Preview of Chapter 22 – Perfect, Part 2

Author’s note: preview of Chapter 22. Still needs some polishing, so please forgive any errors. Chapter to post soon.

Sakura paused outside the hospital doors for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the deepening gloam. Across the broad avenue, the road to her home stretched out in front of her, soft and grey in the dusky light.

She allowed herself one long, good look: It would be several more hours till she’d see it again. Even though she’d just finished her shift, there was still so much work to be done.

With a sigh Sakura shook off her treacherous thoughts, slung her small work rucksack over her shoulder and trotted down the steps. Reaching the avenue, she ground her heel in a hard turn and jogged out of the stale yellow street light into darkness.

Sakura padded mechanically down the narrow streets of Konoha, past darkened storefronts and faintly glowing residences. Only the lingering smell of cooked meals interrupted her thoughts. And that was just because it set her stomach growling.

But she was late enough as it was. Eating would have to come later. Right now, her two teammates were waiting for her. And one of them was probably really pissed off.

She swiped the bangs off her forehead with the back of her hand, then turned another corner. Even though her workload had doubled, it didn’t excuse her from any of her other duties. So when she was in Konoha, there were always had medic hours to catch up on, as well as the meagre roster of Team 7 assignments.

Her buoyant mood carried her through most of the tedious work, but it did not escape the notice of her two teammates. Sai’s anbu training was too engrained to allow him much more than a raised eyebrow at some silly outburst on Sakura’s part. But Sasuke? He barely tolerated her near-permanent good mood these days, always frowning thunderously whenever he saw her. And he never spoke to her.

But somehow, that only made Sakura feel even lighter. She shrugged off his dark looks. Her experiences, and the resulting self confidence, had become an armor against his scowls and silence.

Still, she hated for them to wait on her.

Sakura rounded another corner, past another good-smelling lane. Stars were already pricking through the inky sky. They were supposed to meet at sunset to unload the shopkeeper’s substantial goods, but that was at least an hour ago.

Sakura had asked them to juggle a nuisance assignment to a better time to accommodate her schedule. Neither spoke against it, so she took it as an agreement. But now she was the one running late…. She quickened her pace.

Trotting down the last row of storefronts, Sakura mulled what she might find: Either they were there, doing the job without her, in which case she could expect a night of angry silence. Or Sai had been called off on anbu duty, leaving only Sasuke to do the job.

Fat chance, she thought with a snort. If Sai was gone, then only thing she could expect was a long night of solitary work.

Sakura slowed to a walk, listening hard as she approached the alley behind the shops. It was too quiet. A bad sign. She squared her shoulders and prepared for the worst — a mad shop keeper and a night full of work.

But when she rounded the building, Sakura was completely surprised to find the two dark-haired nins already at work.

In the dim light of a single faded red lantern, Sai and Sasuke were silently hoisting crates in tandem off an oversized cart, then stacking them beside the door. Both her teammates glanced up at Sakura’s approach but neither offered her a greeting.

Sakura sighed quietly. At least it was better than working alone.

Shrugging off her rucksack mid-stride, Sakura pitched it to the side and set to work hauling down the crates from the cart. And, without a word, the workflow changed.

Sai began lugging the crates inside, while Sakura and Sasuke unloaded the cart.

It was ironic how well they could function as a team, without actually being one, Sakura thought as she slid off a crate.

Much to their sensei’s chagrin, the begrudging teamwork that carried them through the chunnin exams did not last. Teamwork was so important to Kakashi, and in that they seemed doomed to disappoint him. But Kakashi’s feelings were the only thing that gave her a moment’s pause anymore.

Sakura had sparred on occasion with Sai, tried build some kind of bond. But once her slate became too full, she didn’t have time to ask him again. He, conspicuously, never said a word about it.

Sasuke…well, nothing had ever changed with him. He only put forth a little more effort than usual to get through the exam. Once it was over, it was clear he still thought they were beneath him. Sakura more so than Sai, but she didn’t care. She had grown immune to his opinions, the spoken and unspoken ones.

He had just been using them to get through it. But if she were honest with herself, she supposed they were all using each other to reach the same goal. Did that count as teamwork? She found the thought highly amusing. Maybe it did for their team.

Chuckling softly to herself, Sakura leaned in to get the next crate. But the flash of another hand in the same space startled her back to reality.

Sakura had reached for the same box as Sasuke. He shot her an irritated look; Sakura’s small smile vanished.

She immediately withdrew and reached for another one, hoping to avoid an angry confrontation, on either of their parts. But for Sasuke, her preoccupation as an opening to vent his anger on another subject altogether.

“Surprised you have any time for this,” he sniped, sliding the box to the edge of the cart. “Tsunade seems to favor you above all others.”

“My shift just ran long tonight,” she said heaving up a crate. She frowned suddenly, as the intent of his words sunk in. “And Tsunade doesn’t ‘favor me.’ My solo missions are no different than Sai’s anbu ones.”

Sasuke only laughed coldly. Crate propped against his chest, he swung around toward the store, took a few steps, then stopped.

“Yeah,” he said over his shoulder, “but Sai’s doing real work, not ass-kissing the officials.”

The words stung like a slap. Sakura just stood, watching him go. The box was balanced on her hip, and anger alone numbed the hard edge digging into her side. It took every ounce of self-control not to throw it at him.

And it must have shown too, because Sasuke set the crate down with a smug look, as if daring her to do it.

It was the first time that Sasuke had made any reference to her being in the room at the clan meeting. At the time, she’d wondered if he’d even noticed her. Apparently he did.

He walked back, the trace of a smirk on his lips. No, he had just been waiting for the right to time to throw it back at her.

But Sakura had nothing to be ashamed of. Tsunade figured out a way for her to be there and learn the truth about why Team 7 was held back.

“You know,” she said, shifting her hold on the crate, “you’d get a lot farther if you’d just do the damn assignments. You don’t have to like it.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know? These assignments are a waste of my—”

“This is a waste of my time too, and Sai’s, for that matter” Sakura fired back. “And yeah, just so you know, I don’t think you should be doing this. I think it’s unfair, and I think you’re skills are wasted.”

It was honest opinion, even though she disliked him thoroughly. She was beginning to have some inkling that this might have been why Tsunade worked her into that meeting, to help her understand their troubled teammate.

But any feelings of understanding she might have had were scorched away.

Sasuke folded his arms, leveled a bored look at her, then, impossibly, rolled his eyes.

Molten rage seared through her. Her words had been thrown away, dismissed as nothing more than empty flattery! He still saw her as beneath him!

Without thinking she tightened her grip on the crate, compressing the wood under her fingertips. Though the feeling of splintering wood was distantly satisfying, she shoved the box back on the cart to keep from destroying it. Or hurling at him.

His arrogance was infuriating. Sakura resisted the wild urge to smack that look off his face. Instead, she struck at him in a way she knew would really hurt.

“I also think it’s unfair,” she said, stepping toward him, fists ground tight, “that I was targeted by your idiot brother just because I was on your team. And it’s unfair that I have to do this grunt work because you won’t work hard enough to get yourself some decent assignments!”

Sasuke sputtered furiously, his facade shattered, but she wasn’t finished.

“I busted my ass to finish those jobs you left me with,” she said, thudding her chest with a finger. “I signed your name so our team wouldn’t take a hit.”

Sakura moved another step closer and pointed sharply at up the lane, in the direction of the Hokage’s tower.

“And Tsunade knew the whole time.”

Sasuke closed his mouth. He had enough grace to look at least a little ashamed of himself.

Sakura straightened and took a steadying breath. “If you don’t like the way things are now, you have only yourself to blame. Finish the job, be nice to the people — it’s not their fault either. Then she can give you better assignments.”

Sasuke’s eyes went wide, his face twisted in rage.

“You insinuate yourself into one meeting,” he said, stepping towards her, “and think you’ve got it all figured out? It’s not that simple—”

“I know it’s not!” she said, mirroring his actions. “But it’s a start.”

Tension froze the air between them. Sasuke was pale with fury. Sakura would not relent.

Suddenly Sasuke slammed his hand down on the flat bed of the cart beside them. Then, with a wrathful noise, he turned and stormed away down the dark alley.

At that moment, he hated her. But more than that, he hated that she might be right.

Sai came around the corner, saw Sasuke’s figure fading into the darkness, then looked back at Sakura with a tight frown. His expression might pass for mild irritation in other people. But he said nothing.

Sakura sighed. The pile of stuff they still had to move was huge. She hefted up the same box again.

“I should have just kept my mouth shut,” she said in the way of an apology for now extending their workload into the night. She knew both of them were starting out on assignments in the morning.

“Or you could just kill each other, and save me the trouble,” he said dryly, pulling of another crate.

Sakura nodded dispiritedly. She deserved that, she thought. There was no love lost on her team, that’s for sure.

Darkness closed in around them, but they worked on without stopping. One by one, the lamps down the alleyway were snuffed out, until only theirs was left. The merchant sometimes came to the door, checking their progress, but most of the time Sakura and Sai were left alone. Under the tired red lamplight, they plodded back and forth from the cart to the door in silence.

So it was a complete surprise when the crunch of footsteps echoed up the long alley.

Without a word, Sasuke materialized out of the darkness.

He didn’t look at either of them, just set in to moving boxes. Sai automatically returned to the door, slipping into their stilted teamwork, but not before flashing Sakura a mild look of warning. She ignored him. Sakura didn’t need to be reminded: She said she should of kept her mouth shut, and she meant it. This time she would.

And as before, the workflow silently changed. Before any of them realized they were finished.

Sakura wearily pulled out the scroll for them to sign. They didn’t need a report for this one, just the proof that it was finished, what time and who was there.

All three jotted their names at the bottom, but when Sakura went to stash it into her hip pouch again, Sasuke held out his hand.

“I’ll take it,” he said firmly. “Go home.”

His voice was cold and authoritative. But Sakura understood: This was his way of an apology.

Sai nodded and left immediately.

Sakura reminded herself to keep her mouth shut. So she nodded, handed him the scroll and headed off in the opposite direction. She didn’t know what to make of it, but maybe something she’d said got through. It didn’t matter though, she thought with a yawn.

She’d catch a few hours sleep tonight, then in the morning she’d be off again for another few weeks. Sakura smiled to herself at the thought of spending time with the one person who truly was a teammate, Katsuro.