Chapter 74: The Pull of Coming Home
The Heavenly Canopy Method.
Jiraiya had used it during the Animal Path invasion — deploying it while entering Sage Mode, letting Gamakichi manage the terrain he couldn't see, using the barrier to track movement through an unfamiliar battlefield without breaking concentration. A constant, clear picture of everything within range, stable even through the worst of the fighting.
Less a ninjutsu, really, and more a small-scale sensing barrier with the user at its center.
Sakura sat in a tree fork and read through the scroll Jiraiya had written out overnight. Dense handwriting, better organized than she'd expected from a man who'd been soaking wet three hours prior. He'd added margin notes: personal observations on the technique, things that had surprised him, adjustments he'd made over the years.
Novelist habits. She turned a page. You can tell.
The afternoon light came through the leaves and sat warm on her hair.
Yesterday's conversation with Naruto had happened. She'd said what she'd said. She didn't know how he was processing it — she suspected "stubbornly" was the answer — but her part was done. She'd been as clear as she knew how to be.
After the exam, I'm back to Special Jōnin rank officially. Off Team Seven. She let the thought settle. That part of the assignment ends. Naruto's safety isn't my sole responsibility anymore.
She'd already started thinking about what came after. Her own squad, small and mobile. Karin was the obvious first choice — the Mind's Eye of the Kagura was irreplaceable, and leaving her aside would be wasteful. Two more slots, still undecided.
Sakura Squad, she thought, and found she liked it.
"Sakura!"
She looked down.
Ino was standing at the base of the tree, arms crossed, looking up at her.
"Ino."
Sakura swung down and landed lightly.
Ino surveyed the immediate area. No red-haired girl in sight. Her expression adjusted approximately two percent.
"Where's the octopus."
"Karin has to check in at the immigration office every day until her residency clears. She's probably still there."
Ino's chin came up. "I wasn't asking because I care."
"I know."
Sakura looked at her with mild amusement. Ino was transparent in the specific way that only people who think they're being opaque ever are.
"She's staying with you?"
"Temporarily. Until the village assigns her a place." Sakura tilted her head. "She has more history behind her than most people her age. She's also easier to get along with than you'd think."
Ino's expression did the thing it did when she wanted to look indifferent and wasn't quite managing it.
Sakura reached over and patted the top of her head.
"Ino."
"Stop that—"
"You don't have to be weird about Karin. She's not taking anything from you."
"I'm not being weird—"
Sakura just looked at her.
Ino turned away. Was quiet for a moment. Then, with tremendous casualness:
"So. Your, uh." A small cough. "Your teammate. How's he doing."
Sakura let a beat pass.
"Sasuke? He's been training with Kakashi. His next match is against the Sand Village's — it's a difficult opponent, so they've been putting the hours in."
"Who said anything about Sasuke—"
"Didn't you just ask about my teammate?"
"I—" Ino stopped. The defeat was visible. "...Fine. Yes. Sasuke."
"Ah!"
A woman stood before the gates of Konoha and let out a breath like someone releasing something they'd been holding for years.
She was dressed in black — coat, trousers, everything — with a small pink pig tucked against her chest. Her hair was dark, her smile wide, her eyes bright with recognition.
"I can't believe I'm back! I missed this place!"
She turned to the woman beside her. "You must feel the same, my Lady—"
The woman called 'my Lady' was looking at the gate with an expression that was working very hard to be neutral and mostly succeeding.
Pale gold hair in two high tails. A violet diamond on her forehead. A green coat with the character for gamble across the back. A face that had no business being this unchanged at fifty.
Tsunade. The Fifth — or rather, not yet, but nearly. The Princess. One third of the Three Legendary Sannin.
"Who misses Konoha."
She said it flatly, walked through the gate first, and kept walking.
The dark-haired woman — Shizune — watched her go and smiled quietly to herself.
Mouth says one thing. Feet say another. She'd been Tsunade's assistant long enough to know the difference.
Asuma fell into step beside her.
"That's my job done, then."
"Thanks to you." Shizune glanced at him, genuinely grateful. She'd missed home. She'd missed it for years without entirely letting herself say so.
"Shizune! Hurry up!"
Tsunade's voice carried back from somewhere ahead, impatient and familiar.
"Coming, my Lady!"
She quickened her pace.
At the gate, Kotetsu and Izumo were staring after the green coat with expressions that said they were rapidly revising their assessment of how complicated the next month was going to be.
Tsunade, of all people. Now.
(End of Chapter 74)