Promises Remembered

Chapter 4

A/N Sorry that this is late. I had meant to update yesterday and start a new 2x schedule. On Tuesday my grandpa fell and hit his head. I spent most of yesterday in the hospital with my brother and dad and nanna. In case anyone was wondering, dying from a brain bleed is not a peaceful or comfortable way to go. I don't know how much longer he'll last but I'm guessing not long. This is the third grandparent I will have lost since starting to write. This is escapist for me and distracting. Reading your comments and knowing there are at least a couple of you out there that are enjoying this as much as I am is always uplifting in a special kind of way. Any way, This is a shorter chapter but I'll be posting another in a day or two. I am finding that my chapters for this are varying widely from barely 2k to almost 6k. I have total, between this Part one and Part two like, 80K words so far. This is going to be AT LEAST 100k by the time I'm done. As Part Two is mostly disjointed Kakashi as I think of scenes I want and I have a ways still to go on this part, it will probably be more. Enjoy

Chapter 4

Sakura

Two days into the past

Sakura stood outside the hospital. The paperwork the Hokage had given her was clutched in her hands as she stared up at the building. All she had to do was go in.

Why was this so hard?

She was trained by Tsunade. These medics needed what she had to offer, the Hokage had been clear on that. But was this going to change things? Or would this be the first proof she had always been here? When Kakashi had suggested it the night before, it had opened up an entire new set of possibilities. She was terrified.

She would just have to do her best and see what came of it.

"Are you going to go in, or just stand out here all day?"

Sakura turned to glare at the bored-looking Jōnin standing behind her. His hands were buried in his pockets, and he was watching her with a raised brow. She hoped he wouldn't be annoying all day.

Rolling her eyes, she huffed and started moving.

Inside, they were directed to the office of one of the head medics. She looked at the name on the plate inside the door. Asamida Ryoshi. Definitely not someone she was familiar with. When she was beckoned inside, she realized why: Asamida Ryoshi looked positively ancient.

"Good morning." The old woman stood and rounded her desk.

Sakura bowed slightly. "Asamida-sama."

"I received your file from the Hokage." Shrewd brown eyes inspected her critically. "You managed to track down Tsunade and convince her to train you." She laughed sharply. "That, all by itself, is impressive."

What Sakura realized must be her file lay open on the desk between them. "I wish you could have convinced her to come back and help me run this hospital. I want to retire." She gestured to the open file. "If any of this is true, maybe I have hope yet."

"Asamida-sama?"

"Come with me. We have a handful of younger people in our training program, and I'd like to see what group I should give you."

Having known Lady Chiyo, this woman's spry movements did not surprise Sakura. So, when she suddenly headed for the door and down the hall, Sakura was right at her heels. They talked as they walked, Kakashi following lazily behind.

"Obviously, you would be wasted on the newest trainees. But the kind of chakra control it takes to master the high-level medical jutsu Tsunade specializes in is unfortunately uncommon."