Naruto: Dreaming of Sunshine

Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

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"Back again, huh?" I asked, pausing in the door of Kakashi-sensei's hospital room. "If I didn't know better I'd think you liked this place."

"Lucky you know better," Kakashi-sensei said dryly, favoring me with an annoyed look. But he was awake and upright so things couldn't be too bad. And still here, even, though that might have been because Tsunade had hunted him down last time he'd left early.

"She said if I left again, I'd have to teach at the Academy," he confirmed morosely, rolling a scroll back and forwards in his hands.

"Harsh," I said sympathetically. "I'm not sure who would get the worse end of that deal – you or the students."

He looked faux wounded. "I'm an amazing sensei."

"Sure," I agreed, straight faced. I wasn't arguing.

"Just for that, you're my least favourite student," he informed me loftily.

I laughed. "Demoted for agreeing with you? I see how it is." I nodded at the scroll he was toying with. "You have a new mission already?"

He glanced down at it. "Not quite," he said ruefully. "Tsunade's forming a new team and she wants me to head it."

Now that was actually surprising. I blinked. "What kind of team?" I asked. What kind of things did Konoha not already do?

"Maybe 'new' is the wrong word," he temporized. "It's more the revival of something that's been out of use for a while."

That still didn't give me any more information. I raised eyebrows at him meaningfully.

"It's an in-village role," he said, which made it stranger that he seemed to be considering it. "Planning and tactics. That kind of thing."

"Doesn't really sound like you," I said, a little puzzled now. Kakashi-sensei was a field ninja. And more than that, he was a well-known one. It didn't make sense to keep him in the village for planning.

"It's War Operations," he said.

I sat down in the visitors chair. "That… would explain it."

Were things that bad that Tsunade was starting to form squads for war? Was pulling elite Jounin from the field for it? I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.

"It's mostly a bluff," Kakashi said, eyes fixed on the scroll. "Cloud thinks that if they keep pushing, then we'll back down. Once we don't, they'll have to reassess. They don't really want to go to war any more than we do."

That was probably meant to be reassuring. But I felt like 'a bluff' was a massive understatement. Even if it was mostly just a front to look strong, it still put the option of war on the table.

Weren't the Chunin Exams meant to prevent this?

"Back down from what?" I asked. "It's not like we're demanding anything." There was nothing to back down from. And nowhere to back down to, either.

Kakashi-sensei didn't answer that. Whether it was because he couldn't tell me, or because there was no answer…

"Are you going to take it?" I asked, changing tacks just slightly. If we truly did go to war, then there would be no separate team or division for it – all of Konoha would be turned to the cause. That didn't mean prior planning and preparation wouldn't be crucially important.

"She makes a convincing argument," he muttered. "There'd be less hospital visits, anyway."

"Always an important consideration," I agreed, as lightly as I could.

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The rest of January started to slip away with an almost frightening speed.

I was always busy, though never quite as much as those first few weeks as Special Jounin. I'd been called away a few times on Sensory Squad missions – some with Tsume that I'd been directly requested for, some that felt more like my name had come out of a hat to fill an empty spot – as well as running Intel missions.

And then there was training and more training and seal work, both for the Nara and for Tsunade.

"Given that Kisuke lacks chakra to interact with the seal," I started when it came time to report to the Hokage on the progress we'd made. It was all written down in the reports I'd handed over, but she wanted me to summarize it. "We created an interface that channels spiritual energy in order to control it. So he can switch between the visible and invisible modes."

"And the termination seal?" she asked.

That was… harder. "The seal can obviously be cancelled in the usual ways," I said, "by interrupting the sealing pattern. Obviously that's not really an option for Kisuke and it would mean that he'd have to get to the seal as well. Which might not be possible if he was stuck in the field?"

I wasn't quite sure what kind of things could trap a ghost somewhere, but nothing was impossible. And if he was stuck, how would anyone come after him?

"It's not exactly something we can test," I continued. "But I think we can build a seal that would… cut the ties that bind him here. And then, without an anchor he would just, uhm, move on."

"You think?" Tsunade asked, lacing her fingers together beneath her chin.

I gave a fairly helpless shrug. "It's not something I've done before," I said. "Nor a topic I'm experienced in. But Shizune agrees that the theory is sound."

Shizune was an experienced medical ninja and had a medical ninja's perspective and knowledge of seals. And of chakra and the energies that made it. I half thought she could have done all this herself given that she was the one with all the access to the old notes – the only things I'd really had to add had been things I'd cribbed from the Book of Gelel and none of that had exactly had to do with souls and ghosts either.

"There are other modifications that could be made," I went on. "For one, there's a limited distance that Kisuke can travel away from the seal. That will make reconnaissance difficult. I'm not sure how to go about changing that, though."

Increasing the power or stability of the seal so that it had a greater reach? Linking it to other seals so that the connection could 'jump' between them? That still had downsides because it meant someone would have to visit each location to plant a seal before Kisuke could go there to investigate.

"Keep working on it," she said. "But if the invisibility seal is functional, then I'm going to reinstate Kisuke into Anbu."

I nodded in acknowledgement and let myself out with the dismissal. That wasn't entirely unexpected – I could do just as much with a blank copy of the seal at this point, and Kisuke had been complaining about being bored. Well, not complaining. He was much too professional and stoic for that. But there was only so much you could do as a ghost.

I ran into Shizune on my way out of the tower, and impulsively invited her to the Kunoichi Group that I was headed to.

"Oh," she said, "I've heard about that. Isn't it a bit exclusive? I don't want to intrude."

I blinked. "No, not at all. Anko and Kurenai-sensei both come, and you know Sakura. Everyone will be thrilled for you to come."

They probably would be – we were ostentatiously a medical study group and the only person better would be Tsunade herself. And Shizune was a poison specialist as well, which would please Ino. It was a very unforgiving subject to try and learn.

"I hear you're making a bid for Jounin?" She said politely to Anko, which sounded like small talk. It wasn't something I had heard before, though, and I filed it away.

Anko, surprisingly, made a face. "That's just a rumor," she denied. "It's not true at all."

"Oh?" Shizune said, surprised. "I heard it from Gai-san. He sounded quite certain."

Anko groaned and put her face into her hands. "I wish he'd stop telling people that!"

Kurenai laughed, completely unsympathetic. "He's very difficult to dissuade once he has decided on something," she said. "Think about it this way – if you do become a Jounin, then you could be a Jounin sensei."

"Yeah, maybe," Anko said, though her eyes cut away to rest on Yakumo.

I left them to it. "So, Sakura, how's training?"

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Before I knew it, my rotation in the Cryptanalysis team was over. We didn't exactly have a farewell party – people came and went all the time, it was a normal occurrence – but I brought cake and biscuits to share, to say thanks.

"Are you really going back to field work?" Shiho asked, seeming distressed. "You could stay! You're great at this."

"Ah," I said awkwardly. "I'll still be around. I'll help out when I'm free."

"You better," Aoba agreed, slinging an arm over my shoulders. "After all the effort we put into training you up. I don't want that to go to waste."

He didn't seem surprised that I wasn't staying, but then, I'd never pretended that I was. And my position within the team had remained very vague and ill-defined. I was a floating team member who could do a little bit of everything.

"I suppose you have a lot to do," Shiho agreed, though a little morosely. I felt bad. She had been very helpful and understanding every time I'd had to run off and do something else.

But as it turned out, the biggest surprise of the new year wasn't mine.

"We have some news for you," Mum said, sitting the entire family down after dinner one night, her and dad on one side of the table, Shika and I on the other.

She was smiling, looking more happy than worried. I figured it couldn't be anything too bad.

"We're going to have another baby," she said.

What. I looked at Shikamaru. He looked as taken aback as I felt. Nope, okay, he hadn't seen this coming either.

I… most certainly had not seen this coming. I was pretty sure… I was pretty sure Shikamaru hadn't had any siblings Before. The only baby of importance in the story had been Kurenai's and given how tightly that plot had wound around Shikamaru I was sure it would have been mentioned.

Then again, they hadn't had me then either. And these were the people that were the closest, were the most changed simply because I was here. Was it so surprising that they were making different choices?

Still.

"Why?" I asked, baffled. Fourteen years between kids was a bit of a gap.

"Because I want to," she said, a bit tartly.

Okay, sure. That was really the only reason that mattered in the end. And maybe that was it, a simple desire for another child now that Shikamaru and I were both shinobi and gone for missions as often as not.

I looked at Shikamaru again.

"When?" he asked, after a moments pause. I nodded. That was probably the next logical question to ask.

"August," Mum said. "I'm about twelve weeks along now."

The silence stretched out. I tried to think of something to say. "What are you going to do about rooms?" There. That was something nice and practical. It would need space for a bedroom.

Dad nodded. "We'll convert the downstairs study into a bedroom," he said. "It doesn't get much use anyway. One of you can move downstairs."

"I'll do it," Shika and I both volunteered at the same time.

"My room is closer to theirs," I said. "Makes more sense to turn it into a nursery." Or back into one, as the case might have been.

"There's plenty of time to work it out," Dad said, raising a hand with an amused look. "Don't go arguing over it just yet."

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"I look like an idiot," I grumbled, adjusting my vest for the tenth time. My regular field outfit had been consigned to the rag heap and I'd had the bright idea of replacing it with something a little more durable with a bit more protection. I just hadn't expected it to end up being so complicated.

"You look just fine," Mum said, batting my hands away. She nodded to the salesperson who was helping to fit me. "Very professional. Mature."

Well, there was that. Kunoichi Under Armor might not have been extremely common but it did look very stereotypically ninja. Blacks and greys and wire mesh, with padding and joint support and stretch. Pretty much everything that an active ninja would want in an outfit.

It was just, yknow, tight. Even with the vest overtop, it was more form fitting than I was really comfortable with. "I need pants."

"A modesty skirt," Mum suggested as an alternate. "Or wide pouches, in case you need to carry things."

I did like having storage. Pockets and pouches. But hammerspace made that pretty much obsolete. I could carry everything I needed a lot more easily. I picked out some forearm guards and boots with built in shin protectors, both in the bone white of Anbu grade material. They'd make good writing surfaces for seals I didn't want to put directly on myself just yet.

"Any preferences on the colour?" the salesperson asked, making notes. "It should be ready within a few days."

I shrugged. "The black is fine." It wasn't exactly something I wanted bright.

"Green piping," Mum added. "And the Nara crest on the right shoulder, please."

I changed back into my clothes and left the store with a heavy sigh. "If I ever suggest something like that again, please stop me."

Mum laughed. "Not a chance, dear," she said. "I quite enjoyed that. I would have liked something like that when I was your age. You'll be the envy of all the girls. And the boys." She winked.

I made a face at her. "I'd rather not."

Two days later when it was delivered to our doorstep, I still felt like an idiot, but put it on with resignation. Best to get used to it. My fringe was getting too long to leave in bangs without them getting in the way, so I swept it all back into the braid, leaving my face clear except for a few flyaways that stubbornly refused to submit.

"You look like just your mother," Dad said fondly, when I tramped downstairs, all irritation and early morning grumpiness.

I tried not to scowl at him.

"Yes," he said. "Exactly like your mother."

So funny.

But I couldn't hold the attitude for long because Shika and I had been called to the tower for a mission. It would be the first time I was actually given leadership of a mission. Intentionally, not just something that happened along the way. And while I knew that logically there would be very little difference between being team leader and just being… the voice of reason, it did make me a little nervous.

"It's an A-rank body guarding and escort mission," Tsunade informed us. "The client is Michiru Tsuki, the prince of the Land of the Moon. He's currently taking a tour of the Elemental Nations, and Land of Fire is the last stop on the tour. You'll meet him at the border to Wind Country and escort him all the way back to Land of the Moon."

It sounded fairly straight forward. I nodded.

"Given his importance, I want you to have a full team," she said. "You can pick two more shinobi."

"Sai," I suggested. Not because he had skills I needed for this, but because I owed him. We'd taken him and shaken him up and put him in danger and then abandoned him. I'd looked, carefully and lightly, over the last three months but seen neither hide nor hair of him. And it worried me.

Tsunade looked briefly surprised. "I'll see if he's available," she said, neutrally. I couldn't tell if she was happy with it or not.

I ran through the rest of my choices. Team Gai would have been an obvious pick, because they were basically designed for body guarding missions. But they were out of the village on a mission of their own right now – I knew because there had been a distinct lack of Tenten around the house and Shikamaru had been sulking.

But we needed someone with close quarters skills. Two Nara and Sai put us heavily in the midrange, tilted towards skill and not strength. It was a gap I was highly uncomfortable with.

"And Kiba Inuzuka," I decided. He was more versatile than Chouji, no matter how good his teamwork with my brother. And Akamaru nearly counted as another member besides.

We actually had a few days leeway to get ready because we'd been hired in advance. It was nice to actually have time to pack and get ready rather than be terribly rushed. Of course, the mission looked like it would be fairly long, including travel time, so that was important.

"Do you think I should take some books?" I asked idly, staring at my shelves. I hadn't read any in ages. They were getting dusty. "We might have downtime to kill."

'Mission downtime' anyway, which would probably preclude training and most usual activities.

"Have you got space?" Shikamaru called back, voice muffled from where he was trying to unearth something from his closet.

I scoffed. "Have I got space," I repeated, scoffing. And then threw half a dozen books into hammerspace. Because I could. "What a question."

Packing was so much easier when you could just take everything. Thanks, Tenten.