Darkest Before Dawn

Return

   "Konohagakure... huh?"

   Sakura leaned leisurely on the thick bark of a tree just a mile away from the Hidden Leaf. Today, she was due back to the village. Back to duty. Back to servitude. And she couldn't say that she was particularly... excited about being re-bound as an active ninja. Being a rogue had actually been fun. She sighed, jumped down from her perch, and made way to the village.

~

   Ibiki crossed his arms and closed his eyes. There were no available chuunin or jounin to watch the gate, so they turned to the tokubetsu jounin. Him and Anko were close to falling asleep at their posts as a warm breeze passed through.

   "Ehhh? Slacking off, are we? You haven't changed a bit, sensei."

   That voice...

   "Well I'll be damned!" Anko exclaimed with a hearty laugh, "If it ain't the little brat! Finally, decided to come home, did ya?"

   Sakura grinned and scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

   "You know how it goes. Hokage-sama gave me a due date and here I am." Sakura replied, "How have you been, Anko-san? Have you kept watch on sensei? He had a tendency of lazing around."

   "Still has."

   "Excuse me, I'm right here." the aforementioned growled. Of course, that irritation only lasted a few seconds. How could he be angry? His student was back, grown up, and who knows how powerful. She had gotten about a good seven inches taller and stood at 5'3". The katana she received when she was five hung diagonally across her back, and her hair reached just above her waist and was tied with white bandages.

   Not only had her appearance changed, but the way she held herself had taken an interesting turn. Even in the presence of him and Anko, the two people she had known since she was just a little girl, she hadn't relaxed. Her guard was on high alert like it would normally be if one was on a mission. Sakura's chakra was also suppressed so well that you could mistake her for a normal civilian if it weren't for her weapons and outfit that screamed 'shinobi'.

   Ibiki's eyes narrowed in thought. Sakura was still the same kid he knew, yet she was a completely changed person. She turned towards him with a cheery grin.

   "Sensei, I haven't seen you in five years! Are you just going to sit there or give me a hug?!"

   ""He won't." Anko chuckled, "He grew old and turned into a moldy prune."

   Ibiki's eye twitched but he allowed himself a smile. It was good to have her back.

~

   "Welcome back, Sakura-chan." Minato greeted with a warm smile, "How have you been these past five years? Have they gone as well as you've hoped?"

   "Truthfully, it was better than I expected it to be, Hokage-sama. But I'm home now, and that's still good enough for me."

   "I see." he said. Minato stood up, approached a file cabinet, and opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out a red hitai-ate, the one Sakura had given up years ago. Handing it to her, he gave her another smile.

   "You know, you made it just in time for the Jounin exams. They'll start in about two months, but registration ends tomorrow. If you're interested, I'll sign you up."

   Sakura nodded.

   "Sure, Hokage-sama. I'll join them."

   He complied and wrote her name on the roster of entries. After exchanging a few more words with him, she bowed and left the office. She had a lot of explaining to do to a lot of people for her sudden disappearance without so much a word. Ino for sure would give her a good yelling, followed by Naruto, and maybe even Mikoto.

   But before she endured all that, she'd get situated back at her house. When she stepped in, she was relieved to see that nothing had changed. Dust had piled up on everything, but other than that, she was happy. Sakura set her stuff down in her old room and back outside.

   Before anything, she'd first have to visit her parents graves.

Picture: I do not own. Belongs to Soul4Projektion on deviantart.net.