Act Three - No way out [Kakashi's P.O.V]
I'd been awake most of the night, occasionally snoozing off when the warmth invited me to sleep. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something didn't seem right today. I looked out at the window and saw that it was raining lightly. The village looked somewhat as if it was weeping...I shook my head and chuckled slightly. I must be tired or something.
I looked down at my book and stared at it for a while. I wanted to read through it, but something just stopped me from doing so. I sighed loudly and stood up.
"I guess I'll see if there is any news with Tsunade." I said out loud while watching the rain race down my window. I stood there for a while, not many civilians were about today. I frowned and shook off the bad feeling.
I slowly walked to my mask and put it on, with the rest of my clothes and opened my door.
"You're up early Kakashi. The sun is barely up and it's raining," I looked slightly to my left to find Jiraiya standing against a wall. I looked over to him and nodded at him in acknowledgement. "There must be something that's bugging you." His warming smile was slowly fading. I looked over at him with interest. Maybe he knows something.
"Yeah, I can't shake off this bad feeling I have." I responded, hoping he'd have an answer.
"I feel the same way. Although I don't know if it's just the weather playing up. It was supposed to be hot as anything today," He walked in front of me and stared into my eyes for a while. I closed my eyes and sighed again.
"Maybe we drank too much sake last night. I couldn't sleep a wink." Jiraiya started smirking and turned his back on me.
"Maybe. Let's see if there is any news with Tsunade." I nodded slightly and followed Jiraiya's fast pace walking.
"Any news on the Akatsuki's movements?" I asked curiously, he shook his head slowly.
"I'm still researching about what they're up to. Other than that I see fit that I should give a visit to the rain village..." He muttered on longer. I raised my eyebrows to question his reason, and as if he saw me he coughed slightly. "From intelligence I've recently gathered, I have reason to believe that the leader of the Akatsuki may be a symbolic figure to that village." He explained vaguely. I excepted his answer while we were nearing the gates to the hokage tower.
"How Is Naruto and Sakura coping with the failure of retreiving Sasuke?" Jiraiya's voice seemed to become serious and dark. I bowed my head slightly and looked over to my left to faintly see the old Uchiha compound.
"Naruto, I believe is taking it worse than Sakura. He's been training non-stop since he got back." I answered I looked ahead of me. Jiraiya stopped walking for a moment before continuing to open the front doors to the Hokage tower.
"What about Sakura?" He questioned, I frowned slightly, so I'm not allowed to give vague information but he is...I suppose he is one of the legendary Sanin after all...
"Sakura has been outside of the village recently, close to the border so that she can research and discover new herbs and spices for her new healing jutsu project. She'll be back before noon today." I informed. Jiraiya nodded his head as we walked through the hallways.
There was an uncomfortable silence that stretched around the tower. It uneased me slightly to say in the least. We reached Tsunade's door. Jiraiya knocked on the door a few times before taking a step back.
There wasn't a responce. Before Jiraiya could knock again, someone has stumbled down from the hallway with a load of paperwork. I looked over to Jiraiya as he smirked and walked towards the paperwork to pick it up.
"Hey Tsunade." He greeted as I walked slightly to my left to see her. She smiled and stood up with the remaining paperwork in her arms.
"Jiraiya, I'm just starting my duties. You must be really desperate to tell me something if you're here this early." she stated before walking to her office to unlock it. She balanced her paperwork to one side as she entered.
"Actually, me and Kakashi were hoping to ask you if any bad news has been around." He said as politely as he could. Tsunade looked back at Jiraiya with slitted eyes and a blank expression on her face to accompany them.
"You feel it too huh?" She set her paperwork and leaned back on her desk as Jiraiya laid the rest of the paperwork next to her. "I've had this feeling since I approved Sakura on her personal mission." She said. "But I'm sure it's got to be something more than that."
"Sakura can handle herself well in battle." I looked behind me to see Captain Yamato in the doorway. "I've seen the way she fights and she excells in healing. I'm more than sure that it's not Sakura that's making everyone feel uneasy." He finished. He walked into the office and closed the door behind him. He bowed to Tsunade quickly and looked her in the eyes.
"I completely agree with you Yamato." She started before looking out of the window. "It's raining..." She stated obviously. "Today is the day that the 3rd Hokage fell in battle. It's as if the village is in mourning." She started to bite down on her thumbnail. I looked down and at my hand. I wish I held more strength back then...
"There might be more to it...Tsunade I have a personal request." Jiraiya broke the small silence. Tsunade looked in his direction, her face showed the slightest bit of fear.
"What is it Jiraiya?" She questioned. Jiraiya looked over at me before looking back at Tsunade.
"I'd like to take Naruto and Kakashi out of the village to search for Sakura if she doesn't come back to the village today." The room grew earily quiet while the rain tapped lightly on the windows. "Maybe my suspicions are wrong and I'm mistaking this feeling for something else. But my gut instict is telling me that it has something to do with Sakura." He finished. Tsunade closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows.
"I'll admit. I feel the same way. So I'll grant you your mission only if Sakura doesn't return by tomorrow morning. If that is the case, you are to report to me in the morning with your full team in here at 6AM sharp before you depart from the village." She responded before looking up at me. "Are you willing to be a part of Jiraiya's personal mission Hatake?" She looked in my eyes, hers filled with emotion. I nodded my head and looked back at her.
"Yes Lady Tsunade." I replied before walking over to the door. "I'll have a word with Naruto before you do, Jiraiya." I looked over at him first to get his confirmation. He nodded and smirked slightly.
"I'll come with you." Captain Yamato spoke up. I looked at him blankly for a moment. He held up a frog purse and smiled. "He forgot his wallet, that and I'd like a small discussion with him before you brief him on the possible mission." He continued as I reluctantly nodded.
We both headed out of the Hokage tower and walked in the direction of Naruto's house.
"How are the team working along with Sai recently?" I asked, breaking the silence. Yamato looked off into the distance it seemed before looking over at me.
"From what I can gather. Naruto is having slight trust issues with him, but it's not as bad as when he first met Sai." He finished his sentence abruptly. I wore a blank expression before sighing softly.
"What about Sakura?" I questioned, reminding myself of Jiraiya only minutes ago. Yamato looked at me before jumping somewhat.
"Oh yeah, Sai seems to admire Sakura somewhat. Whether it's an interest in her fighting or her words, it's one of the two. The both of them get along pretty well." He answered hurriedly.
We travelled the rest of the journey in silence before we reached Naruto's door. Yamato knocked on the door a few times. No responce. He knocked again and there were almost inaudible shuffles heard behind the door.
Naruto opened the door in just his boxers. He looked up at us with a confused expression.
"Kakashi Sensei, Captain Yamato, what are you guys doing here?" He yawned as Yamato handed over Naruto's wallet. Naruto's eyes lightened up slightly as he took the purse from Yamato.
"Thank you Captain Yamato!" He said while smiling. Yamato coughed before crossing his arms.
"You're welcome, You are to meet me and Sai in the training grounds at 8PM today. Sakura should be back to join us by then." He said before turning to me. "All yours." He jumped off and Naruto groaned slightly.
I sighed before inviting myself into his house.
"I have some things to talk to you about Naruto, regarding Sakura." I stated as Naruto closed the door.
"If it's about that injury on her arm, then I-" Naruto started before I turned to face him.
"It's not about that." I interupted. He looked at me blankly before allowing me to continue. "There is a small possibility that we may have to search for Sakura tomorrow, alongside Jiraiya." I straight out said it because beating around the bush with Naruto would eventually just stress him out. His fist clenched slightly.
"Why? Where is she?" He said abruptly. I was silent for a while before Naruto's eyes grew more impatient.
"She is on a personal mission to collect new herbs on the border of the land of fire. Although both me and Jiraiya have a bad feeling and we can't quite pinpoint what it is," I started before putting my hands in my pocket. "But maybe she'll be back at noon today. Maybe we're both being paranoid." I finished. Naruto nodded and stretched his arms above his head.
"She'll be back before then. I'm sure of it." Naruto grinned. "I mean, picking herbs? Who is she going to run into while doing that? The Akatsuki?" He joked before looking back at me with determined eyes. I chuckled slightly.
"Yeah, as I said. It's just for caution." I tried to reassure myself. It was probably all in my head.
A.N D: I've only woken up before my work and wrote this xD Pretty chuffed with myself that I could keep a chapter going for this long . But I do hope to make each chapter after this on longer :3 So It's more pleasurable to read :D Thank you for reading this so far ^^; It's started off a bit slow But I hope to make it more exciting to read in the future D:
((Also I'm reading through this right now and noticing some spelling mistakes . Please bear with me.))
xXx
