Naruto 1. Chapter 1

It was a mistake to come back to pilfer the letter. She'd been fooling herself in pretending that it might have gotten lost in the stack of papers on Tsunade's desk or swept through a window before it'd been read. Still, why nitpick when it was neither the last nor the worst mistake she'd made the night before?

It was a surprise to find she'd woken first, given how hard she knew the sannin pushed herself. It had taken a few moments after she'd sat up and blinked at the hokage lying in the bed—not hers but the hokage's—before she remembered what had led up to the morning.

_Mistake_s. She wasn't the only one to make them the night before, but it fell on her to correct it, because the hokage had more than enough weight on her shoulders and heart already.

It only took a few minutes to let her head clear—slowly, because further chakra use would awaken the woman—and then she slipped wordlessly out of the bed. Moving silently in a room with a sleeping figure wasn't a skill she often had to make use of, but it was a basic shinobi skill she'd learned long ago all the same.

In gathering her clothing, dressing, and exiting the room, she made not one errant ripple in the air. Her teachers would be proud, if not for the circumstances surrounding the escape.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lady Tsunade will hate me for this_.

It's funny, she was lucid enough to know that not finding that thought odd meant this really was it for her. Tsunade wouldn't be the only angry one, though. The ghost of Lady Chiyo would be disappointed, she thought. Naruto would be upset, Sasuke…

In her own head, she laughed.

_He always has…hated me_.

It didn't matter, though. A shinobi had to follow their convictions, no matter the personal cost to themselves. A shinobi put the village before their own concerns and safety. A shinobi followed their ideals unwaveringly.

She couldn't remember which of those were personal rules she'd formed over the years and which ones were the ones she'd memorized in class now. It wasn't anything as impressive enough as to say she'd forgotten, though. It was that she couldn't think clearly through her depleting chakra now.

What's important is that she had to do what she believed in, wasn't it? The hokage's life, her teacher's life, was so much more important than her own, anyway. This was the best she could do for everyone she loved. When she'd studied and developed this jutsu (with the hope of eventually overcoming Lady Chiyo's block in enough time), this wasn't what she'd expected to use it on.

Still, when she'd come to rouse the hokage and found her aged and still, the rapidly approaching time limit of her cells abruptly reached in the middle of the night, she'd had no time and no choice but to do this.

_It's alright, though. At least this will fix her._

For the price of her chakra, stamina, and life energy, not only could she undo damage and restore life, but she could turn back 'time' on cells. She could undo all of the damage the yin seal had done over the years and give back the youth the lady hokage had sacrificed for others.

It was the greatest gift she could give the woman for choosing her.

It felt a little like starving and suffocating at once, but color and youth slowly returned to the hokage's face, and eventually, through the dim haze of Sakura's vision, she saw the woman's eyes flutter open. It was a reward in itself for her…in a life where she couldn't have the other, selfish things she'd wanted, at least she could…have _this _before the end.

She smiled, she thought.

Anyway, she meant to, before she fell. She assumed she fell, because the Lady Hokage moved as if she'd needed to catch her. Even if she could barely see, barely think through the flickering candle of her life, still pouring into Tsunade even without her direction now, she was still as observant as her master had taught her to be.

_Sakura_

_…._

_Sakura!_

She'd be fine now. Younger, physically, than she should have been even without the seal. It would balance out what Tsunade gave up for others, and seemed a fine price for a life.

…_god…_

_Sakura… _

_please_

_Sak_

_ra!_

She was sure she smiled.

People who die following their ideals always die with a smile.

_Thank you…Lady Tsunade._


	3. Chapter 3

Even established shinobi couples of the same rank and team couldn't always be sent out on all of the same missions. Two of differing ranks and teams couldn't always be together even when they had the hokage thoughtful enough to shuffle things around.

Thus there were many days when Neji was out of the village and she remained in Konoha (far, far less often was it that she left on her own: jounin were in much higher demand, and ones like Neji were especially so). Sometimes, on the lonely days, she'd spend her after hours with the hokage.

Some days they would talk or study (she was fairly certain Tsunade would teach her things about being hokage simply because it felt right to as her teacher, even though she'd never become hokage herself) Sometimes they'd simply sit in each other's company and…sometimes there were days like this.

Some days sitting _near _the lady hokage would instead transform into sitting _atop _the hokage, or simply her lap. Without Neji she wasn't often the most active participant, but even when she wasn't, the lady Hokage's hands were sure, gentle, and far better at things than her own probably ever would be.

She tried to pay attention and learn, sometimes to mimic her teacher on nights she participated, but often her focus quickly slipped when fingers curved and dipped, and nerves even she as a medinin didn't expect lit up. It was always such a heady rush, it never felt like it lasted long…but by the time the lady hokage would be finished with her, she was always left worn, gasping for air, and on the edge of sleep.

She rather liked when she could stay and sleep in the lady hokage's company as well.


	4. Chapter 4

On the days that she ended up sleeping near the Hokage, it wasn't uncommon for the woman to scream in her sleep, to toss and turn even when she was silent, and even wake up from those nightmares in a panic.

She never asked, she rarely spoke, she simply reached out to her teacher and did her best through soothing chakra and gentle, reassuring touches to calm the woman.

Whenever she'd finally go back to sleep, Sakura would simply pretend it never happened at all in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

She didn't really plan on it, not at all. It was just…when the news about Jiraiya arrived, she'd followed after Tsunade—mostly expecting to be shut out, and a little disturbed that Tsunade was so hurt she didn't bother to hide.

She couldn't come up with anything worth saying when she spoke to Tsunade, but…though she'd never had any love for Orochimaru, she felt an intense empathy, an understanding of what _almost _was and might still be.

Alone, unable to save her teammates, the people most important to her. Words wouldn't help her, either.

She's not sure why she ended up leaning in and kissing her grieving mentor instead, and she half-expected to be pulverized or at least coldly shoved out of the room. She certainly didn't expect her to _grab _her, or to kiss her back so enthusiastically—desperate, maybe, rather than enthusiastic.

A desperate bid to grasp on to a lasting connection, and a hopeless offer to remind her mentor she still _had _bonds, important connections, people who she hadn't failed to protect. _Hope_.

It sort of made sense, though, and her mentor's lips were soft and skin warm. Sakura offered softer, more reassuring touches, her master stronger, firmer grasps—akin to a woman who clung to a rope hanging over a chasm.

She didn't remember most of the details, it all blended into moments and emotion and two different but harmonious sorts of needs that met in tugging hair and entwining limbs and bruising bites.

After, she stayed the night and shared warmth and unspoken promises of lasting company.

She didn't really talk about it later, it didn't seem right to bring it up.

Things seemed better in the morning, like they usually did, and so there didn't seem any point to repeat reassurances or dig things back up that could begin to be buried.

The hokage went back to her job, and she…she went back to thinking about the day when she might be standing where her teacher was.


	6. Chapter 6

Shinobi lives were active and violent to be sure, but they weren't always so. Sometimes there was down time just as with civilians. They had times of rest and breaks between violence and activity, too. They also needed quiet, stillness, and comfort.

She didn't always stay in a bed with the Hokage, unless they were on a rare trip, where Konoha's money was better served elsewhere than an extra bed.

When she did stay with the hokage though, she rarely tried very hard _not _to cuddle up to her mentor. The warmth of another human was almost always welcome, and she suspected it was even more so for Tsunade.

It was rare, though, that she could curl up behind the older woman and be the one to link her arms around her mentor instead of the other way around. Her mentor felt solid, strong, full, not at all like the shriveled old woman she'd seen unconscious for so long.

She tucked her face against the hokage's shoulder, and linked her arms around the woman, forming a sort of protective cage with her arms, and willed the image of the young woman in front of her to override the frail one inside.


	7. Chapter 7

She's under no delusions: her master probably has to be woken up all the time after her late night work or drinking adventures. It's just not usually by _her_ .So…she feels rightfully wary of being the one to do it now.

Still, a responsibility like this one came with a rare opportunity to take a trip with the Hokage on a diplomatic mission. She refused to accept that Shizune had skipped going just because it meant waking Tsunade up, because she did that normally anyway.

Still, by the schedule they had to leave now, and Tsunade was still sleeping.

"…Lady Tsunade…" She didn't touch the woman—touching an old shinobi while they slept was rarely a wise choice—but she did stand near enough she didn't have to…shout. "Lady Tsunade, wake up, we have to go."


	8. Chapter 8

They were really supposed to be plotting, and using the time to discuss important stuff that had nothing to do with the silly game Kankuro had roped them into.

But she's pretty sure it was also okay if they just kissed a little bit. It wasn't anything steamy or intense, just a long…firm, closed mouth kind of kiss.

It wasn't bad, after all, and…well, that way they wouldn't have to lie if anyone pressed them about what happened in there.


End file.
