Author’s note: Preview of upcoming chapter plus art! Checkout the Naruto map on my deviantart account (trixieg). I’ll post it here in some organized fashion…but it won’t be tonight! Anyway, enjoy, and as always, this is still unpolished so please forgive any glaring errors.
Sakura spotted the Hokage’s scroll as soon as she rounded the corner at the hospital’s front desk. To her eye, it stood out like a beacon from the rest of the bulky scrolls piled in the receiving basket. They weren’t urgent documents, just official. Sakura eased the slim roll out from the center of the pack, the blue-green tassel at the visible end dancing with the movement.
Just as she suspected, it was a summons to discuss her upcoming mission. Quickly pocketing the missive then, Sakura rearranged the three clipboards that had been pinned under her other arm and continued down the hall to finish her shift.
By mid-afternoon, she was off duty. Sakura pushed open the double doors of the hospital and relished the feeling of sun-warmed air instead of the bracing chill. Spring was slowly breathing life back into Konoha. Though mornings were still cool, the afternoons were beginning to warm up nicely. She took the long way up to the tower, enjoying the bright green tips bursting out on all the plants. It seemed like a lot of people had the same idea, and the streets were filled with other villagers enjoying the fine afternoon.
Sakura rapped once and, receiving permission to enter, opened the Hokage’s office door to be greeted by another push of warm air. Apparently even Tsunade had figured out a way to enjoy the fine weather: a window behind her desk was cracked open. The little gust of wind rippled across the papers scattered across her desk. Sakura quickly shut the door before anything could take flight.
Tsunade’s desk was normally had several stacks of papers. But this time, the papers had been relegated to the floor. On the desk now stretched a wide map. Either side flopped over the edge of the desk, tipping back up in fat curls. Scattered across the map were scraps of paper, clan symbols, jotted notes and thick files. Sakura initially thought they were just strewn over the surface, but as she drew closer it became clear that the little piles corresponded to locations.
Sakura glanced at Tsunade, a question on her lips, but she stopped at the sight of the woman clearly fretting over the very same map. She had barely seen the Hokage in the last few months. Her time seemed to be filled with meetings, moreso than usual. Perhaps this map had something to do with it.
Tsunade pushed a hank of blonde hair away from her face, adjusted her blue-green jacket, and fixed her full attention on Sakura.
“I’m glad you could come at such short notice,” she said. Sakura simply nodded. “There are some things I’d like to go over with you before your next mission. Step around here,” she said, beckoning her around the desk.
Tsunade flattened her hands across the broad map, pushing some of the notes to either side. Sakura could clearly see Konoha and the route she would take to the merchant village on her next mission. But along the dashed-lines of roads and beside the largest towns, thin notes were jotted in the empty spaces. Everything was there, clan names and trading information. Even allegiances from the previous war.
In between the border countries, the boundaries had been erased and redrawn countless times. Only the thick lines around the five nations were impermeable.
Add to this the piles of loose information laying atop each location, and Sakura gathered the she was looking at the sum of Konoha’s knowledge about the border countries.
10 Apr 2011 No Comments
Chapter 24 preview
Author’s note: Preview of upcoming chapter plus art! Checkout the Naruto map on my deviantart account (trixieg). I’ll post it here in some organized fashion…but it won’t be tonight! Anyway, enjoy, and as always, this is still unpolished so please forgive any glaring errors.
Sakura spotted the Hokage’s scroll as soon as she rounded the corner at the hospital’s front desk. To her eye, it stood out like a beacon from the rest of the bulky scrolls piled in the receiving basket. They weren’t urgent documents, just official. Sakura eased the slim roll out from the center of the pack, the blue-green tassel at the visible end dancing with the movement.
Just as she suspected, it was a summons to discuss her upcoming mission. Quickly pocketing the missive then, Sakura rearranged the three clipboards that had been pinned under her other arm and continued down the hall to finish her shift.
By mid-afternoon, she was off duty. Sakura pushed open the double doors of the hospital and relished the feeling of sun-warmed air instead of the bracing chill. Spring was slowly breathing life back into Konoha. Though mornings were still cool, the afternoons were beginning to warm up nicely. She took the long way up to the tower, enjoying the bright green tips bursting out on all the plants. It seemed like a lot of people had the same idea, and the streets were filled with other villagers enjoying the fine afternoon.
Sakura rapped once and, receiving permission to enter, opened the Hokage’s office door to be greeted by another push of warm air. Apparently even Tsunade had figured out a way to enjoy the fine weather: a window behind her desk was cracked open. The little gust of wind rippled across the papers scattered across her desk. Sakura quickly shut the door before anything could take flight.
Tsunade’s desk was normally had several stacks of papers. But this time, the papers had been relegated to the floor. On the desk now stretched a wide map. Either side flopped over the edge of the desk, tipping back up in fat curls. Scattered across the map were scraps of paper, clan symbols, jotted notes and thick files. Sakura initially thought they were just strewn over the surface, but as she drew closer it became clear that the little piles corresponded to locations.
Sakura glanced at Tsunade, a question on her lips, but she stopped at the sight of the woman clearly fretting over the very same map. She had barely seen the Hokage in the last few months. Her time seemed to be filled with meetings, moreso than usual. Perhaps this map had something to do with it.
Tsunade pushed a hank of blonde hair away from her face, adjusted her blue-green jacket, and fixed her full attention on Sakura.
“I’m glad you could come at such short notice,” she said. Sakura simply nodded. “There are some things I’d like to go over with you before your next mission. Step around here,” she said, beckoning her around the desk.
Tsunade flattened her hands across the broad map, pushing some of the notes to either side. Sakura could clearly see Konoha and the route she would take to the merchant village on her next mission. But along the dashed-lines of roads and beside the largest towns, thin notes were jotted in the empty spaces. Everything was there, clan names and trading information. Even allegiances from the previous war.
In between the border countries, the boundaries had been erased and redrawn countless times. Only the thick lines around the five nations were impermeable.
Add to this the piles of loose information laying atop each location, and Sakura gathered the she was looking at the sum of Konoha’s knowledge about the border countries.
by tricksie in Preview