Mid-Childa Naruto
aka: Mischief Fragment - Mjolnir
a possibility raised by Greylle
Archived by Solitare and reposted by TheBeardedOne.
The plan was to drop this. Time restrictions and there are a few magic-Naruto stories already out there. i haven't run into one quite like this though, and plot details just keep fitting themselves into place. Which is why it's been separated out from the Omake and put here.
Various characters from various series. Mainly Nanoha and Naruto.
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Chapter 6: Wave Country
Sasuke waited until everyone was apparently asleep, then scooted near where Sakura was sitting in the dark keeping watch.
"Sasuke?" asked Sakura in a whisper.
"Hnn," agreed Sasuke.
"What's wrong, your watch isn't for -" Sakura considered the position of the moon. "Three hours yet."
"Secrets?" asked Sasuke. "You know how the dead-last managed to learn his 'hijutsu'?"
Sakura made a face in the dark. No, he couldn't possibly be spending time with her because of anything to do with HER could he? "I read some of the details. Watched his test for mage ranking on a mission he had when we were both in the hospital. Saw... a few things that I want to discuss with him first before I talk to anyone else."
"So, what CAN you tell now that our 'client' is asleep?" asked Sasuke.
Sakura paused as she looked over the campsite briefly, wondering if Kakashi-sensei was going to abruptly get up if she revealed anything that was likely an S-Class secret. "Naruto tested for level as a mage, moving to B+ Rank. He has two friends, one of whom beat him pretty severely in the test. Nanoha Takamichi, who is rated S-Rank and is up for testing to S+ Rank. Apparently she's to the TSAB what Kakashi-sensei is to Konoha - reputation as being among the most powerful."
"So, 'B+ Rank' is what - chunin?" asked Sasuke.
"Something like that," admitted Sakura. "The notes indicated that he was considered for A-Rank except that with his loyalty to Konohagakure and status as a provisional associate - he's not going to be given full access to their full range of jutsu or other information."
"Where is he getting all that chakra?" asked Sasuke, frowning. He'd seen some massive jutsu going off, when he hadn't expected Naruto to be able to do any of that.
"Part of that's what I think is secret, part of it's genetic," said Sakura. "They did some testing of him there. Apparently his family line has some special chakra properties - including that they've got lots of it."
"Naruto has a friend who's jonin-rank with these other guys?" asked Sasuke thoughtfully.
"More than one, and I think Nanoha is more Kage-rank," said Nanoha. "Fate Testarossa. She's AAA but the notes indicated that she's simply refused to test higher until she's worked out some difficulties in her homelife. She's possibly Kage-rank herself. Hayate Yagami. Yuuno Scrya, he's sort of a chunin, I guess. Shamal, Signum, Vita, Zafira. I only saw enough to know Vita's a violent maniac. A few others I didn't have time to research at all."
"So this 'other world' stuff is real," mused Sasuke, staring off into the darkness.
"Yeah, that's where they rebuilt me," said Sakura. "Where they're rebuilding my body."
"Hnn," said Sasuke softly.
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On their own mission, Tenten awoke to realize Rock Lee was nearby and stared at him for a moment before she could recognize him.
Which wasn't that unusual. Lots of people who'd known Lee tended to stare at him after his facial reconstruction.
She'd expected Rock Lee with new scars, not unusual in a ninja village. She hadn't expected this.
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As Sakura went into something approximating sleep, and Sasuke took up the watch, Kakashi just reviewed the situation. Sakura had avoided any S-Class Secrets that Sasuke didn't already know about, so no harm there. Unless you counted a bunch of names, which Kakashi didn't count.
He'd sent Pakkun to get some retrieval nin from Konoha for the two Demon Brothers, who'd been forthcoming with some details as long as he kept Sakura and Naruto away from them.
Which annoyed Sasuke, but that was simply the way things went. Sakura's mechanical body had a number of useful features, Naruto was a mage who could fly and throw thunderbolts, and Sasuke... was feeling a bit overshadowed.
He could tell from Naruto's reaction that he REALLY wanted to find out more about his family with that tantalizing little glimpse he'd gotten. Gee, an orphan who had been shunned by nearly everyone his entire life wanted details about his family - what a shock and surprise that was. Full sarcasm intended.
Still, it might be time to give a few details now that the subject had been broached.
The Demon Brothers on the other hand, had spilled the beans. Not that uncommon really, among the smarter ninja. Holding out briefly was typical, but as skilled interrogation offices could dig out all the details and leave the victim a drooling idiot or worse - the 'three day rule' usually applied. At the end of three days, if your team was going to accomplish the mission - they had. Then you could sing like a canary. Missing-nin had even less reason to last three days. Especially with an Uzumaki, a cat who was comparing notes on famous torture techniques with a jonin, and a mechanical girl who broke their weapon into two dozen pieces and was angry at them for shredding her outfit.
Not that she hadn't trimmed it so it was now a midriff-baring top and shorts. Her hands and face looked mostly normal, her face especially. Her arms and now-exposed belly definitely showed the seams and lines and metal that showed her nature.
Sakura was self-conscious about that too, tending to shift around to try to hide those bits around Sasuke. Naruto, on the other hand, was verbally using every opportunity to expound on her still being human and Sakura.
Odd that Naruto was picking up on Sakura being self-conscious about it all, feeling nonhuman or monstrous... oh. Well, that DID explain why he was so sympathetic to her current situation, didn't it?
Hmph. Back to the Demon Brothers. Apparently they were after Tazuna. Not after Naruto, or Sasuke, or more likely - himself. No, they were one of several hired to go after Tazuna and kill him so that the shipping magnate Gato could finish subjugating Wave and setting himself up as daimyo.
He could have turned back. Should have turned back. Everyone had been ready to go. Naruto wanted details on his family and now on Whirlpool. Sasuke didn't want to have a failed or incomplete mission on his record. Sakura went along with Sasuke.
Well, it should be interesting at least.
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Kyudo, the archery arts, was not something that the Hyuga normally spent time honing. Along with dozens of other weapons, the basics were taught. Main focus was given to the clan specialties, and fights were to be hand-to-hand using the Gentle Fist style whenever possible.
On the other hand, Hinata was finding that the Byakugan was also excellent for picking out the target and if one could strike with speed and precision - a bow was superior in many ways to a thrown kunai if one had the same level of mastery. Or lack of mastery.
"Shootoh! Hakabakashii!"
She heard Kiba's startled sound as the bracelet-turned-bow suddenly blurred and a dozen chakra arrows went out almost as one. Though the last arrow was malformed and dissipated only a few feet from the bow, the target manifested a spread of holes a moment later.
Hinata then had to stop and gulp breath, feeling the shakes as keeping her Byakugan active and activating that technique was very draining.
"That... was a gift from the dobe?" asked Kiba, disbelieving.
Shino seemed to consider something, glancing at Kiba and making a sound.
"Something, Shino?" asked Kurenai Yuhi, taking the target down as Akamaru trotted over to Hinata and sniffed at her in apparent concern.
"When I heard that Naruto Uzumaki had become engaged to Hinata Hyuga, and that Hinata would be on our team, I put out a few discrete inquiries," said Shino. "We are an information gathering team, after all."
"Yes?" asked Kurenai, approving of the initiative and allowing it to show in her tone.
"Am I correct in my conclusion that Naruto's surname indicates he is of descent from the Land Of Whirlpools?" asked Shino.
"That isn't exactly secret, so yes," said Kurenai, wondering how much information Shino had uncovered.
"Am I also correct, in that his mother was Kushina Uzumaki?" asked Shino.
"That is also true," said Kurenai. "Though that information is not as easily uncovered and you shouldn't talk too freely about that or certain other details you might uncover."
Shino nodded. "I had wondered what, even with the rumored bet involved, would the Hyuga clan gain from such an arrangement? What little information I have on Hiashi Hyuga indicates someone who does not act from sentimental or frivolous motives."
"You mean that all the Hyuga have a stick up their butts," translated Kiba.
"Why would they put a tree branch within their posteriors?" asked Shino.
"It's an expression, Shino. Cha," said Kiba with an eyeroll. "So why would the Hyuga tolerate someone like Naruto?"
"Kushina Uzumaki of clan Uzumaki, the last survivor of her clan," said Shino. "She was well known as a prankster, had higher than average strength and stamina, and was likewise noted as having enormous chakra reserves. Her red hair color and temperament gained her the sobriquet of 'Red Hot Habanero' among her peer group," said Shino. "Likewise, she was exceedingly skilled at fuuinjutsu."
"Huh," said Kiba as Hinata began drinking from her canteen.
Hinata herself was just covering that she herself was listening very intently.
"There was also something about how several groups of ninja had come to fear the Uzumaki, but few details as to what caused that fear," said Shino.
"So the Hyuga just want to use the guy for breeding, huh?" asked Kiba.
Hinata nearly choked on the contents of her canteen.
.
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"Okay, we're going to go a little differently this time," said Kakashi. "Sakura, you're on point."
"Her? Why?" asked Sasuke.
"She's immune to poisons, and her clockwork body looks like metal and wood - but from the way she broke that chain, I'm guessing that neither material is quite what we're used to," said Kakashi.
Kurochan spoke up. "I don't know what either material is, but they're denser and more resilient than the sort of thing I see around Konoha. Though chakra metal comes close."
"I'll bring up the rear," said Kakashi. "Naruto, how long can you fly before fatigue becomes a problem?"
"Depends on the speed," said Naruto. "All day if I keep up a pace around walking or running on foot. At my fastest I could be back to Konoha and return inside an hour, but that'd be tiring."
"Hmmmm," said Kakashi, filing that away and seeing potential uses. "What about Tazuna's top speed? If you keep your Area Search going too?"
"Six or seven hours, I think," said Naruto after thinking about that. "That's if I keep a Wide Area Search going and then renew it every so often when I have to drop it to keep from getting a headache. Getting images from each of the spheres as they search and flicking back and forth can give you a real headache."
"Then that's your role," said Kakashi. "I want you up as high as you can, keeping an eye on us. Bring one of those spheres of yours in to signal us if you find something. This is additional training for you as well - since being able to keep that going while moving is going to be very handy in the future."
"Got it," said Naruto. "Mjolnir!"
[Flight Mode. Wide Area Search.]
Team 7 and Tazuna watched as Naruto went straight up, becoming a tiny dot in the morning sky and seeming to vanish.
"You know," said Tazuna in the following silence, "that's kinda impressive and looks damn useful."
"True," said Kakashi. "Sasuke - your main task is to walk near Tazuna. I'll be alert to menaces from behind, Sakura from the front. Naruto will keep an eye out from his vantage point all around, but he might miss something. That's why you're going to be watching the sides."
Sasuke made a little noise but then glanced overhead where Naruto was. "Can he really keep that up like that?"
"He's an Uzumaki," said Tazuna. "I'd expect being tricky is inherited. Strange that he's blonde though. Must have gotten it from his other parent."
Kakashi's head swiveled to look at Tazuna very quickly, which both Sakura and Sasuke noted.
Unknown to either genin, the same thought went through their heads at the same time. Which would have amused Sakura and annoyed Sasuke.
A clue?
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Toltiir generally let things go on their own. It was more his style to set the dominos up and see what pattern they fell in.
So he was as surprised as anyone else when Yzma put two and two together and came up with the square root of rutabaga.
"I honestly don't see it, Yzma," said Kronk from his hiding place.
"Ah, poor pitiful Kronk," said Yzma, looking through the binoculars. "Of course you can't. I had to drink one of my Potions Of Brilliance for all the pieces to come together."
"Yeah, but those things can misfire, you know," pointed out Kronk. "This Neji really does seem to be a guy."
"Just a clever spell, no doubt cast by Uzumaki to confuse the issue further and grant his fiancee some peace," said Yzma. "Watch as my genius reveals the truth!"
"Considering the potion you had my squirrels put in there," said Kronk. "I'd expect anyone taking in that soba would-"
(KA-GIRL!)
"-do like that," said Kronk.
"Wha- what WHAT?"
"Somehow I expected more," commented Kronk.
"Right now only one thing has changed," said Yzma. "This potion was special from that shop we stopped at. The rest of the transformation will take place over the next day. It will restore her to her female form, but it uses a particular archetype - so Naruto's fiancee will be helpless when she tries to act like some sneaky ninja assassin and can't!"
"Oh?" asked Kronk. "I don't see anything different, other than he's running around in a... and looking in this direction."
"Time to go!" declared Yzma, moving with surprising speed.
"YOU TWO! YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!"
Kronk and Yzma didn't bother replying. They had to run. Fortunately the boy-turned-girl kept tripping and running into objects.
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Naruto wasn't concerned about keeping up with Kakashi-sensei and the rest of his team.
Flying was something he felt he was reasonably good at. A couple of times when he'd had trouble getting to sleep, he'd taken to the skies over Konohagakure - just heading straight up and through the wards that had been erected around the village. He'd stayed there for a little while, looking down at the lights amongst the darkness. That light over there, that was his apartment. That light there - the Hokage tower. That light there - that had been Ichiraku's. At the distance he'd been, it had been almost like a little constellation to match the stars overhead.
It had actually brought home to him how fragile his village was, those little points of light surrounded by dark.
He had to close his eyes though, paying attention to the spheres and only opening his eyes again when the he'd had to take a break from monitoring his Wide Area Search as it went along.
About fifteen minutes in, he startled in mid-air, looked for Kakashi-sensei and decided he needed to drop in. But not directly. No point in making things easy when he could be flashy.
Sasuke Uchiha was used to being cool. Aloof. Vengeance-obsessed. Supremely competent.
Envious? No, that was not a common thing for him.
He walked near Tazuna's position, keeping an eye to the sides as they went. A flash of a now-familiar yellow as something shot past them going about as fast as a spooked rabbit.
"What's he doing?" asked Kakashi.
Sasuke glanced at his sensei, wondering what he meant.
"Those search spheres are passing our position faster," said Sakura. She shifted her stance, moving into a position Sasuke recognized as readying her forearm-gun. "Someone's coming!"
Sasuke dropped into a crouch, his kunai held ready. Though he could admit, if just to himself, that he wanted a forearm blaster too.
"Fast!" said Sakura, vaguely alarmed for a moment. "It's oh. It's just Naruto. He's coming up from the rear. Altitude five feet, speed 320kph."
Kakashi blinked at that. Maybe if they had courier duty ever assigned to them, he could hand it off to Naruto and let him deal with it.
"Duck!" called out Sakura.
"Where?" asked Sasuke before Kakashi was suddenly behind him and pushing him down.
There was a blur as Naruto tried to slow and stop and didn't do as good a job at that sort of task as at the low-altitude speed thing.
"I can see where some time flight training is going to have to be scheduled," said Kakashi drily.
Sasuke allowed his annoyance to show at the 'dead last' of his class nearly colliding into him with that sort of force.
"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, "I thought you ought to know though. Some guy in a mask was going along our path, about half a kilometer that way."
"He still there?" asked Sakura.
"Don't know, sorry," said Naruto. "He spotted my spheres and threw some sort of jutsu - disrupting it. I'm trying to use my remaining spheres to watch the area he's in."
"Describe this mask," said Kakashi, apparently completely unconcerned.
"Uhm, hang on," said Naruto, focusing and causing another orb to form in midair, and then an image to appear in it.
"Ah," said Kakashi, adding this to the "genin can be useful things" folder of tricks to keep in mind. If only he could learn that and then use those around certain bathing areas and such. "Looks like a Hunter-Nin from the Land of Water. What would someone like that be doing around here?"
"Well, the Land Of Waves is located between Water and Fire," noted Tazuna as he studied the image.
"Hmmm," said Kakashi, considering their client.
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Neji Hyuga was calm, cool, collected. On the outside.
On the inside, however, he was livid. Pissed. Annoyed. Ready to hurt someone.
On the plus side, he was a guy. 100%.
On the minus side, he had apparently been under a genjutsu in which he had transformed physically and then mentally into a girl. And done his hair up with ribbons. And flounced and skipped.
Who could have done it? Naruto Uzumaki was the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja who could have done so - but apparently was out of town on a mission with Team 7. Neji was also told, in no uncertain terms, that Naruto was HOPELESS at genjutsu. That if it were possible to recieve a negative skill rating in genjutsu, Naruto would have managed it. This also let Rock Lee off the suspect list.
So, whoever had done this to him was a) very good at genjutsu, b) either had something against him personally or the Hyuga in general.
Putting the two together, Neji was able to come up with... nothing. At least nobody OF Konoha. While there might be many who held grudge against the Hyuga for any number of reasons, real or imagined, that level of skill was beyond any save a very very few.
There really was only one candidate whom he knew of that had the skill necessary to fool even the Byakugan. So he'd keep an eye on Kurenai Yuhi and see what grudge she might have against the Hyuga clan despite taking that failure of a Main Family member under her wing.
Unless.
Unless it was BECAUSE she'd taken Hinata under her wing? Could it be the forbidden love between an older teacher and her impressionable (and weak) student?
This would take looking into.
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Haku frowned as one of the yellow orbs moved through the trees.
When he'd seen the first one go shooting past, he'd been alarmed - that perhaps his shadowing of the group had been detected.
That first sphere had shot past him, stopped, then come back. Which was all he really needed to see. He used senbon with an explosive tag wrapped around it. That the explosion had been so big and shot through with lightning had pretty much qualified it as Dangerous.
The team had looked like genin from what he could make out from the tracks, except one of the kids (a couple years younger than him) seemed to vanish for a long period. When he'd investigated their campsite, he'd found a peculiar spiral shape sketched into the ground several times. He thought it looked familiar, but best to check with Zabuza on it before coming to a conclusion. Then there was this strange jutsu. It had acted as if someone was controlling it, which meant that someone was considerable at that kind of jutsu - it was one he'd never heard of before and therefore likely high-level. Then there was one of the other genin's footprints. The tread was unfamiliar and pressed heavily into the ground. Female, possibly chunin age or around his own age. Female, judging from the slight arch look. An inconsequential genin, a kid who vanished, a jonin, the bridge-builder, and a female chunin.
The priority right now was to reach Zabuza with this information. Getting close was entirely too dangerous with this many unknowns.
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Sasuke was irritated. He didn't even know for sure why.
Sasuke felt that whatever it was, it would be easily dealt with. He just had to demonstrate that he was a member of this team and not lagging behind his two overly flashy team-mates.
He just needed an opportunity.
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"A spiral?" asked Zabuza.
"The place where the Demon Brothers were left bore an area where the same spiral was engraved in the dirt," said Haku. "I believe it was left behind by one of the Brothers in fact."
"Did it look like this?" asked Zabuza, using one finger to mark a pattern in the dirt.
"Yes, that's it," confirmed Haku.
"An Uzumaki," said Zabuza. "What do you know about them?"
"The family Uzumaki was all but wiped out, branch families scattered everywhere and in hiding," said Haku. "The family was a noble clan of the Whirlpool village - notable especially for their fuuinjutsu and for their particular behavior. Allies were benefitted, enemies met very long and painful ends. On spotting an Uzumaki, standard protocol is to retreat."
"So there's an Uzumaki in the group," mused Zabuza. "What else?"
Zabuza listened to Haku's findings, nodding once at the end to acknowledge Haku's thoroughness. "I have to check our contract."
"Zabuza-sama?" asked Haku.
"You've marked a genin team, but it includes an Uzumaki and some girl wearing training weights. Heavy enough that even with these dry conditions she's leaving signs of how much weight she's carrying. Plus some kid who is there and not there. You're right, the last genin is probably their 'dead last' - I've heard of this practice of Konohagakure. They stick their best two genin candidates with their most deadweight. Supposedly the three working together then balance out down the road or some other rubbish. Hmmm. Or maybe the Uzumaki is the girl wearing weights and not the kid who vanishes. I've never heard of a surveillance jutsu like you described, but it was an electrical discharge when you disrupted it?"
"Yes, Zabuza-sama," said Haku. "It definitely was a Lightning technique of some kind."
"I see," said Zabuza. "Yes. I'll have to check the contract. It's standard to have an Uzumaki Escape Clause - I'll just make sure it's there."
"If it is?" asked Haku.
"If it is, we'll pull up and go elsewhere. Gato isn't paying enough for facing ONE Uzumaki. We might have two here," said Zabuza.
"What if it is not in there, then?" asked Haku.
"Then we'll have to face them," said Zabuza thoughtfully. "We'll go with you in reserve with our standard Plan B. I'll face them to try and take them down quickly. Their dead last student will be the weakest link. If we manage to defeat the Uzumaki and the kunoichi and the jonin - we can avoid killing them all."
"I understand, Zabuza-sama," acknowledged Haku. He didn't WANT to kill, but it looked as if it might be necessary.
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"A little chilly," commented Kakashi as the wind came off the shore.
"Tends to be at this time of year, air's cool, water's warmer," said Tazuna, pointing off in one direction. "There's a warm water current that comes up from the South. A colder water current meets it a little bit offshore."
"So the fog might be natural," said Kakashi.
"Almost certainly," agreed Tazuna. "But the materials should still get there in time, the equipment is ready, and the boat is down there."
"Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto. "Do you want me to fly above the fog?"
"How much weight can you carry?" asked Kakashi.
"Well, I dunno, I got to have one hand on Mjolnir," said Naruto. "If I'm going to go fast. Otherwise I'm looking at maybe eighty kay-pee-atch tops."
"What if the weight in question could hold on?" asked Kakashi, looking directly at Sakura.
"ME?" asked Sakura. "Why not be in the boat with Sasuke?"
"Because, judging from the tracks you leave," said Kakashi, pointing at a footprint. "You weigh over twice what Sasuke does."
"That's..." Sakura considered the footprint and then the boat.
"Sakura, can you swim in that body?" asked Kakashi.
Sakura was silent in reply.
"So Sasuke and I will travel with Tazuna and this nice young guide by boat," said Kakashi. "Along with Kurochan."
"I was wondering why you've been so quiet," said Sakura, turning towards the cat.
"Hello?" whispered Kurochan, barely loud enough to carry to the ninja next to her. "Ninja? Hidden villages? Operating in the shadows? Not putting all your cards on the table?"
"Oh," said Sakura.
"And she's supposed to be the smart one," muttered the cat before noticing the Guide was looking in their direction. "Meow."
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The door slowly creaked open, and the first thing she noticed was the smell.
Naruto's apartment smelled of... ramen. How completely and utterly unexpected.
It also smelled faintly of clean soil and forest.
A window planter had been set up, and two vases in one corner held scraggly-looking evergreens of some sort in them.
[Intruder Detected. Analyzing.]
She blinked and looked to the side. Apparently Naruto had added something since finding the collapsed Sakura-doll in his apartment.
[Identified. Hinata Hyuga. Presence Is Authorized. Standing Down.]
"Byakugan," said Hinata, turning on her bloodline. There it was. A long spindly crystal suspended between two orbs of similar crystal hovering in place in the space between the two planters.
"Uhm, hello," said Hinata, dropping the Byakugan. "I'm here to water his plants."
The crystalline alarm device didn't respond to that, apparently having no problem with her activities.
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"Before we go," said Naruto, unrolling a scroll. "Here."
The ninja, the Guide, Kurochan, and Tazuna all watched as Naruto released the contents of the storage scroll.
"I picked up something for Sasuke and Sakura while I was at the hospital following that one mission," said Naruto. "I was just saving it for a special occasion. Unfortunately, we're going to be separated and it's getting dangerous."
"So what did you get me?" asked Sakura, who hadn't had the chance to go shopping.
"What I got you originally was a shield device, but I sent that back and got a repair kit instead," ignoring the way Sakura's expression went through several changes on that.
Sasuke tried to look uninterested and distant. He didn't even fool the boatman/guide.