With the aid of Asuma's detailed lesson plans and regular practice sessions in Training Ground Three, they manage to pass the chunin exams with flying colors. By then, most of Team Ten has accepted Sakura into their ranks: Asuma greets her as warmly as he greets Ino, and Chouji generously offers her his bag of potato chips out of his own free will.

The only one who still remains aloof, however, is Shikamaru, who begins to attend Team Ten training sessions more often after the end of the exams.

She finally discovers the reason behind his continued antipathy toward her when she sees the grey, puckered scar on his chest during one practice session. Sakura has seen worse scars on people's bodies during her time at the hospital, but those were on older shinobi with years of experience. Judging from the unusual color and the shape of the wound, though, it seems to have most likely been caused by a sharp, knife-like object. Something like a poisoned blade, perhaps.

But Shikamaru is her age, and with his lazy, easy-going personality, it is highly unlikely that he had been involved in dangerous missions prior to his promotion. Asuma would not have let that happen under his watch. Neither would Shikamaru's father, for that matter. The most plausible time he could have gotten this was during the last chunin exams, but even that didn't seem to match the time frame. Not for scar tissue this old.

Sakura finally realizes that she's gawking. She quickly shifts her eyes elsewhere, but she can tell that Shikamaru has clearly noticed at this point. He doesn't say anything, but he quickly pulls on another mesh shirt, and for the rest of practice, he trains with Chouji on the outskirts of the training grounds, far away from Sakura.

She decides to ask Ino later about Shikamaru's scar when they go out for snacks at the new French bakery that had just opened a few days before.

"Calm down, Forehead. We gotta get some more of this cake later, this is fucking delicious," Ino mumbles through a mouthful of cream and sponge cake. "Mmm. Creamy. 'Sho good."

Sakura waits until Ino finishes chewing. Ino finishes her plate and slowly sets her fork down.

"Promise not to tell anyone?" Ino asks, looking conflicted. "It's really not my story to tell."

Sakura nods solemnly, and Ino sighs. "It's from a long time ago," she says. "Someone tried to kidnap us when we were little. Shika jumped in front of me, tried to stall for time. A poisoned kunai nicked him. End of story."

Sakura gapes at her.

"Wait, wait. Hold on. When were you kidnapped?"

"Almost kidnapped," Ino corrects her. "Shikaku oji-san caught the intruders."

"How did I not know about this?"

Ino rolls her eyes. "Um, because we weren't friends yet? I've crawled with Shika and Chouji in my diapers, Sakura. Of course they'd know. Besides, no clan wants to publicize that their clan head's children were almost kidnapped. Nobody outside of our clans knows about this besides the Third Hokage."

"Oh."

Ino smacks her. "Hey, don't get all gloomy on me. I'm telling you everything now, aren't I? I expect you to do the same for me. Anyway, why?"

"What?"

"Why the sudden question about Shika's scar?" Ino widens her eyes. "Don't tell me..."

"No, it's not like that, Ino," Sakura groans.

Ino waggles her eyebrows. "Oh?" She asks, grinning.

Sakura glares at her.

"Alright, alright, chill," Ino says, pouting. "I'm obligated to keep an eye out for Shika. He's practically my brother. Can't have you breaking his poor little misogynistic heart, can I? Besides, you're still in semi-denial about Sasuke."

"Am not," Sakura protests, suddenly realizing that her ex-teammate hasn't crossed her mind in ages. Her mind is more filled with thoughts of training, the exams. Ino. Her soulmate.

It's unsettling how much things have changed within a year.

Ino ignores her. "Seriously, we had such bad taste back then," she muses. "Not that we still don't have bad taste. Well, you more than me. Heh."

"'Back then' was only a few months ago, Ino," Sakura points out.

"Mmm, was it? It feels like ages ago. Man, I feel old."

"We're only sixteen, Pig."

"Yeah, but we used to be fifteen." Ino sighs melodramatically. "But back to the original question. Why the sudden question?"

Sakura shrugs, a little uncomfortable. "I think he wanted to make a point about why he doesn't trust me," she finally says.

"Oh, yeah. Shika's pretty old-fashioned," Ino says. "You know. 'The enemies of my allies are my enemies,' that sort of thing. He might have watched too many of Daddy's yakuza movies."

"I think it's more than that, though," Sakura says, now belatedly understanding Shikamaru's actions.

Trust is never easily given, especially for the second time, Shikamaru's voice reminds her inside her mind. That is, if she had truly been Ino's friend, she would have never abandoned her. If she had truly been Ino's friend, she would have had the courage to stand in the face of death for Ino, the same way Shikamaru had.

Instead, in a desperate bid to win the heart of a boy who had lost the ability to love long, long ago, Sakura had discarded Ino's friendship as if it was worth nothing more than a passing thought.

It's no wonder Shikamaru had no faith in her.

"Huh. Well, that's between you and him. I can't do anything about it, sorry," Ino says, casting a sympathetic glance at her friend. "But best make up with him sooner than later. Shika's the type to hold grudges."

Unfortunately, Sakura doesn't see Shikamaru when she meets Team Ten for practice the next day.

He doesn't appear for the next training session, nor the one after that.

"Shikamaru? He's on another mission," Asuma says when Sakura asks him after practice. "He won't be back until Friday."

Of course, with her usual luck, it is on the day that Shikamaru returns that Sakura receives a message from the Hokage to meet with her in her office.

She doesn't end up repairing her relationship with him until much, much later.

"I'm pulling you out of group training with Team Ten," Tsunade says without preamble. She takes a look at Sakura's pale face and sighs."Don't overthink it, Haruno. It's just a routine shuffling around of personnel." Tsunade takes another swig out of the jug, muttering about peas and pods under her breath.

Sakura waits until the Hokage finishes her love affair with the bottle.

"I'm assigning you to a regular partner for missions from now on," Tsunade finally tells her. "Mostly B-ranked milk runs, nothing too dangerous. You will be training with them regularly instead of with Asuma's team, so do try to get along. We'll resume our training sessions once Shizune gets back."

"What kind of person are they?" Sakura asks warily.

Tsunade hums. "Infuriating," she says cheerfully. She gives Sakura a grin full of schadenfreude. "I don't envy you in the slightest."

"Gee, thanks," Sakura says, unable to hold back her sarcasm. The Hokage gives a surprised bark of laughter.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," Tsunade says. She gives Sakura a crooked smile before assuming a sterner expression. "You will be meeting your mission partner tomorrow at 2pm sharp, by the gates. It'll be a quick journey to one of our military outposts north of Konoha; you can pick up the mission briefing downstairs. Understood?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade makes a displeased sound and takes another swig straight out of the jug. "The one thing that Naruto does better than you is to act his age," she says, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "You sound older than the snot-nosed brat you are. Not that it's a bad thing, but still."

"...Sorry."

Tsunade grunts. "Never say sorry when you don't have to."

"Understood, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade waves a hand dismissively. "None of that stuffy Hokage-sama nonsense either, from now on. I can't stand it when Shizune does it." She shudders. "That girl is pure evil, I tell you." When Sakura looks at her blankly, Tsunade huffs in amusement. "You're allowed to call me shishou, brat."

"Shishou? But that means..." Sakura trails off, confused. Then her eyes slowly widen. "You're recognizing me as your apprentice, right? I mean…right, shishou?"

Tsunade just snorts. "I thought you were quicker on the uptake than that, Haruno," she says. "Now, shoo."

When Sakura exits, the Hokage contemplates the empty sake jug in her hand, mulling over what had happened an hour earlier.

Tsunade presses a seal under her desk. A lithe, masked figure wearing a grey flak jacket and black, skin-tight clothing poofs out of nowhere in the middle of the room. They kneel when they see the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama."

"Tell Wolf to come to my office," Tsunade orders. "Quickly, this time. I have another appointment in twenty minutes."

"Understood." The figure inclines their head respectfully before promptly disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Within moments, another figure materializes out of thin air, wearing a similar porcelain mask and the same, nondescript clothing as the first one. Whereas the first person had a slighter, more androgynous build, making it difficult to determine their age and sex, the second person was clearly a full-grown man.

The man bows towards Tsunade. "Hokage-sama." Tsunade scowls.

"Nothing good happens when I guess right," she says, giving the figure a disapproving look. "You're supposed to be on sick leave, not back in the field. What do you think you're doing, brat?"

"Work," the figure replies without missing a beat. He sounds detached, bored. If Tsunade didn't know any better, she would have been fooled by the man's blasé attitude.

"Which I explicitly told you not to do," Tsunade growls, fighting the urge to chuck the empty sake jug at the man's equally empty head.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, Konoha needs every able-bodied shinobi it has to maintain the borders," the man says, unfazed. "Even our current forces are not enough."

Tsunade slams her fist against the desk. "Are you telling me how to do my job, brat?" She growls.

"Not at all. I am merely stating the facts as I see them."

"Then listen closely, because I will not say this twice. Yes, our forces were decimated after the Suna invasion, and yes, our borders are currently unstable. But unlike my predecessors, I do not want a workforce too burnt out to realize that they're working themselves to death."

The man stands his ground, however. "I will not stand by idly while others die," he says mulishly. "I can still fight."

Tsunade scoffs. "Your martyr attitude isn't helping anyone. In your condition? You would be putting the lives of your subordinates in danger," she says.

The man persists. "I can still fight," he repeats.

Now Tsunade really, really wants to throw the jug at his head.

"Look, brat," she says, curbing her need to massage her temples. "You are far more useful to me alive than dead. In. Peak. Condition." She watches him closely, and is slightly crestfallen when the man doesn't seem to react to her words.

Blockhead.

She gives up on trying to persuade him and sticks to her preferred method. She had always been better at ordering people, anyway. If this idiot had one merit, it was his blind loyalty to his country and to his comrades.

"For the sake of your mental and physical well-being, I am hereby taking you out of Anbu and reassigning you to a new position," she tells him crisply. "That's an order from your Hokage."

The man doesn't say a word, but Tsunade can see his shoulders tighten.

"May I ask what this position entails?" He asks levelly after a brief moment of silence.

"Courier services to military outposts," Tsunade informs him. "B-ranked. My apprentice will be your mission partner, so if you run into any problems, just let her know. She's almost fully trained to be a medic-nin." She chuckles. "Smart as a whip, that one. A little insecure, but I was like that too, at her age."

"Shizune-san?"

"No, the other one," the Hokage corrects him. "Haruno Sakura." She notices the man visibly stiffen. "Do you have a problem with what I said just now?"

"…No, not at all," the man says after a brief pause. "I was just…surprised. I did not know that Sakura was now officially apprenticed to you."

"Just formalized it today," Tsunade says brusquely. She narrows her eyes."Now, stop beating around the bush, and say what you want to say."

The man sighs."Haruno Sakura is too easily swayed by her emotions. Her skills are mediocre at best. I am afraid that she will prove to be a liability rather than an asset on the field."

"She may have been a liability on the field two years ago, yes," the Hokage agrees. She leans forward."But not anymore. I've watched her these past few months, and she's grown more than I ever anticipated. Of course, a few weeks of proper training definitely saw some improvements."

The man winces but Tsunade mercilessly continues.

"I know, I know. Your plate was full with the boy and the Uchiha brat, and on top of that, Hiruzen gave you a civilian-born to take care of. Compared to the other two, Sakura, understandably, was not high priority. But honestly, would it have killed you to teach her a few more basic skills?" Tsunade says irritably. "I had to teach her Academy level taijutsu from the very beginning, for kami's sake. Frankly, it's a miracle the girl even made it out of her first chunin exam alive and in one whole piece."

The man inclines his head in apology, but doesn't say a word.

"Give her a chance this time," Tsunade advises. "She'll surprise you. She's a good kid, Hatake,"

When the figure obstinately remains silent, she sighs.

"Meet your mission partner tomorrow at 2pm in front of the gates. Don't be late."

"…Understood," the man finally replies.

"Dismissed."

Sakura stares at the figure slouching against the gate in mute disbelief.

"Infuriating," Tsunade had said. Sakura couldn't have said it better. It's the word that comes the closest to describing Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, former jounin teacher, and Sakura finally realizes, with an awful, sinking feeling in her gut, who her mission partner is.

Kakashi-sensei dog-ears the page he's on before tucking the garishly orange book in his hand into his fanny pack. When he finally looks up and notices her, he raises his hand in recognition, as if the last time they'd seen each other is a few days ago instead of the seventeen months, nine days, five hours and thirty-two seconds it actually is.

"Yo, partner."

AN: I really wanted Kakashi to come out, so it's a double update for today! ^^ I rushed to write this chapter, so if there's anything that confuses anyone, just let me know in the comments below!