"Sakura."
"Hm."
"Sakura…"
"Uh-huh…"
Tsunade raised her fist, plainly about to bring it down upon the desk, but after a heartbeat's hesitation, she let it fall instead, reaching out to clasp Sakura's hands, startling her.
"You look distracted," Tsunade said softly. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
The rush of adrenaline that had kept Sakura going after her flight from Takigakure had long since faded, and with her surprise mission complete and her sense of duty satisfied, a niggling sense of dissatisfaction, beyond the looming threat of all-out war, was beginning to worm its way into the back of her mind.
Although Sakura had only spent a few days behind bars, with no real assurance that she'd ever return to the world beyond those foreboding walls, those days had felt like an eternity to her. Throughout her confinement in Hōzuki Castle, all she had dreamed of was coming home… but now, back in the Hidden Leaf and surrounded by familiar faces and without any immediate threat to her life, she found herself struggling to reconcile what she used to call her village with what she thought of as home.
"I— er, I don't know," Sakura said dully. "I'm just a bit tired, I suppose… I'd really like to sleep in my own bed, for once…"
"Oh, which reminds me— your parents weren't told the real reason for your… absence," Tsunade said. "I didn't want them to worry."
Sakura felt oddly numb inside. Was that truly why Mebuki and Kizashi hadn't been told the truth, or was it because the truth was simply too inconvenient to speak aloud?
"Are you sure it's all right for me to go home, after everything that happened?" Sakura asked. "I don't need to wear a mask, disguise myself, or join the ANBU, do I?"
Tsunade chuckled. "I can't imagine you'd make much of an ANBU operative," she said teasingly. "Your two most distinctive features are rather hard to miss… and operatives are meant to stay incognito at all times."
After all that fuss, with the other Hidden Villages pressuring the Hidden Leaf to provide proof that they'd neutralised 'Sakura,' after Orochimaru had assassinated several important Kekkei Genkai holders while wearing her face, it looked like it would all be swept under the rug.
The fragile peace brokered after the Third Shinobi World War was nearing its end, and with conflict looming on the horizon, real and tangible strength was valued far more than appeasing those who would soon be coming for the Hidden Leaf.
Was that why Tsunade had insisted on explaining the geopolitical situation the moment she returned, Sakura wondered, as she turned on her heel and stepped out of the office? So that she might see how much she was needed, how much she was wanted?
"Before you head home, you might want to stop by and say hello to Naruto and your senseis," Tsunade called after Sakura. "They're having a New Year's Eve party at Ramen Ichiraku."
Sakura stopped in her tracks and turned around, and Tsunade swiftly dropped her gaze to the document on her desk, pretending as if she'd just spotted a particularly riveting piece of intelligence.
"Lady Tsunade…" Sakura said, her bottom lip quivering slightly. "Is there any reason you won't look me in the eye?"
Outside, a crowd of revellers had gathered before the Hokage Residence for an impromptu New Year's countdown. "Ten!" they shouted, their voices drowning out Tsunade's reply. "Nine!"
"Is it because of my eyes?" Sakura shouted, feeling her eyes beginning to sting ("Eight!"). "You're scared of me, is that it!?"
Tsunade's eyes widened in shock. "Six!"
"You think I wanted to awaken these cursed eyes!?" Sakura screamed, vaguely aware that she had begun to cry ("Five!"). "I would never have obtained this power if you hadn't abandoned me in the first place!"
"Four!"
"I don't want to go blind, damn it!"
"Three!"
Tsunade stood up brusquely and strode briskly towards her. Sakura wiped her runny nose on the back of her hand, bracing herself for a fight, but to her shock, Tsunade pulled her into a fierce embrace, forcing the younger girl's face squarely into her cleavage.
"Two!"
Sakura hiccoughed in surprise.
"I am so very sorry, for everything…" Tsunade whispered into Sakura's ear. "I was too ashamed to face you directly..."
"ONE!"
Sakura closed her eyes and sighed, her warm breath brushing against her teacher's skin. It was soft and warm and safe and comforting between Tsunade's breasts, and for a fleeting moment, Sakura wished she could stay there forever, far from all the frightening things in the world.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
The air rang with the deep reverberations of the bells from the local branch of the Fire Temple.
"You know I would never willingly do anything to hurt the village, right?" Sakura whispered. "…Lady Tsunade?"
"I know that better than anyone," Tsunade sighed, caressing Sakura's long pink hair. "Sakura is a good girl… a splendid kunoichi… my number one disciple..."
Tsunade reached into her pocket and drew out Sakura's confiscated Hidden Leaf forehead protector. Stepping back half a pace, she tied it carefully around Sakura's head, then took out the First Hokage's necklace and fastened it at her throat.
"Welcome home, Sakura," Tsunade said, smiling.
"…yes!" Sakura cried, wiping away a tear.
…
There was a spring in Sakura's step as she made her way through the snowy streets of Konoha. Though she preferred curry, she was looking forward to a steaming bowl of ramen and the sight of Naruto and Kakashi‑sensei again… and then, a long, hot bath in her own home. Because of the Celestial Prison Seal, which would wash away in water, she hadn't bathed in days.
"I hope I don't stink too much," she muttered, giving her armpits a cautious sniff.
A sharp wolf whistle rang out, slicing through the quiet evening air. It came from a group of drunken revellers across the road, no doubt stumbling their way to another bar or izakaya after being thrown out of the last.
"Damn girl, what'd they feed you?" said a man with a reddened nose. "Those things are huge!"
Sakura froze. The men were crossing the road towards her. What was she supposed to do now!?
"Now that I've got a better look at 'em… they're even bigger than Lady Tsunade's… hic!"
Sakura's mind had gone completely blank. What did she usually do, in these situations? It happened often enough, so why couldn't she think!?
"Mind if I have a rub? For luck in the new year— hic!"
"Come on, you know you want it~ it's not as if touching them is going to make them shrink, so what's there to lose~?"
In Sakura's mind's eye, the drunken revellers' faces seemed to overlap with those of the inmates who had almost deflowered her. She could still feel their phantom hands groping her body, pulling and ripping at her clothes, the maddening lust in their eyes drilling holes into her skin…
"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing to Sakura-chan, you bastards!"
Sakura blinked as a blur of orange and yellow streaked past her. Looking around her wildly, she saw that the drunken men were lying face‑down in the snow, groaning. How had she missed all that?
"Naruto-kun?" Sakura squeaked out. "Eep!"
Sakura tensed up as Naruto hugged her tightly.
"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing to onee-sama, you bastard!"
"Oof!" Naruto grunted as a crimson blur drop‑kicked him in the back of the head, sending him sprawling face first into the snow.