Medic
by Autumn's Wind
Summary: This time a different war approaches and its attack will be of two stages: 1. kill all the medics to disable Konoha's ability to heal; 2. destroy Konoha.
1. Chapter one
Living in a shinobi world meant conflict was always ahead. Konoha wore the scars of the war with the Earth country as well as with the Lightning country. While the reasons might have been different, the goals always shared a common trait: ambition.
A new ambition was always the start.
And now, a new plan emerged within the confines of one ambitious country. Hours were spent in a guarded office, discussing the information sent by spies melting in the shadows of Fire Country, and most importantly, Konoha. Everybody appeared to be clueless, which was definitely at their advantage. A surprise attack was always the best choice, but discretion was required 100 %, therefore, only a select group was doing the planning.
And with the installation of Tsunade as Hokage in Konohagakure, that only meant more medics were to appear, which will only be a thorn in their side.
The plan was simple.
"This is a photograph showing the uniform of a regular medic-nin." The military commander spoke "he should be your target." Some excited nins nodded. "Now that Tsunade has settled in Konoha as Hokage, she demanded more medics to be trained, or more exactly, each shinobi team to have one. You do realize the approximate number of medics, do you?" another share of nods was seen.
"And sadly, we are certainly at a disadvantage. Not only do they have the best medic in the world, but they have an entire platoon of medics as well. If we want to destroy Konoha we have to get rid of the medics first. This way, we will fight them, without them having the ability to regenerate life. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!" the chorus was heard. The commander in front of them smiled appreciatively. It was easy to make them see the truth, since their country always had a 'dislike' for Fire country. This would be the perfect payback for the humiliation they had to endure years ago, when they were pushed back by the same people they wanted to destroy.
This time, he was absolutely sure history won't repeat itself.
"But there is something else you should be aware of. The Fifth had her personal apprentices, and those would be Shizune and Haruno Sakura. These are extracts we acquired from a Mist Bingo Book" he said as he threw the files to the first ninja he saw. Said ninja quickly looked over the information, and then passed it to the nearest ninja to him. "They wear no uniform to show they are medics, but they are the most powerful ones, so I would suggest you to not engage them in fight unless you are capable of defeating them." He paused as he stuck his nose through other papers "Especially Haruno Sakura and the Fifth, said to have fabulous medical skills and killer strength..."
"We have already assigned ninja to deal with each of the aforementioned medics, so..." an assistant interrupted.
"Yeah, that's right..." the commander agreed "Back to our business here..." he continued as he looked up from his papers to look fiercely into every pair of eyes he found in the large room. Whether he found scared, determined, thoughtful or emotionless stares he spoke with the same fervency.
"Your job is to be done discreetly, and no mistakes are allowed, as by one single mistake you could send your own country to hell. Act like a single unit, not individually and if something of great importance for the mission occurs, speak to your team leader."
"Excuse me sir, but how can we be sure the trail we will be following isn't going to lead us to some ANBU on the guard?" a young nin asked.
"Do you know why I chose you for this mission?" the commander asked, as the soldier shook his head "Together you are more than powerful enough to face an ANBU team, plus, to clear your doubts, our spies have assured us nothing will jeopardize the mission. They are the insiders and they will 'clear' our path for us if necessary." He continued getting more and more excited by the prospect of a victory, which he so much believed in.
And he was not the irritable leader either; instead of getting angry by his soldiers' signs of doubt he was more than pleased to explain why they should not fear. He enjoyed seeing in his soldiers' eyes how their visions changed and turned from having second-thoughts, to the determined soldier who knew what he was doing. He was aware this was the only way to gain more and more people on his side. He was aware this was the only way to destroy Konohagakure.
His own eyes sparkled for one mere second. These youngsters were definitely the perfect type of soldier he needed.
Tsunade slammed her cup of sake on the table, with an appreciative sound coming from her throat.
"It's always so good to have a cup of sake after such an intense spar."
Sakura looked a little skeptical at her mentor.
"Or, in your case, shishou, a whole package..." She replied not minding the look the blonde sent her.
"Watch your mouth, young woman. I'm still your hokage..." she paused, but after a glance at the sake on the table, and a little smirk, she continued "But that's true." She admitted smugly, as if she spoke of something perfectly right "Which reminds me...I have taught everything I knew, less one thing..."
And she would have continued if it weren't for the finger Sakura raised in the air, as if to silence her. She already knew what followed.
"Let me guess..." the pink-haired kunoichi leaned a bit over the table "You want me to have a sake addiction as well? Really now, sensei. "She slumped back into her chair "As if I didn't 'inherit' enough of your bad traits..."
"It's not addiction...I just have respect for sake."
"Sure. Keep telling yourself that..."
Tsunade threw a glare at the other woman, who didn't seem to stay put, then gave up and sighed "You're so naïve." Or maybe she just changed tactics.
Sakura's temper indeed flared, as predicted, and she couldn't stop the growled "What?" from coming out of her mouth. She had been right when she spoke of the inherited things and Tsunade was amused, as she began understanding the meaning behind the nickname of 'mini-Tsunade', Jiraiya had given to her years ago.
"You don't know how great sake can be..." she couldn't help herself but provoke the younger kunoichi, thinking that this was how she, herself, looked to others.
"Speaks the great medic, herself..." Sakura rolled her eyes, as she spitefully grabbed a cup and filled it with sake "Of course I know how sake is." And as a closing part she lifted the cup to her mouth, and then slammed it, empty, on the table.
"Yeah right..."Tsunade allowed another smirk to be seen on her face "And how much can you handle?"
"Don't tell me you want a drinking spar...Look, I've got training scheduled with my team, at night, and the least I want is to feel dizzy and unable to participate, or to have a hangover in the morning, so the answer is: no." She ended crossing her arms and looking outside the window.
"You think you can escape that easily?"
"I'm not trying to escape."
"Then don't be a coward and drink with me." Tsunade demanded.
"You're not going to make me change my mind." Sakura threw her sensei a look to show just how crazy she thought she was.
Tsunade could only sigh. She knew there were things Sakura could be terribly stubborn about. Drinking apparently was one of those things.
"It's your loss then."
"Whatever."
The hokage looked at the pouting jounin front of her, with a small smile. She isn't naïve at all.
"You got me, today, with that genjutsu of yours." The blonde spoke as Sakura immediately wore a grin.
"Yeah...well, Kakashi taught it to me."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"So he does spend more time with you...it's about time."
"Shishou, that began years ago. But its great to have him teach me, like he did to Sasuke and Naruto."
"Right. Speaking about your teammates...I heard they want to join the ANBU forces." Tsunade said, before lifting another cup of sake to her lips. The look she sent towards Sakura was a penetrating one, as this was where she wanted to get.
"That's true. Naruto wants to keep upgrading and give it a try, as does Sasuke, and Sai...I doubt he's not going to join them."
"What about you, Sakura?"
"Really, shishou, do you really see me as ANBU, as a cold-blooded assassin?" she laughed, confident in her decision "I prefer staying as elite, and helping at the hospital; I already had this talk with them, and they understood...especially Naruto who thought I was at a greater risk as ANBU...that little idiot."
Tsunade had to laugh at that, but she agreed with her former student. She couldn't see Sakura as an assassin who killed without second thoughts. She did a great job as jounin and medic at the hospital, and joining the ANBU just for the sake of following her team or trying to appear cooler and reach higher didn't suit Sakura. And the blonde was proud of her; she knew that if she ever had a daughter it would have been like Sakura.
The pink-haired woman was a rational one and knew her limits, as well as her desires, perfectly.
"Wouldn't it bother you to not be there with them?" Tsunade asked carefully.
"Yes, it would..." Sakura replied, as she allowed a concerned look on her face "Of course it would. If they get injured, I won't be there to heal them, and if they are far away, the road to our hospital might be long."
Then Sakura burst into a fit of laughing "Stupid Naruto. Worrying about my safety, when he should worry about themselves." She ended with a sad smile.
Tsunade had to smile too...then raised an eyebrow.
"And only Naruto worried about you? Jeez..."
"And why does everybody need to worry about me?"
"Your friends, Sakura..."
"Well, beginning with my team, you know about Naruto. Kakashi came to ask me personally if I wanted to follow them, and he told me a few things about ANBU which I'm grateful for; Sai was confused at first, but then agreed with me, saying that it didn't fit me."
"And...?"
"Sasuke said 'no' from the very start, though I don't know whether it's for the fact that he thinks I'm too weak for that, or he knows me better than I'm aware of."
Sakura shrugged "It's not like I can read him like an open book, with those cold eyes of his."
Tsunade nodded, and seeing as Sakura began spacing out, she realized a change of subject was necessary. Over the time they had spent together she noticed a change in Sakura's behavior almost every time Sasuke was mentioned.
"And Ino?"
Sakura looked at her mentor with a smile.
"Well, she was more than shocked after realizing that I could beat her easily again. I'm sure she must be training hard at this moment just to make sure I won't 'surpass' her." She giggled. Just imagining the blue-eyed blonde sweating because of a simple competition was more than enjoyable, which only showed that the same spirit was still in Sakura.
"More sake!" Tsunade yelled at the waitress, who hurried to please her hokage. The latter turned her gaze to the woman in front of her, smiling.
Sakura walked towards the training grounds, she and her team were supposed to meet on.
After Tsunade left, realizing she had a few papers to look over, she headed straight home, intending to relax her muscles, and getting ready for the training scheduled in a few hours. Taking a warm bath and doing a few exercises worked miracles for her, and as she was left with an hour of having nothing to do, she grabbed a book from her rather large library and began looking through it, with an occasional recalling of her conversation with Tsunade.
Sakura wanted to laugh, in the empty, night darkened streets, as she remembered her mentor's inquisitive questions regarding her love life. And it was all because of the flowers she received from a fellow ninja.
Tsunade was more than eager to know every detail, and as she got more and more sake into her stomach, she began threatening the pink haired ninja.
"If you don't want me to strip you of your ninja rank and status, you better tell me everything."
Her mentor's voice still sounded clear in her mind, and Sakura continued smiling as she got nearer to her destination, not bothering to hurry at all.
Upon reaching there, she looked agape at the scene in front of her. Naruto and Sasuke were throwing glares at each other, with one Copy-Ninja in between them, trying to calm the spirits. Judging by their ruffled and dusty clothes, they had already began without her, which didn't help calm her raging temper.
"Hello hag." Sai said from behind her. The use of her old nickname was even more irritating.
"Get lost." She replied as she began making her way towards the trio. Kakashi had already noticed her presence and nodded at her with a hidden smile.
When the other two, Naruto and Sasuke, finally noticed her there, they relaxed their positions. Sasuke waved a hand at her, and then stuffed them into his pockets, while Naruto grinned sheepishly at her.
"Hi Sakura-chan."
"Now what?"
When nobody wanted to answer she turned to Kakashi.
"Ah, nothing but a little tension released." He replied, as calm as ever, while his hand itched to his pocket where his beloved book was. Sakura saw that and glared at him.
"Now that I'm here, what are the formations today?"
"Didn't you forget someone?"
When she turned around, she saw Yamato entering the clearing. She sent an apologetic smile his way.
"Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, team one." Kakashi said as he went next to Sai and Yamato "And I, Yamato, Sai, team two."
They all nodded.
"I called you at night because we rarely train in darkness and we never know when this should come handy. Me and Yamato, trained a lot into the darkness, while in ANBU, and I'm sure Sai had something similar in ROOT."
The artist nodded.
"That leaves the three of you." He turned to Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke "You were trained like a normal ninja would: to enhance your senses and to be able to see 'almost as good as in daylight'. What I want to teach you, now, is a bit more advanced than that. In the dark you should move like a nocturnal predator, you should think like one and many other things I will show you as you progress."
"But Kakashi-sensei...we kind of know these things...I mean, we are elite." Naruto interrupted.
"Sure you do." Kakashi spoke as he turned to Sai and Yamato, and whispered them something. With that the three of them disappeared.
"Why was he early anyway?" Sakura asked, as she finally realized what had been amiss.
The other two shrugged.
A/N: This story is to be continued.
I would really appreciate a review on this chapter
