Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ 14 Gifts ❯ Night of Sevens ( Chapter 4 )

February 4th - Night of Sevens

The following morning found a pink-haired medic up, dressed and out the door with the intent to get some answers to the question she had plaguing her mind. She had packed the spoons and the notes that she had received thus far into a small backpack the night before so that she could carry them easily and avoid curious looks. Her almond tree and the small white snowdrops wouldn't survive the trip so she left them behind.

Knowing her mentor would not be in the best of moods as mornings were not the Hokage's friend, Sakura made sure to pick up some hot tea and something to soak up whatever fluids the woman had drank the night before.

Sure enough, Sakura entered the office of the Hokage to find the busty woman sleeping with her head upon her desk. Papers were strewn everywhere including the floor, no doubt from Tsunade's restless night's sleep, and Sakura almost felt bad for the woman who had become like a mother to her in the absence of her real one.

'As much as she fights doing paperwork and grouches about the council elders, Lady Tsunade loves this village and sacrifices everything to keep it safe.'

Sakura was slightly surprised that Shizune hadn't arrived yet, but the young Kunoichi knew that since Genma had become a stable part of her life, the assistant to the Hokage was keeping more normal hours when her lover was home and not on missions. Her priorities had definitely changed.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself to wake the sleeping slug princess, Sakura gently shook her Shishou by the shoulder. "Lady Tsunade," she gently called.

A grumble could be heard followed by bodily movement making Sakura step away in self-preservation. She was taking no chances.

Amber eyes blinked a few times before her head lifted from the desk. Tsunade continued to blink her eyes as they adjusted the morning light that showed through the panoramic windows behind her and she rolled her head around to loosen the tight muscles of her neck. She then stood from her chair and stretched a bit more to get blood moving through her body. 'I'm getting too old for this,' she thought to herself.

Sitting down again after having straightened her clothing some, Tsunade looked at the only other individual in the office. "Well," she barked. "You'd better have a good reason for waking me up at such a dreadfully early hour."

Sakura placed the tea and pastry in front as a peace offering before she began to speak.

"Shishou, I've been receiving notes and gifts from a mystery… person."

"And this is my problem?" the Godaime growled between bites into the flakey pastry, though she was dancing on the inside at the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was someone for her surrogate daughter after all. She'd almost given up hope.

Sakura sighed and tried to retain some semblance of patience with the woman in front of her. "I recognize the handwriting, but I can't put it with a name," Sakura explained as she pulled out the notes from her backpack. "I was hoping you'd be able to recognize it?"

Tsunade was intrigued by the mystery and motioned to Sakura to hand her the handwriting samples. She stared at the handwriting, recognizing it immediately from the half-written mission reports she'd received over the years and sighed. 'Who would have thought?' She certainly hadn't seen that coming.

She read the notes, initially just skimming them until she realized the amount of time and care this 'mystery male' had taken to write things out. Whoever it was really held a deep affection for Sakura.

'You sly dog, you,' Tsunade thought to herself. 'Well good for him. I just hope that she is open enough to give him a chance.'

"Here," Tsunade practically threw the notes back to Sakura, who took them back and was unconsciously gentle and almost reverent with the way she made sure there were no excess creases or damage to them. Sakura's actions were not lost on the woman watching her and she smiled to herself.

"Well? Do you recognize the handwriting?" Sakura was getting impatient.

The blonde smiled gently, her topaz eyes softened as she thought about the potential if these two shinobi were to have children. "Yes Sakura. I do recognize the writing. And no," she got in before Sakura could interrupt her with the obvious question. "I'm sorry, but I think this mystery needs to play out. I'm not going to spoil the reveal."

Sakura frowned and grumbled to herself about the Hokage being 'no help at all.'

"I realize that this is not what you want to hear Sakura, but let me tell you this." Tsunade got up from her chair and moved around the desk before standing before the young woman and placing her hands on either shoulder. "Keep your mind open to the possibilities. This male is obviously smitten with you enough to take the time to woo you with words and simple gifts. Sakura," Tsunade grasped her chin with her thumb and forefinger to make sure she had her attention, "I want you to be happy in your life. Take a page from Shizune, who in my opinion took too long to find her happiness. Don't let the possibility of love and happiness get away because of preconceived notions. Do what you want to and don't worry about what others think, okay?"

Sakura nodded, though very confused by what her mentor was saying. Instead of fighting it she sighed and gave in. "Alright, I guess."

"It'll all work out, Sakura. Just promise me you won't fight it?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," Tsunade commented not totally buying Sakura's surrender but really having no choice. "Well, you had best be going. Your shift starts soon."

Sakura nodded and thanked the Hokage before she gathered everything together in her backpack and exited the double doors out of the office. She barely acknowledged Shizune as she walked through the halls towards the exit and in the direction of the hospital.

Shizune walked into the Hokage's office to see the unusual sight of Tsunade awake and smiling as she was perusing a large tome at her desk.

Stunned, Shizune could only think that her boss had either won a bet (doubtful) or gotten lucky the night before (even more doubtful). Instead, she kept her mouth shut and was grateful to find the woman in decent spirits for once. But she couldn't help but stare.

Finding what she needed, the Hokage slammed the book shut and barked out her next order. "Shizune, get me Hatake."

Sakura had about twenty minutes to get to the hospital, which was more than enough for the five minute trek. She languidly made her way as she mulled through her conversation with her mentor and thought it strange that she and Kakashi had said something similar.

'Keep your mind open to the possibilities.'

Maybe it was because they were older that they thought alike, or just that they had way more experience than her. It was obvious that Tsunade knew who wrote the notes and Kakashi must have recognized the individual that handed him the box yesterday and it frustrated her that they wouldn't tell her who he was.

It was so not fair! Why wouldn't they tell her?

She sighed before walking into the hospital's front door, noting that she had another good ten minutes until her shift. She figured she'd get started early instead of dwelling on the fairness of things, so she walked in and strolled through the halls, saying 'hello' to those she recognized on the way to her office.

On her way up the stairs to the second floor she was surprised to see Kakashi who was walking down the stairs, most likely on his way out of the hospital.

"Hey!" Sakura greeted the white-haired copy-nin warmly as she stopped a few steps below him. He wasn't wearing his headband but a black patch over his Sharingan eye. Without the headband, his hair fell and made him look quite dangerous. "I'm surprised to see you here? What happened? Did you lose a bet or something?" Sakura grinned, teasing him mercilessly. It was well-known that he avoided the hospital at all cost.

Kakashi smiled and chuckled at the woman before him. "Something like that," he replied with a half-smirk.

'Wow,' Sakura thought to herself. 'That smile is sexy. Combined with his hair let down like that…' she flushed a little at the thought.

"I was just here to visit a friend," he told her, this time he smiled and showed his teeth.

Sakura couldn't help it. Her brain short-circuited. Since Kakashi had literally dropped his signature mask revealing the mystery beneath it and now the hair… she couldn't help but admit that he was a beautiful male and that thought began to make her insides melt.

But then Sakura's inner prude stood up and reminded her that he had been her sensei at one time; that she was fourteen years his junior and nothing could come from it. It wouldn't stop her from daydreaming from time to time.

"Um, yeah. Okay," she said brightly and barely coherently.

'Smooth Sakura. Real smooth.'

"Well, I need to get going, Kakashi. My shift starts soon," she blurted out trying to recover from sounding so flighty. She started up the steps again and waved as she called back to the ninja who was beginning to spend more time on her mind than was healthy. "I'll see you around, Kakashi-sensei!" and then she was gone.

She never saw him wince after she called him sensei.

oOo

Sakura ran into her office just to grab her lab coat and drop off her backpack near the door and hadn't seen the envelope that was left propped up on her desk. She ran back out to gather the charts for her rounds from the on-duty nurse and got to work.

Work always distracted her and she a distraction right now.

By the time she was done with her rounds, Sakura was ready to call it a day. Her duties had been light and with the added responsibility of being in charge of the nursing staff, she was grateful for the respite. Where usually she had to deal with personnel issues and conflicts, she managed to get off scot-free.

She walked into her office and took off her lab coat, hanging it back on the coat rack that was just next to the door. She picked up the backpack she had left on the floor and hung it up, making a mental note to make sure to take it home on her way out the door.

Sakura stretched her tight muscles, pulling her arms above her head and then towards her back and clasping her hands before leaning over and pulling her arms forward to stretch her arms and back. Letting go of her hands, she felt the blood move in her system a little more and it gave her a second wind.

She sat at the desk in her small chair before she noticed the white envelope that was sitting there, propped up with the intent to garner her attention. Again, her name was scrawled on the front in that familiar handwriting and it frustrated her that she couldn't figure out whose writing it was and Tsunade could.

How long had the envelope been sitting there? She hadn't noticed it before when she came in for the day, but she just wanted to get started with her rounds. So now she had no idea of the time frame that it would have been left there.

Deciding that it was too much to think about, Sakura gently opened the envelope, noticing that the paper within was of the highest quality judging by the watermark that repeated throughout. She unfold the lengthy note and read:

`My dearest Sakura:

Today's gift is a story about two lovers kept apart due to their differences:

*A young cowherd came across a beautiful girl, the seventh daughter of the Goddess, who had just escaped from boring heaven to look for fun. They soon fell in love and were married without the knowledge of the Goddess. She proved to be a wonderful wife, and him a good husband. They lived happily and had two children.

But the Goddess of Heaven found out that she, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered her to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.)

On Earth, the boy was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife.

Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find his beloved wife. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega.

The fairy princess must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while the cowherd watches her from afar while taking care of their two.

But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.*

We will have our differences that may cause many to look down upon us. Should you accept my suit, I will ensure that we have the Hokage's blessing so that with her support, no one can get in the way of our future together. I would not want to suffer as the two lovers did in the story. I would not want it for you, my blossom.

I make no promises; life will not be easy. We are shinobi and missions, our duty, will pull us from one another, but we will have our time together to look forward to and appreciate what we have more. Life is so fleeting and we need to grab what happiness we can when we can.

Yours Truly.'

'Why would he feel the need for the Hogake's blessing? Okay, besides the fact that she has been like a mother to me since my parents passed away.' she thought to herself. That did make sense.

'And what did he mean by people would look down upon us?' She had gone to Tsunade for answers only to leave frustrated. Now with this latest note she was even more confused than ever. Her mystery man was basically professing his love for her, yet in the next breath telling her that there may be issue with them being together.

Was she ready to deal with that kind of conflict? She was no closer to uncovering who the male was, and unless she figured it out, she didn't know the answer to that question.

She would just have to wait and see.

oOo

AN: * This version of the tale was written by Charolotte Caxton and can be found on Flikr. It is where the Qixi Festival or "The Night of Sevens" comes from. It is also known as the Magpie Festival and China's own Valentine's Day celebrated in August, amongst many other names from different countries. It's amazing the different ways that many cultures celebrate Valentine's Day.