Sunday, 10th of September.
"Sakura, Ino, thank you again for coming. The village really appreciates what you did for us. You are welcome here at any time."
"Thank you for inviting us, Lord Kazekage. Thank you for believing in our idea. Hopefully this will make a difference in the world."
"It already has and please call me Gaara. Without you my brother would not be alive today and I would not be here either. Konoha is a true ally to Suna. Please pay my respects to Naruto when you see him."
"We will."
"I also just got an hawk from the Hokage. Sakura you are asked to go to Tsuchigumo."
"Why?"
"Apparently the medics Konoha sent are not good enough for the head of their hospital."
"Of course they aren't." her sarcastic tone surprised everyone. "I will head there. Does Ino have to come as well?"
"No, Ino Yamanaka is needed in the village."
"Oh don't tell me I have to deal with Kotaka alone." her whisper was heard by all but she didn't care.
Ino slapped her shoulder. "The Kotaka! I can't believe that Kakashi is making me go back to Konoha when I could've seen that man."
"Ino, be quiet. Excuse her Gaara."
"It's alright. I will send a team of ninja to accompany you as well as your Anbu team."
"Oh, it's not necessary, thank you though. We can take care of ourselves."
"The roads are dangerous lately."
Her mind automatically went to Sasuke. Did he find something that she wasn't aware of?
The two talked with the Kazekage a bit longer before leaving to pack their bags. The journey to Tsuchigumo was a five days walk but luckily Gaara had offered to travel by ship. It was going to take only one day to cross the passage and arrive in the Land of Fire. Tsuchigumo was only one day away from there.
Sakura was exited, she had never seen the sea and apparently the Land of the Wind was known for its dangerous cliffs. The most famous ones were the ones at the Sand Peninsula. Apparently people from all over the world visited them every year. It was said that they were extremely high and the wind was so strong that if you stood too close to the edge you would fall into the sea. She always dreamt of seeing the ocean, being on a quiet beach while looking at the sunset but that would be for another time. For now she would have to be satisfied with the cliffs.
Her mind wandered to Sasuke. It had been eleven days since they had their talk and left on his little journey. Eleven days of travel and wander. Where are you now?
-------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 12th of September
Sasuke looked at the surgery table. It was the one that Obito had used to put Itachi's eyes into Sasuke's. His hand touched his right lid.
The previous day, he was walking in the Land of Earth and he had a sudden feeling. He remembered the hideout Obito had used before the war. It was located in the Mountains and Graveyard area. There was always something off about this place. First it was filled with skeletons of giant animals that never existed, a lab and other things that should not be there. Sasuke could also feel this chakra... the same that he had felt when he resided here for a short period of time. There was something related to Kaguya here and he was sure of it.
The sound of a bird made him turn his head quickly. Did Kakashi finally reply to his letter? He walked outside and watched the hawk land on a rock next to him. He grabbed the note and looked at it.
"Sasuke,
Shikamaru and I have read and took into consideration your concerns. We understand that Madara's hideout could be a source of vital information, especially since Obito and white Zetsu lived there. We will send a group of ninja there but in the meantime, I would like you to prioritise the Land of Birds. I gave the documents you found there to Tsunade and she is quite concerned about it. I am planning on sending an army there after hearing back from the other countries. We will then be waiting on you to tell us when to attack.
There are also new information concerning the scroll but right now nothing is alarming. I will keep you updated.
You also asked me to let you know of Sakura's whereabouts two days ago. I sent her back to Tsuchigumo to train the medical ninjas over there and investigate. I have a feeling that this village is hiding something from us and people easily trust her. She will probably already be there by the time you get this letter as she left two days ago.
Hokage Kakashi Hatake."
"He sent her there alone?" Sasuke gritted his teeth angrily. "I'm going to have to go there."
If Sakura was there already then he knew that he would need to travel there and fast. She was going to train all of them, including Kotaka, to medical jutsu. Sasuke felt a bit of happiness creeping into his body because this time the man was going to have to be quiet and listen to her orders. Sasuke definitely wanted to see that. On the other hand, he was a bit worried knowing that the last time she had seen him, she came back crying and hugged Sasuke. She never told him what had happened but if he did hurt her then Sasuke didn't want him near her.
He took out his map and looked at it. He would have to travel through the sound country, the fire country until the very bottom of it. That will at least take five days. By hawk it would only take eleven hours but it would seriously take a toll on his body. Keeping his summoning jutsu activated for half a day meant taking at least four pills. Sakura would kill him for that.
He considered walking half of the distance and then he remembered who Sakura was with right now. His blood boiled and he summoned his hawk straight away.
The bird flew above every single land. Sasuke recognised the forests and the village he grew up in. He took another pill.
The landscape stayed the same but he began to see the sea from up in the sky. Another pill.
Tsuchigumo appeared and he landed in the centre of the village. The few people walking ran away scared from the shadow of the bird. Sasuke jumped on the ground and walked to the first person he could see.
"The leaf kunoichi, where is she?"
The man pushed his wife behind him and replied to Sasuke scared. "In-in the hospital. What do you want from us?"
"You? Nothing. I'm a leaf ninja as well, don't be scared." he turned to his bird. "Release."
The animal disappeared in a cloud of thick smoke and Sasuke walked towards the hospital. His entrance was a bit dramatic, he had to admit it but right now he just wanted to make sure that she was alright.
The hospital hallways were totally empty. He could hear a voice coming from one of the rooms. He walked in there and saw around fifteen people sitting on benches listening to Sakura. She was standing in front of everyone, her lab coat on and her hair tied up. He stopped at the door and looked at her. She seemed so professional dressed up like that.
"Medical Ninjutsu is a jutsu that uses chakra to heal or repair wounds. We simply guide, accelerate or enhance the body's ability to heal. Basically it requires one to convert their chakra in a state that is accepted by the patient. If you don't adapt your chakra, you could hurt the recipient. Of course the greater the injury, the more difficult it is to heal."
"Miss?"
"Yes?"
"Can every wound be healed with medical ninjutsu?"
"No. Scratches, burns, stabs wounds are easy to heal. Broken bones or torn muscles are harder but still possible. The ones that are extremely hard or even impossible to perform, are injuries spread across the whole body or destroyed organs."
"Can we heal other things?"
"Yes, it can be used to heal wounds of course, but also drugs, poisons and diseases. Sometimes we can even treat neurological damages caused by genjutsu if we want to."
Sasuke was carefully listening to her. He knew that she was one of the top medic in the world but it still felt weird to him to see her in action. Every time she did, he remembered how she used to be when she was eleven years old and he was truly impressed.
"Medical ninjutsu is considered very difficult. It requires a very precise control of your chakra. It is used to heal others but it works best on yourself. If you treat yourself, you don't need to be able to change your chakra to adapt it. You can also enhance your own body abilities but we will have a look at that later. For now let's just learn how to adapt our chakra."
Every student started to activate in the room. Sakura was walking from table to table to explain or help. She was doing great and Sasuke couldn't help but watch her. He felt proud of her.
"Miss, what is the mark on your forehead?"
Sasuke raised his eyebrows curious. To be frank he did not fully understand what this was either, especially since she did not have it back in the days.
"Oh this?" she pointed at her mark. "Well it's technically not related to any medical jutsu. It forms when one can continuously amass chakra in a seal into their forehead. It takes years of effort to have the level of control required but once you get there, then the seal becomes permanent. It is intended for a technique created by Princess Tsunade: the Creation Rebirth. This technique would be impossible to use without a huge amount of chakra so she developed this seal to solve that issue."
"What's the Creation Rebirth jutsu?"
"It is considered the pinnacle of medical jutsu. It uses a vast amount of chakra to stimulate all cells and rebuild them. It pretty much can regenerate any body part. The constant regeneration can shorten your life span considerably though. My master always told me that a medical ninja should never engage in battle. A medic should always be able to dodge any attack to stay alive and heal. The only times a medic can fight is when he/she is the only one left on the battlefield or if she/he can use the Creation Rebirth Jutsu."
"How many ninja can use it?"
"Only two people. My master and I."
"Wow so you're like really really good!"
"Not as good as her. Come on, show me how you adapt your chakra."
Only two people? Did Sakura really manage to get to Tsunade's level?
He was looking at the pink haired kunoichi who still hasn't realised that he was there. A part of him felt a bit sad. She had found what she excelled at and was praised for it but he didn't achieve the same thing. He was a good fighter sure but he didn't have this special thing that her and Naruto possessed.
He waited until the end of her class and once everyone had left the room, he was about to talk to her but a man pushed him aside and walked in the room determined. Sasuke looked at him until he recognised him. As soon as he did, the anger too over his body.
"Can I help you?" he noticed that her voice was slightly tense.
"No, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Listen, I know you got back yesterday only but I really wanted to spend some time with you. I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left. Would you..."
"Sakura."
He saw the two people turning their heads towards him. A smile appeared on Sakura's face and Kotaka seemed annoyed.
"Ah I heard that a leaf ninja had landed in the middle of the village causing everyone to panic. I should've thought that it was you."
"Sasuke, how did you know I was here?"
"Leaf business. I need to talk to you alone."
Sakura frowned her eyebrows and walked towards him leaving Kotaka alone. Sasuke couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips. Of course she would pick him over the other idiot.
He walked her to an empty room and looked at her. She seemed worried. Her hand grabbed her ponytail and she took off the elastic band. Her hair fell on her shoulders gracefully. It was much longer than before. She looked very pretty.
"Kakashi told me that you were here. Your mission... the secret one," he whispered knowing that what he was about to say was a lie. "he gave it to me too."
"Oh so you have to investigate as well." he nodded at her feeling guilty for hiding the truth like that. "Well it is a good thing. I was thinking and I realised that maybe I should teach you a bit of medical ninjutsu so you can heal your wounds during your missions."
"I'm not sitting in a class with them."
"Got it, I'll teach you at the house every night then."
"The same one?"
"Yes. Listen I have some work to do now but I'll see you later, ok?"
"Hn."
She walked away from him but before she opened the door, she turned around and ran back to him. Her arms enveloped him strongly. "I'm happy to see you."
He smiled and rested his chin on her head. Yes, I am happy to see you too.
They stayed like that for what felt like minutes. Her grip on him got lighter.
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
She let go of him and looked at him with a big smile on her face. He couldn't stop himself from looking at it.
"Are you offering to cook something?"
"I'll buy something. Just tell me what you want."
"You pick!" she kissed him on the cheek. "I really have to go but I will see you at 7!"
He watched her leave the room. The smile he wasn't even aware of, faded away while his cheeks turned red. At least she was staying with him tonight.
Sasuke walked around the village for the rest of the afternoon. When he looked at the time, he realised that he was going to be late. He rushed to the first place that he could find and bought the dinner.
Once he got back home,!Sakura was already there. She was in the kitchen setting the table. Even if this was a simple gesture, it made him feel weird on the inside. He put the bag on the table and she looked at him with her pretty eyes.
"I didn't know you were here."
"I was late."
They sat down at the table facing each other.
"So, tell me! Where did you go?"
"The mountains and graveyard... and the sea."
"The sea! The real sea? I mean the one with the beach and everything or just the water." her face completely illuminated.
"Both are the sea." he smirked at her pouting face.
"I know... Oh forget about it. It was stupid of me to ask."
"Just the water. Have you ever seen it?"
"Just the water, yes. I haven't been to the normal one."
He wanted to laugh at the way she was describing it because of how sweet it was. He ate his food quietly thinking about what she had just said. So she wanted to see the sea.
"Sasuke. I need to ask you something." he raised his head to look at her. "why did you come here? I know that you were lying to me or hiding the truth at least. Kakashi wouldn't give you a mission so useless compared to what you are supposed to do."
He pressed his lips together tightly. He knew the answer but there was no way that he was telling her about it. He tried to find an escape.
"I missed your annoying voice."
"You're not gonna tell me, are you?" she said with a smile.
"I just told you."
"Well my guess is that it's because of Kotaka." his smile faded really quickly. "And judging by your reaction, I am right. You really think I'd go out with him? Come on, I told you why I went out with him the last time."
"You're supposed to investigate. You should go out with him again."
"But I am not going to."
"Why?"
"Because of you. You know my feelings for you and I know how you feel about me. I won't do this to you."
Sasuke looked back at his now empty plate. He had nothing to respond to that, besides he felt flushed and wanted to hide his face. A hand grabbed his plate and he saw Sakura turning her back on him to walk to the sink. He stood up to giver her a hand.
"Would you have come back even if I didn't come here?"
"I told you, I needed to be alone."
"Doesn't answer my question."
"It does. I just needed time alone." he glanced at her hoping that she would understand what he meant by that. She looked at him maliciously.
"Ok then, here take the towel!" she threw it at him laughing.
They cleaned the kitchen together, Sakura telling him about the mental health clinic and Sasuke listening carefully. Her hair was shinier than usual and it bothered him. He kept looking at it until he couldn't stop himself from touching it. It was softer as well. She turned around her eyebrows frowned. She looked at him while he played with it. His eyes moved to her face and he saw her bitting her bottom lip. Sasuke suddenly felt the urge to kiss her. He pushed it back and simply stared at her lips. Without realising he bit the inside of his lip. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. It was a small smile but it still warmed up his heart. His eyes were glued on her slightly shiny lips and he had to force himself to look at her. His heart skipped a beat when he met her eyes. There was something different about her or maybe it was something different about him. He couldn't tell.
His abdomen felt very weird... it felt like something was tickling him from the inside.
"I need to read my notes for tomorrow. Can I show you medical jutsu tomorrow?" he nodded still absently playing with her hair. She raised one eyebrow at him and he quickly realised what the was doing. He let go of it immediately feeling ashamed.
She walked out of the kitchen heading to the sofa. He followed her but stood next to it not knowing if he could sit as well. He remembered the time when she had fallen asleep in his arm on this sofa. He shook the thought out of his head.
"You can sit, you know?"
Without a word he sat down. He had nothing to do so he just stared at the wall. After a few minutes, he felt the weight of Sakura on the right side of his body. His arm was being crushed into the sofa. She grabbed it and put it around her shoulders.
She put down her book on his legs and pressed herself onto him. He completely froze and tried to focus on the wall but no matter how hard he tried to stay in the present moment, his mind kept wandering. He could smell her hair, feel her breathing and feel her weight on his chest. He couldn't breathe anymore.
She moved her hand to his and held it. She used her left hand to flip a page.
His eyes moved everywhere around the room. He had no idea of where to look at and suddenly he felt her fingers playing with his. She caressed the palm of his hand. She didn't seem to be conscious of it but Sasuke was. He was very aware of what was happening and he didn't know how to react to it. He felt very warm all of a sudden. Sakura seemed extremely calm in his arm and he had no idea how she could keep it together especially since he felt like he was having a heart attack.
"You're allowed to breathe you know." his head snapped towards her. What did she mean. "It's too much for you." she backed away a little but was still close to him. He felt like he could breathe again. "Better?"
He had nothing to respond to her because he felt completely stupid. He could fight dangerous opponents without fear but he was paralysed by that."What are you reading?" was all he found to say.
"My notes for the class tomorrow. I need to remember what to say to them."
"Hn. When will you be finished?"
"At 12, why?"
"I need to show you something. It is out of the village."
"I can't wait! I have to go to bed. I guess I will see you tomorrow?"
She left him alone. He wanted to ask her why she was being so cold. She usually would've hugged him or do something but nothing. He felt a bit confused but stood up to go to his own bedroom. Did I do something wrong?