Ch. 2: Two if by Sea
A map of the ninja world is available by going to www dot leafninja dot com backslash country dot php (this site doesn't let me put links in my documents for some unknown reason)
- X - X -
Shiosato was a sleepy hamlet by the ocean in the Fire country's southeastern most corridor. Sakura had never seen anything like it. The villagers made their livings by refining salt from the sea, and many of them rose as early as four in the morning to ensure that the salt was dried and packaged in proper containers for the afternoon pickup. An old lady at a noodle bar had proudly explained to the group that while Shiosato exported a small amount of salt relative to larger villages down the coast, the salt from the little community was the highest quality in all the land.
They had arrived in the town to meet an old acquaintance of Tsunade's. The man was apparently one of the wretched few who had ever lost a bet to the Godaime. Tsunade had never let the man—Ryu-kun as he was to be called—forget that he owed her. In the mission agenda, Tsunade had indicated that Ryu-kun would be bringing two boats around the peninsula from Nami no Kuni to meet Team Kakashi at the obscure salt town.
Aided by good weather and high spirits, the group formerly known as team seven touched down at their rendez-vous point three days early.
The first day of waiting they spent loitering about the beach breathing in the salty air and refining their plans of action.
Naruto and Sasuke passed much of the morning orienting themselves with the geography of Nagi Island. This involved some loud shouting between the boys, some roughly drawn diagrams in the sand, and some more loud shouting. Eventually the two agreed to start at the northwestern tip of the island and work their way diagonally through the country. They would then take a boat to the Hirate—the isle of palms—off the southern coast of Nagi where they would wait for Kakashi and Sakura.
The island of O'uzu was considerably longer than Nagi, albeit less wide. Due to the nature of its geography, Kakashi and Sakura decided on beginning their search at the southern tip and moving north to meet the rest of their team at Hirate.
The morning passed quickly, and when the afternoon finally rolled around, Sasuke and Naruto headed into the village to procure food. Sakura took the time to take a brief respite on the sand. She laced her fingers together, cradled her head in the space in between her hands and reclined lazily on the dune. Kakashi watched as the girl's jade eyes followed a wandering flock of seagulls away into the horizon. Her eyes were glazed, and her expression was unreadable. She made no movement to remove a strand of hair that the sea breeze had blown into her eyes.
"Are you still thinking about whether or not this is right?"
Sakura shook her head, making a small indent in the sand. She carefully turned onto her side so that she was facing Kakashi. Her elbow ground into the sand, and she propped her head up with her palm.
"I'm not worried about that anymore. I'm just concerned that this is going to be harder than Tsunade-shishou expected. This isn't some recovery mission where we stick a shiny jewel into our packs and get the hell out. We're talking about scared kids with incredible abilities."
Kakashi said nothing. For a few moments the two ninja simply looked at each other and felt the wind blow between them. Finally, Kakashi moved away and lay motionless looking up at the sky.
"You'll think of something."
Every time she expected him to say something earth-shattering, he said the vaguest, most useless things.
- - - -
The second day they spent sparring further down on the beach, two against two, one against three, one on one. By lunchtime Sakura found herself busy healing the burn marks on Naruto's face where Sasuke's Katon no Jutsu had grazed him. Naruto sat fuming in the sand. He winced at Sakura's treatment but somehow still found the concentration to send heated glare at Sasuke's smug face. Kakashi spent the time setting his bunshins to work overturning the small canyon of burnt sand that Sasuke's fireball had created for two hundred meters down the beach front.
Sakura sat back and admired Naruto's perfectly mended skin. Pleased with the results of her work, she wiped her hands in affirmation and nodded. When Naruto realized that she had finished, the blond boy sat up quickly, ran a hand across the side of his no longer charred face, and he muttered a hurried thanks before running off towards the water prepared to tackle an unguarded Sasuke. The Uchiha stood within the water's reach, and he seemed to relax against the feeling of incoming and outgoing waves lapping at his ankles and sucking the wet sand out from under his feet.
Sakura felt a hand gently press against her shoulder.
"You sparred for three hours this morning, and you healed Naruto, how are you feeling?"
The girl turned to look up at the owner of the hand, and she cocked a self-assured smile at him.
"I've never felt better, actually," she answered truthfully, and Kakashi rewarded her with what she assumed was a kind smile from under his shirt-slash-mask.
"Your stamina is getting much better. It was all that training you did for the jounin exam?"
Sakura nodded.
"I asked if you were available for training but Tsunade-sama told me that you were gone. She assigned Ebisu-san to me. Konohamaru and the rest of their genin group had just passed the chuunin exam, so Ebisu-san was free. The first thing he noticed when we sparred was how easily I tired. I managed to get close to him with my kunai a couple times, but I lost my concentration the longer we went. I had relied mainly on soldier pills since I became a medic, so I didn't have a lot of stamina of my own. Ebisu-san then enlisted Gai-sensei in helping me train . . ."
Sakura paused and passed Kakashi an awkward look. A twitch settled at the corner of her mouth.
". . .And now I look forward to the eternal springtime of youth!!"
Kakashi's eyes widened as he watched the girl energetically pump her fist towards the horizon. A dewy sheen floated over her eyes, and she moved as if preparing to sprint off into the distance.
"I challenge you to a contest! One hundred laps up and down the beach, if I lose I'll do it again, only on my hands!"
Kakashi's eyes were as the size of saucers.
"Just kidding, sensei," Sakura laughed as she relaxed her body and smiled. "You should have seen your face."
"When did you become this funny, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi chirped as he recovered from his shock enough to run his hand over the top of her head and ruffle her hair.
"I learned from the best," she answered lightly. "But let's go rescue Sasuke before Naruto finishes drowning him."
- - - -
The third morning dawned gray and stormy. Sakura rolled off her tatami mat onto the cold ground, and she groaned as she spotted the angry storm clouds congregating outside the motel room's small window.
These things tended to happen to team seven, she decided. It was like that time they spent two weeks living off the bounty of the land just so they could apportion the mission's budget among themselves only to discover that, on the very last day of the mission, they'd all contracted one of the tea country's most virulent stomach flus. The only healer they could find for miles and miles simply sat and watched them empty their stomachs into the bushes until they agreed to cough up his asking price—which happened to be exactly the amount of money they'd been given for the trip. What would have happened had they not kept the money with the greedy intention of pocketing it? Sakura imagined that her tombstone would have read Here Lies Haruno Sakura, died from vomiting up all her vital organs onto the side of some crappy Tea country road.
Sakura grabbed her toothbrush out of her pack and dealt two swift kicks to Sasuke and Naruto. She then promptly dashed across the floor to the small bathroom. Sure, she had enough confidence to kick the two awake, but there was no way in hell she was brave enough to stay and deal with their morning moods. She was pretty sure Sasuke would Mangekyou sharingan to death anyone who dared disturb his precious sleep, and she had even heard a rumor that Naruto had once gone all-out Kyuubi when a messenger had awoken him at 5 a.m. for an emergency meeting.
So it was the day of Ryu-kun's arrival, and Sakura had an inkling suspicion that they were all going to die at the hands—or should she say at the mouth—of a ravenous, 60-foot wave. Judging from the sogginess in the air and the small rivers running happily through the cracks in the road, it had already been raining on and off for hours by the time the four set foot outside the motel. Sasuke looked up at the merciless clouds and opened his mouth to speak just as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky.
"Is Ryu-kun really going to be here?"
"We'll find out when we get to the docks," Kakashi answered warily. He attempted to say more but a violent clap of thunder followed by the pent-up downpour quite literally drowned out his words.
Much to Sakura's disappointment, Ryu-kun, and the two boats he had chartered, were bobbing up and down in the rain when they arrived. The water, which had seemed so blue the two days previous, was now an ugly shade of gray-black, and it lapped against the sides of the boats in a manner too rough for Sakura's liking.
Ryu-kun himself was a plain and friendly-looking man, but he had the air of someone who would draw the only pair of twos in a deck of cards otherwise filled with aces. It was plainly evident to all four ninjas why this man had lost to Tsunade in a game of dice. As selfish as it seemed, Sakura found herself desperately wishing that the man would be on the boat going to Nagi with Sasuke and Naruto.
Ryu-kun waved enthusiastically at the waterlogged bunch as they drew closer. He had dressed himself in the fashion of a doomed, old fisherman going out to sea in a hurricane. A long, yellow raincoat hung from his thin body, and a matching plastic hat kept his head dry. His glasses, however, were completely wet, and Sakura had to wonder how he'd managed to spot them coming.
"Bit of a rough day for travel, isn't it!" He yelled over the roar of the waves. Naruto vigorously shook his head back and forth in an attempt to shake off the water dripping from his bangs into his eyes. Ryu-kun took this as the boy's negative response.
"Not to worry, young man," he shouted. "I've sailed in weather much more treacherous than this! I'm lucky with the sea, you know, I'm just not so great with cards. I'm sure some of you can relate."
Sakura, who currently stood between Kakashi and Sasuke, looked back and forth between the two men.
Sasuke had once survived a game of strip poker without disrobing so much as a sock. That was the same game of strip poker that had come down to Sakura's dignity hanging by an Ace.
Still, Sasuke's feat was nothing compared to the rumors she'd heard about Kakashi. The copy-ninja had supposedly once won himself the hand of a daimyo's beautiful daughter in a heated game of poker with the girl's father. What Sakura remembered of the legend was that Kakashi had been playing with a 54-card deck, one that still retained its jokers. When the daimyo bet all in—his crown jewels (one of which Kakashi had been sent on the mission to recover), his daughter, and his land—Kakashi had equaled the bet by waging his eternal servitude and fifty thousand hectares of land that he'd told the Daimyo he owned. According to the lore, the man then proceeded to lay down a royal flush and was ready to have Kakashi in chains. The copy-ninja, however, put down four threes and a joker. Five of a kind. Sakura never found out what Kakashi did with the daimyo's land or his daughter, but she knew the crown jewels had played an integral part in rebuilding Konoha after the war of sound and sand.
No, Sakura thought, These two certainly couldn't relate.
"Nagi is this boat with me," Ryu's voice punctuated Sakura's thoughts. "O'uzu will take about two days longer over calmer seas. My brother, Hiro, will be your captain."
Sakura looked to the boat docked on the right where a tall, dark-haired man had appeared on deck. He wore an ensemble much like Ryu's, except his rain gear was bright green. Hiro looked markedly younger than his brother, but he didn't have the appearance of someone who would lose a bet so badly that he had to make up for it by ferrying four ninjas through a perfect storm to two islands ravaged by war. This allayed Sakura's fears somewhat, and she waved at Hiro.
"We should get going. There should be a break in the storm soon which will allow us to get passed the waves surrounding this port."
"That's right, Kakashi-san! I didn't know you were a man of the sea?" Ryu responded, delighted with Kakashi's observation.
"I'm not," Kakashi answered quickly, and he moved to press his body against Sakura's arm to urge her towards the boat.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out as he ran towards the girl. She turned around just as Naruto jumped on her. He held her in a strong bear hug, and she lightly pressed her arms against his back in reciprocation.
"You be safe. If Kakashi does anything stupid, I expect you to beat him up with that crazy strength of yours."
Sakura laughed into the boy's shoulder, and her heart warmed at his concern.
"I'll be fine Naruto. I can take care of myself now."
Naruto let go of her, and Sakura stepped back. Sasuke had arrived at Naruto's side, and Sakura took the opportunity to give the Uchiha a quick hug. Sasuke patted her on the back, and he broke off the contact immediately after. Kakashi stepped forward to shake hands with his former subordinates, and he used the occasion to speak very seriously with his two boys.
"Remember, these are children you are dealing with, and they have probably felt enough pain in the last few months to rival both of you." Sasuke frowned at Kakashi's terse warning, and Naruto shook his head in understanding.
"Take care, both of you, make team seven proud."
They cast off after that, and the seas outside the pull of land were calmer—albeit still gray and forbidding. The two boats charted nearly parallel courses for the first thirty minutes, and standing on the deck, Sakura could see Naruto and Sasuke watching her from across the distance. Naruto waved enthusiastically every now and then whereas Sasuke simply leaned his elbows against the boat railing and looked into the sea. Soon, however, Hiro began to turn the boat south, and the other ship disappeared behind the deep gray curvature of the earth.
When night fell, the calm began to give. The little boat commenced titillating so violently that the two passengers ate dinner in the cargo hold clinging to the wooden beams that supported their tiny vessel. Every second or third bite of rice cake seemed to enter Sakura's mouth just as the boat gave another violent lurch, and the morsel of food usually seized the chance to barrel down the wrong tube. At least three times Kakashi had to give up eating in order to rub the back of the sputtering girl whose face was attempting to turn a fine shade of eggplant. Why Sakura's food couldn't distinguish between her trachea and her esophagus, Kakashi had no idea. His meal was quite delicious and, it seemed to have no difficulties finding its way into his stomach.
Sakura finally gave up her failed attempt at dinner. She wrapped the rice cake in its paper casing and stuffed it back in her pack after resisting the desire to chuck it at the wall. She bade a quick goodnight to Kakashi, and after stilling her hammock from flying about, climbed into the makeshift bed with relative ease. By the time she'd settled herself into a comfortable position, the boat's swaying had begun to level off. The gentle rocking of the hammock eased her into a light sleep that prevailed despite the repeated grumbling pleas of her stomach.
When Sakura awoke, the cabin was dark. Someone had turned off the gas lantern.
Sakura fumbled through the small pouch at her side, and her hands felt around for the distinctively smooth packet of matches. When she found them, she hurriedly plucked one out and struck it against the wooden beam near her rocking hammock. The tiny flame burning at the tip of her fingers lit only a foot or two of space around her hands, and Sakura carefully stepped out of her bed to search for the lantern. She found it in the middle of the room where she had last seen it, and she dropped the match into the small pool of oil. The lantern instantly bathed the space in a weak glow.
The room was empty. Kakashi's hammock swung rhythmically in the ship's sway, and his blanket sat neatly folded inside.
Sakura stepped into her sandals and scurried up the ladder above deck. The cold ocean air washed over her, and a wave of calm rippled through her body. The clouds had dispersed in many parts of the sky, and Sakura breathed in a deep lungful of fresh air as she took in the vista. The sky stretched on in all four directions, and millions of bright stars framed the fingernail moon. The ocean undulated like a velvet blanket beneath the boat that now glided freely through the water, and the entire expanse of the sky reflected brilliantly in the dark waves. The kunoichi leaned over the side of the railing to watch the deep expanse of dark gurgle beneath the vessel. Two distinctly male voices reached her ears, and she turned in the direction of the captain's station.
"You guys must have one hell of a mission, going to O'uzu in the chaos that it is."
"Mm . . ."
"You know, I would never have dreamed of going to that island right now if my brother hadn't asked for this favor."
"We're certainly glad you decided to help out."
"Yah? Well I'm turning back as soon as I drop you two off. I used to run a ferry between the Fire country and O'uzu. Those were canceled as soon as the war started, but I ran the last ferry that left the island. It was madness. Someone bribed me with 80,000 ryu just to take his ten month year old daughter."
Silence followed Hiro's last comment, and Sakura moved closer to the two men standing silently at the ship's wheel. A cigarette dangled lazily in Hiro's mouth, and his hands remained still on the steering. He slouched slightly, and Sakura assumed that the night chill was getting to him. Kakashi stood next to Hiro with his hands held behind his back and a dreamy look on his face. He kept his eye on the dark horizon, and a small puff of vapor rose around him when he breathed out.
"When did you leave O'uzu for the last time?" Kakashi suddenly asked, startling Hiro.
"Uhh . . .It's been about two months." The man took a long drag of his cigarette. "I've been reading the papers back home. Mild skirmishes my ass. I never said anything because no one would believe a poor boat captain over the higher-ups, but now they're sending ninja out there."
"That's very kind of you to keep quiet," Sakura interjected, and two pairs of eyes turned to fix on her. "It's for the safety of Konoha that they know as little about the Nagi-O'uzu war as possible; your silence will save the villagers many sleepless nights."
Hiro shrugged and went back to watching the water. Kakashi left his station next to the boat captain and walked towards Sakura.
"Did you get any sleep, sensei?"
Kakashi shook his head for the negative.
"You should."
- - - -
The next few days passed by without incident. Kakashi and Sakura spent much of their time at sea going over the mission again and again, and when neither could stand to talk about the operation any longer, they played shougi on deck. Sakura had purchased the small board game-- A favorite of Shikamaru and his late sensei--while they waited in Shiosato. She'd hoped that it would provide an effective way of passing the time on the trip. What Sakura discovered was that she and Kakashi were extremely well matched at the game, but she retained her suspicions that the man may have been humoring her. She'd been so close to sealing her win countless times when Kakashi would suddenly move a lagging piece into an unbeatable position.
Sakura rolled onto her back and looked up at the blue sky while she waited for Kakashi to make his move. When she finally heard the satisfying "clack" of the small game piece settling into a new position, she rolled back onto her stomach and observed the board. There were currently three ways for her to grasp victory, all three of which she suspected Kakashi could counter.
"Ne, sensei, do you remember the first time you met us?"
"What made you think of that?" Kakashi asked in a surprised tone as he looked up at Sakura.
Sakura tilted her head upwards towards the sky where a few seagulls were floating. At the same time Hiro spotted the birds, and he turned from his post to yell out at the two ninja.
"Gulls! We're getting close. It should only be another few hours."
"The sky," Sakura answered. "The three of us were sitting under the sky bridge when we first met. You asked us to tell you our likes and dislikes, our dreams and our hobbies. When Naruto asked you to first tell us those things in regards to yourself, you basically only divulged your name."
Sakura chose her shougi piece and smoothly glided it into an attacking position.
"I remember," Kakashi answered while his visible eye scanned the board. "I didn't really feel like talking about myself. I was pretty sure I you three would fail anyways." Kakashi picked up the only shougi piece that Sakura hadn't analyzed three times over and placed it in front of her attacking knight. "Do you remember what you told the group were your likes and dislikes?"
"Don't embarrass me, sensei, I know exactly what I said, or more precisely, didn't say. I was too busy making eyes at Sasuke, wasn't I?"
Kakashi nodded and smiled. He watched as Sakura moved to pick up her knight on the other side of the board, and his eyes followed her hand's trajectory. As the girl was about to place the piece in the empty square next to Kakashi's rook, he gently grabbed her hand. The swift action caught Sakura off guard, and the sudden contact sent a shudder down her spine. Slowly, without breaking eye-contact, Kakashi guided Sakura's hand to the the empty space on the other side of the rook. And then Sakura saw it.
"Checkmate," she whispered.
"Yeah. Congratulations." He said back through a small smile.
"Oi! The wind out of the west was a little better than I expected you two! We should be there within an hour. I'm going to drop you off about half a mile out from shore, and I'll give you guys my rowboat."
"Thanks, Hiro." Sakura called out to the man smiling at them from the front of the ship. She looked back at Kakashi, who was now walking towards the cargo hold to collect their things.
"You shouldn't have cheated, you know," she called out to his retreating figure. He stopped, and slowly turned around to look at her. "But you really should have won at least one game before we landed, don't you think?"
Sakura shot him an icy glare, and moved to clean up the board.
As Hiro had predicted, they arrived half a mile offshore of the southernmost point within the hour. They bade the boat's captain a hearty goodbye as he carefully lowered them into the waiting waters. The waves around O'uzu were calm and blue, and they suggested very little about what was going on in the country. Hiro handed Kakashi a pair of old oars, and the man scurried back to his steering wheel where he promptly span it around three hundred sixty degrees. Kakashi began to row. Sakura's back faced him as she sat on the front end of the boat watching the land come clearer and clearer into view.
"Sensei, what exactly is the nature of this war? We were taught in school that neither of these islands had hidden villages."
"Ah. Well, neither of the islands possesses a shinobi army, but over the years both have acquired militaries made up of foot soldiers. They do not use chakra the way we do, but we should be very wary of underestimating them. These soldiers are probably as skilled with kunai and other advanced weaponry as you and I are. We should also be extremely careful because it is highly likely that missing-nin have been hired on both sides" Kakashi paused in his explanation, and a few moments passed with only the rhythmic sound of the oars diving under and coming up. "As for how the war started, the details are unclear, but I believe one side was involved in the assassination of the other side's daimyo."
"Stop rowing, Kakashi-sensei, we're almost there. We can float in on the tide."
Kakashi obeyed Sakura's command, and sure enough the little rowboat beached itself comfortably on the warm sands. Both ninjas hopped out of the boat, and they dragged the little vessel into the dense foliage surrounding the beach. Sakura wiped her hands to get rid of the wet sand caked on her palms, and Kakashi took in the surroundings.
"I believe there is a seaside town over that cliff. It should be the port town of Takeyo. Since this is the farthest point from the country's capital, it is unlikely that the Nagi raids have made it down here. We should still be careful though, since the villagers are very likely going to be suspicious of strangers entering their town. Still, refugees are constantly pushing south, so it shouldn't be too difficult for us to take that guise"
"Do we need a better back story to be in that category?"
"Not really. Refugees find traveling companions along the way all the time."
A traveling companion, Sakura thought to herself. This was going to be one interesting mission.
- - - -
In Takeyo they spent two days catching up on the war. They learned that the Nagi platoons had already conducted raids by sea on almost half the eastern coastal towns. The capital of Shiroyama remained in lock down by thousands of O'uzu foot soldiers, and the rest of the country's forces were busy wreaking havoc on the eastern half of the Nagi island. Rumors had reached Takeyo that mercenary ninja were creeping through many of the larger villages at night assassinating officials of high ranking in the war. It wasn't until the fifth night on the island, when Kakashi and Sakura had stopped at a motel in the mid-sized village of Yokeji, that they heard the rumor of orphans disappearing.
They were sitting in the small lobby talking with a slightly inebriated old man who sat hunched over in his armchair.
"I'm telling you, it's always those orphans who came from funny families, the ones who are different. Nobody ever takes the brats who can't run fast or can't make something incredible happen with their hands or . . . eyes."
Neither Kakashi nor Sakura said anything; they simply let the old man talk.
"By the way, you two said you're heading north to Todashi? That's strange, going north when everyone is going south." The two ninjas exchanged quick glances. "Well anyways, be careful in Todashi. I hear there's a strange little girl who steals people's food"
"If so many people have accused her, why don't they do something about her?" Sakura asked. She found the old man's warning rather odd.
"Well the problem is, nobody's seen her steal yet. A lot of people just walk by her sitting on the side of the road and the next thing they know their groceries are gone. But apparently no one's ever seen her running away with their things."
"Well sir, I think my companion and I are going to bed." Kakashi interrupted as he stood up and motioned to Sakura. The old man cracked a devious grin and nodded vigorously. "I understand, young blood, it's always so passionate. Try not to be too loud you two, it's a small inn."
Sakura blushed a deep shade of crimson when she registered the old man's not-so-subtle insinuation. She opened her mouth to heartily protest, but Kakashi hurried her upstairs before any intelligent words could escape her.
"We're going to have to see about this girl first thing tomorrow," Kakashi said as he turned towards the wall and began to undress. "Turn off the light will you? I'm taking off my shirt." Sakura snickered as she flipped the switch, and she too lifted her dress off over her head as she walked towards the bed. The weather in Yokeji was stifling with the humidity, and every night since their arrival they'd slept with the windows open and with only their undergarments on.
"I don't see why we can't just get two rooms. I find it highly questionable having to share a bed with my sensei, and still you won't let me see your face!" complained Sakura.
Sakura felt the mattress droop a little on Kakashi's side, and she heard the distinct sound of his sandals falling to the floor. Kakashi crawled under the covers, and just when Sakura was sure he wasn't going to answer her question, she felt his bare chest press against her back and his mouth come to rest a few inches above her ear. For the second time his touch sent an involuntary shudder through her body, and her heart quickened a few paces when he began to whisper into her ear.
"You know it would look odd if we got two rooms. We're supposed to be traveling companions, and it would make much more sense if we shared a room out of concern for money. Besides, the old man wasn't too far off. It's a lot easier letting others believe we're lovers brought together by the whims of war than letting them ponder as to what we really are."
We aren't lovers brought together by the whims of war? Sakura found herself wondering, but she shook the thought out of her head as soon as she realized exactly what she was thinking.
Sakura nodded, and the soft up and down motions of her hair on Kakashi's throat were enough to tell him that she understood. He stayed pressed against her for a few moments longer before he pushed himself away back to his side of the bed. Despite the blistering heat, Sakura felt cold for the rest of the night.
Sometime near midnight, a funny thought crossed her mind.
If we're getting by letting others believe we're lovers, what exactly are Naruto and Sasuke playing? No one's going to believe they're brothers . . .