Authors Note: I'm not 100% clear yet when Sasuke returns to the village after leaving for his redemption quest, I've heard conflicting reports anywhere from 2-4 years. So I'm going to stick to what we know. And since we know Sasuke has been gone for at least 2 years, this story assumes he returns to the village relatively soon after . So they are all 19 -20 years old. If anyone has information that confirms the timeline please let me know so I can correct it. It's been years since I've submitted or written a story so hopefully its okay. Not sure how many chapters it will have, I do plan to write a lemon. This is SasuSaku.
I do not own Naruto
It had been exactly 3 days after Sasuke returned to Konoha from his travels. He was currently half asleep on Naruto's couch, trying to ignore the conversation he was having with a shinobi who was perched outside his window. However, despite his best efforts he was now awake.
"Hey Sasuke. You awake?" Asked Naruto.
"Hmm" replied Sasuke sleepily.
"Good. Get ready Kakashi-sensei wants to see us in 15 minutes".
10 minutes later Sasuke and Naruto were making their way to Hokage tower. Naruto was excited because he knew they were about to assigned a mission together. Sasuke didn't mind going on a mission but he was surprised they summoned him for one so quickly, he didn't even have his own place yet, nor had he done much but sleep the last couple of days.
Inside the Hokage office they were greeted by a smiling Kakashi with a simple "yo".
"Please tell me you have a dangerous S rank mission for us Kakashi-sensei!" pleaded Naruto.
"Well it is S rank, but mostly due to the stealth involved. It's an infiltration mission." replied Kakashi.
"Also before I give you more details I just wanted to check in…Sasuke how are you doing? Are you okay to go on this mission?"
" Yeah I'm fine. I've been resting at Naruto's since I got back so it's probably a good thing for me to get out a bit."
"Ok good. In that case I'll tell you a bit about the mission. We need you to get information from a wealthy business man and his associates. His name is Lee. We received intelligence that they are extorting local residents in a village about a day and a half from here. Also we know that Lee has hired several talented shinobi from other villages. Hopefully, it wont come to a fight but it might and that's why I'm sending you two. Ideally we'd like you to get incriminating information on Lee so that he can be dealt with the authorities in a more legal manner. Any questions so far."
"Yeah, if it's a stealth mission then Naruto and I probably aren't the best for the job. I would understand if the purpose was assassination, but we don't exactly blend in." Sasuke pointed out.
"That's true." Replied Kakashi. "But you won't be going alone, I'm sending a Kunoichi with you and it will be her job to get the information from Lee. You two will ensure her safety and provide support wherever needed."
"So it's a seduction mission?" Naruto asked. He'd been the body guard of a female shinobi on a seduction mission once before, and he found it deeply unsettling. He understood the purpose of those types of missions, however he also felt that the kunoichi involved was always in harm's way.
"Yes it's a seduction mission. She should be here any minute."
Right on cue there was a soft knock on the door. Kakashi muttered "enter" and the door swung open.
Both Naruto and Sasuke stood completely still without saying a word as they saw their old teammate Sakura, walk into the office.
"Hi everyone! Did you already explain the mission Kakashi-sensei?"
Keenly aware of the awkward tension in the room Kakashi avoided eye contact with Naruto and Sasuke before replying, " Errr, yes I gave them the run down I'll finish explaining it now."
"The three of you are to make your way to Kokoro village, arrangements have been made so that the three of you have a room at the best hotel in town. Sakura will be posing as a high class society lady from a wealthy family, and you two will be posing as her body premise is that you are in town for the annual village festival which is actually more of a super fancy ball. We know that Lee is hosting the festival as his home, and there are events taking place during the entire 2 week period. You will attend them all. Sakura's mission is to get as close to Lee as possible without arousing suspicion. We also know that Lee has a soft spot for young women and so Sakura you'll use this weakness against him. Questions?"
Kakashi finally looked over at Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom were scowling at him.
Oh great here we go, they both look like they want to kill me right now.
Naruto took a deep breath before speaking. " There is no way in hell I'm going to let Sakura do this mission. Pick someone else."
Sakura looked over at Naruto, not the least bit surprised by his reaction but irritated non the less.
"Naruto what Kakashi-sensei has yet to mention is that Lee and his men are experts in poisons, which makes my expertise necessary."
"I don't want you doing this mission Sakura-chan!"
"It's not your choice to make Naruto!" Sakura shot back.
While Naruto and Sakura were arguing, Sasuke was contemplating the situation before him.
After the war he had left the village and it had been just over 2 years since then, he had alerted Konoha that he would be returning and had gotten the okay from Kakashi. However, he had asked that no one else be alerted and so Naruto and Sakura had been surprised by his arrival. So when he arrived 3 days ago he asked Kakashi to send for Naruto and Sakura. Both had been surprised to see him, but welcomed him straight away. Naruto was annoyingly excited and offered him a place to stay immediately. Sakura had been polite and it was she who suggested the 3 of them go get something to eat. He had to admit it felt good to be reunited with his teammates and he was looking forward to going on a mission with them, however he too shared Naruto's discomfort with Sakura being part of a seduction mission.
Finally Kakashi decided to put an end to the bickering. "Enough!" Naruto and Sakura fell silent at once.
" Naruto I know how you feel trust me. I hate having to assign Sakura this mission, but she is the most qualified for the job. And I trust you and Sasuke to protect her as much as you can. So please don't argue with me on this or I will replace you with Sai."
That shut Naruto up. As much as he hated this mission, he would feel better if he was there to protect Sakura, instead of back home worrying about it.
Resigned Naruto nodded and stayed quiet.
"Excellent. I would suggest you leave in no more than 2 hours. Naruto and Sasuke you are dismissed. Sakura and I need to go over a couple of things."
Naruto and Sasuke silently exited Kakashi's office but they didn't leave. Instead they sat on a bench in the hall and waited for Sakura.
"What do you think Kakashi-sensei has to talk to Sakura about?" asked Naruto.
"Probably going over procedure on her mission…" Sasuke hesitated but ultimately decided to elaborate. " From what I understand kunoichi's under go special traning for these kinds of missions, and I'm assuming Kakashi is making sure Sakura remembers it all and knows what to do in case she gets in trouble."
"Do you…do you think she's going to have to sleep with this Lee guy?" Naruto finally voiced the biggest concern he had.
Sasuke hesitated before answering. " I'm not sure. It's our job to protect Sakura so that she doesn't have to do anything more than what's necessary for the mission."
As Naruto was thinking about what Sasuke said Sakura stepped out of Kakashi's office.
"I thought you guys would've left by now." Sakura
They both look worried. Thought Sakura.
"It'll be fine, lets all go home and pack and meet up in an hour."
"Sure that sounds fine to me." Replied Sasuke.
"Great see you guys in a bit." And with that Sakura was gone.
Sakura felt a little awkward at being on this mission with Naruto and Sasuke. For starters Naruto was like family to her and she knew he would be extremely over protective of her, which is probably why Kakashi assigned him the mission to begin with. Also things with Sasuke were…odd at the moment. Since his return they had spoken like normal, he seemed to be in a good place but they had yet to have a conversation alone and it kinda felt like he was avoiding her, or she was avoiding him or both.
I hope that this mission will help all of us get back on track and Sasuke can adapt to being a Konoha ninja again.
Sure enough an hour later the 3 of them met at the gates and after a quick greeting they left.
All of them left wondering how this mission would impact their teamwork, and Sasuke and Naruto were both determined to keep Sakura safe though for different reasons.
Authors Note:
I still feel like I'm working out all the writing kinks as its been years since I've submitted any fanfiction. lol Chapter 2 will be posted within a week. Let me know what you think. :)