn’t call him “traitor.”
She tapped her arm and looked at Sai, “Remember.”
He smiled again. Yes, that stupid blank one.
You prick.
She forced herself to think positive before she smiled once more and waved to them as she returned to the hospital. She turned to see if they went their separate ways to find them both still looking at her retreating forms. She gave a nervous smile before increasing her pace. That was weird. A little uneasy…maybe leaving them together was not such a hot idea. She had hoped that maybe they would at least exchange a few words about the mission or something. Anything. But maybe she was wrong.
Or perhaps she was right.
-I would like a little feedback, seeing that I’m a bit nervous about this one. If you could spare a few minutes, I would appreciate some advice/comments. Thanks.