Chapter Text
Small green leaves floated through the wind as he felt a cool summer breeze in his hair. He stood on the roof of the Konaha hospital as the wind rustled around him. It was approximately 5:46 AM, and the Hidden Leaf village was still fast asleep. The sun peeked up from the East, coming up behind the many tall and partially destroyed buildings that littered Konaha’s landscape.
Sasuke looked out upon the village he had once lost to his own revenge. He thought of his family, not the one that had died all those years ago, but instead, the one who he couldn't seem to shake. He thought of Naruto and Sakura, and how easily they had forgiven him for his sins. Sakura. He felt guilt creep in. He had disappointed her beyond the bounds of disappointment. He had wrapped his hand around her throat and... lost himself. She avoided him sometimes. Though she seemed to valiantly deny it, he noticed every time their eyes met, and anger beneath them.
Deep in his thoughts, he failed to notice Kakashi creeping up behind him.
“Enjoying the view?” He questioned the brooding man.
“Yes,” Sasuke answered simply. He looked at the older man, and Kakashi sighed, taking a deep breath and enjoying the village's silence. He let the silence reach a comfortable end before speaking up again.
“We have a mission in the Land of Rivers. Debrief is at 9 at the Hokage's office. Pack well; we will be gone for a few weeks,” Kakashi spoke with soft brevity.
“Hn.” Sasuke nodded, choosing to focus on the sun rising in front of him again. Kakashi took his leave from the roof, a small smile creeping onto his face as he shook his head at his silent student.
Sasuke stood there a little longer, thinking of Sakura again. Had he ruined their relationship fully? She had changed so much since the last time he saw her. Since the war. Her hair was longer. He let out a small sigh. Retreating to the roof’s staircase back to his private room.
Then he felt it. The pressure, as if someone else's chakra was trying to creep into his own. He shuddered at the feeling, the heat, the pain of it. He pushed back hard, frantically looking around his room. Then, as if it had never happened, it disappeared, and the pressure was gone. The tension dissipated.
Sakura awoke to the sound of obnoxious tapping, the tapping of a bird, to be specific. Kakashi, she thought, looking at the carrier bird lazily from her bed. That meddling old man better have some hell of a reason to even dare to wake her up this early on her mandatory day off. She sloppily got out of bed, grumbling. She quickly opened her window and gently grabbed for the bird’s message pouch.
‘Longggg Mission. Hokage's office at 9. Start packing! Tell Naruto for me! - Your favorite Sensei!'
Sakura let out a frustrated groan; she already had her hands full with the hospital.This could possibly be the worst time for me to leave. With all the reconstruction and rehabilitation Konaha needed, she was confused as to why she was being assigned an out-of-village mission. It didn’t make sense; unless the situation was dire, she shouldn’t be required.
6:47, her clock read. She had time to get herself ready and to pack.
If Kakashi had sent for her, this mission was likely to involve the rest of Team 7, right?
Not prepared to think about a certain black-haired man, Sakura decided to theorize about her new mission. She crawled back into bed. It probably had something to do with the missing Leaf shinobi Tsunade had discussed with her. Eleven shinobi had gone missing in the last month, and Four medical specialists who Sakura had worked closely with during the war were among them. Lady Tsunade had thought the first two who had gone missing were deserters, and then three more were gone the next week, five the next, and so on. Two recovery teams had already been sent, but Sakura really did not have much intel on them. Besides the fact that Ino was one of the mission leads. She had been sent a week ago, and Tsunade hadn't heard much from her team.
Their check in two days ago had only been received, which worried Sakura, of course. However, it wasn't unusual for Ino not to check in. Lady Tsunade is well aware of Ino's capabilities. Ino had been sent to gather info, extract it from the missing Shinobi. By force if necessary. Not that it would ever really devolve to that.
She haphazardly rolled out of her bed again, stubbing her toe in the process.
Yeouch...
Limping into her bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror before pulling out a small sensible bag from underneath her sink. She shoved her toothbrush, toothpaste, and whatever else she could manage to fit inside. She tended to bring makeup on missions; it wasn't that crazy of a concept. Kunoichi often needed it, especially if the mission required some sort of espionage.
She glanced over at her shower, thinking that she should probably take a quick one. Wouldn't hurt. It'd probably be a while before she'd even be given the chance to take another. She stripped and turned on the water, landing between hot and cold. She exhaled as the water hit her face, running manicured fingers through her own hair. She washed it and hopped out, wrapping a towel over her hair before walking to her dresser and changing.
She focused herself back on packing. She shoved her delicates and a change of clothes in her pack. Food pills, bandages, and a suture kit were shoved into her toiletry bag. An array of antidotes for every occasion and some medical scrolls. She could at least keep up with her work.
Naruto was snoring loudly when he was awoken by a small item being thrown at him. He jolts at the impact of the object, yelping and then rubbing the sleep out of his blue eyes. He yawns and looks up at his assailant.
“Why are you in my home?” He groaned, looking up at Sakura, who was fully dressed and looked just about ready for anything.
“Hinata, let me in, fool,” She said, walking around the bed and yanking the covers off of Naruto. “Get up, we have a mission. Debriefs at 9,”
He gasped and tried to cover himself. She deadpanned.
"You are ridiculous"
Naruto looked over to his alarm clock, which seemed wildly ineffective because he consistently woke up an hour later than he was supposed to.
“It’s 8:27?! Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” Naruto sprang up quickly, practically sprinting to his closet, rummaging through all of his multiples of the same orange set. He threw it on quickly, so quickly his pants were on backwards. She really did not want to bother telling him.
“I tried... Thrice” Sakura said, putting up three fingers. “Hinata helped me pack your stuff; we gotta go… like now. Everyone is probably there already.”
“Kakashi... Early? That's something I’d like to see,” Naruto said. Sakura snorted. She patted Naruto on the shoulder and smiled at him.
“Let's just go,” Sakura said as she walked out of the bedroom door, moving down the stairs, waving to Hinata, and walking out of the house with a sense of urgency. Naruto was right behind her, stopping in the kitchen to kiss his lovely girlfriend goodbye.
Walking into the Hokage’s office, Sakura and Naruto noticed the ever-mounting pile of paperwork and scrolls that seemed to reach the ceiling of their Lady’s desk. Sakura noticed some scrolls contained the seals of the other great nations. One she seemed especially drawn to looked like it was from the Land of Rivers.
Coincidentally, Lady Tsunade picked that very scroll up and handed it off to Kakashi, who was leaning over at her side, whispering something. Sakura noticed Sasuke’s tall frame looming on the other side of the room.
He looked as though he was attempting to read their lips. Sai isn't here yet.
The Hokage let out an awkward cough to draw the attention of Team 7, who all seemed to be off in space. One way or another.
”I’ll do this quickly because I don’t have much time here,” Lady Tsunade said, standing up from behind her desk. The room felt tense.
“In recent weeks, we've noticed the disappearance of several Leaf Shinobi. “Originally.." Tsunade cleared her throat. "We believed them to be deserters.. However, we now know that to be untrue."
"Ino Yamanaka was found right outside the village gates this morning.. She is in critical condition. We don't know who or what did it." Kakashi interjected.
Sakura felt her heart drop. Naruto was looking at her; she could feel it. She could also feel tears beginning to spring from her eyes. She swallowed harshly.
"She has given us the information needed to send Team 7 out after the rest of her team. They have uncovered something…" Tsunade looked at Sakura, "I took care of her myself, Sakura. She will be okay."
Sakura hadn't realized she had been holding her breath when she exhaled.
Naruto's hand found its way to her shoulder.
"You are dismissed. Make your way to the gates, kids. Make haste, would'ya"
"Alright, you heard her!" Naruto exclaimed, clapping. He was reading Sakura like a book. He placed his other hand on her shoulder and began to push her gently out of the Hokage's office. Sasuke and Kakashi followed behind.
They met Sai at the gate. He looked tired. He feigned a smile and greeted his teammates.
"Good Morning, Ugly," he greeted Sakura. Sasuke gave him a peculiar look; he still wasn't used to Sai's "affectionate" nicknames. Sakura rolled her eyes at Sai. She took the news about Ino better than he thought she would.
Sasuke had heard the bustling of Ino's arrival at the hospital earlier that morning. He had been made to stay overnight indefinitely because of his eyes, so for the time being, he lived there. Just about every surgeon in the hospital, on the clock or not, was in Ino's surgery. At least that's what he had heard from a few of the scrub nurses who had been gossiping a little too close to the open door of his room.
Five rib fractures, a cracked femur, a pierced lung, and an open wound near her intestines. She had arrived on the edge of death but pulled through after several hours of miracles. Sasuke was surprised that Sakura hadn't been paged. She was the head doctor; Tsunade was only really present in emergencies where Sakura was indisposed.
"Good morning Dickless and Sasuke," Sai said, that smile still plastered on his pale white face. Sasuke cringed internally at his smile but nodded at him.
"Ne.. Sai.. When are you going to drop 'Dickless'.. I have a whole girlfriend," Naruto looked defeated. Sakura let out a small giggle. It was a nice sound.
"It's an affectionate nickname, Naruto," Kakashi said playfully. "I'm sure Hinata-chan knows it's not true!" he winked Naruto's way, causing the blonde's face to redden.
"Alright, alright, enough chit chat," Sakura spoke.
She began walking, the rest following in suit. Kakashi made his way up to her, handing her a scroll. Sasuke could barely make out the words coming from their lips. Ino.. Okay... Mission... Scroll. Ah, the mission scroll. Sasuke nodded to himself.