Space to Breathe - [ Sakura Haruno ]

CHAPTER 34

"I'm glad you survived," Ibiki said quietly as Sakura grabbed him in a hug. He had his arms wrapped gently around the girl in return, something he had never done before.

"I missed you," Sakura replied, her voice muffled in his shirt as she cried.

Ibiki hummed in response as he held her a little closer. No tears appeared in his eyes, but the sense of relief that flushed though his body upon seeing her was immense.

He had last seen her when she left for her mission, when she was barely thirteen, now over a year later he stood, unbelievably proud of her.

"You did well," Ibiki praised her, lifting a hand from their embrace and placing it atop her head. He expertly avoided the wire tangled in her hair as he ruffled it, and Sakura couldn't help but giggle.

But the mood dropped a moment later when she sighed.

"I thought I was going to die," she admitted quietly. "I did it because I knew my team wouldn't get away if I didn't."

"Self sacrifice is important for shinobi," Ibiki replied, "not in the way it is to samurai, but the completion of a mission is out above all else."

"The only thing that comes before the mission, except in rare cases, is a comrades life." Ibiki continued, "You saved not only your client, but also your teammates. You completed your mission without any casualties. I could count the number of shinobi in Konoha capable of that on my fingers with a few to spare."

"Even if you had died, you would have done so a fantastic shinobi, and a captain your teammates could never forget."

"I know, but even still I feel terrible," Sakura sighed, tears still trickling down her face. "I can't stop thinking about how I could have done better, how I could have won."

"You entered combat with the Third Tsuchikage as your enemy," Ibiki stated. "There are very few shinobi alive today who who can make that claim. Even if you didn't kill him, you won."

"How?" Sakura asked quietly, not at all feeling like a winner.

"You wounded his pride." Ibiki let a wide grin appear on his face, "do you know who the last Konoha shinobi to do that was?"

Sakura thought for a moment before her eyes widened in realisation.

"The Fourth Hokage," Ibiki said with a chuckle, "one of, if not the, greatest genius to emerge from our village. You are without a shadow of doubt in my mind, comparable to him."

"Not in power though," Sakura pouted, but her tears had paused. The absurdity of the claim alone made her want to laugh at her sensei.

"Not yet," Ibiki agreed, "but the Hokage was in his twenties when he died, you are a fourteen year old."

"I won't catch up," she sighed, but Ibiki shook his head.

"Namikaze Minato became a jonin at the age of fourteen, during peace time." He said, "you made it at the age of thirteen."

"There is a small group of people who made it to Jonin earlier than you, but none during peace time."

Sakura groaned playfully, her face changed from one of regret to one of feigned annoyance, "can you not just let me wallow in my self pity for a bit, before you throw logic at me?!"

Ibiki let out a low chuckle, "you weren't being logical, though."

Sakura giggled at the man before pulling away from their hug.

"I have another mission, tomorrow," Sakura informed the man. "I wanted to at least show my face before I went off again."

"I was told," Ibiki replied. "I would wish you luck, but as I've told you before, a shinobi doesn't rely on luck."