I do not own Naruto.
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Finders Keepers
Chapter break 7
Suck It Up
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Location Unknown:
The pretty young girl sat bored, reading a magazine to pass the time until her shift ended. She couldn't believe her luck to get stuck working a morning shift at the counter at her family's flower shop. Nobody ever came in mornings but the people who delivered the flowers and they all came in the back anyways. She could be going out with her friends or at least sleeping in.
"What a drag," she mumbled tiredly.
The little bell over the door tinkled and she look up.
"Kami-sama," the girl breathed. The most gorgeous man she had ever seen had just walked into her families shop. She brushed her hair back hurriedly with her hand and stood straightening her dress, smiling at the handsome stranger.
"May I help you sir?"
The young man smiled kindly at her with his dark eyes and she melted inside.
"Do you make deliveries outside the village?"
"Well, sometimes. If it's not too far," she answered, "Or if it is, for a fee we can contact another flower shop and have them fill the order. Where do you want to send flowers to?"
"Konoha."
"That's definitely going to be a mail order. Konoha does not allow deliveries of things like that for security reasons but I know there a nice little flower shop there and I can get a message bird to send an order as soon as this morning if you like," she smiled at him dreamily. She would bend over backwards to get him to smile at her again like that first time, "Do you have relatives in Konoha?" she inquired.
"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I do," he told her, "but I'd like to keep this delivery anonymous if it's not too much trouble," He gave her that smile again, she decided he if asked her to deliver them personally, she would say yes.
"That's no problem sir, people do that all the time."
He gave her very specific instructions on how he wanted the bouquet arranged.
"Two Dozen, are you sure? That's very expensive," she informed him.
'I wish it was for me,' she thought.
"It's worth it," he told her. "She's very important to me."
"Lucky woman," she sighed wistfully, "What would you like the card to say?"
"Thinking of you, my sweet Sakura."
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Konoha:
Sakura hurried to her lab to pick up vaccines for Team Kakashi to deliver to the southern border. Naruto hadn't told her exactly where they were going, because he wasn't allowed to, but she could figure it out.
For example, directly south there weren't any large villages and if this guy was some big time merchant he wouldn't be based somewhere small, right? On top of that, this village was having some festival large enough for the Akatsuki to get lost in. Therefore, there were only two villages she knew of in a southerly direction having a festival starting in a few days. So, she figured, their destination must be southwest-that was probably Wave, a large business shipping port right on the border of Fire and Water, was a prime place to send out vaccines to prevent the rash of dangerous outbreaks of the plague that had been threatening on Fire's borders for the last six months.
Tsunade suspected from the beginning it was not an ordinary plague, but one manufactured to weaken Fire's borders for invasion. The only thing they couldn't find out was which enemy was creating this illness. They had to be cold enough not to care if their own people got sick. There were a few enemies like that, but it wasn't smart to put it down to one source just yet.
What they hadn't planned for was the ingenuity of Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura in finding not only a cure that was more than 80% effective, but a preventative vaccine to thwart to virus from taking hold in the first place. The problem was getting experienced people out safely to deliver the vaccines, people who couldn't be easily ambushed. Sakura herself had been on the front line of that, until Itachi had screwed with her life; effectively tying her down to Konoha. She would find a way to get out of that, even if it killed her.
"Sakura, I glad you made it," Kakashi jumped down beside her, breaking her out of her reverie, "We don't have much time."
She raised her eyebrow at him and sniffed arrogantly. If one of the two was going to arrive late, the smart money would always be at him.
"I have a new jutsu for you to learn," He smiled at her, "It won't be easy to master but it could aid you in escape from Uchiha Itachi if you are cornered by him."
"I've been training to fight him haven't I?"
"Correction. You've been training to fight him long enough to give yourself an opening to escape. You're number one mission against Itachi and Akatsuki is to evade capture. You are not trying to exact revenge for your friends," He poked her in the shoulder roughly, "That's an order, do you understand?"
"Hai, hai," she waved her hand at him, "See scary men, run away. Show them just how tough I am," she made a fist.
"Exactly. Besides, they don't travel alone either, if you are confronted here in Konoha that's exactly what I want. Run away, find backup, then you can fight."
"Speaking of backup…" Kakashi began.
She knew what was coming next.
She shook her head, "No Kakashi. I won't do it."
"I want you to stick with Sasuke until I return."
"No way Kakashi. You don't understand the torture he puts me through.
"I understand enough, but Sasuke's the one thing his brother does not want to challenge right now. He's been avoiding him all this time and they nearly killed each other the last they met. This time if Sasuke is in the village, he'll have back up and there's no way they'll challenge him here."
"But…"
"No buts, that's an order from your captain. What's my number one shinobi rule?"
"Never betray your friends and your village?" she asked innocently.
"Smartass," Kakashi's visible eye rolled heavenward, "Who did I kill to deserve this?"
"Look underneath the underneath," She sighed giving him the answer he wanted.
He nodded, "It worries me that Akatsuki would be bold enough let it be known they are possibly attempting a public assignation. It feels like they are trying to move us away from you. It is probably common knowledge by now that you haven't worked at the hospital or Hokage's office since your last mission and it's impossible to keep the gossip at the hospital in check. I assume the Akatsuki must have some low level informant here. I wanted you to come with us because I'd feel safer with you near, but Tsunade was adamant about your suspension, I don't know why you had to be so stubborn and piss her off, all it got you was more trouble. I'll feel better if Sasuke's nearby."
"I don't need Sasuke," Sakura pouted, "He's an arrogant jackass who has done nothing but hurt his friends. He's only still here because the Hokage forced him to. If she released him and his so called 'team', he would be gone in a flash."
Kakashi shook his head slowly, "His reason for returning may have been selfish, but don't believe for a minute that he couldn't have left Konoha by now. With his team, if that's what he truly desired. Maybe you should consider that, while you don't need him anymore, he still needs you. He still has a lot hanging over his head and he feels he can't move forward with his life until his business with his brother is finished."
That stung, how had it come back to be that she was the one who needed to give more? Hadn't she already given her heart and soul to the cause once, only to have it torn to shreds and thrown back in her face? And even now, she still felt if she put herself in that position again, she would end up willingly handing him her heart to stab once more.
There was something about him that made her want to do nothing more, than to give him everything that she had. But it was like a deal with the devil. She wanted to give him her soul even though she already knew she'd end up back in hell for it. She had to stay away from him to keep her sanity. She shook her head. "Sasuke's not my problem, Kakashi, I can't deal with that heartache anymore."
'Sakura just didn't understand the ruthlessness of the people who were threatening her,' Kakashi thought. His voice turned cold, "There are much worse things than heartbreak and dying, Sakura. Suck it up. If you don't know what I'm talking about maybe you should ask Ibiki about inhumane ways he might treat prisoners. These criminals hold no love or morals. Sasuke knows what it's like to be around these types of dangerous people. He is trying to help you in the only way he knows how. Your enemy is on your doorstep. What are you gonna do if you're captured? They'll make Tsunade's harsh training look like she was your doting aunt who baked you cookies. These men don't just take prisoners; they leave maimed and lifeless bodies behind. Now, are you gonna cry and whine, or are you gonna show them that Konoha ninja's are made of better stuff? You will do your best to learn from Sasuke while I'm gone."
Sakura felt ashamed, "You're right sensei, it's just…"
"Look, I know you're a good person, Sakura, that's not an issue here. I know Sasuke hurt you and I know he's still hurting. Life isn't easy and maybe great love isn't supposed to be either," He poked her in the arm again, "Besides, if you wanted a simple life you wouldn't be who you are today, right?" He smiled and it reached his eye, "Nobody forced you to become a ninja."
He put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them in encouragement, before ruffling her hair with one hand like she was twelve again, "How about this? If I get back and you haven't mastered this jutsu and can't beat me in a blind spar, you will read aloud to me the new Icha Icha Come Cherry Paradise. And if you win I will, willingly, give you my one and only copy. Knowing you, by then should be the only intact copy in the five great nations."
Giving up an exclusive Icha? She knew Kakashi cared but that was epic. It made her smile, "You better memorize that book then because you're going to lose that bet," Sakura assured him.
"We'll see. The whole book…oh, and I want sound effects too."
"Too late, bets already made," Sakura assured him.
"All right, fine," Kakashi groaned but she saw that he was just joking with her now.
"Come on Sensei."
Kakashi snapped out of it, "Good girl, let's get to work. This isn't going to be easy, you'll need to use both earth and wind chakra elements together to form it but you've always been my brightest student, and without your expert control of chakra this wouldn't be plausible. Now stand back and watch carefully," Kakashi slowly did the five symbols necessary for the jutsu.
"Fuuton. Kamisori-sabure no jutsu," He said clearly.
A wall of earth rose up around Kakashi and swirled around him until it looked like he was lost inside a small tornado. The groundcover that came into contact with the jutsu was shredded as it came into contact.
Sakura watched in wonder until a tap on her shoulder brought her out of her reverie.
"Kakashi! I thought you were in there," She pointed to the storm.
"Exactly, it's like a fortress inside, anything trying to get in will be sliced to pieces, but you will be safe. Now comes the harder part. You will need to hold the first jutsu together while you one, mask your chakra completely, and two, I want you to transport yourself into the earth and hide from your enemy. A third option will be to transport yourself to another location but if you do, you will not be able to hide your chakra pattern moving to a new place. The best thing will be to remain hidden and wait for your enemy to leave the space. When the jutsu is finished it will appear that you have disappeared as long as you mask your chakra properly.
"Your turn," Kakashi gestured as the storm died down, "Remember, don't try and come out of the storm, it will slice you as much as anything that tries to get at you. You either have to go under it into the earth or transport away. And no one will be able to go into the storm without taking a huge chance they'll be shorn to pieces.
He stepped back and she tried it.
"Fuuton. Kamisori-sabure no jutsu!" The earth instantly rose around her as the wind spun it into a storm, slicing against itself as it went around. Sakura started her second jutsu, hiding herself in the ground. She was already a little winded from the power of the first one. Sakura released the first jutsu and it fell harmlessly to the ground. Then she broke through the ground where she'd hidden herself and jumped up onto level ground, leaving her a little dusty but smiling with her small success.
Kakashi came back nodding his approval.
"Work hard to perfect it and make it your own, Sakura. And don't forget to mask your chakra, I won't go easy on you when I return," The copy nin warned her. "Take care," Kakashi transported away from her, leaving her to work while he went to find the other person he wanted to see before he left the village.
Sakura went right back to training.
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Kakashi had gone to look for Sasuke earlier that morning.
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He found the young Uchiha on his way back from Tsunade's office before dawn that morning. Sasuke had been on his way to the training grounds.
"I thought I asked you to take over Sakura's training this morning," Kakashi asked looking around and not seeing Sakura.
"She keeps finding ways to slip out on me."
"So you're saying she's too much of a challenge for you?" Kakashi's brow rose in question.
"Please," Sasuke scoffed
"Alright, I'll leave her in your capable hands. Find her, train her," The copy-nin told him. "Here," He handed him a blindfold and a copy of Icha Icha.
"What's this?"
"Some training exercises Sakura and I were working on," Kakashi told him seriously, "The book is your copy, sent over by Jariaya."
"For what?"
Kakashi chuckled, "Check out chapter 19, you'll see. Jariaya always sends out an advance copy to people he's inserted into the stories. I think you'll enjoy it. Now make sure Sakura doesn't slack in her work, and try not to let her leave the walls of the village. I want you to stay be her side."
"You think she'll be targeted?" Sasuke asked.
"She's safer with you, no matter what," Kakashi shrugged, "Now we just need to convince her of that. Be patient. She's skittish around you."
"That's an understatement," He sighed.
"Remember that, unlike you, she's led a relatively sheltered life for a ninja and in some ways she is really too innocent for my liking. She hasn't had the experiences you've had, boy. Keep that in mind. I'll find you again before I leave."
"Aa," Sasuke agreed with him and went to find Sakura at home. He knew the dobe was still there, he could feel the kuubi chakra from miles away.
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Late morning
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"Ino dear," Her mother called, "Before you leave today I want you to make a special delivery."
"C'mon okaa-san, I want to meet up with the boys," Ino whined, "It's Shika's turn to buy lunch and if I'm late he won't have any money after Choji orders."
"I know you'll want to deliver this one dear, it's for your friend, Sakura. She has a secret admirer," Her mother grinned. Of course Ino got her gossip skills from her mother.
"Who sent it?" she asked her mother.
"It's anonymous, but the order came from Wave. Who does she know there?" Mrs. Yamanaka drilled her for info, "It must be someone wealthy, they wanted two dozen roses. Nearly half the roses we had in stock, in one order! If we had orders like that every day, none of us would have to work. I could afford to hire shop girls," She mused. "They were very specific on how to arrange them too."
'Weird,' she thought, 'Not at all like I would personally arrange them, and then they wanted all the white flowers cut one inch shorter than the rest. Oh well,' "Maybe it's some eccentric millionaire," Mrs. Yamanaka guessed.
"Wave? I don't know anyone from there but she's always meeting diplomats working in the Hokage's office. It could be one of them. Even the Daiyamo's son has a crush on her, I hear."
"Ino dear, maybe you should try getting a job in the Hokage's office. You could meet a nice man there."
"Never," her daughter insisted, "I couldn't do it."
Her mother raised her eyebrows at her, "Why not?"
"You have to sign a secrecy contract enforced through mind jutsu. I would go crazy not being able to share a juicy tidbit or two."
"Oh, you're right dear, I would hate that job too," her mother shook her head, "I don't know how Sakura does it, poor thing."
"I'll take these over on my way out," Ino picked up the large covered vase.
"Ok, thanks Ino."
"Ittekimasu!"
"Itterasshai, dear."
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Sasuke headed once again towards the training grounds in search of Sakura, she was getting rather good at avoiding him and he had come up with a solution to that problem if he could force her to do it.
"Sasuke," the copy-nin called to him from the trees as he passed, "I'm glad I caught you again before I left."
"I'll be back in a week and a half if things go smoothly. She's at training ground 11 right now, go check on her progress. If she does well I want you to give her this." He handed Sasuke and envelope with Sakura's name on it.
The young Uchiha turned to leave and Kakashi called to him once more
"Oh, and Sasuke…"
Sasuke looked at him.
"Keep our Sakura safe," Kakashi transported away in a cloud of smoke.
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Things you probably already know:
Ittekimasu-I'm leaving.
Itterasshai-Common reply to ittekumasu. It means something like have a safe trip or maybe more like, go and return safely.
"Fuuton. Kamisori-sabure no jutsu" Wind Razor Sandstorm Jutsu. Ok, if you found this anywhere else I'd be amazed because I just made it up myself. The words are real Japanese and it does mean approximately what I called the jutsu. If I did copy it from an anime I must have a memory being suppressed. I googled it and couldn't find it anywhere so I think it's original. I supposed you could say it was copied if Sakura got it from the Copy-nin. Heh. Ok, so it's NOT funny, sue me ;-P Have you ever been to the beach on a real windy, or winters day, I think the sand could rip your skin off. Ouch. I like to storm watch on the beach sometimes though, especially thunderstorms, but I digress. It's MY jutsu :-P
Okaa-san-mom
Evil-beta-note:
The author's mean. She keeps poking me when I get distracted from editing.
(Just so you know, I have to sit here on the couch next to her and suffer the entire punishment. She never shares her snacks with me either and smacks me when I steal her pop. She threatens me with the death penalty on a daily basis. See what I have to do for you people?)
…
I have another chapter to edit right now, so if we gets lots of reviews she'll (meaning the author, not me) post it early.
Nya~
Review and send me chocolate.
(See the review button? Click it, I know there are a lot of people who just fav and alert the story, so leave a little review while you're at it. It won't hurt you none. Just a little bit of time to make the author happy so she'll write more. That would be a good thing, yes?)
Thanks to those who do review every chapter. I send you treats embellished with luvs.
A/N- I think my beta has gotten into the sugar again. I didn't call her evil, a reviewer did, but now it's gone to her head. She does steal my pop (leaves backwash) and candy (all of it) even when I buy her own for her. "Time to put her back in her cage," *stuffs beta into cage and hits cage with stick so she lets go of door and I can close it, and wipes sweat off brow, "Whew! Betas are great but they sure eat a lot."
K&K
Please review.
