Last chapter: "...stretching I turned to thank her but she was gone. I hadn't heard her leave, yet I could sense no presence. Baffled, I walked home and fell into my bed. That night I had vivid dreams about an unknown person who kept asking my name. But I could never answer."
I didn't see the slender girl from the first day of being a genin for awhile. But I had other things to occupy my mind so I didn't ponder about it too much. In fact, I was far too angry about our D-rank missions to even think about what to have for dinner let alone a mysterious girl. I mean, really! Sure we were just genin but we deserved something better than weeding yards, harvesting plants in people's gardens, and painting fences. To do that kind of work when we were shinobi...well...
It pissed me off.
I'd always imagined some great epic infiltration or guarding mission but nooo. Those were missions that we weren't eligible to do. I had finally reached my limit though and I thought to myself that I wouldn't settle for anything less than a mission that would get us out of the village. I was going to fight the Hokage on this.
We had just met up with Kakashi (who had been later than usual) and headed to the Hokage's tower to receive our daily portion of D-rank missions. Naruto plopped down on his butt and I knew him well enough by now that he was going to make an issue of this. Inside I celebrated but I couldn't show that. Damn persona...and to think I'd been willing to drop it today.
"I don't want any more of these boring missions! I thought we were supposed to be shinobi! Can't we at least do something more exciting?"
My thoughts exactly. I swear sometimes Naruto and I were a bit too similar. Kakashi face-palmed himself and started apologizing to the Hokage but Naruto cut him off. It appeared as though he'd been planning to have this argument for awhile.
"No Kakashi-sensei! This is stupid! These missions are way below our level and I don't care if genins are supposed to take D-rank missions in the beginning! I want a C-rank!"
The blond crossed his arms with a cute pout plastered across his face. Then my eyes wandered across to Sasuke who was nodding along. Wow. I guess every person on team 7 besides Kakashi wanted an advancement in mission difficulty.
"Hm...if you insist I guess I'll have to grant that request. Very well you can have an protection mission, all the way to Nami no kuni. It's a C-rank. You agree this is okay? Well it's yours anyway. Show in the person they're to be guarding Iruka."
As the Hokage said that I could feel a tingling spreading through me. We were going to travel! I'd be able to get away form my house and all the bad memories that lingered in it. I could just glomp someone in happiness! Until I saw who we were to be escorting.
It was an old man. An irritable old man who's first words to the valiant shinobi who were to be guarding him (us) were,
"I didn't pay for a bunch of brats to escort me! What is this, Hokage-sama?"
Naruto leapt up from his sitting position and jabbed his finger at the man. This was not going to go very well.
"Who you calling a brat you old geezer? I'm going to be the next Hokage so you'd better start respecting me!"
The old man just snorted at Naruto's outburst and took a swig from a jug that was hanging from his waist. The nauseating stench identified it as booze. I don't get how people could drink that stuff. It dampens your senses and if you drink enough you don't even remember the events that happened. Not to mention the hangovers...but the Hokage was speaking so I pulled my attention away from alcohol.
"Alright, this is Tazuna-san a bridge builder who's constructing one in his country, Nami no kuni. You'll escort him there and remain with him until the bridge is complete. Understood?"
Naruto saluted the Hokage before shooting a venomous look at our client. It looked like we had a long journey ahead of us. Kakashi told us to meet him at the gate in half an hour, ready to depart. Though my excitement had somewhat dimmed because of our irascible client, it existed enough that I ran home, packed and got to the gate in under ten minutes.
It took Naruto another 5 minutes to arrive and when he did I saw how his backpack was clearly not packed right. If he had paid attention in the academy, he would have learned how to pack it efficiently. Now it was going to be a liability and restrict him in fights, something I could not have seeing as that would be placing my own life at risk. So I sighed and motioned him over.
"Did you organize everything the way we learned in the academy?"
He shook his head sheepishly and handed it over, understanding my question to mean I'd repack it for him in the correct way. As I was doing so, Sasu-the bastard arrived. Cold and aloof as ever. At least his backpack wasn't packed as neatly as mine and Naruto's now.
Tazuna was the next to arrive, and the half hour had not taken the edge off his temper. He swigged more sake and glared at us when he thought we weren't watching. But we were, right up until Kakashi arrived a half an hour late. Stupid Sensei...
"Okay let's get going! We'll have to cross a good part of Hi no kuni to get to Nami no kuni so we'll walk until sunset every day. Unfortunately we can't go very fast because of Tazuna but we should get there in about 4 days."
With that said, Kakashi set off at a brisk walk that I almost had to jog to keep up with. Naruto hurried to pass him and be in the lead while Sasuke dropped back behind Tazuna, who was behind me. We kept that order until sundown and picked it up again the next day. And the next day. However everything changed in the morning of the fourth day.
A conversation had actually started. Naruto had asked Tazuna about his home country, what was it like and everything. Then Kakashi got involved somehow, moving it on to the five main countries with shinobi villages that had leaders with the Kage title in them. Tsuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage, Kazekage and Konoha's Hokage. It was boring as hell because I already knew all of this so I stared at the terrain instead.
While I was looking at my feet, a puddle went through my vision. Even though it was in the middle of the dry season. I lifted my eyes and found Kakashi was glancing over his shoulder at it too. Despite his reassuring smile, I slipped my right hand down and lifted a few shuriken out of my pouch. I may not be good at making connections but I know enough that a puddle in the dry season can only mean one thing; shinobi.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a cry sounded behind me. Two kiri-nins, identified by the 4 squiggly lines on their hitai-ate had emerged from the puddle. One had a black kind of cloak thing while the other had a plain black shirt. Both wore camo pants and these strange metal gauntlets on their hands that had a chain running between them. A chain that was wrapped numerous times around Sasuke. Then before I could react they pulled away from each other and my 'beloved' Sasuke was sliced into pieces. I was in shock for a second and didn't notice they had disappeared from my view.
"One little piggy..."
The harsh voice sounded right behind me and before I knew it, chains were wrapped around me as well. But I had brought my hands together when I saw Sasuke meet his bloody end so when they pulled apart and sliced me I wasn't there anymore. I had been replaced myself with a stump using the basic kawarimi no jutsu. And now I could watch them fight Naruto from a tree.
Or at least beat up Naruto. He hadn't noticed the neat log pieces and went berserk thinking I really had perished. It would've been sweet if he hadn't been endangering his life by rushing blindly at the two shinobi. I swore and jumped out of my tree but he was already being save by Sasuke. Wait-he was still alive? Dammit...I changed my course and sped over to Tazuna. He was most likely the target after all.
From my guarding position in front of him I watched as Sasuke neatly pinned the chain between the two kiri-nins to a tree with one shuriken and kunai. I had to admit he had very good aim but that didn't condone his cockiness. Of course in the competition of pricks, Kakashi couldn't be outdone so he poofed into the fray and broke the chain before knocking both of them out. Stupid arrogant bastards...
We set up camp on the side of the path for a bit while Kakashi was off questioning the kiri-nins. Naruto wasn't hurt physically at all but Sasuke had a little nick on his forearm. Our Sensei left me to take care of it, advising to treat it as if it was poisoned, as if I didn't already know. So I took complete pleasure in slicing open the cut maybe just a bit too much and letting the blood out until I judged the poison had drained. Then I bound it tightly, all the time with a goofy smile as if I enjoyed touching the prick. I really needed to get rid of that aspect of my persona...
"Hey Naruto. Did you get too scared to move you big chicken?"
Naruto stiffened at Sasuke's words, clearly hurt by them. Honestly, boys and their egos...but I had to do something to keep the peace in our team.
"You're one to talk Sasuke. You couldn't even dodge them yourself. You would've been cut into pieces if Kakashi-sensei hadn't Kawarimi'd you with one of his clones that had henge'd into you."
They both gaped at me and even Tazuna had a bit of surprise in his eyes when he looked at me. Was it really so hard to believe I had seen all that and dodged them? Oh wait, that's right. I can't be as good as them because they're the best. Boys...I shrugged my shoulders and walked off into the trees to escape their stupidity.
Naruto approached me after a couple of minutes. He obviously had something to say but wasn't sure about how to say it. I wasn't in a sympathetic mood though so I left him to fidget. Then he broke the silence.
"Thanks for sticking up for me there Sakura-chan but he's right. I did freeze. I'm a coward."
I sighed in exasperation and turned him by the shoulders until I was staring into his eyes.
"Listen to me Naruto. You are not a coward. Why do you think I went to guard Tazuna? Because I was afraid of fighting those guys. You simply froze in the moment but that doesn't make you a chicken! It's called being caught off guard, not fear! You shouldn't let that sorry excuse for a man define you like that! You are Naruto! You know what you are, you don't need others to tell you that."
His cerulean eyes widened at my little speech before crinkling in one of his wide grins. I felt so conflicted right then and the love radiating from those orbs was tearing me apart. I had just revealed my hate for Sasuke to Naruto, the one person who would actually give a damn. Now I don't have any excuse to reject his love and...and...
I was saved by Kakashi. Not that I'd ever tell him that. He poofed up right next to us, scaring me a quarter to death.
"I've found out what I needed to know and now it's time to interrogate Tazuna as to why he has kiri-nins hunting him. Come along now."
He led us back to our temporary campsite like we were puppies and sat us down next to Sasuke, across from Tazuna. As for him, he paced around all of us in circles while beginning to question Tazuna.
"Why are there kiri-nins after you?"
I could tell Kakashi already knew the answer; well I guessed he did because what shinobi wouldn't know why they were hunting someone down? Tazuna rose to his feet and took a deep breath before launching into his 'woeful' narrative. Which was actually quite woeful indeed.
"Have you ever heard of Gato? From the shipping industry? The really rich man? Well his companies just a cover for his underground drug trafficking. He uses the money he makes from that to hire shinobi and take over businesses and small companies. I hadn't taken much notice of him until he set his sights on Nami no kuni. When he invaded about a year ago he used brute force and bribes to gain control over our shipping industry. We have to endure heavy taxes on everything we try to export now and it's breaking us. With the bridge we're building though, there's no way he can keep his iron fist clenched around our country."
"So this Gato is the one who hired kiri-nins to attack you?"
For once the bastard decided to speak up. Big whoop.
"Yes. I'm sorry about not informing you of this predicament earlier but...as I said Nami no kuni is falling apart. I didn't have enough money to afford the cost this mission is actually worth."
Kakashi sighed deeply in disappointment and I had to stop myself from echoing him. It's true I was all for a more advanced mission but this sounded way out of our league. If Gato had all the resources that Tazuna suggested he had, he could send whole armies after us. But we had already come so far...
"Alright. We'll continue with the mission as planned and send for more shinobi from Konoha when we get to Tazuna's village. Let's try to reach it today."
We left at a really fast walk and got to the shore at supper time. A boat was waiting for us, a small one with a fisherman ready to pole us across to Nami no kuni. Tazuna nodded to him and gestured for us to get in the boat. It was really peaceful to float along in the mist, even if Naruto was sitting uncomfortably close to me. We caught a glimpse of the unfinished bridge and passed through a neat tunnel. When we emerged from it's mouth, a stunning sight met our eyes.
The silky mist curled around mangrove trees that rose above the calm water's surface. Their branches scraped at the fleecy clouds above and as the fisherman poled us around them, the ripples lapped against the roots like frisky dogs. Dark shapes loomed ahead only to resolve in to houses as we approached. As long as I live, I will remember that brief boat ride for the rest of my life.
We disembarked on a shoddy looking porch/dock by an equally shoddy looking house. Past the house was a partial forest on both sides of the path. I walked in the lead with Naruto next to me, Tazuna and Kakashi behind us and Sasuke trailing in the rear again. So when Naruto randomly threw a shuriken into the vegetation to the right, I seriously believed we were under attack. But upon finding Naruto's shuriken, all we saw was a rabbit with it's white winter pelt still on. One glance at it told me it had been raised in captivity so I lifted my gaze to the trees above. Sure enough, I saw a familiar face peeking through the leaves. It was the mystery girl.
The others had moved on already though, Kakashi admonishing Naruto about scaring bunnies so I broke eye contact and hurried to catch up. I knew she meant no harm so there was no point in pursuing her.
Despite the fact the sun was down when we got to Tazuna's house, supper was ready and waiting. His daughter, Tsunami, had prepared rice and unagi for us which we dug into gratefully. A small boy, Inari, had joined us at the table. Apparently he was Tsunami's daughter and the lack of his father warned me against broaching the subject. He was either dead or left them and it wasn't really s suitable topic for dinner conversation. Instead I began to press Kakashi about something that'd been bothering me.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei, since you're supposed to be our mentor are you ever going to train us?"
His eyes widened slightly in surprise before narrowing in thought. Naruto had his mouth stuffed with food, but his expression said he wanted to second my idea. The bastard just hn-ed as usual. Everyone else went on eating, albeit shooting curious glances at Kakashi. After a few minutes of contemplation he responded.
"I suppose you're right. I'll set you up with a training exercise in the morning before guarding Tazuna-san at the bridge. I'll stop by at lunch to check you're progress."
Naruto had finally choked down his food and jumped into the conversation in his usual obnoxious way.
"But what kind of training are we going to do?"
Kakashi smiled and said two words before getting up and going to the large spare room Tsunami had prepared for all of us to stay in.
"Climbing trees."
The rest of the meal passed in silence, when it ended Naruto, Sasuke and Inari went straight to bed while I helped Tsunami with the dishes. It presented me with a unique opportunity to question her about Inari's father.
"So...is your husband dead?"
She shuddered and nearly dropped the dishes she was carrying to the sink. I hurried to steady her and took some of the dishes. We worked in silence until she spoke up.
"I'm sorry I was just surprised an-"
"No it's my fault, I shouldn't have pried."
"..."
"So...I take it he is dead?"
"...yes. Both of them."
"Both?"
"Yes. The second was a fisherman called Kaiza who stopped by here every now and then. Inari and him grew to love each other and he became the father Inari never knew. I married him and we lived happily until Gato came...you see Kaiza had been dubbed the hero of this city because a few years back he prevented a flood. When Gato caught wind of his celebrated position, he saw it as a threat and put him to death before the entire city. Inari was crushed so I try to be strong for him but...i-it's just so h-hard."
Tsunami broke down crying right there. I hushed her and tried to comfort her with hugs but I knew I could never take away her sorrow of losing two husbands. It made me feel pathetic for thinking my troubles were the greatest in the world. I was disgusted with myself.
We finished the dishes after she calmed down and went to bed. I tossed and turned for a bit before I settled in to a nice deep sleep. After experiencing my first real battle with foreign shinobi that day, I was exhausted.
The next morning Tsunami was up before all of us and fixed some porridge. Immediately after breakfast we left for the forest surrounding the city, traveling quite a ways into it until the only trees around us were great tall ones. There, Kakashi told us to climb trees using chakra in our feet and then ran back to pick Tazuna up on his way to the bridge.
I had heard about this training technique to increase chakra wielding finesse but by Naruto's baffled face I knew he had no idea what to do. So I took it upon myself to explain it to them.
"Okay so the basis of this training is to increase our control over our chakra. What you do is gather chakra in the most difficult place, your feet. The hard part is gathering just the proper amount; too little and you won't stick, too much and you'll break the bark. Any questions?"
They both shook their heads so I turned around and ran towards a tree. I had read about this and practiced it already so it was quite easy to run all the way to the top most branches on my first try. Naruto yelled in excitement below me before trying it himself. He hadn't gathered enough chakra so he didn't stick at all and fell on his back. Hard. I sighed and resigned myself to a long day of climbing trees to build up my stamina.
We were still climbing trees when noon rolled around and Kakashi appeared. Naruto and Sasuke didn't notice him at first, so he got a few quiet moments to observe their progress. Which was practically nonexistent for Naruto. He had only managed to get 5 meters up the tree while Sasuke was up to about 15 meters. Then he caught their attention by clapping.
"It's time for lunch! Sakura, because you've already mastered chakra control and you've depleted your stamina quite a bit, you will guard Tazuna for the remaining half of the day. I'll travel between here and the bridge. Now eat these bento boxes Tsunami prepared for you!"
I leapt down from the branch I was perched on, just as eager as the boys to eat lunch. We all munched in silence and then I sped off to the bridge, leaving Naruto and Sasuke at the mercy of Kakashi. My stamina had returned some with the food and I looked forward to observing how a bridge was built.
When I got there, Tazuna showed me a place where I could sit and not be in the way. Watching a bridge being built was very disappointing, it was really boring. I didn't understand what they were doing, no one could spare the time to explain it to me so I sat there and amused myself by taking a tiny amount of chakra and directing it to various parts of my body. Kakashi arrived around mid-afternoon but didn't talk to me at all.
At least he didn't speak until late evening when most of the workers were gone and the ones that remained were checking everything for it's security. But the words he said saved my life.
"Sakura, duck!"
I instinctively obeyed him and felt the air move as things whizzed over my head. When I glanced at the wood I'd been sitting in front of, it was pierced with numerous senbon needles, the kind used for surgery and acupuncture. Kakashi motioned me over to Tazuna and then lifted his hitai-ate. I couldn't see why but if it helped him fight, so much the better.
Nothing happened for a few moments, save Naruto and Sasuke ran up breathless. They got gestures to guard Tazuna too so we set up a tri guard around him. Only Naruto could see Kakashi now. There were sound of course, a great whooshing one and then a heavy thud as if something large had been embedded in wood. Then a new voice spoke out of the ever thickening mist.
"Hatake Kakashi. Copy ninja Kakashi. The man with the sharingan eye. What have I done to receive the pleasure of killing you?"
"The only one dying here today is you, Momochi Zabuza."
"I'm afraid that's not possible. I've been hired to kill that old man and I will complete the job."
Kakashi never answered that because I'm assuming by the sounds they got engaged in combat. Naruto gasped at what he saw, supposedly awed by the succession of moves. I drew a kunai, readied my stance and dared someone to challenge me in my mind.
The sounds of Kakashi's fight went on and on, jutsus being yelled out by him and Zabuza at the same time. It distracted me enough that when more senbon needles came flying out of the mist I missed deflecting one. It went completely through my shoulder and I couldn't bite back the small cry of pain. Naruto glanced at me in concern but I smiled at him to tell him I was okay. His expression was doubtful but he went back to watching the battle anyway.
I pulled out the senbon with a grimace and thought about it. No doubt whoever had thrown them was frustrated by the fact they couldn't get to Tazuna. At least from the sides. So the next attack would most likely come from above or below, but since we were on a bridge it had to be from above. That made it so much easier to leap up and slice the masked person when he came. Naruto and Sasuke looked at me in surprise but I was already back in place, looking around. The person I'd 'killed' had dissolved into water, most likely a mizu bunshin as I'd heard Kakashi and Zabuza yell that out earlier.
The masked guy came back with more bunshins, throwing more senbon and alarming the boys immensely. They deflected them all though and then engaged in a brawl with the enemy. I brought Tazuna away from that and nearly fell off the bridge in the process. It was getting harder to see as the sun left us and darkness fell. That coupled with the fog obscured Kakashi and Zabuza completely. I was close enough to Naruto and Sasuke's fight to see what was going on though.
I was correct in calling it a brawl. Naruto had created his own bunshins which were matched, bunshin for bunshin, with the masked guy. The original was fighting Sasuke and had already hit him several times with senbon. At least I assumed it was the original. Until a small noise to my right alerted me to an approaching attacker. I tossed some shuriken towards them but they didn't meet their target. Instead more senbon came from my left side, which distracted me enough to be completely unprepared when yet another senbon pricked the back of my neck. There must've been two bunshin off my right and I'd only hit one or something like that. It didn't matter now because I was as good as dead.
Tazuna let out a yell in surprise when my predicament hit his boozy mind. He stumbled back which gave me the necessary room to duck, spin and then stab. It didn't go as planned though, the guy dissolved into water again so I was left just as clueless as to where the original was. It was pissing me off.
More time passed without the sounds of steel hitting steel and flesh connecting with flesh ringing through my ears. Visibility was completely gone now and I was getting really mad. I couldn't let down my guard, nor could I abandon Tazuna but I desperately wanted to do something. Then I had a brilliant idea. What if I made a bunshin and sent it to go see what was happening? I carried out my plan and when it got dispelled I swore. The memories of it showed me Naruto and Sasuke were trapped in a prison of mirrors with the masked boy somehow flashing between them and showering senbon on my teammates. I had to help them!
I left Tazuna there which probably wasn't the best decision. But Naruto and Sasuke needed me and since both enemies were engaged I figured it was okay. Maybe. I ran over to the mirror prison, found that they were made of ice and tried to think of something to do. Both of them were riddled with senbon, but Naruto had it worse. He...looked dead. I swore and watched as Sasuke took some vital hits too. The jutsu dispelled then and the masked guy went towards Tazuna. I had the benefit of being unnoticed but I wasn't sure if I could take someone who had beaten my comrades. I had to try though.
I ran silently towards the figure's back, noticing a slight limp in his gait. Perfect. He had been injured sometime in the fight. No doubt his pain was consuming some of his attention so if I could sneak up quietly enough...he would die. The distance between us lessened quickly, and I had just stabbed forward with my kunai when the guy turned around.
It was Sasuke. I'd just killed him in a genjutsu. Again.
Swearing profusely, I formed the hand sign and shouted Kai. It was dispelled and I rushed back to Tazuna, vowing to not leave his side. I had no idea where the enemy had been but since Tazuna was still alive he clearly hadn't come this way. So I took up my position and waited for another attack. It never came. Kakashi emerged from the fog instead, with Naruto and Sasuke slung over his shoulders. His smile told me all was well and we went back to Tazuna's house in silence. Exhaustion grabbed me the moment we got there and I was told later that I slept 2 days straight.
When I woke up after my long rest I was ravenous. Tsunami brought me some food in bed, which I scoffed down as quick as I could. Then Kakashi came in with the rest of team 7 behind him. I shouted in joy as I saw Naruto's face. He was alive! I didn't know how or why but it didn't matter. I ran over and glomped him; completely ignoring Sasuke, who'd also survived. We all sat down and listened to each other tell their version of the fight.
"I engaged Zabuza immediately, not suspecting he had another person with him. It took me awhile to wear him down but I managed to get it to where I could kill him. That was when his comrade, Haku intervened. He leapt between us and took the fatal blow instead. It backfired though, because Zabuza was too lost in grief to defend himself. Then I collected the boys and fetched you and Tazuna."
That was Kakashi's brief version of his fight. I wish he'd put in more detail but at the same time I was glad he didn't. It turns out whatever jutsus he'd been using had exhausted him as well and he stayed in bed for about 1 and a half days. Then it was on to the boys.
"After Haku attacked us with his mizu bunshin no jutsu, he trapped me in that weird ice mirror jutsu and began throwing senbon needles at me from every angle. Teme rushed in to save me but he didn't help at all. He ended up losing too! I don't remember anything after that."
Sasuke blushed at Naruto's unflattering description of his mistakes. It was so funny! To think that the number 1 rookie had screwed up like that...it was priceless. I gave them my version of the battle and they all gave me a bit more respect for keeping my head. I could tell Kakashi was a bit angry I left Tazuna though. But it seemed like the worst of our troubles were over so the whole team spent the next few days leisurely guarding the bridge. It was finished and named the great Naruto bridge. I'd missed out on the reasons why but it had something to do with Inari. I guess Naruto found out about the tragedy and talked some sense into the little kid.
On the day of our departure, many tears were shed from Naruto and Inari. I didn't really get their relationship but then again, Naruto often didn't make sense. So we spent the next four days on the road back to Konoha. It was only later that I found out Gato had attacked the city with a small mass of hired thugs and was killed by the citizens. Supposedly Inari had inspired them to rise up and defend themselves. Naruto cried again when he heard the news. All in all, it was a really cool mission.
I'm so sorry this chapter is sooo late! But look! It's like two chapters in one.
Anyways I've really drifted from the canon storyline. So sorry if that offends any of you. Annnd I haven't inserted angst yet. But that will come with the return of the mystery girl. Yes, she'll be back! Umm...let's see. I guess if there's any questions you can just ask me. Usually I'll have a reason for the things I do, but sometimes it's just for the hell of it. :P
Oh yeah! Please PLEASE don't flame me Sasuke fans. He can't be perfect all the time and I'm assuming if you're reading a NaruSaku you don't really like him all that much. So don't kill me for making him mess up. It happens to the best of us and...and I just want to humiliate him! Soo...yesh. That's all.
