Sakura Blooms (#1 Sakura Trilogy)

Sakura Blooms: [Chapter 52]

The next day, Sakura and Sasuke woke up to see Naruto and Jiraiya gone from their room. There was a letter on the small bedside table and a pile of coins. Sakura picked it up and read it silently, Sasuke with his bed head reading over her shoulder.

"So they went out training," he stated, then turned around.

"Yes. Pedophile granted the two of us money for food." Sakura turned when she heard a sound behind her. "What is it you are doing, Sasuke?"

Already with his back facing her, he turned his head slightly and replied, "I'm going to train." He tousled his hair into its usual likeness before leaving Sakura alone.

"Hn," Sakura grunted, then turned back to her futon. She folded it back up, along with Sasuke's, and put them in the corner of the room. "Perhaps I should survey the area."

She walked through the hall, then down the stairs after putting all her gear and normal clothing on. Along one of the first roads near the hotel they were staying at, she heard loud laughter and cheering coming from a casino. "The Legendary Sucker defends her title," someone crowed from the inside.

Sakura hesitantly stuck her head inside, only to be jostled by a large group that had been watching. "It turns out that even Sannin are trash too," a large man snickered to his friend.

The other man agreed, the same look of smugness on his face. "I won ten thousand ryō off of her just last month. I've heard she owes debts to just about every gambler."

Deciding she didn't want to be pushed by those men, Sakura pushed back, causing them to nearly trip over each other. She nonchalantly watched them all whip around to see who had shoved them. "You pushed me first," she clarified, then continued to push through the crowd to get to the center of the chaos.

However, the first man grabbed the back of her shirt and lifted her, forcing her to face him. By now, a circle had formed, the crowd now watching Sakura and the man. She watched him critically, but still without interest. Suddenly, she was struck with something she hadn't felt in a long time: fear. The sneering man became a sleazy wakizashi-wielder from the mission in Nami no Kumi.

Her throat tightened as she imagined the man clutching her throat while she only watched him. Her breathing became labored, and she struggled to get out of the man's grip. If Sakura has been thinking clearly, she would have immediately been able to debilitate her opponent. However, she wasn't thinking clearly, she was on the end of full-blown panic.

Before the situation escalated even more, Sakura suddenly found herself on the ground, breathing and holding her neck. She looked up warily, just in time to see the man get flicked on the forehead before flying back into the wall.

"Fuck off, Sora," a blonde woman that Sakura identified as Tsunade, barked. Then, she bent down and held out her hand, her eyes still intense but holding pity. "What're you doing in a place like this?" She glanced around to see dumbfounded stares from everyone watching. "Let's take this somewhere else, shall we?"

Sakura nodded dumbly, her mind still numb. She looked past Tsunade to see the other woman she was with last night, trying to get through the crowd. Her stomach grumbled, gaining attention from the blonde again.

"Shizune!" Tsunade called harshly, then turned to Sakura. Her expression was light and joking as she said, "You'll pay for lunch, though, since I just lost everything."

:::

Lunch with Tsunade and Shizune was fairly quiet for Sakura, except for when sake was brought out. She watched as the blonde laughed boisterously and took another swig while being reprimanded by her assistant. After that, though, Tsunade has calmed down and began asking questions.

"So," she said, picking at some type of smoked fish Sakura didn't recognize, "what's your deal?"

"My deal," Sakura repeated, looking up from her own dish, curry and rice. "I am not sure what it is you mean by that."

"Tsunade-sama means to ask about your story," Shizune explained. "Or why you are separated from Jiraiya and your teammates."

"Oh. Pedophile and Ramen-boy are training, and Sasuke left to train by himself," Sakura replied, then took a sip of her water. "It seems my team is lacking in positive dynamics."

"Oh, I can relate," Tsunade muttered. "Let me guess, the two alpha males are going at each other while you're stuck as the mediator. Yeah, my teammates were like that too." She snickered. "If your team ends up even slightly resembling mine in the future, you're all fucked."

While Shizune stealthily was getting the sake out of reach, Tsunade was now resting her cheek in her palm, a nostalgic look on her face.

Sakura slowly nodded. "It has been worse as of lately. Most likely with the appearance of Sasuke's older brother."

"Oh?" Tsunade was now peaked in interest. "When did this happen?"

"A couple of days prior, before we started our search for you. The event seemed to reiterate Sasuke's insignificance compared to his brother. And," a flash of smugness in her eyes came and went like lightning, "I suppose I egged him on. However, nothing I said was wrong."

"Hmm," Tsunade hummed and shook her head. "Sakura, you never try to tell someone, especially an Uchiha, that they're wrong. It just damages their pride. And, as you may have figured out, there's a saying that the Uchiha feel emotions more than anyone else out there. Supposedly, they're the most loving, although every Uchiha I ever met was an asshole." She shrugged. "Although, I've never gone face-to-face with this kid, so, who knows?"

Sakura crosses her arms. "Sasuke makes a habit of being in a continuous state of anger despite nothing setting him off, he is constantly attempting to throttle Ramen-boy to death, and as I have heard from multiple sources, he has a stick up his ass."

Shizune and Tsunade stared at her for a few seconds before the blonde started laughing boisterously. "Listen, if you ever want to leave Konoha, just join me and Shizune. We could use a funny kid like you," she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

Sakura allowed a small smile on her face to make sure she didn't seem weird or suspicious. Only for that reason, she told herself.

Sakura is still facing PTSD from the Tazuna mission. How will it affect her later on?

Sakura and Tsunade had a little bonding moment! How do you think it'll affect them later on?