Something Beautiful (Naruto AU Fanfic)

Chapter Six

 "Come in!"

Sakura was surprised that she was greeted with Rin (the school's guidance counselor) leaning against the filing cabinet, awkwardly holding a pile of papers against her chest. Next to her was Kakashi who hovered over her, his masked face inches away from Rin's.

They were huddled a bit too close for what was supposed to be appropriate contact between two work colleagues, but be damned if Sakura didn't find the sight slightly hilarious, if not really, really awkward.

Oh my god, so the rumours are true, Sakura thought, hiding back the grin, I could totally use this to blackmail Kakashi-sensei!

She let out a loud cough, which alerted the couple as they stared at Sakura, who stared back at them. 

Rin hadn’t time to hide her surprise. "Oh my gosh, Sakura!" she gasped, dropping several sheets that were in her hand.

"Ack, not again," she bent down, idly pointing to the desk as she re-piled her papers, "please, sit down. I'll be with you in a moment."

Rin's face turned a bright shade of red as she and Kakashi bended down to pick up the papers scattered across the floor. Kakashi gave his share to Rin, murmuring something to her before he took his cue to leave the room.

Just as he opened the door, he narrowed his lone, unmasked eye at Sakura, as if warning her to not tell anyone about what she just saw, before he left. Sakura turned her attention back to Rin, who was rigid and staring off idly at the window.

She raised an eyebrow. "Rin?" she said, slowly closing the ajar door shut. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes of course! Why wouldn't I be?" she said, giving a nervous giggle. "Please don't tell Sarutobi-san what you just saw before. I know it isn't apprporiate, but Kakashi-san is an old childhood of mine. We were just catching up, that's all."

"Right," Sakura drawled, giving a smirk before she made herself comfortable. "So why am I here?"

"I had a call that someone wanted to meet you," Rin explained, jerking when the phone suddenly rang. "Hold on a second, sorry Sakura - yes, I got that file and faxed it to Sarutobi-san, already, yes yes, it's all done. Okay, bye! Sorry, where were we?"

Sakura stared at her, growing impatient. “You were explaining why I was sent here.”

“Oh yes! Well, as we know, you have transferred after being … home schooled, for the last few years, am I correct?” Rin looked up, crestfallen when Sakura chose not to respond. “We figured that you might want some extra help in adjusting back here, that’s all.”

Sakura stiffened. “Thank you, but I do not need any help with my return.”

“Please wait, there was another reason you were brought here,” Rin cried, as Sakura headed to the door, “If you would just, please don’t leave just yet, Sakura-“

Just as Sakura was about to exit the room, someone else had already opened the door. They both stood there, staring with shock at each other, especially Sakura - who was looking back at a face that she, had not seen in a long while.

“Shizune-san!" Sakura cried, lunging forward for a fierce hug.

Shizune still had her shoulder-length, navy blue hair and looked almost the same as the time when Sakura left. The only main difference was that instead of her loose-fitting dresses and rural clothing, she was dressed impeccably in business wear.

It felt like as if she was looking at a whole new person.

“What are you doing here?” Sakura asked, barely hiding her amazement and surprise. Shizune led them back down to Rin’s desk, as she started pulling out several files from her bag.