J A D E

Chapter Thirty-Four

"So, you and Gaara, eh?" Naruto looks at me with smile on his face. But this smile is not a happy one, but sad. As if I should feel guilty of something. I nod, not saying anything. "What about teme?" He asks me uncertainly.

"He disappeared, Naruto." I sigh and push my hair away from my face. "He tried to kill me. And he never loved me." I say with anger rising in me. Naruto nods. "Listen, Naruto-baka." I smile at the nickname I have given to him just before the beginning of the war. I have not used it for three years, ever since the war started. "I am happy." I smile and look at the redhead, who is standing with his sister and chatting with smile. "I am just moving on, Naruto. I have accepted the fact that he would never return the feelings."

"So, you are infamous Haruno Sakura." I open my eyes and look at Genma with emotionless face. I just nod. He has senbon in his mouth and bandanna on his head. "My name is Shiranui Genma." He introduces himself and I nod to him.

"Nice to meet you, Genma-san." I bow to him politely. And stare at him. "My name is Haruno Sakura, as you have stated before." I start in flat tone. "And I am looking forward to being trained by you." I finish with smile on my face.

***

  "Why did you choose to join T&I?" Genma asks me as we sit down on the grass to take a break. I look over to him, confused on why he would have asked it to me. "You are strong and smart. You could have joined any other unit. So, why did you choose it?"

"It was because of Ibiki, mostly." I shrug my shoulders. "I was training under him and he introduced me to the world of interrogation. And I saw the importance of it." I add with small smile.

"What would you say about Pink Beast of Konoha?" Genma smirks once again. I blush at his question. I still feel awkward when someone uses this name around me. I never wanted to be called it.

"It happened by accident, really." I say with smile uncomfortable smile. "I was on a mission with Shisui and it was not supposed to be anything special, but we were ambushed." I shrug once again. "Some survived and well, they named me it."

"Some survived?" Genma chuckles. "Who killed most of them, though?"

"Well, I don't know." I tap my chin. "I think I and Shisui, both killed fair share. I did not really count." I add with furrowed eyebrows.

"You have killed already?" Senbon falls out of his mouth. Not many people know about this aspect of my life. Yes, they know that I interrogate and that I am sent on missions, but they never heard that I already had my first kill.

"My fist kill was when I was five." I whisper with a shrug and look down at my feet. "Around the time of my first interrogation." I add with even lower voice. "I still visit Inoichi-san, but as I said to him before. I never regretted it. That man was going to kill Shisui, so I did what I had to."

***

"How to you like Genma, brat?" Ibiki asks me as soon as I enter his office. I look up from the papers I am carrying and smile.

"He is good, actually." I grin and put the papers in front of him. "You have to sign these." I add before hopping on my favorite armchair. "He taught me Fissure Jutsu." I shrug and look around.

"Sakura." I look at him startled. It has been long since he has called my name. "I saw your fight." I look down. "And I am proud of you." I look up confused. He stands up and approaches me, hugging me tightly to his chest. Without hesitation, I wrap my hands around him. "You managed to get to the final round and you managed to control yourself." He whispers and lets me go, ruffling my hair. "I like your new haircut by the way."

"It was not intended." I shake my head and touch the bangs.

***

"You look good, Sakura." Genma chuckles as I approach the training ground with new outfit. I am wearing black spandex like shorts that end to my knees and Kunoichi dark pink dress with slits on both sides. On the top I am wearing the same shaded vest with Haruno symbol on my back.

"Genma, it looks wrong." I shake my head as soon as I notice that he looked up and down on my body, checking out the outfit. "You are old enough to be my father." I add with click of my tongue. Genma blushes, shaking his head furiously.

"I did not mean it like that!" He shrieks loudly and shakes his head and hands. But stops as soon as I start laughing loudly. "Ne, I am not that old, Sakura!" His remark makes me laugh even more. I wipe my tears away as I stop and shake my head.

"Come on, brat." Genma shakes his head annoyed. But I can see faint smile across his face. "We have to train."