Chapter 1: Home
Fifteen-year-old Sakura Haruno wandered the streets, her white medic-skirt swaying in time with her hips as she walked. Hair the color of cherry blossom petals was loosely tied back into a braid that hung down to the small of her back. The air was suddenly thick with the spicy tang of ramen, and Sakura glanced up to see that her feet had led her to Ichiraku’s. The teenager frowned, and folded her arms across her stomach, staring with sad eyes at the lack of a familiar blonde. It had been nearly two years since he left, and Sakura couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous for the day that he did return.
It had been exactly one year since Kakashi came back with the last survivors of the Uzumaki Clan. It had been twelve months since Asuma had met Sakura at her apartment – she lived on her own, as she had ever since that black-terrible-crying day – with an uncustomary darkness to his visage.
It had been three-hundred and sixty-five days ago that Sakura had learned of Katsumi Uchiha’s death.
Sakura turned away from the ramen shop, ignoring the puzzled frown that crossed the owner’s face at seeing her expression. The sun burned down, and the medic lifted her face upwards, closing her eyes and letting the heat seep into the skin on her face. But no matter how she tried to let the hotness burn away her pain, it remained, even more prominent than before, as if it sensed her desire to forget.
Katsumi was Naruto’s teammate, one of his best friends. He had already lost Sasuke, and now…
Sakura wanted to cry at the blatant unfairness of it all.
Now that the girl was thinking of Naruto – she had schooled herself to push aside thoughts of him, in order to remain focused on the tasks at hand – she found that she couldn’t stop. Sakura missed him. She missed his smiles, his jokes that weren’t remotely funny. But most of all, she missed him. It wasn’t something that she could put into words, it was just…Naruto!
Even thinking the name sent whirls of loneliness rushing through her, and she shook her head angrily. Sakura couldn’t let herself become dependent on others, wasn’t that the reason she joined the medic training program after Naruto left?
Her lips turned upwards slightly at the memory. The chakra-control tests had been alarmingly simple, or at least, Sakura thought so. It had gotten to the point where Sakura had outright asked the examiners if they had a more advanced group she could switch to. That was when the Hokage was called in, and it was then that thirteen-year-old Sakura was informed that she had been taking – and passing, with flying colors – jounin-level chakra control exercises.
“Why do you want to become a medic-nin? Your chakra control is exceptional for someone your age, but your physical strength leaves a hell of a lot to be desired. That – and stamina – is one of the key aspects of being a medic…” Tsunade muttered, sipping at her tea, golden-brown eyes scanning Sakura’s shinobi stats as she did so.
Sakura stood, fingers fiddling with each other, her resolve threatening to splinter at the edges when butting up against this woman’s intimidating presence. The Hokage was the epitome of calm, and Sakura tried hard to find some measure of confidence. It was hard. Who was Sakura, with her bulging forehead and numerous split-ends, to even try and stand up to this effortlessly powerful and beautiful kuniochi?
Tsunade glanced up after a moment’s pause, arching her eyebrow in silent expectation. “Well?” she demanded, placing the tan file down on her desk, right beside the plum-patterned teacup.
“I…I…I want to be a medic-nin because I’m tired of being useless.”
The line that had sounded so heart-warming and brave in Sakura’s head came out so very differently. Now, hearing herself say the words, Sakura was struck with a jarring shame. It sounded so pitiful, so weak and pathetic. Tsunade must have thought so too, because she scoffed rudely.
“Obviously, you don’t know what being a medic-nin entails. You think that I joined the force because I cared what others thought of me? No! Now get out; you’ve wasted enough of my time…”
And with that, the woman turned her back on Sakura, manicured nails curling around her teacup before she did. Sakura stood, shaking and close to tears. The words Tsunade spoke were true, and yet Sakura couldn’t find it in her to move. Sakura had meant what she said – she didn’t want to be protected anymore – and yet it wasn’t at all what she wanted to say.
“I can learn,” Sakura challenged in a shaky voice that was bordering on a sob. Tsunade didn’t even turn around; a bark of laughter filled the room.
“Bah! You’ve had five years to learn the basic shinobi techniques, and you haven’t even been able to do that!”
Sakura blinked back tears, the truthful statement piercing her defenses with surprising fierceness. “That’s because I was stupid, I was focused on the wrong things! I’m ready to try harder; I know that I can–”
“I knew things too, brat. I knew that I could stop a patient’s bleeding. And yet he still bled out, and died in my arms. Nothing is certain, you stupid, stupid child!”
Sakura was shocked into numbness. Tsunade’s tone was dark and bitter, taunting the pink-haired teen with its coldness. The large padded chair tilted backwards leisurely, and the woman waved a hand to dismiss the young shinobi from her office. Sakura felt such anger, such rage in seeing that blasé motion. It reminded the girl of the motion the medic-nin had made when they pulled the sheets over the mangled, bloody mess that was once two warm loving parents who had just been minding their own business when–
“Well unlike you, I’m tired of running from death!” Sakura shrieked. “I’m tired of losing people I love because I’m not brave enough to stand up and fight! I don’t care what you say; I’m going to be the best medic-nin this village has ever seen! Sure, people I love may die, but at least then…”
Sakura was sobbing now, her face contorting into an ugly mask of agony as she remembered her parents. Tsunade was silent, unmoving, her chair still tilting back lazily.
“At least t-then, I know that I did everything I could.”
Without waiting for a response, Sakura turned and ran from the office, slamming the door behind her.
The next morning, Tsunade sent Sakura a note that offered a personal apprenticeship under the Hokage herself. Sakura waited almost a week before replying, terrified that the note was some sort of trick so that Tsunade could exact sweet, painful revenge in response to Sakura’s rudeness. Finally, the prospect of being apprenticed to the most skilled medic-nin in the country – possibly the world – overcame her fear, and she sent an affirmative reply. A message was sent back informing Sakura that training would start immediately, and to meet the Hokage in her office that very evening.
Tsunade never once spoke of what had been exchanged that day, and so Sakura was never quite sure what prompted the woman to take her on as an apprentice. Sakura supposed that the greatest things in life were often the most mysterious, and her relationship with her shishou only went to prove that statement.
“Sakura-chan!” a loud, familiar voice shouted, and Sakura quickly turned. Konohamaru grinned sheepishly as he screeched to a halt, and Sakura smiled in greeting. The young boy was twelve now, and had filled out slightly, with more muscle and less of a pout than he had two years ago. He was often in the hospital being treated for his numerous – and never ceasing, it seemed – gashes and broken bones, and Sakura was often the medic scheduled to treat him. It seemed that Konohamaru was successfully following in Naruto’s footsteps; both were exceptionally strong magnets for anything mildly hazardous and/or sharp.
“Hey, Konohamaru! What’s up?” the medic asked, eyes unconsciously scanning his form for any injury. He seemed perfectly healthy, and so she relaxed ever so slightly. The genin had a huge grin on his face, and Sakura blinked as the boy began to jump up and down slightly.
“Sakura-chan, I just heard from someone…Naruto’s back!”
If it were physically possible, Sakura’s heart would have stopped at those two words. The air became thick and viscous, and Sakura’s lungs felt almost exhausted with the effort they were making to get enough oxygen to the brain. Konohamaru’s grin faded slightly, and he made a point of peering up into her eyes.
“Um, are you alright, Sakura-chan? You’re looking a bit pale…”
Sakura, with a huge shake, forced herself to smile at him, though it felt more like a grimace of pain than an expression of reassurance. “I’m fine, Konohamaru. Are you going to look for him?”
“Well duh!” Konohamaru looked at her strangely, and she laughed weakly, patting his head as she passed him.
“Tell him to find me, okay? I’ve got to get some herbs for Tsunade, she’s been harping about them for weeks,” she explained, and Konohamaru nodded seriously, dashing off in a flash of blue. Sakura sighed, and sagged against the alley wall that separated Ichiraku’s from the next residence.
There were no herbs to collect, but Sakura needed time to prepare for her meeting with Naruto. What would she say? Should she hug him, or was that making her feelings too obvious? Did she even have any feelings?
Most importantly of all…did Sakura dare tell him of Katsumi’s death?
No, she couldn’t do that. Sakura was his friend, that was obvious, but there were things that were too delicate for mere friends to relay. Kakashi would have to be the one to break the news, as he was the only other member of Team 7 that was currently in Konoha.
Sasuke was still missing, and thinking of the forlorn Uchiha made sadness pang even deeper into her chest. Katsumi was Sasuke’s world, she was everything to him. Did he know that his dearest friend was gone to a place where no amount of power or skill could reach her? Or was Sasuke so wrapped up in his revenge that he just assumed that Katsumi had remained in Konoha, waiting dutifully for his return?
Sakura knew that Sasuke would return, someday. It was clear that most the village believed Sasuke to be lost forever, but Sakura knew better. It wasn’t because she herself wanted him to return – witnessing the pain Naruto felt because of Sasuke thoroughly destroyed any feelings she previously held for the Uchiha.
Sasuke may be power-hungry, but what he felt for Katsumi was real. He would come for her when his brother’s death was exacted, even if in the process it warped his soul. Some things ran deeper than revenge, and Sakura knew that love was one of those things.
The stone was hard against Sakura’s head as she leaned back against it, letting out a sigh of frustration at the warring thoughts in her head. No matter how much she wanted to resent Sasuke for inciting such agony within Naruto, she just couldn’t feel anything but pity for the Uchiha.
For whether he knew it or not, his Katsumi was gone, all the same.
Sakura had cried when she found out. Katsumi wasn’t her friend, not even close. The two were neutral, even polite at times. No…the reason Sakura had cried was because of the realization that such a beautiful, strong girl was now dead. It was always painful to see something strong fall, more painful than any mortal wound.
Now she wondered; what would Sasuke’s reaction be? It was an awful thought, but she was morbidly curious. Would he break down and cry, or would he go numb, fitting the persona of the cold shinobi everyone knew him as?
Sakura looked up from the ground, and her breath caught in her throat as she caught sight of a blonde teenager, standing atop a metal support. His tall form was clad in a black and orange jumpsuit, and the long straps of his Konohagakure forehead protector whipped behind him as he turned to examine his village. Blonde, unruly spikes fell around his head, held back by the metal-plated band that marked him as a shinobi of Konoha.
“Naruto!” she cried, and those eyes – they were so vibrant, Sakura could see their cerulean brightness even from a distance – snapped downward. A grin appeared, so large it nearly split his face, and his arms lifted in excitement as he jumped down to meet her. The sun illuminated his face – Sakura struggled to ignore the fact that it was surprisingly handsome in comparison to the boyishly attractive face that she remembered – and his eyes were dragging her into the happiness of it all.
Naruto was home.
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Chapter notes: Uh, hello!
So sorry that I've been gone for so long...I'm surprised I still have readers, seeing how sporadic my updates are!
So here's the next installment...I really hope you like it. I'm making it so each chapter is a single POV, so some chapters may be ridiculously short, but it's fo a reason, so stick with me, por favor!
If you guys want more (and quicker updates) please leave a review and let me know what you think of it so far!
I'm kinda planning as I go, so if you have any burning ideas on where the story should go, feel free to let me know! I may even use it!
=D