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The Book of Love	By : TheChieftain Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 3193 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the series of Naruto (which belongs to Masashi Kishimoto), nor any of the canon characters and I definitely don't make money with this either. I'm just someone that wants to fill in the blanks properly.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
The Lull Before the Storm
What did it mean to be a man? Not a ninja, but a man?
Sasuke sat at the top of the village, staring down at the place he had once called his home. Looking down, he saw how brilliantly the village glimmered in the dark. However, when he stared up at the sky, he could no longer see the stars that he had been used to seeing as a child. It was strange, the way Konoha continued to tempt him, how the people and the memories he had made constantly came back into his mind.
It was difficult to walk away again. He knew this. That's why he stayed away for so long.
Even though the place looked foreign to him now, he still recognized it as his home. He still longed to live with the people that accepted him- his friends- even if the rest of the world rejected his existence. Still, he knew better than to give into such things. It was a child's action, to run to the comfort of his home. That stage of his life had been over for a decade.
But if that was the case, then what did it mean to be a man?
Was it to always wander, without home, with only purpose?
Was it to live in self exile, relenting one's humanity in order to serve the world as a tool of good?
There was no good answer to him, nothing that would satisfy his heart, nor put his mind to rest.
Looking once more to the cityscape, his eyes fell upon the only dark spot in the village: the Uchiha compound. His former home stood where it always had, and upon fixating his sight on it, his mind became flooded with thoughts, all too loud to discern. They washed away his concentration, filling him with feelings that he could not describe with words. His only hand clenched, tension growing within him.
Tomorrow, he would bring Sakura with him out of the village, no longer to travel the world alone. Strangely, it was a thought that brought him no comfort, but instead raised a single question, that slowly cloaked him in unease.
Would her presence dilute his purpose?
He wondered whether she would hold him back, or change his goals through her well meaning words and actions. Sasuke felt a twinge of nervousness thinking that Sakura would impede upon his progress, and that he would regress to his old self. An impulsive, selfish child that would only claim to protect what he believed was his, whether it was a legacy, or anything else.
He shook his head at the creeping thoughts. How could she? Sakura was by no means any different than she ever was. And people never changed.
By worrying whether or not the person that cared most about him in the world would sabotage him, he proved to himself that he too had never changed.
He was a long way from being a man.
That afternoon, Sakura stood in Kakashi's office with papers detailing her reasons for departure. Kakashi, who pulled them closer to him, inspected the papers carefully before quickly turning his head towards the window. A cool breeze blew in unexpectedly, which only raised the Hokage's brows.
"What was that?"
"I think you have your window open," she pointed out quietly. "It's not particularly windy today, but the breeze is still mildly pleasant, considering how hot it's been as of late. Don't you agree?"
"Oh, yes of course." Kakashi responded with half his attention, the other half of him being focused on the window. When nothing happened after a few seconds, he slowly turned back to Sakura. "So what were you talking about again?"
Stepping a bit closer to Kakashi's desk, she looked down to him. "The papers and terms of my leave," she said.
Dull, bored eyes flicked between the papers and the woman. He did not mean to look as though he was uninterested, though the idea of paperwork didn't bode well in his mind- even if it was for a person important to him. "Ah yes, you want to leave the village to join Sasuke. I'd admit it sounds romantic if it weren't for the fact that your disappearance would turn Konoha on it's head."
Sakura knit her eyebrows together with concern, too antsy to sit down in the chair before Kakashi. Her foot tapped on the floor as she folded her arms together, shrinking herself slightly at what had just been pointed out. "I know Kakashi-sensei...but I may never get another chance to do something like this."
"You're the heart of Konoha's entire healthcare system. You've created, renewed, and inspired a new age in which people that otherwise could not be saved, now have a chance. You can't expect for me to completely accept this without any qualms whatsoever. Not to mention that technically, Sasuke is still a genin. Even more so, because he left the village and was pardoned, he's been stripped of even that much rank. As far as the village is concerned, he's a civilian."
"I know that! But maybe you could make an exception."
"Normally the village won't allow for jonin to just up and leave on a journey...especially with just a civilian. And with only a day's notice...well...it'd just be plain impossible. These things take weeks to process...months even for people like yourself. You just have your hands in too many things to leave like this." He looked at Sakura and then at the papers she signed. She'd completed most of it on her own, which meant that she most likely never went to sleep the night before. There were even plans to transfer ownership of her clinics to high ranking officials within the Medic Corps- along with contracts and contingency plans involving the day to day operations of the facilities.
There was a silence between the two that hung awkwardly for a moment before the Hokage let out a loud, heaving sigh. "Oh, alright," he relented. "I'll let you go."
The surprised gasp of delight was immediately cut short with a raise of the man's hand. She could tell that behind the mask, there was a strangely wry smile. "Of course, you'll need to find people to take up your duties in your stead. You're a senior member at two hospitals and three clinics, as well as a captain in the medic corps. You'll need to get signed forms from your replacements before you decide to go running off."
With deepest of gratitudes, she bowed to him in response. "Thank you Kakashi-sensei."
"Uhm, you know it's Lord Hokage or Lord Sixth now." He pointed out in a mildly uncomfortable tone. It was something he had to repeat to her often, and yet neither she nor Naruto ever learned. Then again, he never had either, when his own sensei was leader. "I know Tsunade let you call her something else, but you need to have respect for the title. Or at least that's what the council keeps telling me to tell you." His tone was still light.
"O-Oh, of course. Thank you, Lord Hokage." She only raised her head up at this moment, meeting eyes with her sensei. There was a moment of quiet between them that lingered a little longer than it ought to have. As Kakashi knit his eyebrows at her, she turned around, breaking contact first. "I'll bring you everything you need. I promise." And with those words, the woman would quickly hustle out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Kakashi breathed out heavily, as though all the air in his lungs had escaped at once. His eyelids shut for a moment, his hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. This complicated matters, despite it being entirely expected. "It's going to be a difficult job to replace her, even with whatever recommendations she makes. If only those two weren't so stubborn." He swiveled in his chair, his head slowly tilting back until he only saw the room spinning in his vision. "It's a shame really. I would have promoted her to Jonin Commander, considering her impressive records. And seeing as Shikamaru doesn't exactly want to take on that job either...damn. A true shame." Slowly, his eyes shut as he continued to muse to himself, allowing his verbal thoughts to become mental notes. Names of replacements popped into his head, as he continued to feel his body spinning. Suddenly however, a strange gust blew into the room, forcing the Hokage to stop his spinning by stamping his feet on the ground. His focus went directly to the window. While it continued to blow a gentle breeze, the strange anomaly caused him to narrow his eyes. "Hm..."
It was not long before Sakura found herself on the streets of Konoha, going over names in her mind. She methodically went over candidates in her mind, wondering how she would approach each one in regards to her plans. It was basically dropping an entire business on each of their laps, and though it was not without it's perks, only someone as tenacious as Sakura could take over her duties. Someone with a will to match her's, even if they would not be as well versed in medicine or the practices of leading entire groups of shinobi. This would not be without it's challenges.
Sarada tilted her head in curiosity, her eyes transfixed upon the former Hokage. "So what happened next," she questioned with an eager intonation. "Did mom find someone to take over her duties? What did she do?"
Kakashi chuckled with amusement before folding his arms. His eyes closed, as his expression became one of knowing, as though he had expected exactly what would have happened. "What didn't your mother do? Sakura is a driven woman...too driven if you asked the right people. Her work was important, and her devotion, irreplaceable. No one cared of those duties she carried upon her like she did."
"So no one wanted to help her?"
"Oh yes, there were people that came out of the woodwork," he quickly pointed out. "However, they either asked for too much, did not have the right personality for the job, or were entirely under-qualified. The Seventh Hokage, as I distinctly recall, begged Sakura for the position, knowing that I was going to ask her to become the Jonin Commander. It would have been an incredible jump in rank for Naruto at the time, who still held the rank of Genin."
"Wait seriously?! Lord Seventh was still a Genin at nineteen?!"
Kakashi shrugged. "These sort of things can't be helped. The Seventh was absent for the few opportunities there were to partake in the Chunin exams in his youth. The one time he was able prior to the war, he had broken a rule that he claims was not informed of. Those in charge of the exams explained that it was simply common sense. In the end, by the time the chance came around again, he had become so powerful, no one really saw a reason to promote him. Naruto is perhaps the strongest ninja of his or any generation, only rivaled by your father."
There was a strange silence that hung off of those words.
"Is he?"
"Hm? Do you doubt your father is strong?"
She shook his head at him, though her eyes moved from him to the ground in a blink. Her right hand played with the hem of her clothes, feeling the fabric between her fingers. "Nuh-uh. It isn't that," Sarada insisted without explaining further. Yet another silence would roll after that exchange, and her gaze refused to return to the man that walked with her. First she stopped to walk, and he, a few steps after her.
It took Kakashi a moment, but he noticed something. The look in her eye did not reflect fear or concern, but rather feelings left unresolved. A curiosity fed by feelings of unsettled circumstances. There was a hunger which he recognized as the pangs of one that craved to know, that needed to find the truth in something. He had seen that same look in the eyes of his students, each of whom dealt with it in their own way. He had tilted his head back, not turning his entire body to face her. "You don't need to doubt your father in any way. Your father has achieved much in his life, more than his faults, and so he is worthy of your respect, as he is of anyone else's."
"How can you say that so easily, Lord Sixth? You're his sensei but he was gone so often...how can you say this for sure? You can't possibly know him well enough if he's not around!"
"This world would not exist if it weren't for the efforts of him, your mother, and the seventh hokage. Perhaps he was not around, but you can see his influence on the village every day, because you're alive to witness it grow."
Sarada's eyes widened slightly at this.
Kakashi would continue as soon as he caught the change in her look. "That is not even to speak of your birth. You must understand that Sasuke is a man that has never done well habituated in one place. Ever since he departed from here on his first journey, he has never stayed in one place for long. However, he has never been one to abandon his objective. When he sets his mind to something, it is impossible to deter him...even when his most loved ones begs for him to do otherwise. However this is not in spite. He does what he does because he cares and honors those closest to him. The Uchiha clan...the Seventh...and especially you and your mother. For you, he would do anything. The same for Sakura. He has protected this village and the people in it for the people closest to his heart. If it were not for him, we would not be having this conversation."
Somehow this soothed the young genin's nerves. Her shoulders, which had been tense and upright, slackened as she looked back up to Kakashi. She could tell that he was smiling, the form of the mask changing to pronounce the fullness of his cheeks and the shape of his mouth.
"I'm glad I could help clear that up. Anyways, erm...your mother, right? That's where we were in the story? I'll skip the boring stuff and pick up right when she actually found someone that she could trust with her life's work."
Without doubt, Sakura had found Ino, and it took little convincing to push her into doing her the monumental favor. In fact, it had taken such little time, that in the end, it would devolve into an endless stream of chatter about how everyone had been, the state of the village, as well as the latest boutique to open in the shopping district. Sai, who had been on a date with the blonde woman at the time, sat at the opposite end of the table, staring at the two women as they spoke with a hand on his cheek. His expression was not one of boredom or disbelief, but eternal confusion. It was as though they were speaking a different unintelligible language. It was not as though he couldn't understand the social queues, but what they spoke of seemed like utter nonsense- at least until Ino took notice of it.
"Well, anyways, you should take this paperwork to the hospital and start your last day on the job. You'll need to tell everyone who'll be in charge starting tomorrow morning, right?!"
"Heh, of course. It's not like I'd drop ball."
Ino gave Sakura a smug grin. "Like you haven't already, Miss-I'm-Going-To-Elope-Tonight."
Sakura blushed brightly, putting her hands and waving them rapidly. "H-Hey, it's not like that! Sasuke hasn't asked me to marry him or anything...just to accompany him on his journey."
"Pshhh, like that isn't already a marriage proposal to someone like that. Traveling the world with Sasuke? A girl would kill for that type of chance..."
"Yeah, but I'd hardly call it romantic. I'm sure he's asking me to come for one reason or the other."
"You didn't bother to ask?"
It was at this point that Sai finally spoke up, sitting up straight, and speaking in an almost manner of fact manner. "By this point, I think we'd both know that she'd follow the traitor until the ends of the earth." The comment made Sakura flinch visibly, which normally would elicit an amused smile from Sai. This time, it did not. "It would be like getting blood from a stone, to pull you into a realm of reasoning. You realize you may have no romantic prospects with him, and yet you follow him everywhere. But to what ends?"
Quite suddenly, and without warning, Ino slammed her hand on the table, making Sai jolt. When he fell silent, the blonde woman leaned back into her seat, folding her arms together with a scowl. "Don't be so blunt. Sasuke came back and turned good again, so we really have no idea what his intentions with Sakura are!"
"You have to think back through his history. He helped saved the world, yes...but can you really call him an ally? He hasn't exactly stuck around the village for longer than two weeks at most. And even if he had ulterior motives for Sakura, how far do they extend into true feelings and not simply the feelings of a man that wants to revive his dead clan with a new bloodline? It is often that dying clans revitalize their blood by marrying into prestige or power, of which Sakura has more than Sasuke- politically that is. Much more. Enough to restore the tarnished reputation his clan holds in the eyes of the leaf. Her vested interest in him and their general knowledge of each other simply makes it easier for him to manipulate her, if he so chooses." His tone was incredibly even, and while it betrayed concern, he spoke in the manner that a doctor spoke to his patient of his or her newly discovered illness.
When he stopped speaking, Ino pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not even a little bit of encouragement. That's clearly too difficult for you, is it?"
"We have to be honest. Sakura is abandoning a promising career, as well as all her duties to chase after Sasuke. Of course, I wont deny, it'd be typical of either her or Naruto to completely ignore all the red flags. After all, when you look at someone with rose tinted glasses, all the red flags simply look like flags. How much of the Sasuke she remembers is the Sasuke that currently exists?"
Sakura had been looking away from the two of them for a while. Of course, she was listening. She always was, as attentively as ever, and though her thoughts were not entirely focused on the discussion, they shaped the way she thought, or at least helped remind her of a discussion she had long ago. "Don't worry about it," she finally said. "We've all changed a lot since the war...we've moved on to bigger and better things. Sasuke is no different. People do change...it's not easy, but they do. So you are right, in a way, Sai. The Sasuke that we had known in our teenage years is not the same Sasuke as the one of now...but I'm willing to go out and get to know him just as well as the old one! He has changed. For the better."
"You're making a mistake," he warned. "You should remain, and have him stay instead of leaving. At least for a little while."
"It's my decision to make. He won't stay here...not yet, at least, so I have to go. It's my only chance."
Ino stood up and stepped over to the pink haired kunoichi, pulling her into an embrace. "Good luck out there, okay?" Her tone was that of mild concern, which made Sakura's heart pound a little harder.
Her chest tightened a bit, at the mild betrayal of insecurity in her choice, and spoke her response in an almost whisper. "Yeah..."
Pulling back, Ino patted her shoulders and smiled with determination, which did not betray the emotions that she had felt before. She knew however, that her best friend knew better. "I'm rootin' for you! And don't forget to write back!" The genuine words lifted Sakura's spirit, which in turn elicited a wink from Ino. "And if you need someone to help you with that wedding of yours, you know the place to get your flowers...AND maid of honor!"
"Without a doubt," Sakura responded. "I imagine you'll still want me to swing by in four months for your wedding, right?"
"Of course I want you to come! You're still MY maid of honor! This offer isn't a one way street!"
Sakura laughed quite loudly at this before nodding. "Gotcha. I'll make sure to show up."
"And bring your new boyfriend, alright?"
"He's not-"
"Yet," she cut in. "Yet is the key word. Now go on. I want to get back to my own date before I have to go pick up your slack tomorrow!"
"I don't know how I could ever repay you, Ino..."
"Three words. Maid of Honor."
"I still don't understand the concept of a maid of honor..."
"How could you not, Sai?! We've gone over it like, a thousand times! It's one of those new modern things weddings have nowadays! We can talk about it once we get home."
Sakura laughed nervously before waving to the couple. When they waved back, Sakura turned the other way and began to run towards the hospital. With the papers in hand and a speech formulating in her head, she begun to form the words that would use to announce her resignation from the hospital and the medical corps.
While there was little time, she knew that it had to be perfect.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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The Book of Love