Summary: Satoko gets to fight against everything except for the thing she actually wants to fight.

The night was long, and I kept waking up every couple of hours with a tight chest and sweaty palms.

All I could think about was how I'd never be ready to take on an actual ninja mission with ninja fighting and ninja techniques, and that even if it didn't happen this time, it'd eventually happen some time, and when that some time comes around, there was a good chance I'd die.

It took every ounce of willpower for me to get out of bed that morning.

And it was a good thing that I did, because for the first time since we became Team 7, Kakashi was actually on time.

"Guess even he wouldn't keep a client waiting," I murmured to my teammates as we all leered at the jounin.

"We should really stop showing up for training at the times he gives us," Sakura huffed.

"All set?" a voice said from behind.

Sakura and I jumped and nodded instinctively, only then realizing that he had pulled a disappear-reappear trick on us.

When did he-?! ...Damn ninjas.

"Introduce yourselves to our clients before we go."

Kakashi guided us towards the caravan, which consisted of a two-wagon train and five members. They seemed to be a rather cheerful bunch overall, but their expressions told me they were all experienced in their business.

"I'm Uzu-"

"Satoko," Sakura interrupted firmly while pulling me back into a headlock, immediately rendering my words into a fit of choked coughs. "I'm Sakura, and this is Sasuke. It's nice to meet you!"

She released me with a light shove and smacked my shoulder.

"What the hell was that for?" I hissed, nudging her with my elbow.

"Did you learn anything from the academy?" she hissed back. "What kind of shinobi gives their full name during a mission? You're not even supposed to do that in our own village! Even civilians know this."

Lay off, man - first time I've heard of this rule. I nodded thoughtfully to myself as I briefly contemplated the reason for it. A reasonable precaution, though.

Pretty fair for a militant village to be wary of any possible moles or spies lingering about in the village, I supposed. I had to wonder, though, if the Hokage really suspected the elderly farmers who make up the majority of a genin's clientele.

I swallowed and laughed nervously. "Sorry, sorry! It was just a slip of the tongue, alright?"

Geez, Protagonist seriously doesn't have anything useful in his memories, does he? I feel like I should already know these supposed ninja basics.

She rolled her eyes and sighed audibly before facing the caravan members when they started to introduce themselves.

One of them was an older teen while the other four were adults. Despite our childish squabble, they seemed amused, or a least not hateful, which was nice. I was worried we'd end up having to escort a group of bitter old geezers. What especially caught my attention was that the adults each carried an instrument - a wooden flute, a pipa, an ocarina that was vaguely pear-shaped, and a lute. They introduced themselves in that order.

"I'm Hanjou, the wagon master, and this is our helper, Tsumi-chan," she said, petting the horse tied to the front wagon.

I frowned.

I hate horses.

"Thanks again for accepting our mission." She was very sincere, with tidy hair and straight posture that gave an air of maturity and charisma. It seemed to make up for what she lacked in height.

"Tomi," the chubby woman next to her said with a smile that made it hard to tell if her eyes were open, especially because they were small and monolid. She reminded me of Chouji in both appearance and demeanour, which could only be taken as a good thing.

"And I'm Sadame. It's a pleasure to meet you all," the third woman greeted with a slight bow. She was the tallest of the three women, with a large bun that indicated significantly long hair. I got the impression that she was the complete opposite of Hanjou - tall and lanky with a reserved personality.

The last person to introduce themselves was a man whose age I couldn't discern by simply looking at him.

"My name is Kanjaku. Thank you for helping us," he said with a deep bow. His voice caught me off guard and made him seem much older than he looked. "You have our deepest gratitude."

"Ah, it's no trouble," Kakashi waved his hand in front of his face, seemingly flustered by the excessive appreciation. "And this is…?"

We turned our attention to the smallest and youngest of the group.

"...I'm Takara. Please take care of me."

She seemed distracted, but had a similar air as Hanjou despite only being at most a couple of years older than us genin. Her posture was relaxed, but she still looked refined, like she knew how to handle herself well. I could easily picture her making cunning deals when making a trade.

I looked at each merchant one by one in order to familiarize myself with them, and for some reason, my stomach twisted into a knot.

Geez… Just looking at them makes me feel like I'm gonna get scammed. Is this mission a scam? What if it's a scam? Man, I hope we're not getting scammed.

My mind was heavy with thoughts on how a mission could even be a scam in the first place when Kakashi gave the order to move out.

Everybody settled into their positions naturally. Hanjou took the reigns while Tomi sat by her side. The other three sat in the back of the second wagon with Sadame in the middle and made themselves comfortable by leaning against the piles of baggage. Meanwhile, Kakashi stationed me and Sasuke at the back while he and Sakura watched the front. We exchanged a brief glare before quickly looking away with a huff.

It was silent, save for our footsteps and the creaking of the wagons. We hadn't even been walking for ten minutes, and already the silence was killing me. I thought I'd be able to chat a bit, but Sakura and Kakashi were too far for a comfortable conversation, and Sasuke was… well, he was Sasuke. I wasn't quite desperate enough to make small-talk with the merchants, either, so I accepted my fate and mostly just stared at Kakashi's back.

Man, the silence is practically begging for somebody to jump outta those bushes and kill me.

I made a face and looked straight ahead.

Yeah, see, this is exactly why I need something to distract me from my thoughts.

There were already many times when I agonized over the loss of portable music, but this right here was especially miserable. The best I could do was sing to myself or try my best to imagine the music in my head, but there were limits to that. Sad, lonely, kinda pathetic limits.

Oh... wait, wait a second.

"Hey, Takara-san," I said, shifting a little closer so I didn't have to speak too loudly. "D'you play any instruments, too?"

"Hm?" She looked up from the flower crown she was weaving and blinked, as if taking a moment to process the question.. "...No, but I sing. Sometimes. ...If I know the song."

Her flustered behaviour took me by surprise. She was apparently much more timid than what she first let on.

"Then let's sing something! Otherwise the walk will be super boring and lame. Which it already is. Because we aren't singing."

"Idiot!" Sakura shouted from the front, now walking backwards just to glare at me while she scolded. "Don't be so bothersome! Who'd wanna sing so early in the morning? It's a long walk, so let them rest!"

"You should keep quiet yourself," Sasuke muttered, immediately silencing our teammate.

"Don't be so rude to her- ow!" I snapped, but was quickly interrupted by a knock on my head. "No fair, you should hit Sasuke, too!"

"You're closer," Kakashi replied. "And louder."

I huffed and rubbed my head, then very childishly tried to jump and hit him on the head, too. He easily swatted my hand away and knocked my head again before going back to his position.

"You shouldn't make so much noise during an escort mission, anyway."

"It's nice that everybody's so lively," Sadame laughed gently. "We take this route often and the risks are minimal, so there's no need to worry."

"Yeah, sing all you want!" Tomi said from the front. "We've been doing this most of our lives and the worst we ever get are petty thieves. Not like we can't handle 'em ourselves by now, either, though the extra line of defense is always appreciated."

"I'm sure the time would pass much more quickly if we had something to do," Kanjaku agreed. "Would that be alright with you, Hatake-san?"

"Maa, if that's what you want," Kakashi answered leisurely, but the fact that he still wasn't reading from his book told me that he wasn't completely letting his guard down.

Then again, it's never quite completely down even when heisreading.

"I know which song," Sadame said, perking up at the notion of playing music. "Ne, your name is Sakura, right?"

"Ah- yes, that's right," Sakura answered, somewhat taken aback by the sudden question.

Without another word, Kanjaku pulled out his lute and began to play a traditional melody. Sadame joined in with her ocarina soon after, and Tomi's pipa could be heard coming from the front. Two bars into the instrumental and a realization hit me.

"Oh! I know this one!" I gasped. I couldn't explain why mine and Protagonist's worlds would share the same music, but the sense of familiarity was reassuring nevertheless.

"Who doesn't know this one?" Sakura huffed, but seemed pleased that they were playing such a relevant song.

Sadame laughed at our exchange before taking a breath, and out came a voice that left a very unexpected impression.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms
In fields and villages
As far as you can see.

I nearly choked, and the way Sasuke's shoulders reflexively tensed up did not go unnoticed.

Oh my god.

Sadame continued, blissfully unaware of the impact her singing had.

Her singing is terrible.

I glanced over to Kakashi, who I could've sworn was slouching more than usual.

She's fucking tone deaf oh my god.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But she looked so happy singing, so who was I to stop her?

The caravan sang song after song, with Sakura eventually warming up to them by joining in as well. We had rotated our positions so she was stationed with me at that back, which meant she got direct musical accompaniment from Sadame and Kanjaku. Too bad the party didn't last very long due to Kakashi being a total buzzkill.

"We're diverging from the main roads soon," he said in a tone that sounded like he was announcing a new law, "it's safer if there's no more singing."

I huffed. "Laaame."

"Would you rather we get attacked?" Sakura retorted as if she wasn't the one singing the loudest two seconds ago.

"Just 'cause it's safe doesn't mean it's not lame!"

"Keeping things safe is our job. If you wanted to have fun, then maybe you should quit being a shinobi," Kakashi said pointedly.

"Fiiiine." I decided to make small-talk with Takara and Sadame instead, since they were on my side of the caravan. "What d'you have in the wagon, anyway?"

"We mostly trade seeds and spices, but this time we've got some wares from Konoha, too," Sadame answered. "Would you like to try some?"

I blinked. "Can I?" I squinted. "...Does it taste good to eat it straight up?"

Sadame reached back to dig through one of the boxes. She pulled out a small jar and handed it to me. "This one's pretty common, so we don't really lose any profit if you try some."

"It's pretty good for when you're craving something but don't have time to eat," Takara added.

Carefully, I shook a tiny amount of spice into my hand and sniffed it, first. It looked kind of like something between black pepper powder and cumin powder in terms of colour, with no discernable scent that could give me an idea of what it might taste like. I gave it a lick and immediately flinched.

It was bitter. And I normally kind of like bitter tastes, but I was expecting something more savoury, so instead it just caught me off guard and I nearly coughed. It looked like it would taste like the seasoning in red pasta sauce, but whatever I just ate definitely didn't taste like that. It didn't really taste like anything, actually.

"It's good," I lied. "I don't think I've ever tried anything like it." That wasn't a lie.

Perfect for when you wanna make the consumer feel like they just ate a piece of a bitter soul.

"Really? It's a local spice. Maybe you have a weak sense of taste," Sadame laughed.

Ah, fuck, she literally just said it was common.

I laughed along to cover my nervousness and reached forward to return the jar, but ended up nearly dropping it during the exchange instead.

"Whoa- sorry, sorry!" I fumbled and managed to get the spice back into Sadame's hands before anything else happened.

"Nothing to worry about," Sadame reassured. "Sakura-chan, would you like to try some?"

"Ah, no, it's alright," she declined politely. "I wouldn't want to take away from your commodities."

I pretended not to see the stare she gave me when she said that and instead asked, "Can I try another one?"

"Satoko!"

"It's fine," Sadame laughed, grabbing another jar.

She was just about to hand it to me when suddenly there was a stifled scream and dust clouded my vision.

"Move!" Kakashi shouted, but his voice suddenly sounded very distant.

Confused and alarmed, I darted my eyes between several sources of movement taking in as much information as I could.

"Get up!"

There was a blur of pink, and I was pretty sure Sakura was pushing someone away from the cart while Sasuke hastily guided the caravan away from the source of the chaos.

"Get up!"

I was in a daze, suddenly unsure of how I was supposed to process what was going on around me.

"Wait, not yet-!"

Are we under attack?

"S-Save me-!"

There was someone wearing a cloth mask over their mouth. I didn't recognize them, but they forcefully pulled Kanjaku away from the wagon and threw him into Sadame. I heard cloth ripping, and shortly afterwards, metal clashing against metal.

"GET UP!"

It finally occurred that the person yelling all this time was Sakura, and only then did I realize that I could see the sky without even looking up.

What the- when did I fall?

"Snap out of it, Satoko!"

I moved without thinking and scrambled to get back onto my feet until somebody helped me up. I was about to thank them until I saw their face and realize that I had no idea who they were.

"Who the fuck arghnmph?!"

A small but strong hand covered my mouth and yanked my head back, forcing my neck to crane out against a cold blade.

Except for some reason, I couldn't quite bring myself to get worried.

I think I just skipped panic and fear and went straight to acceptance.

Once I was immobilized, whoever was grabbing me started giving orders and making demands.

"Nobody move!" Their voice was rather high. I could hear their breath trembling next to my ear. It was rather uncomfortable and kind of annoying, to be honest. "Hand over the wagons and you'll be free to go!"

"Don't worry about these types," Hanjou said in a low voice. "They only know how to bluff."

That'd be a lot more reassuring if I wasn't the one with the knife at her throat.

"Don't test me!" The bandit behind me gave me a violent shake as a form of intimidation.

I tensed instinctively, and my fingers twitched to do something while my brain knew that it was better to do nothing but wait and observe. Oddly enough, it was the first time since the chaos started that I had a chance to assess the situation. I started by analyzing myself.

Despite being held hostage, I noted my heartrate was unusually steady. My arms rested by my side, and my hands were relaxed. My breaths were short, but that was only because the position my neck was in made it hard to breathe. I was starting to fight to keep my eyes open and I wondered if it was due to being short of breath.

"Lower your knife, then we can discuss," Kakashi said with authority. "You'll gain nothing if you hurt her."

I wanted to say something myself, but my mouth felt dry and my tongue felt numb. I got the feeling that even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to pronounce anything coherent.

"We wouldn't lose anything, either," a short-haired bandit said curtly. "Just make it quick and easy and give us what we want."

I scanned the people in my line of sight during their exchange, taking note of everyone's positions, including the five bandits who started the whole thing.

Sakura and Sasuke were to my right. It looked like they were protecting Kanjaku and Sadame from two bandits - one with a ponytail and the other with a bandana tied around their head. Kakashi was by the wagons with Hanjou and Tomi. He was facing three bandits on his own - one with an undercut, one with a mask, and another with an eyepatch. Everybody was currently at a stalemate now that I was a hostage, but despite the tension, I felt at ease.

Maybe it was because the person behind me was feeling nervous?

Wait, how did I even know that?

There was something subconscious about the way I registered the emotions of the person behind me, but when I focused on their presence, I realize that their breaths were shallow and fast, and their grip was shaky and hesitant.

Huh. Maybe I was using Protagonist's instincts.

I didn't have time to think about that at the moment, though, because suddenly the bandits became much more aggressive and pressure was added to the knife on my throat.

"Hurry it up, we don't have all day!"

"Uh, guys," I choked, this time reaching up to grasp at the bandit's arm.

"Kill her if you want. It's a shinobi's job to die for the sake of their village," Kakashi said an empty voice that nearly gave me goosebumps. "I just wonder if it's really worth the trouble."

I locked eyes with Kakashi, silently questioning everything he just said. He stared back with a gaze of certainty, and I suddenly realized that I was hardly in any danger at all.

Oh man, these bandits kinda really suck at what they do.

I realized then that I could break free whenever I wanted, and it wasn't long until both my teammates caught on and added fuel to the fire.

"We'll just take that opening to attack and have you imprisoned for murder instead of attempted theft," Sakura added with an air of nonchalance.

I don't know what they teach at the Academy, but it's definitely a lot more than I ever thought.

"There's no getting off easy for murdering a shinobi. And a child, no less," Sasuke finished with a rather smug expression.

The grip around my neck faltered.

Kakashi's eye flickered to the side.

I yanked the bandit's arm away, and everybody else moved with me.

"Shit-!"

I tightened my grip around the hand with the knife and stomped as hard as I could on the bandit's instep at the same time. They yelped in surprised and pain, but I left no room for them to catch their breath and jabbed their wrist, making them drop the knife. I threw my elbow back into whatever part of their torso I could hit before stumbling away from them.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Get back!"

"Aaagh!"

I could barely register what was going on around me. My focus was entirely on every move and step I made. It all came too naturally, and I was certain that it was because of Protagonist.

I'd hate to think about why self-defence comes so naturally to him.

The knife glistened in the sunlight, and I grabbed the bandit's arm and spun them around before they could even think about picking up the knife again. My body continued to move on its own, and I hit the backs of their knees to force them into the ground and used their jacket to tie their hands behind their back.

I gave the bandit an aggressive shove into the ground before picking up the knife for myself, then took a moment to catch my breath before shaming them.

"Dude, seriously, if you're gonna threaten someone with a knife, at least do it right," I snickered, tapping the blunt edge of the knife against the bandit's head. "Oh man, I can't believe this is how I survived."

I was about to drag the bandit off to the side, but my head pounded and my vision went black for a split second before my legs gave out.

"Oh, whoa, head rush," I groaned, blinking rapidly until the dizziness faded.

"Satoko!" I looked up and vaguely recognized Kanjaku rushing to my side. "Are you alright?"

I nodded slowly and leaned against her for support. "Yeah, just a little tired."

"Oh, would you like to try a bit of one of the spices? They might help wake you up."

I shook my head and stood up. "It's alright, I tried some earlier. I think I just need to take it easy for now."

Kanjaku blinked, but responded with a simple, "Ah, I see."

When I finally looked up, my team was just finishing tying up the other bandits while the others cleaned up anything that spilled during the attack.

"I should go help reload the wagon."

"You go ahead and rest. It's better that we clean up the goods ourselves, anyway," he insisted.

Not feeling the urge to be particularly considerate, I nodded and let him lead me back to the others.

"Poor Tsumi-chan, she's terrified," Sadame cooed, petting the four-legged hellspawn. It whinnied and snorted. I cursed at it in my head.

"Let's take a break to regroup. It's about time for lunch, anyway," Kakashi said, tightening the last knot. "I'll send a message back to Konoha to handle these guys."

He bit his thumb and after a blur of hand seals, slammed his hand onto the ground. There was a puff of smoke and before it even cleared, I already had my arms spread wide open to greet the source of my serotonin rush.

"PUPPIES!"

All seven of them were there, with Pakkun seated on Buru's head as usual. I immediately started shuffling over with the sudden strong desire to befriend them all.

Sakura gasped, startled by their sudden appearance.

"Yo, Kakashi," Pakkun greeted with the voice of an old man.

Sasuke flinched. "It talks."

"Is he a summon?" Sakura asked. "We learned about them in the Academy, but I've never seen one before."

Kakashi nodded. "A number of higher-ranked shinobi have summoning contracts."

"Hey, boy." The pug hopped off and ran over to Sasuke before proudly seating himself at his feet. "I'm not an 'it' - I'm Pakkun."

Sasuke stared at the ninken for a brief moment, looking rather flustered from being confronted by a dog. "Oh. Uh, sorry."

He apologizes to the dog but not his teammates. Of course.

I couldn't be bothered to make fun of him. There were much more pressing matters to attend to, such as petting these puppies and touching their paws.

"I'm Satoko!" I introduced brightly, holding out my hand instinctively.

"Hm? Oh, you three must be Kakashi's pups," Pakkun said, plopping his paw into my hand.

I almost cried.

"D...Dreams do come true…" I sniffed, gently shaking his paw through teary eyes.

Pakkun immediately lit up, and although his expression didn't quite show it, his tail certainly did.

"I like this one," he declared while sniffing my hand. "Hey, you're bleeding."

"What?" I checked my hands and sure enough, there was a long gash across the back of my left hand, not unlike the one Protagonist got during his Wave Mission. "Oh. I didn't realize."

Uncanny.

"It doesn't hurt?" Sakura asked, checking my hand.

I shook my head and wiped away the dripping blood. "Not really. It's not that deep," I said, closely examining the cut.

More like it's already healing. I wonder if being a jinchuuriki increases pain tolerance, too?

"Or you're so scared your entire body's gone numb," Sasuke taunted.

"You wanna go?"

"Stop it! You just barely survived a life or death situation," Sakura scolded fiercely this time, acting more like her usual hot-headed self. Shortly afterwards, however, she sighed, her gaze fixated on the ground. "I wonder if we can handle this sort of mission after all…"

"We were hired to protect them from these types of bandits or gangs, so we'll be continuing the mission," Kakashi said as if he was waiting for the right timing. "Anyway, nice job, you three. Considering it was your first real battle...it could've been worse," he said, giving me a look.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be a hostage," I mumbled, crossing my arms.

"You managed to escape due to their mistake. A shinobi should depend on their skills, not luck."

I slumped my shoulders and nodded.

Hopefully there won'tbea next time.

"In any case, let me clean it. Pakkun, I need you to send a message back to Konoha to pick these guys up. Tell the others to watch over them while we're gone," Kakashi said, nodding towards the bandits. "Sasuke, Sakura, help them reload the caravan. Satoko, show me your hand."

On his orders, everybody nodded and dispersed while I held out my hand.

"Let's meet again soon!" I called out to Pakkun as he left and grinned when he barked back. "I want ninken, too."

"You'll have to be better than this if you want to handle a summon," Kakashi murmured, checking my hand.

"It doesn't hurt," I said truthfully. "And it's already healing, anyway."

His eye flickered up at me at those words, and I looked back with the intent to push the subject. I'd been meaning to confront him about the topic for a while now, but it was hard to be alone with him. I wasn't going to miss my chance while I still had it.

"D'you think it's because of the Kyuubi? It's always been like this, but it's not like I have anybody to compare to." I spoke quietly, and Kakashi remained silent. His hand was tense around mine. "You're a jounin, aren't you? Shouldn't you know something about it? Nobody tells me anything."

The look in his eye was grave, and he wordlessly cleaned and wrapped my wound for a moment before eventually deciding on what to say.

"They don't tell us everything," he said in a way that made it sound like an apology. "How did you know about the Kyuubi?"

"Oh, yeah, some chuunin named Mizuki tried to kill me like, a day before I graduated. He spilled the beans about me being the Demon Fox or whatever which, when I thought about it, explains a lot, actually. It's kinda like, at least the people who bugged me kinda had a reason for it, right?" I laughed sheepishly. "Oh, and also he tried to kill Iruka-sensei."

He paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss of words. Then, he said, "I'm sorry that happened."

I like to think that at least part of that was sincere.

"That rule about not telling me's pretty stupid, too," I sighed, flexing my hand once Kakashi was done bandaging it. "It's kinda like, way to keep me in the dark about half of my existence, right? At least then I'd know why strangers kept giving me a hard time."

I was about to mention Minato and Kushina - in passing without names, of course - but decided that maybe I should save that for another time. Although it didn't seem like it to me, I probably just dropped at least a small bomb on Kakashi by suddenly bringing it up.

His gaze was heavy. Then, he gently patted my wounded hand and stood up straight again.

"Sorry I didn't help you earlier. I got you injured. Still, you were surprisingly calm enough to assess the situation yourself." He smiled with his one eye and gave me a thumbs up. "Good work."

I stared at his thumb and blankly returned the gesture while my mind lingered on his words.

Iwaspretty calm, wasn't I? I dropped my arm, not fully registering that Kakashi had left, but enough so that I wasn't giving a thumbs up to nobody. Maybe I'm better at this ninja stuff than I thought.

"Satoko, hurry up and eat something so we can go," Sakura said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"But I wanna pet the ninken…" I whined, looking towards them as though we were star-crossed lovers. "I don't even know their names!"

"I'll introduce you to them when we have more time," Kakashi said, returning to guide me away from the ninken and towards the wagon. "We're on a schedule."

"That's a promise," I said, holding out my pinky.

I stared at him long and hard with no signs of backing down until he finally sighed and hooked his pinky with mine. I grinned victoriously.

Literally got him wrapped around my finger.

The sun was now disappearing behind the trees, and Kakashi acknowledged it by saying, "Let's look for a place to spend the night."

"I think this area is big enough for the wagons," Kanjaku said once we found a suitable area.

"Haa, my feet are sore." Sakura complained. She sighed in relief as she took a seat by a tree and pulled off her sandals.

"You're pretty free-spirited, huh," Tomi laughed lightheartedly, looking over in her direction.

"Huh?" Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and she tucked her feet in to sit in a more reserved manner. "N-Not really! It's just been a while since I've walked for so long, that's all."

Still not putting the sandals back on, though, I noted silently.

"No kidding," I sighed, plopping down next to her. "I think it'd hurt less to walk on my hands."

"A shinobi shouldn't be complaining about these kinds of things," Kakashi said. I would've called it scolding if not for the fact that he said it with as much motivation as a dead sloth. "Help them feed the horse."

As previously mentioned, with absolute genuine seething hatred and disgust: I hate horses.

So one might guess that I wasn't exactly pleased to be the one approaching the quadrupedal sinner with its bucket of fodder.

"Don't worry, Tsumi-chan here is as gentle as can be," Hanjou reassured.

"It's looking at me funny," I hissed, glaring at its oblong face.

"Her eyes are on the sides of her face. She only looks like she is," Sakura informed from behind me.

"She likes being pet right above the nose," Tomi said. "Give it a try!"

I made a face. "What if it thinks I'm a bandit?"

"It's a useful skill for a shinobi to get along with animals," Kakashi said, gently patting it on its head. "They may turn out to be an invaluable comrade."

Pshaw.I made a face. The day I make a summoning contract with a horse is the day Sasuke forgives his brother.

"I'm sure there're plenty of other animals I can-"

Chomp.

"OW-WHAT THE HELL-"

There was a sudden sharp, tugging pain on my head, and before I could register what was going on, I was pulled off my feet and stumbled back into Satan's fursona.

"WHY ARE YOU BITING ME?!"

"Tsumi-chan, no!" Hanjou scolded, smacking it from behind. "You can't eat that!"

"IT'S RIPPING MY SCALP OFF."

"Satoko, what did you do?" Sakura said, naturally pinning the blame on me.

I was finally released from my captor's merciless grasp and immediately checked my head for any bald spots.

"I didn't do anything! This thing just suddenly decided it wanted to kill me, that's all!"

"She must've thought your hair was food," Tomi tried while failing to hold back her laughter. "Are you alright?"

I didn't mean to ignore Tomi, but my attention was currently drawn towards the suspect of my attempted murder,so I skipped responding to her and went straight to sharply nodding my chin towards the muscular cow.

"You tryin'a pick a fight?!"

Kakashi sighed deeply from the other side of the hairy embodiment of sin. "Satoko."

"You wanna go?!"

"Stop fighting the horse, Satoko."

"Fight me, you minimalist zebra."

"Hey, provoke her like that and she might really do it," Sadame warned. "Tsumi-chan's kicks are no joke!"

"You could say the same about its biting," I grumbled, rubbing my head to ease the throbbing pain that still persisted.

"Maybe if you took better care of it, it'd look less like fodder," Sakura commented rather snootily.

I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from making a very crude insult.

She's a twelve-year-old with self-esteem issues. Twelve-year-old with self-esteem issues. Don't talk shit about the twelve-year-old with self-esteem issues.I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Okay. I got this.

"I'll do what I want with my hair," I finally said in the same tone, and the excitement from the whole incident dissipated.

"Shut up and eat," Sasuke ordered and forced a pack of beef jerky into my hands.

Not a huge fan, but who am I to be picky when my only other option is soldier pills?

I took the pack and grinned. "Aw, are you looking out for me?"

"I'm giving you something to keep your mouth busy," he insisted.

I grinned obnoxiously, but decided to end the teasing there, if only because Kakashi started giving out orders to set up camp.

"Satoko, Sasuke, set up the fire pit. Sakura, go get some firewood."

"What about you?" she huffed, pulling her sandals back on.

"I have to keep watch, of course," the jounin said while pulling out his book as if it weren't a blatant contradiction.

Asshole.

I left Sasuke to set up a barrier of rocks to contain the fire while I went to drag some logs over to sit on. I glanced at the other members in passing to see what they were up to and noticed that Kanjaku was focused intensely on the trees.

What's he looking at?

Now that I thought about it, he always seemed to be looking away from the group. It didn't seem like he knew that I'd already tried the spices, either, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to Sadame.

He must've really been fixated on something to miss that entire exchange.

Curious, I scanned my surroundings to see what might be of interest in the trees. It gave me that bizarre feeling of nostalgia despite the fact that everything was still so foreign. Trees I'd never seen before turned up in my new memories, and I could vaguely recall Protagonist learning about using them as landmarks during the early years of the Academy.

"Kanjaku-san," I said, getting his attention. "Shinobi tend to remember certain things to use as landmarks. I was wondering if merchants use the same technique during their travels?"

"Hm?" He had to take to a moment to realize that I was talking to him and looked rather flustered by the sudden question. "Oh, yes, usually to get an approximation on how far into their travels they've gone. Some landmarks are used for meeting clients or other traders halfway, too."

"Ah." I nodded in understanding, then asked my follow-up question. "Is that why you've been so focused on the trees?"

Kanjaku visibly froze. If he wasn't flustered before, he certainly was now.

He broke the faint tension in the air with a laugh and shook his head. "You're sharper than you look, huh."

"Y'know, I get that a lot lately." I grinned innocently. "So, what's the reason?"

"Your guess was right," he admitted. "Merchants use trees as meeting points for making trades en route. Sometimes clients will prefer that over meeting in the village."

Makes sense, I thought and nodded in understanding.

"Satoko, hurry up," Sasuke called, irritated by my lack of contribution to the firepit.

"Don't you have any sort of patience?" I muttered, leaving Kanjaku behind as I dragged a log over. "It's not like we can do much until Sakura-chan gets back with the firewood, anyway."

"I'm back!"

"...Damn it."

Campfires were great, even if they were in the middle of a country that was technically foreign to me and I was mostly accompanied by total strangers. Since we were resting, the caravan played their instruments and sang songs while we made congee with dried meat and some of the spices that weren't for trading. It was simple, but it was comforting and easy on the stomach, which was definitely appreciated after the day we had.

"Here, have some tea with it, too," Kanjaku said, offering the pot. "It'll help calm your nerves."

"Thanks." I blew on it before taking a sip, but immediately paused before I swallowed.

It tastes like the spice Sadame gave me.

There was a knot twisting in my stomach, and although I wasn't exactly sure why, my gut was telling me not to swallow. Silently, I dribbled the tea back into the cup and made sure nobody was watching before dumping it in the grass behind me.

"Are you feeling better?" Takara asked, suddenly taking a seat next to me with a cup of tea of her own. "You looked tired after we got attacked. Cheerful, but tired."

I nodded and grinned to myself, casually arranging my hands to cover the suspiciously empty cup. "Puppies make everything better."

"I agree."

"You guys should consider getting dogs. Dogs are cute and friendly."

"Horses are, too."

I made a face and shook my head. "Nah."

"Tsumi-chan is very gentle.

I made even more of a face. "Do you not remember the time it literally tried to eat me?"

Takara laughed quietly, modestly covering her mouth as she did so. "She was just hungry."

"See, now you're just proving my point," I said, side-eyeing her. "Hey, are you cold? You're shivering."

Either she was hiding it before or I was just really unobservant, but her shoulders were trembling and she was holding her hands between her thighs to keep them warm.

"Not really, I'm alright," she insisted, but I was already taking off the red muffler I kept around my waist so I could give it to her.

"Here, wear this."

"Won't you be cold, then?"

I shook my head and set it on her lap. "I've got thick skin."

And still a Canadian at heart. Night chills can kiss my frosty ass.

Still with a bit of hesitance, Takara accepted the muffler with a smile. "Thanks, I'll return it in the morning."

"It's about t-"

"AH!"

I immediately tensed up while Takara just about nearly fainted. I glanced back and gave Kakashi a disapproving look while shaking my head.

"Y'gotta stop sneaking up on on people, old man."

"...Sorry," he apologized sheepishly as he helped Takara stabilize herself.

"N-No, I apologize, I'm just a bit on edge," she said bowing her head.

"That's understandable." Kakashi gave her a reassuring pat on the back before addressing me. "As I was saying, it's about time we all get some sleep. The three of you will stand guard, first. I'll stay with you guys for the first hour so you get the hang of it."

"Well that's uncharacteristically thoughtful of you."

This time, he was the one giving me a disapproving look. "Let's go. Takara-san, please make yourself comfortable. There'll be someone on guard all night, so there's no need to worry."

Which was true for the first half hour, but when the caravan members started drifting off to sleep, it looked like my teammates were, too.

"Sensei…" Sakura yawned, nodding her head. "I...I'm sorry, but I suddenly feel really tired…"

"I don't…" Sasuke drawled, looking just as tired, "Something...isn't right."

Panic struck like a bolt of lightning, and only then did I remember that I forgot to mention something incredibly important.

"The tea," I whispered, but the realization had come too late.

Just as I was about to warn my teammates, a kunai whizzed past my cheek and nearly took my ear off. It was that exact moment when I knew that whatever the mission was really about, nothing could've prepared me for what was to come.

Author's note: hey consider keeping me company on tumblr! My url is youridiotwriter and sometimes I post extra stuff for SATOKO (there will be many extra stuff for this chapter probably) and also write original fics about dead assholes who just keep on dying.