Chapter Six
The hit had shown up in a scroll for her two weeks ago. And it had her the entire time to establish a plan and create the correct array of poisons to take down someone so likely to be immune to basic ones. And now she stood in front of her target, but everything had gone wrong. It had been over a year since a mission had gone this bad.
She was out numbered, and alone this time. They had gotten the date they were moving wrong, so most of the people were still there. A poison bomb took care of some, but they weren't falling for that trick again. Apparently Stone issued gas masks now, on this man's orders. Taking down the next fourteen had been hard, but a few strategically placed punches had crushed the ones she couldn't kill directly. But, Kaede, the leader of a camp of soldiers wasn't going down. At least not without taking her with him.
The room they were in was crumbling and they stood several feet apart. His towering stature really should have made her nervous, but it was his lack of preservation that scared her most. Sakura had never met someone equally as ready to take down themselves just to win. And to lose that advantage only made her more nervous.
She gripped her kunai as her chest heaved. Sweat dripped down her back and she was only a little pissed her cloak had been ripped off, but at least her mask was in place.
"So, Cobra is a woman."
Sakura didn't bother to respond, he'd be antagonizing her the entire time. Bantering with him wouldn't do anything except piss her off more.
"You killed more of my men than I'd like to admit. I'm going to kill you, even if it kills me."
She gritted her teeth, he'd make that abundantly clear. The entire room was closed to the outside. Even if he did kill her, getting out of this would be nearly impossible. He'd have to nearly dig his way out. They couldn't punch their way out, the entire thing would collapse on them, killing them. There was no getting out of her without assistance from the outside and his men were either dead or retreating.
And Sakura hadn't called for backup, or even thought to. It had all happened so fast. She took a long breath and pocketed her kunai. She was going to have to kill him quickly. One kick or punch and he was dead. She just had to make sure to avoid the pillars.
Sakura darted forward and attacked him with a flurry of punches and a few kicks. He dodged them well. For someone so large, he was excellent on his feet. And then, there it was an opening. She threw her punch, but he stood proudly as she punched him. As he flew back she realized exactly what happened.
His body crashed into a pillar and the entire room began to shake. Through coughs of blood she saw him grin.
"There's no way out."
And as Sakura watched the first rock fall, he was right. She punched and kicked the rocks falling around her, but as she punched one another hit her square in her head and she felt the world spin.
This was it, she realized she collapsed to the ground. She wasn't sure if it was exhaustion, dehydration, blood loss, or head trauma, but she was going to die.
Sakura supposed she'd lived a nice life. She'd actually accomplished more than anyone had thought. Most didn't know she was Cobra, or know the ways she kept Konoha safe by negotiating treaties. But, they did know the people she saved as a medic. They knew all the names she kept off the memorial stone that way. She'd be remembered, at least for a little while and that was more than she'd expected when she started training three years ago.
The darkness was becoming clearer now, if that is such a thing. The blackness was sharp instead of foggy. But it wasn't quiet here. No, there was suddenly a lot of talking. Not just talking, yelling.
"That's her!"
Her? That's weird. No one should be here. She didn't call for any back up. But, then the noises faded too and Sakura was sure she was dreaming. Weird things happen when you're dying, she supposed.
Sakura flopped down after training with Tsunade and the woman frowned at her, berating her about 'what on Earth had gotten into her'. She was trying, she really was, but she couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke and Naruto today. They were gone and Sasuke was with an evil man and Naruto was traveling the world and he knew nothing about anything. They were going to die or never come back.
She tried to hold back the sobs, but as she went to pick up the next large rock, it slipped out of her hand. Of course, it slipped, she was a stupid weakling who couldn't do anything. Who was she to think she could pick up a rock? The sobs came choking out and her knees gave out. She didn't even care about humiliating herself anymore. Her existence as a kunoichi was humiliating and pathetic.
Tsunade clapped a hand on a shoulder and Sakura winced, knowing harsh words were coming.
"Good work. We're done for the day. Let's get lunch together."
Sakura stirred for a moment and the yelling was back. She couldn't open her eyes, but she could hear it.
"She moved!"
"I know, I felt her."
"She's alive!"
"I told you, I'm not letting her…"
And that was all she caught before the world was fuzz again.
Lee was so elegant when he trained. Despite his loudmouthed sayings, he was excellent at what he did. And she was clunky, at best. She wanted to move like that and so, mustering all of confidence and straightening herself she walked onto the grounds. Sakura asked him to train with her and make her better.
He looked so excited, and they began right then because neither of them really had any sense of boundaries. Lee was patient which was nice because Sakura's body never seemed as quick of a learner as her train. She understood the fighting styles, but her reflexes were awful. He knocked her down more times than she cared to admit, but he helped her back up so that was nice.
By the time they finished the sun was low in the sky and her entire body felt like jelly, but she felt it. She was learning. And the ice cream Lee offered to get with her wasn't a bad ending either.
Sakura could tell there were lights now and she could get eyes open a crack. White. A lot of it and she was moving. There was shouting again too. A familiar woman was yelling for people to get out of her way and to stay in the waiting area. That voice though, it was familiar. And so were the voices of protest, but through all the she couldn't place them.
The day Sakura had accomplished crushing the earth for the first time, there was no one to tell. And no had cared. And that was the day she had applied to ANBU. Today, after weeks of brutal testing, interviews and appointments, she received the letter. She was in. She did it. This time, she knew exactly to tell first.
They were set to train together in thirty-five minutes, but he was always there early. She bounded out of her apartment, nearly leaving her front door open. She opted for the rooftops since the streets were so restrictive when you needed to move fast.
Leaping into the clearing of the training grounds the scroll hung open out of her hand and she was panting. Sakura couldn't even get the words out. He furrowed his brow, but the second he caught sight of the scroll, he smirked.
"You're in, huh?"
Sakura threw a fist in the air and yelled in joy. She felt her tears brimming, and she laughed, so excited she could barely contain it. She had trained here, in this training ground sixteen hours a day leading up to the exams.
Neji had been there for most of it and he'd received his acceptance scroll just two days ago. He smiled and walked up to her, laying down his kunai. She embraced him before she he had a chance to deny it.
She felt his head shake at the embrace, as he patted her back awkwardly. When she released Sakura scratched the back of her head.
"Sorry, you know how I get." Neji's eyeroll was enough of a confirmation of exactly how aware he was of her overbearing tendancies.
"Let's get dango. Training will always be here in the evening."
Sakura grinned and followed him out of the training grounds. It was a special occasion after all if it meant Neji would skip training.
The smell was hospitals was distinct. It was sharp and sterile, but also musty like blood. Sakura knew exactly how much air freshener was used to cover up that blood smell, but no matter how much sterilization was done, it always shined through. Medical tents had a similar smell, but were always more humid.
Sakura shifted and opened her eyes, recognizing the deep green and bright white. She was in a medic tent presumably. She was alive. She blinked for a moment, adjusting her eyes to the blaring lights. How did they even get such bright lights in tents? It was ridiculous.
She turned her head to see long brown hair. Neji. She smiled a little. Someone was at her side.
"Hey." She spoke, but it came out so shallow she wasn't sure if was even going to hear her.
But, Neji didn't become a jonin because of lack of observation skills. He stiffened and turned to face her and a warmth washed over his face.
"You're up."
Sakura rolled her eyes, grinning. "Clearly."
Neji coughed, never one for sentimental moments. "Well, I'm sure Kakashi is going to want to know you're awake. He seems angry."
"Angry about what?"
"You didn't call for back up."
Sakura huffed and flopped back onto her pillow, instantly regretting the harsh movement.
"There wasn't time or else I would have."
Neji shrugged and left the room, though it took a while for his fingers to leave her forearm. She supposed she might have given him a scare. She took the clipboard from the side of her bed and winced at the words herself. Whether or not she was going to wake up at all had clearly been a question. Her blood and chakra loss had been huge, plus her head injury. It wasn't pretty.
"Sakura!" A bundle of orange and yellow plowed into her and she cursed heaven above as pain ran through her.
"Naruto! OW!"
He immediately recoiled and sat down next to her. She smiled at him, reassuringly. He hadn't meant to hurt her. The silence between them was so awkward Sakura was basically wishing him away if he wasn't going to say anything.
"I can't believe you're Cobra. The man- ah woman. You! You're like my idol. And it's you. There aren't two masks or anything, right?"
Sakura almost laughed, and was both offended and flattered at the same time.
"You can't say anything to anyone. Basically only you, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi know outside of advisors and other ANBU."
"Have you even seen your bingo book page! You have at least one hundred and five confirmed kills. Confirmed! You're killer with poison and your bounty is crazy. Half the world wants your head! I can't believe it!"
"Stop. That's not what it's about! I don't want to kill people – ugh. You wouldn't get it." Sakura frowned and turned to face the other way. It wasn't about kills or her bounty or infamy. It was about the fact that ever kill she made saved lives. Every time she killed an enemy, several of her allies lived because of it. She didn't kill just to get another number. That was sick.
"I didn't mean to say it like that. You accomplished a lot is what I mean. I didn't realize how much you did for everyone. I mean, some of your missions turned the tide of the war."
Sakura shrugged, but definitely felt a fire burn within her. She was going to fake indifference out of spite, but the pride she felt for saving so many people was immense.
"I guess I did alright."
Naruto leaned back in the chair and propped his hands behind his head. "You really can kick my ass now."
Sakura smiled. "I could your ass before, I don't need to be Cobra to do that."
Naruto laughed, but it was cut short by Kakashi popping into the tent.
"Yo. Good to see you're awake." Sakura's smile turned sheepish as her eyes darted.
"Can we have a moment, Naruto?" Naruto nodded and whisked himself out of the room with a thumbs up to Sakura.
"I know I should have called for back up. I know. But I didn't have time. By the time I knew I needed it there wasn't time and well, I don't know how I ended up-"
Kakashi held up a hand. "We received new information from an informant and I immediately sent a Neji and Naruto to back you up. That isn't what we need to speak about."
Sakura blinked for a moment, surprised, but nodded nonetheless. So, Naruto and Neji were the people who had saved her. She cringed at thinking about having to be saved, but at least she'd been the one to do damage, it wasn't like she was taken hostage.
"Do you want the good news or bad first?"
"Bad."
"Well, Lightening has allied with Stone and Mist." Sakura groaned. They'd sent in someone to try and negotiate apparently it was ineffective. "And, the person sent to negotiate with them was killed. Hence, it's now a war and not police action."
Sakura swore her heart skipped a beat even though she knew it wasn't possible. It had been one of the older diplomats sent. They weren't her favorite, but they certainly didn't deserve that. It could have been any of them, usually countries didn't attack them. It was an act of war. She made mental notes to be more watchful during meetings.
"Hence, we are now setting our sights on Sound. Which is run by two clans which are not always easy to communicate with."
The clans were notorious for being violent and difficult to communicate with. Orochimaru had subdued them some, but one had lived there for centuries and another had immigrated by the Mist village. The immigration had caused substantial tension at first, but apparently, they were collaborating with Orochimaru's absence.
"You are to sent to negotiating with them. Failure is not an option. It would good to note Jugo and Suigetsu will be two of the representatives sent. And they are former companions of Sasuke's."
"Are you implying I need to take Sasuke with?"
The news kept getting worse.
"I'm just saying he may be a vital resource to success-"
"I refuse." Sakura crossed her arms. There were plenty of diplomats available. Five others to be exact, who were fully trained and capable of handling this. It didn't have to be her.
"It's an order. We're not asking. You will be the most effective."
Sakura bit into her lip and sighed, her headache growing more painful with every second. Stress and an awful head injury would do that.
"What's the good news?"
"That will be your last diplomat mission-"
"That's not good news!" Sakura felt her heart drop. Was she being demoted due to getting injured? Had she not had good results? Did one of her treaties fall through?
"You are being promoted to ANBU captain. With this promotion, your participation in ANBU will be made public."
A captain. An ANBU captain. Sakura felt familiar tears prick the edge of her eyes. She had done it. Kakashi was damn right about this being good news.
A/N: I wrote this chapter (at least first half) a little more introspective than most of my chapters. So it was a little different than most of my other writing. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I definitely hope Sakura's development is a little more clear now.
This arc is winding down. There will probably be only two more chapters before we begin the next one (I'm expecting there to be about five-ish arcs?)
Anywho, reviews are greatly appreciated. I churned this guy out pretty fast because I was actually not busy and I felt bad last chapter was so darn short (shortest chapter followed by longest, at least).
Thank you so much for reading! :D
