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Chapter 6: Rikuto, the Mission and the Past

Sakura woke up early and took a warm bath. After she finished, she casted a frown when she saw herself in front of the mirror. Her eyes swelled up so much than she expected it. She did try to lessen what she called as the “bulging bags” around her eyes but it was still noticeable. She cursed herself. If only she didn’t think a lot yesterday and focused herself to sleep, this wouldn’t have happened.

But she couldn’t help it. Her thoughts seemed to try and playback all the memories she both had with her former teammate and now former bodyguard. She was reminded about Sasuke and how team 7 would spend a lot of time together and how in the end, Uchiha chose to leave seeking for power and revenge. She was right there when he left.

Her thoughts began to deviate to that particular ANBU captain who would always appear wherever and whenever he wanted to. It was the way he would disturb her while she cooked dinner and the way he would tease her about being a workaholic that would make his stay with her memorable however much annoying he had been. And yes, she was also right there when he left.

They really seem to overlap. Rikuto’s eyes, she thought, were vaguely similar to that of the Uchiha that she carefully locked away in the very depths of her heart- those over-confident eyes brimming with cunningness and wit can only be found in few. It may be that, when he walked away from her and disappeared from her sight, she merely remembered the pain her former teammate caused her.

She promised that she wouldn’t go back to that same old Sakura that she always hated but no matter how strong and better she is today, there was always a time in her life when she was weak. It was the first time in years that she was reminded how helpless she has been

She sighed.

Sakura thought of just wanting to laze around today and do nothing but train. She didn’t feel like looking at that handful of documents that’s sitting on her office table right now. She would imagine how it’d be doubly high by tomorrow if she didn’t go in today. She closed her eyes and smacked her head with a brush for thinking about skipping work. If that shameless Rikuto snooped around and knew she didn’t go to the Hospital, he’d probably think it was because of what happened. She didn’t want that. He’d definitely tease her if ever she saw him again. With that she dressed up and left for Konoha’s Hospital

O.O.O.

“Sarah? Did you hear me?” Sarah stared at her for another second before she reacted to what she just said. She brought down the brown teapot with the accentuated pink cherry blossoms on it on top of the table.

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to hearing that you want to leave early today.” Sakura crossed her brows and thought about it for a moment. That’s true, she thought. She never requested for an early break before and before she knew it, her life became a routine where everybody in the village knows where she was and where to always find her.  She tried recounting her schedule.

In the morning, she’ll be in the Leaf Hospital dealing with the documents submitted the day before, in the early afternoon, she’ll be reporting to the Hokage about mission casualties and important updates regarding key ninjas who are sent out for important missions, and during her late afternoons, she’ll do her rounds to check up on patients. On her evenings, which only some people knows, she’d be training on her chakra control to achieve that pin point precision and manipulation. And yes, she never deviated from that life even once. No wonder she’s surprised that she’s trying to make a minor change in her routine.

“Well, I’m going to Tsunade-sama. I’ll probably try to take a mission to keep me moving. It’s been a long time since I was allowed to go out after all.” The other woman smiled and nodded her head. She went closer to the table to take the empty teacup that was once full of Sakura’s favorite tea.