Chapter Sixteen

Carver reached out pulling the popular leaf village's Cyan Cafe's front door open, standing aside allowing his group of friends to enter before him. Warm toasted air filled the night with gentle breezes, he let out a deep breath as a smile flourished over his full lips.

"Go grab a seat!" Naruto waved Hinata and Sakura over to the couch Naruto and his friends always took a seat on when they swung by the café.

"Are you sure?" Hinata questioned as Sakura was already moving tiredly towards the couch.

"Yeah!" Naruto chuckled from deep within his chest, "We will grab some drinks and be right there." Naruto said with Carver and Raiden following him to the bar.

A yawn played on Sakura's lips as she took a seat on the tan couch, Hinata sat beside her as an awkward silence fell over the two women.

"S-So how does it-it feel to be back?" Hinata stuttered trying to spark up the once natural conversation she had with this fiery pink haired soldier sitting beside her.

"Hm." Sakura hummed as a response. "I don't know yet."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Sakura smirked, "It hasn't been even a full day yet."

"Ri-Right!" Hinata awkwardly laughed rubbing her sweaty hands on her jeans.

"How has living with Naruto been?" Sakura questioned, seeing Hinata's uneasiness floating around her saturating the crisp air.

"U-Um-!" Hinata's voice was high pitched as her mind scrambled to string together an answer.

"I know it probably has been a while since you two moved in together, but I am still catching up on all the changes around here." Sakura added.

"We um..." Hinata muttered refusing to make eye contact. "...we are good."

"Yeah?" Sakura replied.

"Yes." Hinata smiled looking up and over to where Sakura sat on her left, the moment she gazed into Sakura's emerald eyes her heart felt like it was skittering to a halt and Hinata forgot how to pull in air into her lungs. This was the effect Sakura unknowingly had on the people around her.

"That's good to hear." Sakura flashed a smile that made Hinata deeply blush.

"Here we go!" Raiden shouted plopping down onto the couch across from where Sakura and Hinata sat. Carver handed Hinata and Sakura glass cups filled with a sweetened mix drink while Raiden and Naruto placed different types of shots down onto the glass coffee table.

"What is all of this?" Sakura asked.

"This-" Raiden pointed to the dozen shots. "-is a good time."

"Oh yeah?" Sakura cracked a smile, "For who? The bartender or you?"

"Pfft!" Raiden brushed Sakura off as he slides a light blue colored shot her way, "Shut up and drink!"

"Mm...trying to get me drunk, are we?"

"Yes!" Raiden grinned as he tipped a shot of whiskey down his throat.

"We are here to celebrate your new job!" Naruto laughed beside Hinata, leaning forward to see Sakura's staled face.

"Eh-" Sakura shrugged.

"You weren't able to really do this the first time you became a Commander." Raiden muttered with a pout sitting on his face, he had a feeling Sakura wouldn't be up for this party tonight. Knowing her, Sakura would have wanted to get a jump start on her newly inherited duties and spend the night inside her bran new office working away the late hours of the night.

"What do you mean?" Hinata wondered perking her lips together.

"Sakura was thrown into the Waterfall's Commander role; she was too busy trying to keep those soldiers in line and stop Purgatory from returning to really enjoy the achievement." Raiden informed the leaf shinobi.

"Oh..." Hinata breathed turning to look at Sakura as a painful sting flashed through her heart.

"Well-" Naruto slowly said, "-that isn't how this time is gonna be!" He his goofy smile at Sakura who could only return the favor.

"Yeah!" Hinata and Raiden agreed,

"Drink up!" Naruto ordered; Sakura sighed but reached towards the shot anyway.

"To Commander Haruno!" Hinata and the others cheered before tipping the shot glasses back.

"Ew!" Naruto's face scrunched up causing Sakura and Hinata break out into laughter. "What-What is that!?"

"It's a pickle back." Carver answered feeling entertained by Naruto's puckered face.

"It tastes terrible!" Naruto complained shaking his head, quickly reaching to the beer to wash the taste out of his mouth.

"It does not-" Carver replied, "-you're just a light weight like Raiden."

"I am not!" Raiden defended,

"Yes-" Sakura added to the conversation. "-you are."

"Oh yeah Haruno-!?" Raiden pointed; "-I bet I can out drink you-!"

"No!" Carver shouted over Raiden's voice, "We are not doing that tonight!"

"Why are you just a buzz kill!?" Raiden yelled at Carver,

"Why are you just a fucking light weight!?" Carver shouted back; Sakura smiled as she sipped on the fruity drink in her hand watching the show unfold before her, she has missed this.

Sakura looked overhearing the jingle the front door made as it opened.

"The fun has arrived!" TenTen shouted, her arms in the air as she walked over towards Naruto and the others.

"Ha!" Raiden mocked, "The fun has already arrived, I am here!"

"What am I?" Carver asked gesturing to himself. "Chopped-"

"You already started without us!?" TenTen whined as Neji strolled up behind her, looking unhappy TenTen forced him into the out.

"You took your sweet time getting here!" Naruto giggled with a blushed face as he sipped on his dark beer.

"We had work to do!" TenTen defended as she sat on the couch across from Sakura. "Well anyway-" She smiled picking up one of the scattered drinks on the table, "-congratulations Commander Haruno!"

"Thanks." Sakura smiled leaning back against the couch.

"Yes." Neji nodded, "Congratulations on the new job."

"This is so great!" Naruto laughed feeling warm and fuzzy like he was sitting on the bright sun. Naruto's heart was so light, Sakura had finally returned to the leaf village!

"How drunk is he?" TenTen muttered after another taking a shot for herself.

"A lot." Sakura smirked looking over to the blond who hugged Hinata.

"I am not drunk!" Naruto slurred, "You're drunk!"

"Said every drunk person ever." TenTen rolled her eyes, the bell to the front door sang out again. Sakura watched as the remaining members of Konoha eleven strolled on into the café.

"Hey!" Kiba waved.

"Hey guys!" Naruto perked up.

"You started already!?" Lee cried seeing the many empty shot glasses.

"We set a time for a reason." Carver said, "Seven o'clock was when everyone was supposed to meet here."

"Who shows up right at seven?" Ino rolled her eyes.

"Um..." Carver said looking at the buzzed people around him. "...every one of us?"

"Well who needs a drink!?" Kiba called over the voices as his attempt to stop a fight from brewing, "First rounds on me!"

"Yes!" Choji bounced at the offer, "Does that include food!?"

"What? No!" Kiba argued as he moved to the bar.

"Where is Lady Tsunade?" Shino wondered.

"She went home." Naruto answered,

"Huh!?"

"Yeah." Hinata nodded, "She was with us for a little bit but when we started our way here, she parted ways."

"But why!?"

"She said a rowdy crowd full of drunk people is no place for a pregnant woman." Carver recalled, "Which she would be correct."

"Commander Haruno-!" Lee called out, earning a few curious eyes. His body was stiff as he quickly bowed as leaving Sakura feeling confused as she blinked, feeling the alcohol she has been downing start to work its magic. "-thank you for agreeing to become our Commander! I hope we will make you proud as shinobi!"

The growing group looked from Lee and then to Sakura whose famous stone face melted away as a smile grew along her lips.

"You already have." Sakura said, Lee snapped his eyes up. His heart swelled with pride as his large round eyes teared up.

"Commander!" Lee said as tears filled his eyes.

"Ah..." Sakura said looking around feeling uncomfortable, "...what did I do?"

"Nothing." Neji sighed, "Lee is just overly emotional."

"Lee go get drinks for everyone!" TenTen ordered.

"So-" Raiden spoke after Lee scurried off with the rest of the leaf shinobi who were quickly filling up the bar rail. "-what are we going to do about the Waterfall Village?"

"Huh?" TenTen looked up from trying to fish out the cherries inside her dark drink.

"What do they-?" Neji began but was quickly cut off by Raiden.

"They are not exactly happy that Sakura has chosen to lead the Leaf Village and not return as Commander over the Waterfall Village." Raiden unneeded filled everyone in.

"What does this mean?" Neji wondered, "Are they our enemy now?"

"No." Sakura spoke up looking into her blue drink.

"No?" Raiden laughed, "Dawn basically kicked you out of the Waterfall Village and told you to not come back, what does that-"

"She is--but that doesn't mean I will write her or the Waterfall Village off."

"So...we don't need to worry about getting ambushed in the middle of the night?" Neji questioned.

"No." Sakura strongly answered.

"How do you know!?" TenTen wondered, "If what Raiden said is true then Commander Dawn will be-"

"No one inside that village would have the balls to stand against Sakura." Carver said, trying to comfort the growing panicked look inside TenTen's face.

"How so?" Shikamaru looked up from sitting on the floor. "Granted she was once their boss like two years ago, that doesn't mean they wouldn't revolt against her now, two years is a long time-"

"It is." Carver agreed, "But Sakura spent a lot more time than just two years training those soldiers, yes maybe there are still a few that would go after Sakura but most of those soldiers are loyal right down to their DNA."

"But how do you-"

"Because it was my fail safe." Sakura answered, feeling annoyed of this conversation.

"Your...what?" Hinata asked.

"When I trained those soldiers-" Sakura answered, "-I ripped their minds apart, when I had to put them back together again, I branded them while leaving my imprint. This was my fail safe should Kaguya ever step out of line again and needed to be taken down."

"That's..." TenTen blinked.

"Horrible." Shikamaru answered for TenTen, "How could you do that to those people?"

"I was a different person back then." Sakura shrugged feeling numb.

"How could you change-"

"So, this is fun-!" Raiden said looking at all the faces, "-hey where's Kakashi?" Sakura cringed hearing his name.

"I don't know." Carver answered, "I invited him, then again he did just get named the next Hokage so maybe he's out celebrating too."

"Why can't he do that here?" Raiden whined inside his glass.

"I don't know-" Carver sighed, "-why don't you go find and ask him!?"

Sakura leaned against the arm of the couch as she quickly finished off the beer in her hand. Her heart pounded roughly inside her chest and he wasn't even inside the room with her. Sakura reached out and took one of the last remaining shots and slammed it.

Sakura was beginning to realize she truly hadn't thought this through, she was now the commander of the same village he lived in. She was now trapped inside a confined space with only so much room to keep them apart, she could feel the leaf village walls were beginning to close in on her.

What had she done?

As Sakura bit her bottom lip, she grabbed the last shot that sat upon the coffee table and tipped it back, she welcomed the burning sensation as it flowed down her throat.

Raiden looked over, having moved to sit on the floor next to Sakura he scrunched his face seeing his fresh beer was missing.

"Hey!" He whined looking up at Sakura, "That was mine-"

"Tonight, is not about you." Sakura commented drinking his beer.

Hours slide past the leaf village, bottles of different types of alcohol were heavily drank by the leaf shinobi and Sakura was swaying back and forth in her seat enjoying the feeling of numbness inside her joints.

"I swear!" Carver laughed leaning back against the couch, "The girl so was hot!" Carver said painting a livid picture of his last steamy encounter with the opposite sex.

"He isn't lying." Raiden nodded remembering the woman he was talking about; they had spotted her on their last mission that took them outside the leaf village. "She was so hot; I would let that girl take my cock and balls and twist them into a balloon poodle-"

"What in the fuck-!?" Everyone laughed, throwing their heads back as tears filled their eyes. Hinata coughed, dripping a little of her margarita down her chin.

"What kind of fifty shades of fucked up are you getting yourself into!?" Carver laughed playfully pushing on Raiden's shoulder.

"Hey-!" Raiden said, "-don't knock it until you try it."

"What?" Carver laughed.

"Was she that good looking?" Choji wondered,

"Oh-" Raiden sighed. "-I would make dog noises if she asked me too-"

"Ok-!" TenTen waved her hand, "-I am learning way too much about you guys!"

Itachi walked into the café just then, he was greeted with the sweet sounds of laughter as he moved into the building. Itachi smiled wide seeing Sakura on the couch, laughing with everyone else at something Raiden had said. He moved to walk behind the couch in order to get near Sakura.

"Hey." Itachi commented, touching her arm.

"Hey!" Sakura smiled looking up at him. "Where have you been?" She slurred her simple words.

"I was on border patrol remember?" Itachi chuckled, "The ANBU had to take over everyone's shifts due to the meeting today."

"Oh yeah." Sakura recalled, her head swayed back as she tried to sit up right.

"You're a little drunk I see." Itachi smirked as he watched Sakura laugh.

"A little bit." Sakura admitted.

"Well since I am a bit late to the party-" Itachi sighed, "-congratulations on the job Sakura."

"Thank you." Sakura grinned, "Oh!" She perked up; her eyes lit up like the northern star. "I have an office!"

"An-An office?" Itachi felt amused.

"Yes! It has walls!"

"Yeah?" Itachi laughed,

"Yes! You should see it; it even has windows!"

"That's right-" Itachi recalled to himself, Kaguya never let Sakura have an office inside the Waterfall Village. Kaguya never saw a point to it. "-I would love to see it." Itachi smiled, loving the fact the leaf village was off to a better start with how they treated her than the waterfall village did in the years they had her.

"Let's go!" Sakura bounced up,

"Wh-What?" Itachi asked, the room was full of intoxicated people who all mingled around, moving from one seat to another.

"You don't want to see-" Sakura turned to Itachi, who felt a need to keep that bright shine in her eyes.

"Of course, I do!" Itachi laughed, "Lead the way!"

"Yes!" Sakura bounced, moving to leave the building but she quickly turned grabbing her drink off the table before leaving to exit the café.

"Uh..." Itachi said quickly following, "...can you just take that?"

"I'll bring it back." Sakura said pulling the beer to her lips.

"Ahh...ok." Itachi shrugged, it was her night not his. Itachi didn't want to do anything to ruin the one-night Sakura has had any real fun.

----

Sakura used the key chain Carver threw at her to open the office door. Itachi looked around before flicking the light on. The walls were a fresh light blue color, there was a desk and a nice chair placed at the back wall, a computer and office phone sat on the desk. Itachi noticed the couch and another door which he knew if this was like Tsunade's office it led to a small bathroom.

"This is nice." Itachi commented.

"Yes!" Sakura said as she carelessly plopped her cell phone down onto the desk before taking a long drink.

"How are you doing?" Itachi wondered moving into the office without shutting the door.

"Hm?"

"With being here and not the Waterfall Village."

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged, "Everyone keeps asking me that even though it has only been a day."

"We just want to make sure you're ok." Itachi chuckled.

"I am ok." Sakura said,

"I know." Itachi sighed, "But we wouldn't be much of a friend to you if we didn't ask and make sure, now would we?"

"I guess not..."

"Exactly." Itachi took the rare win inside an argument against Sakura and left it at that. "Do you have any ideas on what you're going to do first?" Itachi asked trying to keep the conversation going, he felt starved for her attention.

"Huh?"

"Are you going to change anything or...?"

"I'm not sure yet." Sakura muttered, "Tomorrow Tsunade and I will be getting together and going over the latest issues, I will be put into the system so I can use this thing-" Sakura gestured to the computer.

"I see." Itachi nodded, "Well, like you said it has only been a day so there's no rush."

"Yeah." Sakura smiled, looking around the spinning room before a full smile bloomed onto her face taking Itachi by surprise as she let out a round of laughter. His eyes widened as he took in her bright face, her sparkling eyes and her blushed cheeks. Itachi's stomach fluttered as he moved forward, his wrapped his arms around her and before Sakura's drunken mind could understand what was happening Itachi leaned in for a stolen kiss.

Sakura blinked her wide eyes, staring at Itachi for a moment before allowing herself to close her eyes and lean into his kiss. Itachi's right arm wrapped around her numbed waist pulling her into him as the other combed itself through her long hair, tangling his fingers through the silky strands.

After a moment the alcohol inside her thinned, Sakura touched Itachi's chest, but she didn't feel those fireworks exploding around her. Her knees didn't feel weak and the world outside wasn't draining into the background. Sakura's stomach felt like it was twisting but not with butterflies flapping joyfully inside her, it felt sour and almost like she wanted to vomit, was this due to all the fast drinking she did or...something else?

"What the-"

Itachi broke his delightful kiss as he and Sakura turned their heads to view the open office door. Sakura's mind scribbled to a stop seeing his masked face and gravity defying hair standing in the doorway.

"Kakashi?" Sakura breathed, her tongue running across her swollen lips as she was engulfed into Kakashi's grey eyed gaze.