Another First Time
Chapter 10: When You Read Between the Lines
Sakura woke slowly, feeling delightfully warm and comfortable. There was something oh-so-soft-and-warm-and-pleasant-smelling beside her, and she didn't want to move.
Waitwaitwaitwaitwait.
Soft, warm, and pleasant-smelling?
Sakura gave an eep and sat straight up, clutching the folds of her yukata together tightly. To her side, Sai slumbered on, unbothered by her little episode.
Sakura's cheeks grew flushed as she realized that, in her sleep, she had practically flung herself onto him, her body instinctively moving her closer to the warmth and scent that teased her senses. Willing herself to calm her racing heart and cool her raging blush, Sakura got up carefully and walked to the bathroom, drawing up a basinful of cold water to splash her face with.
Mere seconds later, a faint pop told Sakura had one of Sai's ink clones had picked up on a presence near their room, and she hurriedly henged back into Kanako while she felt Sai, who had apparently woken up the moment the ink clone had appeared, do the same.
She practically dove under the covers and the two pretended to be asleep, just as the door slid open quietly and the elderly female servant came in. Walking over to Sakura's side, she gently shook her lady and murmured, "Kanako-sama, it is time to wake up."
Unsure of how Kanako tended to wake up, Sakura settled for sighing softly and fluttering her eyelids open. The performance seemed to have been satisfactory, as she was greeted with a smile and a "good morning, my lady".
In twenty minutes, Sakura was completely dressed, courtesy of Mara, and Sai had "gotten up" and received a "good morning, my lord," from the gray-haired servant.
Breakfast was less tense and more lighthearted than the previous evening's dinner – Sai and Sakura both had a better understanding of how they should appear in front of the servants. Sakura and Junko had began chatting animatedly, with Junko leading the conversation to make sure Sakura wouldn't say anything out of character. Sakura was beginning to take a real liking to the daimyo's younger sister – Junko was a lively young woman, full of her own ideas and thoughts. The kunoichi didn't understand how the daimyo could have possibly left behind his sister.
However, the morning meal was over much too quickly and Junko had been whisked away for lessons of some sort. Why a competent nineteen-year-old woman would need further lessons, Sakura didn't know. Sai and Sakura themselves were directed back to the study, where the two began working.
Sakura was surprised to find that Kanako actually had her own part to play in running the household – the woman was apparently in charge of managing the household accounts. This was something Junko had casually commented upon during breakfast, so Sakura was surprised when the leather-bound accounting book was placed in front of her.
Knowing there wasn't much she and Sai could do while Mara, who seemed to be always within a five-meter diameter of Sakura, was in the room, Sakura simply lost herself within the numbers and figures of the book. It was soothing work, requiring not much of her concentration, as math had always been one of Sakura's relatively stronger points – paying attention at the Academy had paid off quite nicely for her. She had been one of the only Konoha rookies who managed to finish the written part of the Chuunin exam without cheating.
Meanwhile, Sai was sitting near her, trying to look like he was working when in reality, he was thinking hard about the information he had gotten his hands on the day before.
A sharp knock on the heavy wooden door broke the mundane quiet and all three people in the room looked up. Sai cleared his throat and called out, "Come in."
Izashi approached the desk and bowed to Sai and then Sakura, who gave him a small smile in return while Sai just looked disinterested. Turning back to Sai, Izashi said, "My lord, a merchant couple have just arrived and are asking for your presence – they have brought what was written in that trading offer yesterday. Would you like to see them now?"
Sakura threw a quick glance in Sai's direction, wondering what he would do. Sai seemed to think for a moment and then stood up, saying, "Yes, I will see them now." Turning to Sakura, he said, "Kanako, I shall be back soon."
"Yes, my lord," Sakura replied, smiling up at him. Without another word, Sai and Izashi swept out of the room.
Sakura bent back down to her work, but all the while her mind was pondering something else. She didn't know if it was just her eyes, but it seemed that the daimyo's – Sai's – eyes had softened for just a moment when he had said he would be back soon.
Sai could hardly believe his eyes – there, in front of him, dropped into low bows, were none other than Yamanaka Ino and her boyfriend – the one whose name Sai could not quite remember. It was a testament to his self-control that he didn't start at their appearance.
When they rose from their positions, Sai saw a mischievous twinkle in Ino's eye – the blond girl was loving every minute of this charade, he was sure. The man – his name was Izumo, Sai just remembered – said, "Daimyo-sama, my wife and I have brought the items we wish to trade you."
"I see," Sai replied. "What exactly are these items you speak of?"
"Rick silks and embroidered fabrics from the country of Wind," Izumo answered. It was then that Sai noticed the civilian clothing the duo was wearing were reminiscent of the clothing he had seen in the Hidden Sand – light, airy, with head coverings.
"Is that so? Well, I am certain Kanako has more expertise that I do in this area," Sai lightly replied. Turning to Izashi, he ordered, "Bring Kanako here – I am sure she would like to see the fabric for herself."
After the servant departed, Sai turned back to Ino and Izumo. The latter had nodded to two men at the back, who left and promptly returned with two huge lacquered boxes, stacking them to the trio's side.
Sakura walked in with Mara trailing behind her five minutes later. Sai saw the barely perceptible eye-widening that Sakura exhibited at Ino's appearance, but found himself proud that she did not display any other outward signs of recognition.
Ino and Izumo both bowed again, and Sakura herself dropped into a small bow, giving them both smiles.
"Come, Kanako," Sai said, lifting a hand to guide Sakura closer to him. "I want you to see these for yourself."
The box opened to reveal bolts and bolts of thick, heavy silks, lightweight chiffons, and many other different fabrics. Sai couldn't help but wonder where the Godaime got all the money to buy the stuff inside the box. But then again, she was the Godaime, so it was certain that she was able to pull some strings along the way.
"These are of a very high quality, and should last long," Sakura murmured, leaning down to finger the contents of the box.
"Yes, my lady," Ino nodded. "Clothes made from this heavier silk is best suited for winter weather, or everyday wear. Clothes made from the more delicate silks and chiffon are excellent for large events, galas, meetings, and the like."
"Hm…Junko's wedding is coming up, is it not? Perhaps you should ready your wardrobe now, Kanako," Sai said, turning his gaze from the box to Sakura.
"Yes, that would be good – it will be one less thing to worry about," Sakura agreed, finally standing up.
There was a scroll hidden within the bolts of cloth.
Sakura was now looking for an opportunity to get the four of them alone to speak freely.
Izumo and Ino both seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as the taller shinobi said, "Perhaps my wife should get your measurements now, my lady? We can plan and design your attire now, and we will get it completed and sent to you before the wedding."
Ino nodded enthusiastically, playing the part of an eager merchant wife quite nicely. Sakura pretended to ponder for a moment, and then said, "That would be very convenient."
"Please, is there a private area in which we can get your measurements?" Ino asked, while Izumo packed the boxes back up and lifted them up.
"Of course," Sakura answered. Turning to Mara, she said, "Please also tell Junko of this, and get her measurements for clothes as well. After she is married, she will need a different wardrobe of clothing."
Mara bowed and scurried off to find the other lady of the house while other servants led the way to an empty room in Kanako's wing.
Finally left alone in the deserted wing, Sakura hastily dropped her henge and launched herself at Ino, who seemed to be equally enthusiastic. Sai, who had also dropped his henge by this time, looked at Izumo, who seemed to have an slightly exasperated, albeit affectionate look on his face. Sai empathized with the man – the two females were both best friends and worst enemies, so it was often difficult for the duo's friends to please both of them. Yet when they were friendly with each other, it often brought smiles upon people's faces – the two giggly females were a refreshing change of scene, especially in a shinobi village where laughter was a luxury that not many could afford.
"Oh my gosh, Sakura!" Ino squealed, pulling back to take a good luck at her friend. "Your kimono is gorgeous!"
Sakura laughed – a genuine one. "Yes, and it's not mine."
Ino huffed and replied, "Whatever, at least you get to wear it."
Sai cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Sakura, who understood his gaze as a warning to focus on their task at hand.
"Right," Ino said. "From now on, we're going to be your link to Konoha. He and I will be visiting from time to time under the guise of selling you fabrics. Now that you agreed to the plan to make your clothes for the wedding, we have even more excuses to visit."
Izumo nodded and continued, "The scroll inside the box is from Hokage-sama. They are likely instructions or something of that sort."
"I see. Thank you," Sakura smiled, rummaging through the box to get her hands on the scroll.
"Also, Ino is going to be doing reconnaissance missions for the purpose of helping you find more information about the attack the daimyo keeps going on about," Izumo added.
Sakura looked up, surprised. It had been quite a while since Ino had accepted any missions, being too tied up with Academy work to have time to.
Ino scowled and explained, "Hokage-sama said that since I haven't taken any missions for the good part of a year, I have to start again. Something about me being on active duty yet not really being on active duty. But anyways, it was either this or guarding the daimyo and his wife. Which basically means playing the part of servant, which I am not going to do."
Izumo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while Sakura laughed yet again – it was just so Ino to say something like that.
"And that's totally messed up! But what I'm really mad about is that I can't see my class while I'm on the mission," Ino growled. "I miss those kids already! And I keep worrying because the supply doesn't know the kids as well as I do and won't be able to accommodate for each of their needs, and…"
It was then that Sai tuned out completely – it was obvious Ino was on another one of her rants. Turning to the scroll, Sai broke the seal and scanned its contents – if the Hokage wanted a reply, it was best to send it along with Ino and Izumo. Closing up the scroll, Sai summoned a clone, who appeared along with a blank scroll, ink, and a brush. Tsunade had wanted Sai to report what they had found out already, and also instructed them to tell Ino what they knew already.
"…yeah, and so I was asking him when we would have kids…"
Sai looked up just in time to see the "it-better-not-be-in-the-near future" flashing through Izumo's eyes, and couldn't help but smile slightly.
All too soon, or so it seemed to Sakura, Ino and Izumo had to leave, bringing with them Sai's response scroll to the Hokage, as well as the heavy lacquered boxes. With them they also took Junko's measurements, but Sakura knew it was highly unlikely that Junko would ever get the clothes. Of course, the household didn't have to know about that. Yet.
All was dark in the Takahashi household – everyone was back in their rooms sleeping. The only things Sakura could hear were the occasional owl hoots and Sai's quiet breathing beside her.
It should have been a relaxing atmosphere to fall asleep in, but somehow, Sakura just couldn't close her eyes. There was something in her gut that was making her jumpy. It was like her intuition was running overtime, telling her that something was up. She tossed and turned, trying to get rid of the feeling.
A strong hand grasped her firmly on the waist to stop her from moving.
"Ugly, stop rolling around."
"Sorry," Sakura apologized. "I couldn't sleep."
"What's wrong?" Sai asked. It was uncharacteristic of her to be this awake at night – Sakura was quite the deep sleeper, second only to Naruto, something Sai had learned on their missions together.
"It's just…" Sakura struggled to find the right words. "Call it my female intuition, but something's up. I just know something's going to go wrong."
Sai didn't question her further, but merely said, "Don't worry about it. Go to sleep."
Sakura closed her eyes but still found herself worrying, even after Sai's words. She rolled over, turning her body towards him. She found comfort in the fact that she could just about feel his breath on her cheek.
Neither of them drew attention to the fact that his hand was still resting on her waist.
Sakura frowned down at the figures staring up at her. Or rather, the line crossing through a hefty sum on the page. Looking up through her dark bangs, she saw Mara sitting serenely beside the table, helping her organize her completed work. Coughing softly, Sakura said, "Mara-san, would you please brew up a pot of tea for us?"
Said woman got up and bowed, bustling out to do her mistress' bidding.
Satisfied that the servant was out of hearing range, Sakura turned to the man beside her and asked, "Sai, do you know why this was crossed out so violently?"
Her perfectly manicured nail pointed to a spot on the page that had documented three different expenses – all pricey and paid in full. The last one had several thick black lines crossed through it, as if the order to spend that sum was revoked.
Turning from his own work to hers, Sai skimmed through the information.
"Well, it is dated about a week and a half before our mission started," Sai began. Sakura's frown deepened as she replied, "But why would they buy something so expensive just before they knew they were going to leave? I mean, that's not very…smart, is it?"
"No, I suppose not," Sai mused. "But I think we can safely assume that this line was drawn in a moment of strong emotion – it is rough and ink is spattered around the edges."
"A moment of strong emotion?" Sakura asked, not quite understanding what he meant.
"Like, when you're angry, don't you take it out on Naruto or me?" Sai asked. "And you're less coordinated and are more prone to make mistakes."
"You mean, like whoever did this likely did it when they weren't quite in control of their emotions, resulting in the messy line," Sakura said, lightly fingering the black ink on the page.
"That's right. Took you a while, Ugly," Sai lightly replied. Sakura replied with a swift smack to his head.
"And based on the thickness of the line," Sai continued, "it is one of daimyo's ink brushes, as Kanako-san uses ink pens with metal nibs."
"So that means something must have ticked the daimyo off enough to make a screwed-up line in this book." Sakura raised an eyebrow. "That sounds rather childish, doesn't it?"
"Perhaps…" Sai slowly said. His mind was swiftly running through scenarios and explanations – after all, this might be a clue of some sort.
Sakura's eyes suddenly lit up and her mouth formed the shape of an 'o'.
"What is it?" Sai asked.
"These numbers," Sakura whispered, pointing to the figures, "I've seen them before. In the mission office, in the Hokage Tower."
Sai frowned, not catching on to what she was saying.
"Being the Hokage's apprentice, I helped her accept commissions and assign missions when she was unable to do so herself," Sakura continued. "These are the figures for an A-rank escort mission!"
"An escort mission?" Sai asked. "But why would the daimyo commission an A-rank for the escort to and from Konoha? They had been provided with chuunins, not jounins, which must have meant that it was at most, a B-rank escort. "
"Look down here – this is the price of a chuunin escort, which would be B-ranked," Sakura pointed to another spot further down the sheet. "And this one has three figures too, with a line slashed through the last one."
"An A-rank escort and a B-rank escort? How does that all tie in?" Sai thought out loud.
As the pieces fell in slowly, Sai began talking. "Could it be that…the B-ranked one really is the escort that they had, but the A-rank was something different. Like…the daimyo and his wife were the ones to approach Hokage-sama regarding our placement here. They had to have paid for it first, so this might be it…but why would it be put under an escort mission?"
"Because we never label impersonation and espionage missions as impersonation and espionage!" Sakura replied, comprehension dawning in her eyes.
At Sai's raised eyebrows, she rolled her eyes – he obviously had not experience in the more administrative side of being a chuunin. She wasn't even sure he had been a chuunin for very long.
"Espionage missions are always labeled as either escort missions or D-ranked missions," Sakura explained. "It's dangerous for our shinobi if it showed on their records that they had done espionage missions before. And it's also bad for inter-country relations – it could be concrete proof that our country had done snooping on theirs. Of course, we all know that the countries keep tabs on each other, but when it's on paper it's all the more official, all the more real."
"So even though the mission rank is the same, the mission title would be changed?" Sai asked, completely new to this concept – true to Sakura's guess, Sai had only spent the good part of month being a chuunin, and that was only because the jounin exams didn't take place until later.
"Exactly!" Sakura said. "This proves that the A-rank is what we're doing now, and the B-rank was the escort that brought us here."
"Then, it would be reasonable to assume that the line crossing the third set of figures out means that Junko-san got erased from the equation," Sai said. Sakura paused, looking at the page. It made sense to her, then.
"I suppose so," Sakura slowly answered. "But why? If he had originally wanted her to be kept safe too…what made her expendable? And in such a short period of time?"
"As to that, I have no idea," Sai admitted. "But I do find it strange that the date of the actual mission written along with other information here was supposed to be two weeks after we arrived. As in, this mission shouldn't have happened yet, at least not when we actually started it."
"Oh yeah…" Sakura breathed. "The dates here, on the escort mission as well as the A-rank don't match up with the date of our departure…"
"Perhaps that was why Hokage-sama looked so frazzled when she summoned us? The daimyo probably suddenly told her to change the date," Sai surmised.
"That would make sense," Sakura agreed. "Shishou hates it when people change things last minute."
"But why?" Sai continued. "We've figured out everything, but we still don't have a motive. Why would there be so many last minute changes?"
"Do you think Junko-san might have the answers?" Sakura asked, turning back to Sai.
"Probably, but they may be too personal for her to just tell us, don't you think? She seemed like a pretty open person, so this must be something that is of a more personal nature," Sai guessed.
"Well…" Sakura hesitated. "There is a way that we can find out more about Junko without her knowing."
Putting down the leather-bound volume gingerly in her lap, Sakura made several hand seals in quick succession.
"You know what to do," Sakura quietly told her clone. The shadow clone darted out the open window and disappeared.
"You following her," Sai stated. Sakura nodded and replied, "That way we can gain more knowledge about her – stuff that she still hasn't revealed to us. Habits, what she does when she's alone – things like that."
Sai seemed to agree, and both people settled back into their seats as Mara came in, bearing a pot of steaming and fragrant tea.
Well, we've figured out one thing together, but this still brings us no closer to the truth, Sakura internally mused. If anything, this is just like some soap opera – the dark secrets kept within a large family. I cannot believe I got reduced to being intrigued by what might be family politics…
a/n: zomg aren't you PROUD of me? I've managed to get this chapter out ON TIME!!!!!! EXACTLY ONE WEEK!!!!! So kudos to my beautiful beta Silver Matter for sending it back so promptly :D And I have to admit, this was a filler chapter, but it sets the stage for important events to come. So I hope you all paid attention! Virtual cookies to everyone who guesses correctly what happens next (and yes, there IS sufficient info for you to guess what's going on!).
Yay for fluff! It's slowly building! yay! But I do have to warn you guys - this fic is NOT going to be something that's blatantly romantic. There'll be a series of one-shots revolving around this story that WILL have more romance in in. But this one is going to be more plot-oriented. Because I need a change from all the sappy romances that I love writing. :)
Enjoy, and please drop me a note telling me how you liked (or disliked) it!