Between Life and Living

Between Life and Living

Chapter Ten: The Swing of Life

 

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"Well, what did I tell you? Worked like a charm, didn't it? Though you were quite lucky it didn't end worse than it did," Tsunade smirked and gave the dark-haired boy at her desk a light smack on the head. The pain was gone for the most part, but Sai still winced slightly under her small assault. She chuckled and simply sat back at her desk as the former ROOT member readjusted himself and settled down in the chair in front of it.

It was a few days after his visit to the hospital and he'd come to the Hokage's office after she had requested to see him. There, she had asked for the details of the first part of his mission, and then filled him in on his next assignment.

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Flashback

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"Come in," came the voice of Tsunade before Sai could even raise his hand to knock on the door to the Hokage's office. He lowered his hand slowly to the doorknob, gave it a turn and then walked in.

The blonde was seated behind her desk, and a smirk curled on her lips when she saw the pack of ice the nin was holding against the side of his head. The pain hadn't left him since the day it'd been inflicted.

"So she got you, did she?" she said with a soft chuckle. A small frown curved down on the boy's mouth, but he said nothing until he reached the front of her desk. His dark eyes shifted uncertainly to both sides of the room as if he were expecting something to jump out and attack him.

"Sakura Haruno…is a barbarian in a woman's body,"

The blonde let out a laugh and leaned forward at her desk. "That's my Sakura. Glad to see that she's still down there somewhere in all of that…" the woman trailed off and silently tapped her nails on the wooden surface.

She cleared her throat and then continued. "Well…since it seems that you've been able to work out some sort of tactic, I am going to give you the next part of your assignment. As of today, Sakura has been released from the hospital. As an unstable patient, it probably wasn't the best thing to do, but Sakura needs to be in a place where she isn't constantly secluded. That is one of her biggest problems. Instead, she needs to spend some time among people her age and get back into the swing of life,"

"The swing of life?" Sai repeated. He wasn't even sure what that meant, but he nodded all the same while hoping the rest of what she had to say would make it clear what she was trying to tell him.

"Yes. Currently, all of Sakura's former friends are away on their own individual assignments, and I am sending Kakashi away on another. Therefore, as of today, I want you Sai…"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I want you to take Sakura Haruno into your home for the time being. To keep an eye on her. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Sai shuddered inwardly at the thought. He was going to take that scary woman into his home? He wished he had been informed about this sooner or he would have had the walls in his house re-enforced with steel.

The Godaime's golden eyes went from hard and demanding to soft and pleading when she saw the doubtful expression on the ANBU's face. Tsunade wanted so much to take Sakura in and look after the girl, herself, but she knew the council would disapprove of such an intimate gesture and say it was an inappropriate thing for a Hokage to do.

The young man, because of his close partnership with Hatake Kakashi, and what she had discovered through the annotations of his ROOT files, was her last hope in saving the former legendary Sannin apprentice from her own self-destruction.

Something in the woman's eyes made Sai feel uncomfortable and strange. He recalled receiving the same look from Kakashi whenever the subject of his past team would come up in idle conversation. He'd only seen Naruto and Sasuke once during the war but Sakura had not been around at the time, so he had settled for the bits of information that Kakashi would mention when talking about team seven.

The sad glint in his eye when he would speak of his late friends was much like what he was seeing in the Hokage's eyes right now. It was something he didn't really understand, but he could register it as being the very same thing. Kakashi missed his friends and was worried about losing the very last one that he had. And though the little orange book of smut hadn't made its appearance as of recent, he knew that his partner was still harboring those feelings. What was that thing you felt when you were affected by unhappiness or grief?

"Sadness," Sai said aloud. Tsunade's amber orbs widened slightly and a small blush touched her face.

"Sai…" she mumbled, folding her hands on the desk.

The ANBU gripped the painted mask in his hand; he had come to his resolve.

"I will do it," he said. Tsunade lifted her eyes from her desk and a grateful smile traced up on her face. She was happy and relieved to hear those words and felt as though some of the weight in her heart had finally been lifted.

Her lids closed for a minute, feeling all the worried thoughts inside her mind begin to subside and disappear.

When she opened them she saw that Sai was replacing his mask and his head was turned to the picture sitting on the edge of her desk. Tsunade smiled down at the candid shot of Sakura and the rest of team seven all making goofy faces. The memory was pleasant, and forever set in a silver frame where she could always remember it.

'Even if this is all I can do, I hope it's enough. Naruto…Sasuke. Will you help me too?'

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End of Flashback

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An abrupt knock interrupted the silence between the Hokage and the artist. Both turned their heads to the door at the sound of a slow squeak and then footsteps entering the room.

Kakashi peeked in first, his head sticking through the door with a happy eye-curve and then walked in all the way, followed by a familiar pink-haired girl with jade-colored eyes.

She looked curiously in Sai's direction, but said nothing. Sai grimaced behind his mask, but knew she didn't recognize him, nor see this because of it.

"Ah, Kakashi! Sakura," Tsunade smiled when she saw the pair and gestured to the seats in front of her desk. Sai had already moved to the far corner of the room and was leaning against the wall as he watched them sit down. Sakura turned her head to look at him again, this time a hint of interest in her eyes. A thin smirk made its way onto the ANBU's lips. She would soon find out who he was.

"Sakura," Tsunade began.

Sakura looked at her sensei expectantly; still unsure of the reason she had been called here. She measured the amount of thoughtfulness behind the woman's eyes, and then decided that, whatever it was, it was something serious.

"Due to your recent misconduct, I have decided that you will no longer be living by yourself,"

Sakura shifted in her chair, but said nothing. She had already known this, but she had not been told who the person was. Perhaps it was a guard ninja of some sort, or even the ANBU that was standing in the corner behind them. She huffed at the idea of having someone like that pacing around her house and waiting for the moment when she would do something drastic.

She would just have to be more careful; that was all.

"Alright," the pinkette agreed. Not like she had a choice. "So then, who is this person that's supposed to be living with me?"

Tsunade's eyes shifted to the left side of the room.

Just as she'd thought.

"ANBU-san, will you please come over here?"

The masked figure nodded once and walked over to the side of the desk. Sakura stared at him, looking for any significant signs that would tell her who he could be, but there were none to be seen, aside from the strands of short dark hair she could see coming out slightly from either side of his mask.

Who was that? the pinkette wracked her brain, inwardly cursing herself for drawing a blank when trying to recall what ANBU she knew of that had inky black hair like that.

Her blood ran cold when one stray thought came to surface.

Sasuke had black hair…it wasn't that short though. Longer; inconsistent spikes and lots of flyaway strands. This is too short and—

She didn't want to think about this anymore.

"ANBU-san, you may remove your mask now," Tsunade said. A pale hand rose to the painted disguise and slowly slid it away to reveal a face just as light in color.

The chair that Sakura was once sitting in was thrown backward and it fell to the carpet floor with a muffled wooden clatter.

"YOU!"

Sai smiled back at her and lowered the mask to his side.

"Yes, hello," he mused in a pleasant manner. Green orbs honed like viperous daggers glowered in his direction, but his false, cheerful countenance only grew that much larger.

"What a scary face you are making at me," he added as an afterthought, and tilted his head, smile still intact. The flustered pinkette's hands balled into fists at her sides. Kakashi and Tsunade exchanged doubtful expressions, but both had gone unnoticed by the quarrelling younger shinobi in the room.

"I can't have this guy in my house," Sakura insisted, turning to the amused-looking Hokage and completely ignoring the ANBU's baiting comment. The blonde's entertained expression swiftly dissolved into that of a serious one.

"That's perfectly fine," she replied.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief, but tensed up at the words that came next.

"You will be living with him,"

"What…?"

Tsunade leaned forward at her desk and her brow furrowed. "Listen to me, Sakura. I'm doing this for a reason…" her voice became low and humorless.

Sai moved behind her and dragged the chair back into its previous position just in time for her to collapse into it with a quiet, defeated sigh. There wasn't a way for her to get out of this; she didn't know why she had even tried to argue about it in the first place.

Her emotions were pulling back and forth in a loose game of tug of war, detesting the idea of having someone that she especially didn't know watching over her like a hawk in every minute of her life, while frankly not giving a damn if she was trying to get away with murder, and it was their job to do something about it.

In the end, again, her feelings didn't matter here. Her reply would have to be an informal one.

"Fine…" the kunoichi mumbled, her eyes becoming downcast.

Tsunade nodded and then pulled a pen and paper out from her desk drawer.

"I need you to sign this paper saying that you understand the conditions of your restriction. You are not to go anywhere without Sai, and you will listen to him under my orders. Do you understand, Sakura?"

The pinkette's eyes narrowed slightly with disdain, but she nodded silently and then took the pen from the woman's hand to sign her name.

After she was finished, she set the pen down and Tsunade folded up the paper and slipped it into a file on her desk. The file name read Sakura Haruno. Of all the shuffling and prying through the various files in the Hokage's office, Sakura had made an effort not to look through her own. She knew without looking what was inside, and the contents had probably gotten worse since then.

"The three of you are free to leave now. Sakura, Sai will return with you to your house to collect your things. Starting today, you will be living with him,"

"Yes, ma'am," the ANBU complied respectively. He hooked the band of the mask in his hand onto the loop of his belt and walked to the door. Sakura remained in her seat with her arms crossed over herself.

Kakashi was just getting up to leave, when Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Kakashi. Stay here, I still need to discuss the details of your mission. Sakura…?"

Sakura's head snapped up and she looked at her sensei. "Y-yes…"

"You should be going now," the blonde gestured to the door. Sakura turned her head around and scowled when she saw the dark-haired boy smiling back at her cheekily outside the hall.

With a reluctant sigh, the pinkette stood up from her chair and trudged out of the room. Once they were alone, Sai's smile fell into his normal stoic expression and the two of them made their way down the winding hall and out of the building.

Sakura couldn't believe this, but at the same time it made a lot of sense. Shortly after her parents' deaths, Tsunade had become somewhat of a mother-figure to her. Her teachings had been both effective in her life as a shinobi, as well as a young woman, and Sakura had to wonder if that was always the woman's intention. She knew that the results of her efforts in trying to save the lives she had lost had never been the effect of something that her sensei hadn't taught her. She never once pointed a finger or blamed anyone but herself, and this time she would have to apply the same attitude in this situation.

Somewhere at the end of her subconscious, she had to admit that her decision was wrong, and she had been thinking of herself over everyone else when she was making it.

She didn't approve of the penalty at all, but she would have to endure it; at least until her restrictions were lifted.

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The small tinkling of a bell left Sakura's thoughts to trail off and abandon her back into the present. Her eyes searched the street for the source of the sound. Sai, already knowing what had made the sound, shifted his eyes away from the woman and followed her gaze. For a time, she had zoned out after they'd left the Hokage's office and neither one of them had said a word since. He wondered what sort of things she was thinking. She wasn't as easy to read as Kakashi, but he figured that had something to do with the fact that he hadn't known her long enough.

If she was anything like how Kakashi had described, she would be difficult to get along with, but he had found his ammunition; he was well-prepared.

"Ice cream! Momma, I want ice cream!"

A small girl and her mother stood outside of a small ice cream shop. The child anxiously pulled on the hem of her mother's long skirt, until the woman finally looked down and took her daughter's hand.

"Not today, Kikyo. Another time, okay?"

Sakura's expression mirrored the little girl's, as the mother pulled her daughter along down the sidewalk with her and disappeared behind the corner. For some reason it made her feel sad. She wasn't sure why.

"Would you like some ice cream, Miss Sakura?" the ANBU beside her spoke up. Sakura's eyes shifted to her escort. He was smiling that smile again. What was up with that, anyway?

Looking over at the ice cream shop again, Sakura realized that she really did want some ice cream. Unfortunately, she was ridiculously low on money due to the lack of missions she had taken over the past three years. Since her retirement as a shinobi, she began doing civilian work, such as shop management and other things of the sort. Her friends were always on missions, so it was a rare opportunity if she ever got to see them.

The sweet, mouth-watering aroma of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla all sailed through the air, almost as if they meant to surround her and taunt her into admitting to her sudden craving. Sai studied the look on her face and rivaled it with the same expression Kakashi always wore when they would walk past the bookstore, and happen upon one of those obscene novels that he didn't have in his collection yet.

Desire

"You would like some ice cream, wouldn't you Sakura?" the artist tilted his head as she continued to stare on longingly across the street. He grabbed her hand and began to drag her over to the shop where the doors were already being held open for a woman and a couple children who were racing inside.

"H-hey! What are you—"

An unpleasant chill washed over her body as Sai pulled her through the door of the shop and inside. She shivered at the drastic change in temperature, but her other senses soon became too overwhelmed by the various delicious scents of frozen desserts for her to think about it.

Sai led her to the front counter and pulled out his wallet. The man waiting to take their order stared at her expectantly, and when she turned to Sai he gave her the same, waiting look.

"Sai…but I don't have any—"

"Two ice cream cones please. One chocolate and one strawberry," the artist said. The man nodded once and then turned to begin making their frozen treats.

Sakura shot the ANBU a panicked glance when the man returned with their ice cream cones, handing the strawberry one to Sakura and the chocolate one to Sai, and then taking the money when Sai paid for them.

"This is only enough for one," the man smiled, and then looked to the pinkette. She blushed furiously and set the cone on the counter. "Sir, are you only paying for you own?"

"I am," Sai flashed the man a grin, and then turned to make as though he were about to walk away.

"Wh-what?" the bewildered kunoichi exclaimed, her hand gripping and tightening around the base of the cone until she could feel drips of coldness running through her fingers. She was completely at a loss for words. What was he doing this for?

"B-but…you…What's even going on?"

The gradually simmering frustration within the pinkette suddenly began to bubble. Lifting the frozen treat from the counter, she drew it back and let it fly from her hand. It sailed through the air in Sai's direction as he continued to the door, and he only stopped once it hit the back of his head with a sound wet smack.

"You jerk!"

Ahh, and there it was…

The entire shop had fallen to silence.

Sakura smirked with the satisfaction of her deed, as the cold, creamy substance slowly slid down the back of his inky hair, coating it and leaving a messy trail of pink on his neck and down his shirt before it fell to the floor with a deafening plop. The ANBU slowly turned with a barely noticeable shiver, eyes lowered to the obscene pool of pink melting and flooding through the cracks of the grout.

When they lifted to Sakura, his unreadable expression swiftly turned into a smile.

"That was really cold, Sakura. It's a good thing that wasn't your ice cream cone, huh?"

What?

Sai ran a hand through the slick and sticky mess that the now ruined treat had made of his hair and flicked the excess drops away from his fingers. Sakura looked down at her own hand, and then shot an embarrassed, apologetic look at the man staring bewilderedly behind her.

"I…" she mumbled, looking down and fidgeting with shame.

"I'm sorry..." she trailed off, and looked up when she felt a hand lift her own. Sai pressed a napkin into her palm and wiped away the remains of ice cream before placing the chocolate cone into her hand. She fixed him with a confused expression, but he said nothing and began heading towards the door again.

"S-Sai, wait! We didn't…I didn't pay for this…" she said, dragging her feet reluctantly once they were outside of the shop. Sakura stared down at the chocolate swirled treat and held it out to him. "And…this is yours,"

"It isn't," he insisted, now using another napkin to blot the ice cream from the back of his hair. He balled up the paper and tossed it into the trash bin beside him on the sidewalk. The stickiness had left some of his hair sticking up in a strange array of spikes near the nape of his neck, but he didn't seem to notice.

"The ice cream was free. It was buy one get one free. I noticed the sign outside of the shop, but I am not a fan of sweet things," the ANBU pointed to the small sign in the window. Sakura stared at it and felt a blush creeping into her cheeks.

What an idiot she had been. How had she not seen that? And if that were the truth, then that had to mean that…

Sakura growled when she remembered the smile on the man's face back in the ice cream shop.

"You totally set me up back there!"

"Wrong," Sai deadpanned. He leaned over and caught a drip of chocolate running down the side of the cone in her hand and licked it from his finger, afterward making a face of disapproval. "You simply failed to pay attention to the signs around you,"

"B-but! The guy at the counter—"

"—was only teasing you," Sai finished for her. He took her by the hand and began leading her down the street. "You should probably eat that before it melts, though. I did pay for at least one of them," he suggested.

Sakura stared down at the melting treat in her hand. She felt so bad now, and still so frustrated that she wanted to take it and hurl it at the back of his head all over again. Unfortunately, chocolate was her favorite flavor and she wasn't about to let it go to such a waste. Bringing the cone to her lips, she took a tentative lick and smiled when she found the taste more satisfying than she had imagined it would be.

Her eyes closed for a second, indulging in the pleasure assaulting her taste buds and when she opened them, she blushed when she saw Sai glancing over his shoulder with his cheesy smile.

Unbelievable she thought again, inwardly cursing the ANBU. Sakura wrestled with the combination of pleasure and frustration as he gave her an innocent wink and then turned his attention back to the street.

Unbelievable, indeed. But nothing short of curious.

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