Pulling My Weight

Chapter 15 || Friends

"Suna? So soon?" Genma asked while leaning against the doorframe as Sakura packed. "You only just got back from that other month-long mission." Sakura paused, and when she listened a bit closer, there was an undeniable tinge of worry in the tokujo's voice.

Sighing fondly, the rosette sealed the last few kunai into her scroll and shoved it in her backpack, then turned towards Genma with a smile. "It's just a diplomatic mission, don't worry so much." When the brunet still didn't look convinced, she walked over and hugged him – Sakura suspected she needed the physical reassurance more than him, but it was nice nevertheless when his arms wound around her back with nary a thought. "It'll be in-and-out: harass some Elders, present the treaty, leave. No longer than a month. Tsunade-sama isn't expecting the same miracle as in Kiri, but she is obligated to respond to the interim Kazekage's request; Shikamaru and I are the best choice." She mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.

Genma hummed and lightly patted her head before withdrawing. "Shall I look it over?" he gestured to her pack and Sakura, seeing the change of subject as what it was, agreed. As Genma ambled over to sit on her bed, he laughed suddenly, picking up a hot-pink stuffed dinosaur from her pillow.

"You're leaving him behind?" he teased, shaking the toy in a mockery of a dance. "Kotetsu will be heartbroken."

Sakura mock-scowled, but she couldn't help the grin that pulled at her lips. The dinosaur was a gag gift from Kotetsu, given shortly after the rosette started seeing Inoichi for therapy, with a teasing 'Mr. Obnoxiously Pink for our favourite obnoxiously pink chunin!'. But even though at the time Sakura had scowled and smacked the man with the very toy he gave her, she kept it. Her old toys had all perished when her house had been levelled during the Invasion, so it was nostalgia more than anything and a desire to cling to the last remnants of her childhood with her parents that made her keep it and sleep with it since. Nonetheless, it was a fact which she would rather shave all her hair off for than admit to the insufferable raven.

"He's probably convinced I burned it to ashes the second I got it, so no, he won't be." She snarked eventually when the silence seemed to stretch on for too long and got a snort in return. The atmosphere in the room, however, was considerably lighter so she counted it a success.

From there, the conversation drifted to slightly more serious topics, from desert-appropriate clothing, Suna's socio-economic situation, to the pros and cons of foreign foods and the weather. Just before she settled in for bed, Sakura penned a quick letter to Chōjūrō, letting the bluenette know where she was going to be for the next few weeks, and Genma graciously agreed to send it off in the morning.

(and if the next day, Genma hugged her a bit tighter than usual when she was leaving to meet Shikamaru, then, well. Neither of them commented on it and Sakura simply made sure to squeeze just as tight in return.)

Shikamaru was already at the gates when Sakura arrived, and she waved in recognition before ambling over to the gate guards to submit their mission scroll and papers. She was slightly disappointed when the guards weren't anyone she recognised, but soon enough, they were off, easing in to the three-day trek for Suna. They kept a steady pace, nowhere near the speed at which Sakura had had to run at with Fox and Boar-taicho, but fast enough that by nightfall they were right by the border between the Land of Fire and Land of Rivers. Just for the extra security, they camped on the Fire side of the border, setting up their tents and getting a small fire going for food and extra light.

Eventually, when the hastily-hunted dinner was eaten and they were both sated but unwilling to go to sleep just yet, Sakura proposed a game of shogi, having spied Shikamaru's signature travel kit in his bag. They had chatted during the journey, catching up on what happed during the three months since they'd last seen each other at Inoichi's dinner. Which was nice and all, but jumping through trees and keeping half a mind on the direction they were heading in left little room for deep conversation.