Pulling My Weight

Chapter 23 || Reprecussions

The day they were meant to set off for Sound, Sakura got up before the sun had even risen over the horizon and made a beeline for the cemetery, dropping down beside two familiar headstones. As she knelt by her parents' graves, the melancholy and grief that were usually at the forefront of her mind were pushed to the back by the satisfaction of finally being able to her revenge.

"It's been a while, Hahaue, Chichiue." She greeted, bowing her head. "But I've been assigned to Sasuke's retrieval at last, so I can bring you some justice." Sakura paused and lightly ran the tips of her fingers over the various trinkets and souvenirs she'd left by their graves over the years as she tried to sort through the mess in her head. "I really should've seen Inoichi..." She sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "But Shikamaru needed me to stay and then we were summoned... I forgot how long it's been since I've seen him. I think I've been procrastinating dealing with some things, like Naruto's return or Kakashi's... Or even the fact that Anko is still in the coma. Now there's Chiyo too and that goddamn forest..." Even as she was speaking, Sakura felt her mind splintering, felt the steel boxes she'd forced those thoughts into start to rattle and threaten to burst open, a Pandora's box of issues she was ill-prepared to deal with. She hung her head and breathed deeply through her nose, only just noticing that her hands were clutching the grass by her knees in a white-knuckled grip. "Wish me strength, Hahaue, Chichiue. I'll need it. I'll come by... after. After everything." Sakura arranged the flowers she'd grabbed along the way neatly between the graves and rose to her feet, heading home.

When she got in, Genma seemed to have only just gotten up, his hair a mess and pillow creases still evident on his cheek, and Sakura was hit with an overwhelming wave of fondness for the man. She crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around Genma's waist, standing on her tiptoes to hook her chin over his shoulder.

She opened her mouth to somehow voice the fondness she felt, then her eyes zeroed in on what the brunet was drinking out of and she snorted. "Is that a coffee pot?" she asked incredulously, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"A coffee pot can be a coffee mug if you just don't care," Genma replied sagely, then snorted and downed the rest of his drink and put it aside. One of his hands dropped to cover Sakura's while the other tried to comb through his hair. "Everything alright?"

Sakura sighed and unhooked her chin, loosening her arms so Genma could turn around, then grabbed his sleeve and tugged him towards the sofa, pushing him on it once they were close enough. Genma went willingly, the corner of his mouth quirking up even as there was an edge of concern in his eyes, and Sakura couldn't help her own grateful smile.

She flopped onto his lap, delighting in the startled 'oof!' and let her head drop onto Genma's shoulder. "I got the Uchiha mission." She announced at last, and felt Genma go momentarily still as he registered her words, then-

"Ah." And in that single syllable, he managed to encapsulate everything Sakura had been worried about how to breach with him since she got her orders.

Laughing, she let herself relax slightly, picking at a loose thread in Genma's shirt. "Yeah." When nothing more was forthcoming, Genma laughed.

"You don't know what to think, do you?"

And Sakura snorted, meeting his eyes so he could see the gratitude in them, and replied, "Not in the slightest." When Genma asked her to walk him through her thought process, she sighed. "I've been after this mission for the last three years, but now... well, firstly, I'd much rather go with Shikamaru. Secondly... Naruto is going with me. And this time, we won't have Kakashi to keep him in check." At Genma's confused hum, she elaborated. "Kakashi got assigned as Team 10's back-up, which I'm grateful for, but... the jounin we got instead... I recognise his chakra, Gen, but I've never seen his face."