To This Day

Chapter 3

Sakura was never one to wail and cry when things weren't going as expected, but she damn near dropped to the floor and started kicking.

She had been trying to justify why bringing Kakashi along wouldn't be a bright decision, emphasizing that it definitely wasn't because she didn't want him to come. Heavens, no. She would never.

Tsunade assured Sakura that refusing the aid of an ANBU force captain, whom less than twenty-four hours ago was in hand-to-hand combat with their target, would be an impressively dumb decision. Such decision would result in demotion to D-rank missions and possibly a receptionist job at the Hokage tower, which Tsunade wasn't opposed to if her disciple wanted it.

Haruno Sakura, being the trained Kunoichi she was, lost all ability to negotiate as she stood frozen, opening and closing her mouth, in front of lady Hokage herself, who was nothing if not totally professional and Hokage-like, so she sent the head-medic flying outside with a flick on her forehead.

"Ah." Tsunade stared at her thumb and forefinger as she was reminded of—

"WE'VE TALKED ABOUT FLICKING—" Sakura managed to cry out as she plunged down the tower.

—that.

The ground briefly shook as Tsunade watched her student make a solid landing. Sakura scowled at the tower before deciding to leave by stomping her way to the hospital, presumably cursing as she bored sandal-shaped holes in the street.

Tsunade made a face.

"Where did she learn to be that temperamental?"

After a bit of pondering and lashing out, Sakura concluded that a receptionist job probably wouldn't be so bad. In fact, when Sasuke returned, she would probably be bone-weary from all the fighting, and getting paid to doze off at the front desk of the Hokage Tower didn't seem like a terrible outcome after all.

She was a few what-ifs away from producing a full presentation in her head on how demotion would be beneficial when Neji abruptly appeared in a cloud of smoke, just a few feet from being completely bulldozed over by Sakura, whose ninja instinct kicked in as she squeaked and fell flat on the floor.

"Haruno." He greeted flatly, offering a hand to help which was quickly smacked away by the poor girl. Apparently, she'd developed a third eye at the back of her head, he noted.

"Hyuuga." She said as she eyed him for a moment before hoisting herself up and irately brushing off her skirt. "I could have crushed you."

The Hyuuga shrugged nonchalantly. "Your chakra was concentrated on your feet. Not your whole body." He corrected.

Her eyes narrowed fractionally at this as she tipped her head.

"Byakugan." The Hyuuga continued, pointing to his eyes.

She pondered whether she should land a swift punch at him or call Ten-Ten and have her team up to punch Neji.

"Now it's on your fists." He said, his tone growing concerned. "I'd appreciate it if you'd stop boring holes around the village."

Sakura blinked at him and glanced around, taking in the panoramic view of the cracks on the street, then back at him. She spared him a sheepish smile and shrugged apologetically.

"Rough morning?" He asked.

Sakura shrugged again. "Oh nothing, just got flicked on my forehead."

The Hyuuga cocked his head slightly.

"By Tsunade-sama."

"Ah." Neji unconsciously bit his inner cheeks, stealing a glance at the redness on her forehead. He wondered how Sakura hadn't had a stroke yet.

"Since when do you care about the streets anyway?" Sakura asked as she tried to soothe the pain that's now rushing to her forehead.

"Since chief Yamanaka wanted to investigate the mysterious holes in Konoha."

Sakura stifled her laugh. Oh Ino, bless her for messing with Neji.

Neji shook his head in mock disappointment and placed his palms on the ground, instantly growing tiny sets of grounds to cover the holes.

She watched in awe when the Hyuuga hefted himself to his feet as they admired his work. As a non-born, Sakura was never able to wield chakra to manipulate nature, and a part of her still wished she had the power to grow them back as easily as she destroyed them.

Juggling life as a non-born ninja and a medic-nin had kept Sakura so occupied she would've never thought there would be room to make friends with the heir to the Hyuuga throne. But Neji's best was just never the best for his father, and Sakura's best was— well, not enough.

And between Neji trying to conceal his frequent hospital visits from his father and Sakura's inclination to practice on an actual human during her early medic training years, they'd somehow bonded over the unmerciful Shinobi life.

"How's your shoulder?" Sakura asked, slipping one hand around his arm as her other hand pressed his shoulder.

"Better." Neji shrugged the other shoulder.

She shot him a disdained look before releasing his arm. "You never did go back to check."

"The food sucks."

Sakura hummed in agreement.

It's true. She knew because Tsunade made her eat it, and it wasn't even the normal one, it was handmade, by Lady Tsunade herself.

She shuddered at the recollection. If she remembered correctly, Shizune had a coffin prepared under her name that day.

A sudden chakra signature caught the pair's attention as they turned to look. Their eyes narrowed at a green figure slowly coming into view with clouds of dust forming behind it.

"For the love of the Fourth." Neji grumbled, rubbing at his temples at the distant voice echoing his name.

Sakura watched as Lee sprinted closer before halting to a stop right beside the Hyuuga.

"Sakura-san!" Lee called, wearing a Gai-inspired green jumpsuit and a wide smile.

"Lee-san." She greeted him with an equally wide smile.

"Are you joining us for a little impromptu training today?" He asked expectantly.

Neji chose to respond with an exaggerated groan at Lee's enthusiasm, knowing fully well that Sakura would reject due to the nature of her job.

Sakura thought for a moment, rubbing at the apparent redness on her forehead. The choice was either to destroy the training ground later on her lunch break or join them now, and the medic was always itching to land a good punch on something that's not made of dirt.

"Fifteen minutes?" she suggested.

While Lee threw his fists in the air, Neji gaped and looked at the pinkette in horror. ANBU training seemed like a kindergarten fist-fight compared to sparring with Gai's disciple and Tsunade's apprentice.

Before he could choke out a response, he found himself being dragged by the collar to the training ground.

The last time they trained together, the Hyuuga woke up the next few weeks with excruciating muscle pain and swore he had developed some face muscles.

This was why some people think the scowl on his face was permanent.

"Hey, Byaku-man! You gotta move! This isn't fair!" Sakura yelled in exasperation as she landed another unsuccessful punch at the Hyuuga heir.

"Channel your inner energy, Neji-san!" Lee echoed the exasperation in Sakura's voice as he attempted to fling another kick at Neji, all the while visibly enjoying every second of it.

The ANBU force captain had been planting his legs firm into the ground, using Byakugan to detect his opponents' whereabouts. He responded to their complaints with the Eight Trigrams Palms, sending them flying except they still landed perfectly on their feet.

Completely unshaken, they kicked off the ground twice stronger than before. With four legs aimed at him, he could only swallow his tears before leaving a clone of himself and disappearing onto a nearby tree.

Neji cringed as he watched the horror on his clone's face. For two people who had problems wielding chakra, they sure had the energy and strength of an army. He found himself smirking at Lee who was praising his speed from afar, but it was short-lived when Sakura appeared behind him as he let out an undignified yelp.

The Hyuuga leapt to the ground and readied himself into a battle pose, his palms poised to strike. Sakura landed in front of him, squeezing her eyes at the familiar stance.

"Gentle fist?" She asked with excitement in her tone.

Her reaction took him aback for a second before he tipped his head and raised both his eyebrows challengingly. Lee's eyes widened considerably and he ooh-ed loudly before quickly taking a seat like a dog waiting for a treat.

Sakura retreated into a defensive stance as she narrowed her eyes at the Hyuuga.

"Ready?" He asked, warningly.

Terribly exhausted, but so ready.

Kakashi awoke to a soft knock on the door, suggesting it was time for another check-up session.

He groaned internally and opted to lay still instead, Icha-Icha Paradise propped open on his face. He promised he would let them do another probing and flashlight-on-the-eyeballs session if they'd just let him off for now. His stomach was back on business anyway.

Another knock. This time a little impatient.

Kakashi squinted through the small openings between the pages. He didn't understand why they bothered knocking if they only expected to be let in. Wasn't the point to leave if you're left hanging?

His lack of response earned him a chain of tsks from the other side of the door.

Kakashi shook his head as he thrust Paradise under the pillow. He pushed himself up to sit before halting to a stop when he saw the door slid open to reveal a hand, holding one particularly big Ichiraku bag between its fingers.

He squinted harder. The hospital was handing out free ramen? He might need his Sharingan checked.

The hand lowered the bag as its owner reared his head, revealing the Uzumaki's familiar whiskers.

The Copy-nin blinked, still laying on his elbow with one foot in the air.

"Kaka-sen—" Naruto paused, scrunching his face at his former sensei's pose. "I'd choose a more comfortable position if I were you.."

Kakashi dropped his foot.

"—or were you mid-henge-ing into a boomerang?" The blond asked, grinning as he walked in. Kakashi laughed dryly in an attempt to mask his embarrassment.

Ah yes, the great Kamis and their perfect timing. Kakashi had hoped for the Kyuubi Vessel to interrupt his spectacularly awkward exchange with Sakura, but obviously, sarcasm was implied.

Had he known the hush-hush encounter with Sasuke would be uncovered as soon as he got back, by the two people they wanted to hide it from the most, he would have requested for backup. He still preferred to not come home limping after all.

"I just don't want your tastebuds to suffer. I know how bad post-surgery food here is." The boy gagged as he dragged a chair from across the room and positioned it next to the bed.

Kakashi looked to him, flashing his habitual eye crinkle as he carefully shifted into a more comfortable position. "Mah, I was actually growing fond of the expired-looking gruel they have. Gives me energy." He said.

The Jinchuuriki spared him a sideways look as he began emptying the bag and was so offended when he noticed they'd given him only one pair of chopsticks. He shook his head and tore open the first bowl, grinning widely before finally serving Kakashi his lunch on the small bedside table, effectively covering the angry label that said 'no outside food!'

Kakashi reached for his lunch when he felt a sharp pain and couldn't help but wince. Naruto watched as he huffed dramatically and started chiding the man fourteen years his senior, who's watching the knit on the boy's forehead grew more and more prominent in a way that made Kakashi couldn't help but let his frown eased into a smile.

"You promised to train with me when you're back. Look at you now." Naruto said as he tore open another bowl for himself.

Kakashi gave him a sheepish smile as he scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm okay now. It's mostly healed."

Naruto looked at him at length before nodding, seemingly satisfied. "Sakura-chan fixed you well, didn't she?" He grinned. "She hasn't visited my training ground in weeks. Even Ero-senin was starting to miss her."

There was a slight pause before Kakashi hummed and reached for the lone pair of chopsticks.

Well, that was weird.

Hatake Kakashi and his selective deafness, a skill Naruto didn't appreciate when used against him. And damn the mask for making it harder to read the man.

Naruto shot Kakashi a narrow look as he channelled a tiny amount of chakra into his hands, easily swatting Kakashi's hand away and stole the utensil back, prompting the man to raise a confused eyebrow at him.

"Sakura-chan taught me." Naruto smirked. "Though I can only concentrate small amounts on my hands. Anything more than that I'll just be shitting myself."

Kakashi's brows twitched and Naruto privately cheered himself for noticing it.

Naruto had had numerous occasions where Sakura had to slap the back of his head (violently) for being unable to read situations. Admittedly, he might be a little slow, but Naruto was anything but dense. The three of them hadn't even been in the same room for years, he'd have to be stupid to not realize things weren't okay.

He'd concluded something must have happened between the two but didn't remember if he were there.

If anything, he was the one screaming at Kakashi for returning without Sasuke.

He could ask them what happened, except the last time he probed something too much, it drove the Uchiha out of the village. And Naruto knew too well the familiarity of being discarded.

The Copy-nin tried to pry the chopsticks away from Naruto, seemingly curious to see how long the boy could hold the chakra on his hands. Naruto always loved a good challenge and Kakashi owed him a spar, so he entertained him in a chopstick battle.

"Toying with a sick man. Unbelievable." Kakashi scowled, staring at the chopsticks that were now safely tucked in Naruto's hand.

Naruto shrugged smugly as he twirled them between his fingers. "You had one job sensei."

There was something in his choice of words that instantly suffocated Kakashi. He knew Naruto meant nothing harmful because it's Naruto. And yet, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret weighing in his chest.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto peered at him confusedly.

The man glanced back at him and shook his head. "Godaime-sama sent you here?"

The abrupt change of topic startled Naruto a little as he stared at Kakashi for a moment before drawing in a deep breath.

"No.." He replied at length. "Well, technically— you did." Naruto continued.

Kakashi's hand reflexively covered his stomach as his eyes flickered away. "I— well—" He paused and contemplated for a moment before slowly slumping into the pillow as his gaze settled somewhere on the ceiling.

Well, he failed. Again. And he was unsure if he wanted to say it out loud.

Naruto watched as his former sensei struggled with his words. A sight not many was privy enough to see. Yet the last time he'd seen it, he responded by screaming at him. At the one person who had been trying, and failing, and never stopped blaming himself for it.

The boy dropped his head forward as he extended both his hands, still holding the chopsticks. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." He said apologetically. "And, I'm sorry— for what I said back then."

Kakashi stared down the back of Naruto's head, so dumbstruck at the sudden declaration even his mask couldn't hide his surprise.

"You found him." The blond continued with a small smile. "And thank the Fourth you're alive because I don't want—" He paused as he drew in a deep breath. "I can't lose any more of my friends." He said, finally.

Kakashi had to blink a few times as tears welled on his eyes before finally allowing his gaze to soften.

Oh, Naruto.

He thought as he felt a strong, rushing need in him to hug the small, hopeless Uzumaki in front of him. How strikingly similar he was to his parents, and so, so Naruto.

Kakashi found himself smiling as he placed his palm on Naruto's head, ruffling his yellow locks as he peered at the tears running down Naruto's face.

"I don't know if you know," Kakashi chuckled softly. "But I'm Konoha's Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto snorted an ugly laugh at his former sensei's modest joke as he rubbed his face on his own sleeves, leaving tears on his orange jacket.

"I'll bring him home, Naruto." Kakashi assured, his tone even. "And I won't die."

Kakashi watched as the boy's lips slowly unfurled into a wide smile and he found himself smiling back.

"…do you still want the chopsticks?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi spared him a mildly unimpressed look before rewarding him a hearty smack on the head.

Sakura wasn't sure what she was expecting when she came to check up on Kakashi.

She had half-expected him to have snuck out what with his aversion to hospitals, but he didn't. In fact, Shizune said he had been complying with all the medical procedures.

There was really no need for her to see him.

By afternoon, he would have received news about the new mission, and if she wanted answers, Kakashi would have to tell her sooner or later anyway.

But she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, their conversation yesterday did something, and for once, he would tell her something, without anyone above him instructing him to.

Because if they were to be teammates, at least they could start from there.

Or so she thought.

While she's busy mulling over having a civil conversation with Kakashi, her teammate apparently did not even break a sweat. She hadn't thought Naruto would be there, having a conversation that made her conversation with Kakashi seemed like a childish emotional outburst to a degree that's almost embarrassing.

Of all the things she hadn't expected today, Sakura didn't expect to be reminded of something she consciously had to forget, something she had momentarily believed she was over. And it baffled her even more that she ignored the ugly feelings in her gut and stayed to hear the rest of it.

But Sakura was never one to wail and cry when things weren't going as expected, so she left with a plan to offer to the Hokage.

Tsunade had to admit overlooking the city from the Hokage tower was pretty darn relaxing, especially after a whole day trying to stay sane reading some very legible handwriting, and her people knew better than to come barging in, uninvited.

Apparently, one of them desperately needed a reminder.

"I suppose you have something against doors now?" Tsunade shot a look at the pink figure standing in front of her, which immediately put Sakura on edge.

"I've got an offer." Sakura said firmly.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed fractionally as she placed her half-downed bottle of sake. "This better be worth interrupting my Sake break."

"You're always having a Sake break though.." Sakura mumbled which was quickly met with a damning look from Tsunade.

The pinkette cleared her throat as she edged closer and sat down. "Well, um, Kakashi-sensei can come-"

"I wasn't really asking."

Sakura paused as she gave Tsunade an extremely offended look, which was cut short when the blonde flapped her hand, apparently trying to tell her to go on.

"—ahem. He can come, but once we defeat even just one of the Akatsuki, he's out."

Tsunade wobbled her head a little as she thought it over. She meant it when she said Sakura was a genius strategist and she's willing to put the effort into taking the time to understand why she's so opposed to having Kakashi around, except right now her mind couldn't help but to repeat: what a dumb fucking decision.

Tsunade sighed aloud. "You know, an offer usually consists of a mutually beneficial outcome, but all I'm hearing is a suicide attempt. Why—"

"Kakashi-sensei has been complying with all of the medical procedure. He's even staying for two nights."

Tsunade gasped in disbelief as she stared at the pinkette in sheer horror, so mortified it almost sent Sakura laughing like a maniac.

"How— oh," She stopped and pondered for a moment before having an aha moment. "They tranquillized him?"

"Shishou, no."

"He's not dead, is he?"

"Very much alive. I think you've had a little too much.."

"He's not the type to go against his own rules unless he's dying— oohhhh."

Sakura stared at her Shishou and wondered how this woman got elected as the Hokage.

"Well, he's not exactly dying, but he's recovering rather slowly, mostly due to the fact that he's never had a proper check-up since— I don't know, a long time. During the years he probably got hurt pretty badly a number of times but fled as soon as the ER staff finished doing the bare minimum." Sakura shrugged a shoulder. "I'm pretty sure if you check his files, you probably owe him about three years' worth of vacation."

Tsunade let out an unladylike snort. "Three years of vacation. You'd kill him."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "He's in no shape to fight a group of S-class rogue-nins. As a tour guide, he could work. But once we get there, he has to leave."

The blonde looked sceptical but nodded before heaving another sigh as she rested her chin on her palm, motioning for Sakura to come closer. Sakura raised an eyebrow at this but complied anyway.

"Sakura—" Tsunade's expression softened a little. "I trust you. Heck, what would it say about me if I don't trust my own student? Sounds like I'm admitting that I'm shit at this whole leader thing."

The pinkette chuckled lightly but said nothing.

"Sakura, you're making a very sound argument, but you know that's not why you're so against it." Tsunade smiled a little and placed a hand on her pupil's head. "You tick all the boxes but you lack experience. In any other world, maybe that's okay and that's how you learn, and I wish this is that world but—"

"—it's not." Sakura continued as she dropped her head forward.

"This mission is going to take months. You're trying to find people who don't want to be found. God knows what would happen when you do find them." Tsunade said. "You will need him. All of you will. These upcoming months are more than enough time for Kakashi to recover, all the more so with you looking after him."

Sakura searched for another excuse to say but there wasn't any, so she opted to let out a long sigh.

"I sincerely hope you talk it out with him." Tsunade said. "and whenever you're ready to let me in on what's going on with you and Kakashi, I'm all ears." She continued. "But as the Hokage, I would never send any of you out on a suicide mission."

She hated to admit it but Tsunade was right. Kakashi managed to flee Akatsuki in that terrible shape. Clearly, he was not an S-Class Jounin for nothing.

For the longest time since Sasuke left, she and Naruto finally decided to do something about it. If things with Kakashi were gonna go to shit, then let it be.

While she let her thoughts run, the burden weighing her down earlier had lightened considerably as she let her expression ease into a tiny smile.

"I would send Danzo on a suicide mission though." Tsunade smirked.

"Oh, Shishou." Sakura chuckled wryly. "You would personally end him when he finally has no more information to be extracted."

"In a heartbeat." The blonde said before laughing aloud.

"Also, about the flicking thing—"

"Okay shoo now, I'm busy."

Despite the menacing and enigmatic atmosphere that always occupied the city at the crack of dawn, Sakura was always drawn to the quiet and vaguely soothing side of it.

It helped clear her mind, although just a tiny tiny part of it.

Sakura took another look at herself in the mirror, taking in the view of herself in the ROOT uniform and her jet black hair with a streak of pink hair that drunk Tsunade had missed last night. She'd never seen her hair in another colour and frankly, it's weirdly offensive.

The pinkette made another round around her apartment to make sure she's got everything before leaving a seal in front of the entrance and making her way to the Hokage tower.

Sakura believed she had an impressively impenetrable mask to hide her emotions, but whatever she was seeing right now was making her seriously doubt that right now.

She was about to lose it at the man in front of her, with his conspicuous dark hair, climbing the stairs towards the Hokage office. It had taken her more than a minute to finally acknowledge it was indeed Kakashi's chakra signature, long enough for the still-sleepy Hatake to turn around and noticed her presence.

He looked at her as his steps came to a halt and so did hers as they both fell abnormally quiet.

Sakura finally coughed to break the stupefying silence that fell over them as she walked up to meet him.

She didn't have any plan on what to say to him and neither did he, and maybe it was the hair that gave off a different feeling or the fact that she no longer needed to wait for Kakashi's trust because she'd earned it elsewhere, but whatever it was had given her a little courage to offer Kakashi a handshake.

"I'll be in your care, Captain."

Hello.

Okay, don't kill me. I know I said I'll update every two weeks but Coronavirus happened and now I have online classes and my internship is jeopardized but I'm ok, chilling with my dog. I hope you guys stay safe and healthy.

1. I swear it's getting good now that I've laid out the relationships between these characters. *squee
2. I seriously love writing perpetually-constipated-faced Neji into a dork.
3. I don't know where you guys are from but where I'm from, we say something along the lines of "I'll be in your care" or "Please take good care of me." before we start any relationship, out of courtesy. In this case, it's Sakura's offer to work together as a team.
4. Review? *wink *wink