Her words were enough to stop him dead in his tracks and if his mask hadn't hidden his face, it would have been possible to see his mouth agape, his visible eye wide in shock at Tsunade's casual amendment to his mission agenda.
Slowly, he turned around to face the Hokage, not quite sure he had actually heard her right.
Tsunade smiled at his obvious dumbfounded reaction. She knew Kakashi enjoyed his dirty books, but that didn't mean he wasn't a gentleman.
She had correctly guessed that showing his former student how to fulfill the average man's desires while gleaning information at the same time was not exactly his idea of a good time.
Because of this, she trusted him to do it all the more, and if she ever found out that he had for some reason, taken advantage of her apprentice, she would have a fist ready with his name written all over it, and perhaps a lit match to set flame to all his precious books.
"The walk to Fuzen Machi should take about five days," she said. "You will have to make the most of it and teach her on the way."
Kakashi nodded mutely before turning and walking out of the room, flipping open his book but not seeing the words on the pages. This complicated mission just got a lot more complicated, and it hadn't even started yet!
XXXXX
A tickling sensation had invaded Sakura's nose and she was barely able to grab a tissue in time before the sneeze came. She hoped she wasn't getting sick but it wouldn't be all that surprising considering she did work at a hospital.
Perhaps someone somewhere was talking about her.
She blew her nose and tossed the used tissue into the trash before resuming her work.
She was seated on a stool before a microscope and should have been analyzing the culture on the slide but she simply couldn't make her mind focus today.
She let her eyes travel to the view outside the window.
From the third floor lab, she could see down into the streets below and watch the people passing by and for a moment she envied them for being out in the afternoon sunshine while she was stuck inside.
It wasn't that she didn't like her job as a medic. She loved what she did for it proved to everyone, and most importantly, herself that she was not useless as a Konoha shinobi.
She felt needed, important, and she was given the chance to help someone everyday. But lately, she couldn't help but feel the job was getting a little monotonous.
Her eyes gazed over the colorful throng off bustling villagers below and her eyes came to rest one a particular blue clad figure, one with black spiky hair and her heart immediately began to beat a little faster.
Sasuke had returned to the village over two years ago after at last defeating his brother. After the fight he had limped back to Konoha, barely alive and had collapsed at their gate unconscious.
Sakura had been the one to nurse him back to health, and all that time she had spent at his side, infusing her chakra into him to knit broken bones back together gave her plenty of time to think.
What he had done to his village, to his team, had been wrong. He had tried to kill Naruto more than once and if she had taken greater initiative to interfere, he probably would have attacked her as well.
But even so, butterflies filled her stomach and her heart leapt to her throat every time she saw him and she knew deep down, she still held deep feelings for this man.
When he had awakened, he had been interrogated for hours by Tsunade and nobody really knew what went on in that room.
When she asked him later about it, he had shrugged and said he had done what he needed to do, for his destiny was to kill his brother, and Konoha lacked the tools to allow him to do so.
Now that his goal was accomplished, he had no reason to run anymore and was ready to take full responsibility for his actions.
The consequences had indeed been severe.
For months he had been locked up like a common criminal, chakra inhibitors preventing him from hardly lifting a finger while he was subjected to an endless series of medical tests to determine just what exactly
Orochimaru had done to him and how the curse mark had affected him over the years.
When they had at last determined he was safe to release among the population, they had watched him like a hawk, restricting his training to only taijutsu at first and then gradually allowing him more use of his chakra.
His probation forbade him to take missions of even the lowest rank and he was under no circumstances allowed to leave the village but the whole time Sasuke didn't seem to mind, training away diligently and seeming to enjoy the frequent sparring matches with Naruto, who hardly left his side unless he was dragged away on a mission, so enthusiastic was he to have his friend back.
Even though she was overjoyed to have the team back together, she couldn't help but feel his return had once again placed her at the bottom of the pecking order.
When she sparred with Sasuke, he always won without fail, and even Naruto was having an easier time predicting and avoiding her attacks.
She was once again the weakest link, still trailing behind them and struggling to catch up, and she couldn't help but wonder if all that training with Tsunade had been for nothing.
After nearly a year of supervision, Sasuke was allowed to take missions again, and was even allowed to participate in the Chuunin exams which he of course, easily passed. He would no doubt make Jounin at the next exam and was even considering joining ANBU after that.
He had discarded the clothes that marked him as Orochimaru's apprentice and had gone back to wearing the blue shirt that bore his family insignia on the back.
Their team was whole again and even held a new member, considering Sai had never gone back to ROOT and it seemed everything was just how it was before Sasuke had left, right down to the fact that she still adored him and he brushed her off as if her affections were nothing than an annoyance.
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