Disclaimer: Woo, baby! Feel that primary election rush! Good luck to all!
Sakura smiled and waved to the crowds of passing people, and handed posters to rushing businessmen and women hurrying from shop to shop, trying to avoid the thick snowflakes falling on expensively styled hair and tailored coats. It was truly December in Konoha.
Across the street, she spotted a tall man in a black woolen jacket shoving flyers indiscriminatingly into people's hands. She strained her ears to catch the words he was shouting, but couldn't make out anything intelligible.
A few minutes later, her smiling blonde friend broke through the crowds and handed her a batch of new papers.
"We just won the North Side!!" The two girls cheered madly, and Sakura pumped her fist in the air gleefully. Ino spun on the spot and stopped dead in her tracks. She clenched her gloved fists angrily.
"That slime! Peddle pushing for that dirtbag right in front of our nose!" Sakura scanned the crowds, and Ino pointed across the street to the man she had spotted only five minutes ago. Sakura looked confused.
"It's a guy handing out flyers. Big deal." Ino scowled and rolled her blue eyes with superiority, and patted Sakura's pink hair, like a mother talking to a particularly stupid child.
"That's Sasuke Uchiha. He's not just 'some guy passing out flyers', Forehead! He's Jiraiya's best supporter and he's gorgeous, so all the girls vote for whatever he's rooting for." Sakura's emerald eyes widened, then narrowed angrily.
"That bastard! He can't just make people vote for him, just because he's a pretty face!" Ino shrugged grudgingly, and mused Sakura's hair again.
"Don't worry Forehead, the cavalry's here." She smiled confidently, and pulled the posters from Sakura's numb hands, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and thrust the papers at the pedestrians, particularly the men, with a new vigor. They were snatched up like candy.
Sakura grinned with appreciation.
Across the street, Sasuke Uchiha narrowed his eyes as a slender blonde ran up to a rosette, and they cheered in victory. Sasuke did his homework. That was Ino Yamanaka, the best campaigner Tsunade had. Her pink friend was a close second.
His focus was broken when a hooded Kiba Inuzuka, his replacement, shuffled through the crowds. He grinned half heartedly.
"We won the Upper East Side!" His smiled dimmed even more. Sasuke waited impatiently for the oncoming bad news.
"And…?"
Kiba frowned and looked scathingly at the two girls across the street. "Tsunade crushed us in the North Side, all those girls coming out to vote." Sasuke shared his frown.
Kiba grabbed the few remaining flyers, brightly advertising voting for Jiraiya, and tossed them to the people trying to get home. He tugged Sasuke's sleeve impatiently.
"Come on. The boss wants all of us back. There's an announcement or something going on, and he wants all of us there."
Ino threw the remaining papers into the air, and grabbed Sakura's hand. "Come on, Forehead! Tsunade wants us back, like, now. She's got some assignment for you. I hope you don't mind a few cosmetic changes." Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but Ino grabbed her hand, and pulled her back to headquarters.
After the icy walk to Tsunade's office, the two girls burst in, panting and snow covered. The older blonde smiled at them both, and pointed to the two chairs in front of her desk. They sat down immediately.
Tsunade folded her manicured hands into front of her. "Sakura, I've got a new assignment for you." Sakura brightened. Anything was better than constantly handing out papers in the dead of winter.
"You'll be investigating the other team, a recon mission, to be blunt. Get involved and report back whatever you discover. Clear?" Sakura frowned.
"Isn't that cheating? That's revealing campaign secrets, and I don't think it's a very good…" Tsunade shot her a furious glare and banged her fist on the table. Both girls swallowed involuntarily.
"No, it's not, you think I wouldn't have checked these things before? It's called switching sides. Find something that you didn't know about that you don't believe in, and there you go, come right back to me. Besides, I'm not sending you. I'm sending in"-she checked the papers on her desk-"Mariko Tomioka. Understood?"
Sakura nodded. "Understood."
Tsunade smiled. "Excellent. Ino, go find the dye, and bring in the new girl." Ino nodded respectfully and tossed a bottle of black hair dye to Tsunade from her bag. Sakura's eyes widened.
"Oh no, not my hair, please, please? Can't you send anyone else?" Tsunade shook her head, and patted Sakura's hand sympathetically.
"It's not permanently. And at least you don't have to dress up as a boy or something ridiculous. Trust me, this'll be easy for you, Sakura." She gave her a hard look. "I'm sending you to do this, and not Ino, because I've got a lot of faith in you and your abilities. Don't let me down, understand?" Sakura nodded humbly.
Ino barged in, followed by a tall girl with four large blonde ponytails protruding from the back of her head. She nodded at Sakura, and bowed slightly to Tsunade.
"Sakura, this is Temari, from Suna. She's going to be your partner on this little adventure. Listen to what she tells you, she's had plenty of experience working on campaigns for her younger brother. I believe you know of Kazekage Gaara?" Sakura's mouth dropped open.
"That's your little brother?" Temari grinned and nodded, ponytails going insane at the sudden movement. Tsunade eyes her hair warily.
"Right, Sakura, take Ino and Temari and go dye your hair. And Temari, drop the ponytails. Ino, do you have any other colors in that bag of yours?" She nodded and pulled out an auburn, a dark black, and a mousy brown. Temari frowned.
Tsunade pointed to the auburn, and waved her hand to dismiss them. "No whining ladies. Come back and show me how you look when it's all done. You're dismissed."
Ino lead them into a small bathroom with two sinks and a shower. She held up the boxes of dye with a cheerfully smile.
"So who's first?"
About an hour later, a scowling girl with jet black hair, and an angry auburn prowled through the door of Tsunade's office. She burst out laughing.
"Oh very nice ladies. I think you're pretty golden. I do have another present for you girls." She pointed to the pair of contact case on her desk.
"They're color contact. Sakura's eyes stand out too much, and teal isn't very common. I don't want anyone tracing this little scene back to us. Remember, when you leave, make a convincing reason. Understand? Something the press won't bother looking into. Got it?"
They nodded, and Temari popped in her lenses, reopened her eyes, and saw in Ino's hand mirror that her irises were now a twinkling dark jade. Sakura's eyes had been covered by a film of bright, icy blue, almost matching Ino.
Tsunade shooed them out. "Go on, go on. Go do your duty ladies!" They smiled and mock saluted, and walked out. Ino poked her head inside, bangs flopping over one eye.
"Think they'll be alright?" Tsunade shrugged and dropped her head into her hands.
"God I hope so, Ino. I really hope so."