Chapter 4: Karaage


It was dark, damp and cramped, the place was called 'Noroi' and for about three months now it has held captive all of the shinobi's of the Sun. Surugawa Haruno their king and leader of the voyage is currently strapped to the wall by heavy rusty chains, with seal is placed on his mouth to prevent him from uttering a single sound. This was the sight that greeted anyone who comes here, first the dirty cells and then the king's pathetic state, and finally the single room where the villain nestled his corruptibly, twisted fantasy.

"...ohh, you're early today...I take it the recruitment of rouge-nins went well" a figure slouched on an old maroon couched voiced blankly.

"... it did" The red haired man declared almost as blankly as the other "... how is the Sun doing?.."

" Terribly " the other cackled, and then stopped sharply "... hime-sama left though .."

His eyes turned wide and rage soon followed " She What!?" spitefully he marched to the couch and lifted the figure by his collar, coiling his blouse on his knuckles " Why the hell did you let her go!"

"...I didn't want her to hate me.." the dangling man exclaimed innocently with eyes like venom gleaming at his holder "...besides... her quest to find a cure is useless, the queen isn't sick... well technically" he grinned rather grimly. " and as for the news about...kehehe.. the village disappearing...pfffhhaha..she wont be able to do anything about the seal... only I can release it"

At this the lava-haired man dropped his still chuckling form to the couch "...just make sure nothing else goes out of plan...Tsubaki"

"... you can count on me". The indigo haired individual glanced at him with orange eyes full of malice and glee.


Was Tsunade mad at this point in time? no. Was she pissed?... you better believe it. It has taken half a century to get her darling shinobi to sit down, and she only had gotten a few sentences out and she was already back on her feet. Sure she taught her about getting back up no matter how hard she gets pushed down, but this was getting ridiculous. "Sakura... just calm down and I will explain-."

" But Shishou..!"

"Sakura!" Tsunade shouted with authority " you might hold a title back in your village, but right now you are here in my land, and last time i checked I am Hokage, so show some respect!"

Stunned at the truth of her words, Sakura couldn't do anything but sit down, she didn't mean it and Tsunade knows too, hence her expression softened and continued on calmly. "...Team seven, your mission is to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of the Sun village.. Sakura will be standing as your kunoichi only until this case is resolved"

At this one yellow-haired nin sighed exasperatedly, i knew it was too good to be true.

"...as for your mother Sakura... I still have no idea... by the symptoms you told me, she just seems to be suffering from a very bad cold."

Sakura slumped her form, tears prominent in her eyes. ".. However... what interest me is that, she fell into her state at approximately the exact same time as your village was reportedly missing."

The emerald eyed-nin looked back at Tsunade in shock, apparent that this discovery was news to her. " All we could speculate at the moment is that your mother's illness and the village's disappearance is connected in some way... hence you will need to investigate further into this matter"

"But, how are we suppose to investigate baa-chan?, didn't you say that the village is missing" Naruto interjected.

It was Kakashi's turn to join the conversation "... yes.. but that was because the one's looking for it are outsiders..." Naruto further questioned his sensei with a look "... seeing that .. Sakura..-san was able to leave her village, there is a possibility that she will be able to return to it again.." He paused, lips still relishing on how easily her name rolled off his tongue. He looked at her to steal another glanced and was surprised that those green pools stared right back at him, though it was short lived as she whipped her head away.

"..Yos~!... that's basically the explanation i needed to do, Kakashi you can drop by at the office tomorrow morning to get the official mission scroll" Tsunade declared while clapping her hands together. "...now onto team building ~!"

"Team building?" Sakura questioned.

"..of course... you'll be working as a team now" the light blonde affirmed " ..we must get you all acquainted ahahaha~!

".. Tsunade-sama?" Shizune shivered, whatever her Shishou is planning at the moment, it couldn't be good at all. " etoh, maybe Sakura-chan needs to get some sleep, and I'm sure everyone would want to rest as well..ne~?"

Picking at Shizune's 'retreat' message,"thats ri-" Sakura tried to add, but failed when another person spoke.

"hmm... I really didn't do much today so I'm not exactly tired" Naruto exclaimed while scratching his cheek with his pointing finger.

"ehhh..?"

"How about you Sasuke?" the blue-eyed asked

"... I'm still fine" he mumbled with his eyes glancing quickly at their new kunoichi.

"Jahh Kakashi-sensei ?" Naruto turned to him.

The masked nin smiled with eyes closed " I have no other plans, I can certainly stay.."

Shizune's eye twitched in disbelief, for trained ninja's they're certainly not picking up the danger signal I'm sending, or ...are they ignoring them?...she sighed once again, well it's no use now, Tsunade-sama wont back out after hearing their replies. "very well then... I'll go make some savory snacks..."

" ahah, right! I'll help you with the snacks Shizune-neesan " Sakura interluded.

Tsunade slammed her elbows down and leaned her face to a now gulping kunoichi "Sakura sit your butt down, you are never getting out of your seat for the rest of the evening" she demanded.

At this Sakura slumped to her chair and pouted while crossing her arms. "..haii..."

Making a little victory dance internally Tsunade started her match making game, yes, that's exactly right a match-making game..., she knows her beloved student is coming of age, and as a princess of her village she needs to choose a husband for herself, what better choice is there than the top three well sought out bachelors of Konoha? " Okayy let's start with a basic introduction then... Your full name, age, and hobbies " she smiled, but later cringe at the heated gaze the Sakura is giving her "..erhh.. and your specialities as a ninja..?..ahaha. very briefly though" Tsunade cleared her throat.

At this moment, Naruto couldn't help but feel nervous, this is it, he could finally talk to her. He gulped and looked at the pink-haired shinobi sitting in front of him, she was extremely cute the first time he saw her, but now.. it is like she bloomed through out the years, now she was more than beautiful. "I'll s-start" he stammered while raising his hand.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I'm 18 years old and my hobbies include..etoo.." he paused and thought about it for a second fiddling in his chair "..I love to eat ramen everyday.. ehh ah! only Ichiraku's Ramen though! because it's the best!, ...my specialties include 'Six path Sage mode,... rasengan and shadow clone technique... thank you very much!' He finished rather loudly and proceeded to bow, but ended up banging his head at the table.

There was a silent pause after that, catching up with the stupidity that he had managed to do, he blushed from head to toe.

Perfect Naruto, that was just perfect...he looked up and scanned the faces of the people in the table, Tsunade was clearly holding back a laugh with her hand on her mouth, Kakashi was just as unreadable as ever, and Sasuke was scowling at him, no change there. He gulped knowing full well who he should look at next, he tried to search for a hint of disappointment in her face but he found none, in fact there it was again, that smile that said 'it's alright', Naruto sat a little straighter in his chair and this time he in turn smiled brightly at her.

"puhuuu...jah.. nnnhaha...Sasuke..pfft.. your turn" Tsunade snickered.

"...I'm Uchiha Sasuke"

The newly crowned kunoichi couldn't help but sneak a peak at him, there was no one in her town with jet black hair paired with black eyes, and just staring at his profile, she could tell he was quite a looker but he doesn't seem to smile much, she muttered internally - it's such a shame.

" I'm 18 years of age, my hobbies include training and learning new jutsu's, my specialties are Chidori, Susanoo, fire release and Amaterasu." he ended quite directly.

For some reason, even though he answered the questions, it felt like he hardly gave anything at all, Sakura pondered this thought for a minute and decided to risk it and ask a question "...erhhmm soo do you have any siblings?"

To Sakura's surprised the atmosphere suddenly became heavy, "...yes, an older brother"

"oh! thats grea-"

"I would very much like to kill him personally"

"uh huh-.. that's nice?"

"...It's a dream of mine" He smiled at something, with fire in his eyes.

He is actually serious, Sakura panicked before turning a few colors paler.

"...and on that note.. Kakashi your turn" Tsunade interluded, much to Sakura's relief.

"hmn, I'm Hatake Kakashi , I'm 20-"

" DON'T LIE DAMMIT" Naruto and Sasuke piped up and abruptly stood up with their fist in the air.

Kakashi smirked defeated " I'm.. much older than i look." he coughed "..my hobbies?, I like to read" he deadpanned at the last line. "my specialties, chidori , water release and one thousand years of pain"

It didn't go pass Sakura how Naruto stiffened and the ebony-haired-nin beside him face-palmed at the last thing that Kakashi said.

"...etoo, what exactly is the 'one thousand years of pain'.."

In a spark, Kakashi leaned on the table towards her direction "Would you like a demonstration?... Naruto go and volunteer why don't you-"

"LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO VOLUNTEER!"

"Tchii... jah Sasuke-"

"You can go die in a hole..." he spite.

" you guys are no fun... " Kakashi once again smiled in her direction "..maybe, next time " he replied with a wink, though he doubts that she'll notice since he only had one eye showing.

Well that's what he initially thought, to his surprise the pink-haired kunoichi blushed rather bashfully and stared at the table, and in turn he too couldn't help but do the same ' ...so..she noticed...' he wondered embarrassingly.

As Shizune finished the kaarage, she went ahead and served it to the group of nins at her dining table, in return she received a round of smiles from each one "..be careful they're still hot" she motioned while sitting down.

"alright!.. now for you Sakura" Tsunade raised a toast using her tea cup, "oh.. and don't hold back with details since your the newbie in this team"

"erh.. right" Sakura cleared her throat "I'm Haruno Sakura, I turned 20 a few months ago, my hobbies include reading and cleaning...My specialties are 'chakra enhanced strength and mystical palm technique" She looked at Tsunade for a permission to stop there, but she just gave her a look to keep going "...My chakra control is perfect and I'm also an S-rank Medic-nin...do you guys have any questions?"

Tsunade just nodded in approval at her student, she did follow all the regimen's that she gave her, even when she couldn't be there to physically train her she still felt a pride in knowing how well she did.

Again, it was Naruto who raised his hand, it has been a while since the question has been burning inside him "...Do you remember me?"

Sakura gaped at him, "..of course" she replied hesitantly realizing the dreaded situation that may follow "3 years ago... at the inn... you were going to help...I think"

At her reply she saw his face light up "..oh!, ...though you pretty much got it all under control " he smirked gleefully.

Sakura fiddled a little on her chair before returning a smile.

"You're really strong Sakura-chan!..did you use chakra to beat them up?"

The pink haired shinobi manage to blush a tiny amount "..no.. that was just my bare strength"

Naruto stared at their kunoichi with awe "that's amazing!"

"Hang on a minute.." Tsunade interrupted "You guys have actually met before?"

"..yea-"

"So have we" Sasuke spoke over her "..at that raging lake..you saved my life" He insisted while engraving his eyes on her.

Kakashi didn't know what came over him, but for some reason he didn't like the idea that he wasn't the only person that Sakura saved, which was ridiculous because that was her job, and so he to confessed " same here...actually" , this is not good Hatake, you can stop there " it was at night..." Hatake control your ego right now " we kissed too.."

All kaarage's from their chopsticks were dropped at that moment,

'shit', Hatake you messed up.


Thank you for the wait minna~

and as always, thank you for reading on

I'll be going through a re-writing sweep for the next few days. (checking grammar and wording things a little better)

^_^ - Winterdrop