Pulling My Weight

Chapter 34 || Blood

Once the Kage Summit had been concluded, it didn't take long for everybody to wrap up their affairs and go their separate ways.

Apart from Kumo, that was.

A had insisted on accompanying Tsunade to Konohagakure, having sent Shi back to Kumo with the rest of the Kage entourage while Darui stayed and travelled alongside A and the Konoha contingent.

"More expedient that way." A had grunted at Tsunade's raised eyebrow, and fell silent, occasionally speaking with Darui in some harsh, throaty dialect Sakura assumed must've been native to Kumo, since she only managed to catch every other word.

All in all, the journey back to Konoha was quiet, cold, and tense, but when they arrived, the real hell began.

Kakashi was waiting at the Gates when they stepped into the Village, and behind him, Sakura glimpsed the familiar spiky head of Kotetsu, and her ears just about caught Izumo's put-upon sigh. Unbidden, a smile came to her face, as she made eye-contact with the brunet, and though she carefully kept her hand at her side, she raised her fingers and wiggled them in a little wave, getting a considerably more enthusiastic one back.

"Welcome back, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi greeted, then turned to A and offered the man a shallow bow and a considerably frostier, "Welcome to Konohagakure, Raikage." And Sakura barely stifled a wince.

For her, it was a distant memory, but by the way Shikamaru stiffened at her side, he too was remembering the ordeal with Ao's stolen Byakugan. If that was how the Village had reacted to a single shinobi's crime during wartime, how would the populace deal with having the Kage of a Village who had tried to kidnap a Clan Heir and led to the death of a Hyuuga Clan Elder meandering around?

Not well, was her guess.

And though A just scoffed at the greeting, it didn't escape Sakura's notice that his and Darui's postures straightened noticeably, while their gazes became more guarded, watchful.

"Good to be back." Tsunade replied simply, either ignorant to or pretending ignorance to the tension between her Hokage-regent and the foreign Kage at her side. "Haruno, Nara, show Darui-san to what's left of the Ambassadors' quarters, then consider yourselves dismissed."

Sakura and Shikamaru both offered quick, grateful 'hai, Tsunade-sama's, both exhausted after the journey and with more questions than answers that they couldn't wait to run past each other. Darui seemed to be engaged in a rapid-fire exchange with A, and Sakura noticed Kakashi's frown as he undoubtedly tried to parse through the accent-heavy dialect, but she ignored it for the time being and instead, took the time to study her partner.

Seeing the frown lines that had writ themselves deep into Shikamaru's forehead and the shadows under his eyes, Sakura felt a pang of sympathy for the teen, followed by another that felt a lot like affection.

She reached out to subtly hook her pinky finger with his and squeezed lightly. Shikamaru jolted, startled, then offered her a tired smile and rearranged their hands so all their fingers were intertwined, not just their pinkies, and turned when Darui and A seemed to have finished conversing.

The duo waited only long enough to make sure Darui was on-board and following them before they took off in the direction of the Ambassadors' quarters, hand in hand.

Along the way, Sakura realised that Konoha really hadn't changed that much since her childhood.

They'd arrived early, only a little after dawn, so the streets were empty save for the few vendors setting up their stalls for later in the day; even the reconstruction efforts hadn't picked up again yet, though Sakura noticed that a lot more of the Village had been rebuilt than before they'd left. Nevertheless, those who were awake and paid enough attention to spot their unusual charge paused in what they were doing and regarded Darui with blatant distrust.