Chapter 1
It had been weeks since you were nearly killed by the Akatsuki. You and another Jonin escorting the villages nine newest Genin students to a joint training session with the Leaf Village. Despite your reputation as one of the villages top shinobi, the encounter left you gravely injured as you foolishly attempted to fight off the two Akatsuki members to allow the others to escape.
Now as you prepare to return home, you can’t help but think about just how lucky you had been to even survive the encounter. Your whole body ached as you thought of the final attack that had taken you out and nearly ended your life. You tightened your grip on your shinobi headband as you cursed at yourself for your weakness.
“Wow you certainly must be feeling better if you’re using such colorful language.”
You turned away from the window you had been staring out of towards the teasing voice, and smirk, “Don’t you have better things to do than make fun of your injured comrades Temari?”
“Now, now is that anyway to speak to someone who snuck in your favorite snacks for you?” as she spoke, she pulled out your favorite chips from her bag and tossed them onto your hospital bed. She sat down next to them before continuing, “Plus we’re almost done with the preparations for the Chunin exam, and a little birdie told me that you’re getting let out of the hospital soon.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” You scoffed as you sat on the opposite end of the bed. “That’s what they’ve been telling me for days now. I’m starting to think they’ll never let me out of here.”
Temari waved her hand at your pessimism, “You know you’ve become a real bummer since you nearly died. Lighten up! We’ll be home soon, I know Gaara has been particularly interested in ensuring your safe return.”
Her last sentences caught you off guard and you could feel your cheeks pink up bit, “Yes, well one of the things that makes the Kazekage a great leader is how much he cares for his fellow ninja.” You reached for the chips and avoided Temari’s inquiring eyes.
You hadn’t grown up in the Sand Village and by the time you moved there when you were 11 years old you were quickly promoted to Jonin. This resulted in you not really engaging in the stigma surrounding Gaara. You were one of the first people to work with him when he began to reach out after returning from the Leaf. Over the past few years you had become close, with both your similar age and closeness with his sister helping your friendship grow. Of course, Temari takes this as opportunity to endlessly tease you about your relationship with Gaara, but you tried not to overthink it. You quickly changed the subject as you opened the chips, “Anyway, where’s you shadow?”
“Oh Shikamaru? He needed to finalize some things with the Hokage for the Chunin exam. We needed Lady Tsunade’s direct approval before we finish, and I managed to convince him I won’t get lost from the hospital lobby to your room,” she rolled her eyes and snatched a few chips out of the bag. “I’m sure he’ll be back to stalk me any minute now. Honestly, it’ll be a relief when we get home and I can have my freedom back.”
Now it was your turn to roll your eyes, and you couldn’t help but smirk, “Oh yeah, I’m sure it’ll be a relief to stop pretending like you don’t enjoy his company.”
“Just because you’re in the hospital doesn’t mean I won’t smack you,” Temari reached for more chips as she threatened you. “And this is the thanks I get for sneaking in food for you.”
Your laugh at her idle threat but are cut off by a someone in the doorway loudly clearing their throat. Hiding the chip bag behind your back you look over and spot the Shikamaru, Lady Tsunade, and her student Sakura. It was obvious who had made the noise as you meet the disapproving gaze of the Hokage. “Uhh good morning Lady Hokage,” you say as you nervously scratch the back of your head.
“Y/n what did I say about monitoring your diet until I have fully cleared you??” the upset Hokage moved across the room and snatched the bag from behind your back.
“These could completely wreck all of the work we’ve done.”
“Aww come on we all know I’m getting out of here soon, how much could a few chips really hurt at this point?” You leaned back on the bed and nervously laughed as she glared at you. Temari shook her head and stood up.
Shikamaru looked at Temari, “I should have known better than to leave you women to your own devices, what a drag.”
Sakura punched him in the arm and shouted, “Shut up Shikamaru” before moving to the other side of you. She began to remove your remaining bandages and examen your wounds.
“I’m just going to wait outside then,” said Shikamaru as he quickly turned and headed for the dor. You could have sworn you heard a faint “what a drag” as he walked out. Sakura simply continued with what she was doing and after a few minutes, she turned back to the Hokage and nodded.
Pinching her nose, Lady Tsunade sighed, “Just because you’re recovering doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. You’ll need to remember that for the remainder of your recovery.”
You quickly sit back up, “Wait does that mean…??”
“Yes, you are officially cleared to travel back to the Hidden Sand Village and finish your recovery there. But you need to take it easy for another couple weeks before you can return to regular training, and then a few more before you start taking on missions. I’ve already sent strict directions to both the Kazekage and the Sand’s Medical Core to ensure that you follow through with these instructions.”
Your excitement grew at the thought of finally returning home to the Sand, but you struggled to contain your frustration at the news of being further restricted for even longer. Perhaps if you could just talk Gaara into letting you start training sooner…
“Remember if you push yourself too hard, you’ll just end up back in the hospital again.” Sakura chimed in, giving you a knowing look.
You sighed and turned back to Lady Tsunade, “Ok fine, I’ll go along with your rules. But can I at least get my chips back now?”
Letting out a soft smile, she handed you chips back to you. “Temari?” she asked as she turned toward you friend. “You are expecting to return to the Sand tomorrow if I’m not mistaken?”
Though slightly caught off guard, Temari nodded and said, “Yes m’lady, assuming that the plans for Chunin exams are finalized before then.”
“Yes well, I’ll let you and Shikamaru finish discussing those. But as far as you go Y/n, you are cleared to return home when ever Temari does, but I would like you to stay in the hospital until then, just in case.” as she spoke, she faced you. “Hopefully Temari can keep you in line during the trip, though I don’t have much faith in that.”
You couldn’t help but laugh as Temari blushed at the last sentence. “Thank you, Lady Tsunade and Sakura, for everything.” You shake hands with the both of them before they exit, then return to your chips when Temari punches you in the arm.
“You know, you really are an embarrassment to the Sand Village,” she teases you.
“Hehe…” you smiled sheeply, “well someone has to do it. Plus, you were the one who snuck in the chips, not me.”
“Fair enough,” she replied as she headed towards the door. “I’m going to go finalize the plans with Shikamaru, and I’ll let you know the details of when we’re leaving later today.”
“Sounds good, enjoy your alone time with him.” You gave her a wink as she walked out and ignored the death stare, she gave you in return as you finished off the bag of chips.
Temari returned later that day to tell you that all the Chunin exam plans had been approved and you all would be heading out the next morning as originally planned.
The journey back to the Sand would still take a few days, but you would finally be going home. You could hardly sleep thinking of it, the Leaf had welcomed you and saved your life, but there truly was no place like home. The thought of seeing your apartment and friends, especially Gaara…
Just as the thought crossed you mind you remembered Temari’s teasing and again turned red at the thought. You knew that your relationship with Gaara was…
unique. There was truly no one in the world you felt closer to, but you had never thought about him that way. Despite your differences, he had become your closest friend, and you wouldn’t do anything to put that in jeopardy.
You turned over and tried to force yourself to sleep. After all you had a long journey ahead of you and needed to be up early tomorrow. Slowly, you drifted off.
The next morning you packed your things, changed, and headed out to meet Temari at the edge of the Hidden Leaf Village. It felt good to have your shinobi headband on once more, proud to bear the symbol of the Sand. Thanking the hospital staff on your way out, you were surprised to see Sakura in the hospital lobby. “Good morning Sakura,” you called out to greet her.
“Good morning Y/n,” she replied, walking out of the hospital with you. “M’lady Hokage asked for me to accompany you to village gates in order to help you find your way.”
You were filled with relief in hearing this. Obviously, you’d get there eventually, but you didn’t really know your way around as much as you had claimed with Temari and having Sakura there would definitely make things easier. You smiled and thanked her, then the two of you made your way to the village gate.
You couldn’t help but notice that Sakura was in a better mood than you had seen over the past few weeks. It may have been a bit nosey, but you couldn’t help but turn to her and say, “Ok spill, do you have big plans today or something? What’s with all the smiling?”
You could tell your question had caught her off guard. She quickly recovered, and her smile returned. “Oh well, I guess you could say that. But the main thing is that one of my friends came home yesterday. He’s been gone for two years and, as much as I hate to admit it, I’m happy to see him. Even if he hasn’t changed as much as I had hoped.”
You laughed at that, “Well either way, I’m glad that your friend’s back. Plus, two years is a long time, I’m sure he’s changed more than you think.”
She sighed and shook her head, “I can only hope.”
Reaching the gate, you saw that Temari and Shikamaru had already arrived. You and Sakura shared a knowing look, smirking as you approached the two. “I hope we’re not interrupting your private time,” you teased.
Sakura giggled and Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Well, you kept us waiting long enough,” Temari responded ignoring your jab. “I was just about to leave without you.”
“Yeah right, we all know you’d miss me too much to leave me behind,” you joke as you move to stand beside her before turning back to Sakura and Shikamaru.
“Thanks again for your help, I owe the Leaf a lot and I swear to pay you all back for it one day.”
“You have my thanks as well, for both showing me around and saving Y/N’s butt,” Temari agreed. “Even if they are the biggest pain in the Sand.”
“Rude!” You feigned shock as Sakura laughed, and you even saw Shikamaru crack a smile.
The Leaf shinobi gave their goodbyes, and you headed your separate ways.