note: enjoy! struggled to finish this one on time, but hopefully you guys like it!

also, what do you think of the chapter lengths? are they too short/too long/what do you guys think? lemme know!

when you favorite/follow/review i gain another life, my skin is clear, my crops are thriving and the sun is shining, it really means a lot :D


They'd been walking for hours, the sun continuing its lazy, inexorable arc through the soft blue sky. The harsh call of a crow split the pleasant mid-afternoon silence.

Suddenly, there was a hiss of whirring metal and the crash of footsteps from behind them. Chouji whirled around just in time to see two ominous figures ensnare Kakashi in a tangle of serrated whips. The enemies were dressed in dark, ragged shinobi gear and their eyes burned with bloodthirsty focus.

"The first one," one of them snarled, and the genin and their client could only watch in horror as Kakashi exploded in a fountain of blood and chopped, mangled organs and-God, was that a hand or a foot?

"Kakashi-sensei!" Chouji screamed. From the corner of his eye, he registered Shino strike a defensive pose in front of the client, who looked as terrified as Chouji felt. He felt a stir of air and the hair on the back of his neck rose.

"The second one!" the pair of enemy ninja snapped their metal chains towards him and Chouji dived forwards in the nick of time, somersaulting as Sasuke vaulted over his back, flinging a shuriken and then a kunai. The chains were impaled against a tree trunk and Chouji watched in amazement as the Uchiha kicked the two enemy ninja in the face. They reeled backwards.

They look like a pair of drunk shadows, Chouji thought with a tinge of hysteria. Imagine if shadows could get drunk, Shikamaru would have his hands full…

The metal chains snapped. Free, the pair charged forward.

"Get back, sir!" Chouji ordered Tazuna, taking up a protective stance alongside Shino. Is that my voice? he thought to himself in amazement. The sound seemed distorted by the overwhelmingly loud beating of his heart. One of the enemy ninja stretched out a clawed hand towards him, the sharp metal glinting with bloody promise in the afternoon light.

Sasuke appeared in between them, kunai out, his signature scowl fitting for the battlefield. Shino shifted beside him, angling towards the second oncoming enemy. Chouji could feel his teammates' will, a palpable thickening of the air, a shield made of wishes and determination.

There was a messy thud as the enemy halted abruptly, choked gurgles of surprise escaping them as Kakashi hooked each of them around the neck.

"Yo," he drawled, single eye hooded with apparent boredom.

"Show-off," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"So, you used substitutions," Shino said, the slight tremble of his hand as he pushed his sunglasses up his nose betraying his cool facade.

"Sorry I didn't help you guys right away," Kakashi said as he expertly tied the two enemies to a large tree. With a short series of hand seals, Shino sent kikaichu bugs to feast on their chakra.

"None of us are hurt, sensei," Chouji said. He wondered if he was reassuring Kakashi or himself.

"Yes, good job, you three," Kakashi said, "Quick thinking, all of you."

Chouji wanted to smile at the rare praise. A strange expression passed over Sasuke's face, one that could have been mistaken for earnest, boyish pride, but it was gone in an instant. His face was blank, impassive and cold as usual, and Chouji wondered if he had seen that flicker of emotion at all.

"By the way, Tazuna-san," Kakashi's voice embodied a strange duality, light and casual but carrying the promise of violence if he did not get what he wanted.

Tazuna seemed to sense the threat and stiffened.

"W-what is it?" he asked, his gruff voice shaking slightly.

"I've got to talk to you about something." Kakashi turned towards him, the movement somehow threatening despite his lax posture and his hands tucked in his pockets.

None of the genin moved, watching the conversation intently.

"These are chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi continued. "These are guys known for continuing to fight, no matter the cost."

"How were you able to detect our movements?" one of the enemies interrupted, his mask distorting his voice into a sinister growl. His eyes were bright with malice, but he was too weak to struggle as Shino's bugs crawled over his skin.

"There wouldn't be puddles of water on a day like today, when it hasn't rained in over a week," Kakashi replied. Chouji realized he was saying this for Team Seven's benefit. Had the visceral, brutal substitution jutsu been their sensei's version of a teaching moment as well?

"Knowing that, why'd you leave it to the kids to fight?" Tazuna asked, having the same line of thought as Chouji.

"Hm…well, I could have killed these guys instantly," he glanced at Tazuna with his blank, gray eye, and the fisherman visibly flinched. "But I had to know who the target of these enemies was…I had to know if it was you, or one of us shinobi, who was being targeted. You haven't mentioned anything to us about being targeted by ninjas. The content of the request was a simple mission, protection from low-level gangs or thieves. This is now a mission of rank B or higher." He watched Tazuna squirm. "The request was supposed to be for backup protection until you finished building your bridge. If we had known enemy ninjas would be involved, the mission rate would have been much more expensive, corresponding to B rank at the least. Being lied to…it won't do. This is beyond the scope of our task."

Tazuna stared at the ground, unable to meet Kakashi's eye. Chouji, Shino, and Sasuke glanced at each other.

"We will turn back," Kakashi decided after a moment. "Tazuna-san, you will be escorted with us back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves…unless of course you wish to proceed on your own."

Tazuna peeked at the tied-up enemies, who glared back at him, the whites of their eyes bulging. He swallowed.

"I-I'll come back with you, for now."

"Very well," Kakashi said. "Well, you heard it all, team, let's wrap up here and go home."

Sasuke frowned.

"These guys weren't so difficult," he said. "Why can't we keep going?"

Kakashi glanced at him and turned to Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san," he said, voice mild, "Why don't you tell us the identity of your assailants, and why they are after you?"

The old man sighed.

"I guess I've got no choice…As you said, this may be beyond the scope of your mission. Actually, I am being targeted by a terrifying man. His name is Gato; you may have heard of him before. He is one of, if not the richest, man in Wave Country. On the surface, he's the CEO of a shipping company, but he has all sorts of under-the-table deals. Human trafficking, drug smuggling, dealing in all sorts of contraband, and he surrounds himself with thugs and ninja. About one year ago, he set his sight on the Land of the Waves. He used his wealth to gain control of the island's sea transportation and shipping, and used violence if that didn't work." His voice steadily rose with passion as he explained. "Having control of the sea, of an island nation like Wave, means that he controls everything; the economy, the people, the government. The only thing he has to be afraid of is my bridge. I want to connect Wave to the mainland, to break his power over our people and our country. I didn't want to get children involved, but I didn't realize…Anyway, I didn't have enough money to pay for any higher-ranked protection, so I thought maybe-"

"You thought wrong," Kakashi interrupted him. "I will not put my team's lives in danger because you do not have the money to pay. We will return to the Leaf village, and work out a deal with the Hokage that will see your problem solved using the appropriate resources. Which do not include my genin team."


They had just finished explaining the situation to the Hokage, a chastened Tazuna apologizing and agreeing to wait for a proper solution to be found. Chouji had never been happier to come home in his life; he had barely resisted the urge to run ahead when the village gates had first come into view. All he wanted was a steaming basket of pork buns to wash away the day's events.

"Sensei," Shino asked, after they had deposited Tazuna with a pair of chunin, "Was that the only reason you let us think you were dead? To determine Tazuna-san's true motive?"

"Hm?" Kakashi was distracted, his nose buried in a battered neon copy of his favorite book series.

"It doesn't seem necessary to go to such lengths for such an observation that could easily be ascertained-"

"Ah, yes," Kakashi said. "Well, mainly, I didn't want my book to get wet," he said, single eye curving into a smile. "They were Mist shinobi after all, and they did appear out of a large puddle, so you can understand my concern."


"The hallway isn't your personal weaponry stash, Shikamaru! Get your kunai and dirty socks out of here! If I trip over a funijutsu scroll one more time-" His mother had insisted he search the house for cobwebs, now that he was taller than her and could reach high corners more easily. He managed to back out of that task only to be told to clear his belongings out of the way, and so now he was running late to meet Chouji and Ino for lunch.

"I'll do it later, Mother," he called as he made his escape.

"And how can you leave your clothes on the floor like that! You're just like your father, I swear it was impossible to get bloodstains out of his uniforms because he never did laundry in a timely manner-"

"Bye, Mom!" Shikamaru fled.

He entered the small, homely barbeque shop and spotted Chouji and Ino immediately.

"Sorry I'm late," he greeted them, "My mom was being especially troublesome today."

"'S fine," Chouji shrugged. He fiddled with the edge of a menu but didn't seem interested in ordering any food. Ino was playing with the plastic salt container and didn't say anything. Shikamaru frowned.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

Ino wouldn't even look at him. He felt a growing sense of alarm.

"Not really," Chouji mumbled after a moment. "The mission turned out to be more than we bargained for."

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, it was supposed to be a C-rank mission, because Sasuke complained in front of the Hokage about how we always got these dumb babysitting jobs, and-" Chouji couldn't seem to find the words fast enough as the story came pouring out. "…So these two guys attacked us, real scary shinobi from the Hidden Mist Village, and for a while it looked like they'd killed Kakashi-sensei, and they came after me but Sasuke attacked them and me and Shino defended the old fisherman but guys, I was so scared. I don't know what I would have done if Kakashi-sensei hadn't appeared and taken them out. And I was relieved when we turned back instead of finishing the mission." Chouji's fists clenched.

Silence stretched between the trio.

"I don't think you should worry too much about that," Shikamaru said after a moment. "It was the first time you've seen real combat, and they tried to kill you, so it makes sense that you would be scared. I'd be more afraid if you weren't," he added, the hint of a smile ghosting across his face.

"Sasuke wasn't scared," Chouji pointed out. "He just fought them, like he did that every day, and he was winning, too!"

"Well, you can't expect to have the same reaction to a situation like that. You and Sasuke are really different people," Shikamaru told him. "And…"

"What?"

"That might not have been the first time Sasuke's been around that kind of violence, that kind of killing intent. Who knows what he was exposed to when his clan died."

Chouji and Ino stared at him. The whirring of the ancient ceiling fan was the only noise in the restaurant. Shikamaru swallowed. It felt like a major risk just to mention the Uchiha massacre, even in vague terms. No one ever talked about it, and the families of high-ranking Konoha clan heads were no exception. It was never mentioned, the kind of unsaid rule that no one breaks.

"Yeah," Chouji said after a moment. "I guess you're right." He forced a smile. "I'm going to order another round of pork buns, do you two want anything?"

"I'll have a bowl of noodles," Shikamaru decided. "Ino, what about you?"

Ino stared at the salt shaker and took a deep breath. "Sakura killed someone," she said. "And I almost did."

Shikamaru and Chouji stared at her.

"What?"

"We had a C rank mission, too," Ino said. She sounded just as relieved as Chouji to finally talk about the mission. "We were escorting a family from the village to a town a few miles away and were attacked by a group of shinobi." She was quiet for a moment. "Anko-sensei tortured one of them until he told her why they attacked us. I know…I know she used to be in T & I with my dad…do you think my dad does stuff like that? It was awful, he just kept screaming and screaming. I keep dreaming about it." She balled her hands into fists to stop them from trembling. "What if I'm too weak? What if they expect me to be able to do all of that and I can't do it? I'll be the head of the Yamanaka clan someday, do you think-"

"Ok, hold it right there," Shikamaru said. "You've told us your sensei is some kind of crazy sadist, right? I don't think you should really consider her the norm. And your dad doesn't just torture people 24/7, don't forget how important the Yamanaka clan is for other reasons."

"Yeah," Chouji agreed, "they staff the whole psych division, which is pretty awesome by the way!"

Ino gave a watery smile. "My dad started that program a few years ago," she said.

"Exactly," Shikamaru leaned back and laced his hands behind his head. "No one is expecting you to go extract some prisoner's nails for information, like you're yakuza or something. You don't have to go down that road if you don't want to."

Ino reached for a menu. "Let's eat, shall we?"

Twenty-seven pork buns later, Chouji could tell that Ino still wasn't completely comfortable. She had barely seemed interested in her food, even though the dessert was her favorite flavor of custard pudding.

"Is it still bothering you?" he asked.

Ino sighed and stabbed half-heartedly at her pudding.

"I can't avoid it forever," she said. "I'm going to be the clan head someday and that means paying attention to everything that we're part of, and some of that is pretty nasty T&I stuff…My parents don't talk about it with me but I can just tell there are certain expectations-I can't afford to look weak."

"You don't!" Chouji assured her. "Just because you don't want to torture someone doesn't make you weak!"

"It's not that I want to do it!" Ino said, frustrated, "and it's not like my dad gets all excited to go ransack people's minds or anything but it's a responsibility that the Yamanaka clan has to the village. And it's not even that bad, compared to some of the other things that go on. Come on, guys, you know the facts, we're all in the same boat. This place isn't exactly a democracy. The village is like a living weapon full of little smaller disposable weapons."

"Well, that's bleak," Shikamaru muttered.

"Look, don't you think you might be jumping the gun a little bit here?" Chouji asked. "We're brand new genin. None of us have taken the chunin exams yet. We've got a lot of time and a lot of work before we have any real responsibilities."

Ino pressed her lips together and stared at him. Her face was white with anger.

"Forget it," she slammed her chopsticks on the table and stood up.

"Hey, where are you going? I'm sorry I said anything, Ino-"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, as she left the restaurant. "She left us with her share of the bill."


"Sakura, your father and I would like to talk to you," her mother knocked on her bedroom door. Sakura lay curled up under a thick, fluffy blanket, exhausted and annoyed. She'd not slept much the night before, plagued by nightmares.

"Not now," she croaked, throat dry and scratchy. Her mother sighed.

"Sakura, we need to talk to you. I'm coming in, okay?"

The lock jiggled as she tried to open the door.

"Sakura! Unlock the door!"

Sakura did not move from her miserable, blanket-ensconced fetal position. Her dream last night had been the worst one yet, in which the enemy ninja, features distorted by death, had stalked her family and injected her parents with the same terrible poison. She could only watch, dream-limbs heavy as lead, as they screamed and coughed, foaming at the mouth and crumpling in on themselves in jerky, painful, unnatural movements. The shinobi's laugh echoed around her, scraping at her ears, as the blue-tinged husks that had once been her parents lay at her feet.

The door flew open, Mebuki Haruno holding one of Sakura's kunai in her hand, which she had used to smash the brittle old lock on the door. She placed the distasteful weapon on Sakura's bookshelf and hurried over to feel Sakura's forehead.

"Are you sick, honey? It doesn't seem like you've got a fever, but I can make some soup-"

Being confronted with her mother's kind words, smelling her sandalwood and poppy perfume, and staring at her bright floral apron, Sakura burst into tears.

Alarmed, Mebuki scooped her daughter into her arms, blanket and all, stroking her hair as Sakura shook with sobs.

"What's going on?" Hizashi appeared in the doorway. He hurried over to his wife and daughter. "Sakura, what is it?"

"N-nothing," Sakura hiccupped, as her father handed her tissues and her mother rubbed her back in a soothing manner. "I'm f-fine."

"Why don't you tell us what's going on," her mother said. "Something is bothering you."

Sakura was quiet for a long moment. She glanced at her parents' worried gazes. They are so much older than me, she thought, but right now they seem so innocent. Her stomach clenched as she imagined telling them the truth.

I killed someone "I fought with Ino," she said. It was awful watching him die "And I feel bad because I was really mean to her," and I can't decide if I really feel bad about killing him or feel bad about being clumsy and slow while doing it "and I just want Sasuke-kun to like me!" she sniffed.

"That's it?" Hizashi blurted, his pink eyes raised in disbelief. Mebuki shot him a stern glance.

"Don't worry, Sakura," she said, running her fingers through Sakura's hair. "I'm sure you and Ino will make up, you two won't stop being friends after this. And…Sasuke-kun will come around, I'm sure! You're such a lovely girl and so smart and we love you very much!"

"That's right!" Her father added.

"Why don't I go make you some soup," her mom said. "We can talk about everything later."

Sakura barely managed a nod. Over her mom's shoulder she could see the black trash bag that she'd stuffed her bloody uniform into after the mission, standing out against the orderly pastel walls and furniture. It lurked in the corner and suddenly she couldn't wait to get away.

"Let's all go have a snack together!" She threw off the blanket and grabbed her parents' hands, hurrying towards the kitchen and its promise of security, well-known and well-loved.