“Sakura, Suna’s gotten back to us about that matter we were discussing earlier.” The sixth Hokage Kakashi sat behind his desk, clad in the Hokage’s hat and uniform. “They say they’re ready whenever we are.”
“Really?” Sakura’s face shone.
Kakashi grinned. “How about you and Ino go? She’s helped you out on this a fair bit, hasn’t she?”
“All right, we’ll do that!”
A week after she and Ino got the report on the results of the children’s therapy center at Konoha Hospital, Sakura had been called to the Hokage’s office. She had previously asked Kakashi if they could talk to Sunagakure, a member of the alliance, about how things were going with the children’s therapy center.
After all, there had to be children mentally scarred by the stress of the war in places other than Konoha. In which case, creating something along the lines of the therapy center that was getting results in Konoha would benefit other villages as well.
“Anything that turns out to be useful, we really need to share with everyone. Go and teach them everything you know.”
“I will, Master Kakashi. You’ve really helped so much with this. And with the budget too—you’ve accommodated us in so many ways.”
“Of course! When a former student works this hard, I want to do whatever I can to help. And, well… I understand how much of a burden mental scars like that can be.” Kakashi nodded lightly. “You decide on the schedule for the trip to Suna. Go and do what you have to.”
“Yes, sir!” Sakura left the Hokage’s office.
It would take four days to reach Sunagakure. She would have to sort through all those papers one more time while she thought about the ninja tools and equipment they’d need. She exited the Hokage’s Residence and was thinking about this and that as she walked along, when she spotted Sai a little way ahead of her, carrying a large scroll on his back.
“Sai!” she called out.
“Hey.” He stopped and came over to her.
“You needed to see Master Kakashi too?”
“Mmm, yeah,” was his noncommittal reply. “What about you, Sakura? What’d you need with the Hokage?”
Sakura told Sai about the trip to Sunagakure.
“Huh. Suna. You better be careful about getting enough water then. It’s pretty dry over there.”
Sakura nodded at Sai’s warning. “I’ll be okay. I’ll bring moisturizer. I mean, I have at least that much femininity to me.”
“You do, huh? You seem like you got more strength than femininity, though, so don’t go crushing that jar,” Sai said, grinning, and Sakura smiled along with him.
“Shall I use my strength to shut your mouth?” she asked.
“Ooh, scary!” he said, looking not the slightest bit scared, and started toward the Hokage’s Residence.
Honestly. Sakura grinned.
∞
“You called for me?” Sai said, standing in front of the Hokage’s desk.
“Sorry for the suddenness.” Kakashi closed the file he held.
“It’s fine. But a personal request for me… Is it a mission of some kind?”
“Mm. Well, it’s like a mission, but not anything official.”
Sai narrowed his eyes slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I want you to check into something for me. But I want you to move alone.”
“Check into what?”
Kakashi nodded and continued. “The daimyo came last week to recuperate at the village onsen and was attacked. You know about this?”
“Yes. I heard a single kunai shoot out and hit very close to where the daimyo was sitting in the water.”
“Well, there was basically zero damage. The daimyo was also uninjured. But the Anbu set up a strict watch around the onsen the daimyo went to that day. A single kunai—they should have easily taken care of that.” Kakashi paused. “A few days before that, when the advisor Master Homura came to inspect the village maneuvering ground, he and the two ninja with him were assaulted by thugs.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Master Homura didn’t want it to turn into a big production, so we didn’t make it public.”
“That’s unsettling, men in the land’s senior ranks being attacked like that.”
“And in succession.”
“So you want me to look into these two incidents?”
“Right. Well, I don’t know if it stops at two, or if there’s a third, or if the same person’s responsible for both. Or maybe they’re totally separate,” Kakashi said. “At any rate, I want you to lump it all together into one investigation.”
“What about the Anbu?” Sai asked. “You’re not mobilizing them?”
“They’re moving, of course. But I want to set a thread of investigation going personally. And that’s you.”
“I understand. I’ll get moving right away.”
“Thanks.”
“You don’t want me to work with Naruto and Sakura? The investigation would be more efficient that way… Actually, Naruto’s not so great at this sort of thing.”
“So you understand.” Kakashi smiled. “He’s not really suited to this kind of covert mission. And Sakura has other work she needs to be doing right now.”
“That reminds me. I ran into her on my way over here. Said she’s going on a work trip to Suna.”
“That’s right, she is. Which is why, for the time being at least, you move alone, Sai. And I think you’ll be less conspicuous that way too.”
“Understood.”
“Be very careful.” Kakashi frowned. “I have the feeling this is no simple prank or petty criminal.”
“A master’s intuition?”
“Mmm. It’s right surprisingly often.”
“I’ll proceed with care. But you please take care as well.”
“Me?”
“The top-level people in the country are being attacked. It wouldn’t be at all strange if the Hokage were assaulted next.”
“I guess you’re right. I’ll be careful.” Even as he nodded, the thought flashed through Kakashi’s mind: I wish they’d hurry up and target me already then.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sakura had met with Ino and gotten everything ready for their trip to Sunagakure the next day; they were all set. Just as she let out a contented sigh, Sakura was summoned by Tsunade to the bar where her mentor was a regular.
“I don’t actually have anything particular I wanted to talk to you about. I heard you were off on a trip tomorrow, and, well, I suppose this is a bit of a send-off.” Tsunade laughed. “The truth is, I just wanted to have a drink.”
Sakura knew her mentor was trying to cultivate a light tone to keep Sakura from feeling any obligation to report in. And Tsunade also thought Sakura was working too hard lately, so she had likely decided to drag her out to let off some steam.
It had been Tsunade, after all, who pushed Sakura to set up the children’s therapy center. Maybe she felt a bit responsible for how much Sakura was working now.
“But you’ve really turned out wonderfully, my little apprentice. I mean, setting up a therapy center for children. I can certainly hold my head high as your teacher.” As she drained one cup of sake after another, a hint of red rose up on Tsunade’s cheeks. She had hurried through dinner to start drinking at a brisk pace.
“But in the end, all I did was set up a contact point. The ones actually working with the children are specialists.”
“No need to be so humble. A lot of children have mental issues that they can’t really put into words. So it builds up and makes things hard for them in all kinds of ways. It’s very reassuring at a time like that to have someone reaching out a helping hand. And you created a structure for that. There’s plenty of meaning in that.”
“Yes ma’am.” Sakura felt rewarded and delighted by her teacher’s praise.
“By the way, how are things with Naruto and Hinata?” Tsunade asked, once the work talk had reached a natural conclusion.
“Good. I ran into them the other day, just as they were on their way out for a date. It looks like things are going really well.”
“And Hinata’s no doubt the type to hold the reins unexpectedly tightly when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“I think so. If he were in a relationship with someone more willful and determined, Naruto would probably be butting heads with her all the time. But I doubt anything like that will happen with Hinata.”
“It might have been difficult with a woman like you,” Tsunade said, flashing a grin.
“Ha ha!” Sakura laughed and scratched her head. That this smile soon turned into a sigh was almost certainly because her own romantic situation popped into her head once more.
I can’t. I can’t. Maybe a heart-to-heart conversation?
In a totally different tone, Sakura started speaking hurriedly, “Master, I’m just going to be totally honest and ask you. How do you get a guy to turn around and look at you?”
“Hmm… if you want a man to look at you…” Tsunade paused for a moment. “Breasts, I guess.” She thrust her own chest out.
Breasts… The answer is breasts.
“Hmm. I knew it.” Sakura slumped down in her seat. “Hinata’s are pretty big, after all.”
“Don’t be silly. I was kidding,” Tsunade was quick to add. “What makes a person turn around depends on the person.”
“Oh. That’s what I want to think…”
“Keep fighting, Sakura. I suppose this is the one thing I can’t lend a hand with, hm?”
“In that case, please bet on me, Master,” Sakura said.
“Bet on you?”
“That my love life won’t go well. Your bets are often wrong, right? So.”
Tsunade puffed up proudly and smiled. “Got it. I’ll do that.”