Kabuto and Sakura reached the training grounds after finishing of their food. Kabuto was being quite friendly towards Sakura however, she knew different than to trust him. She thought that her best plan of action is to make it out like she knows nothing more than Kabuto's name and specialty.
"Okay," Kabuto stretched out before taking his place on the training ground. "I'll be a gentleman and allow you to make the first hit."
"You sure? You might just regret saying that." Sakura retorted as she clicked her neck. Sakura placed herself a few feet away from Kabuto.
He nodded confidently as he straightened his stance.
Sakura wasted no time in darting towards Kabuto, rearing her fist to punch him. Kabuto seemed to disappear. Sakura quickly analysed her surroundings as she turned around. She couldn't see him anywhere so she decided to punch the ground.
Unsurprisingly to Sakura, Kabuto was hidden underground. The rubble flew wildly as Sakura ran towards Kabuto again, preparing another punch.
Kabuto gritted his teeth before jumping out the way. Sakura started her barrage of punches and kicks, which Kabuto barely dodged.
Without realising, Sakura changed her punches into swipes as she infused her hand with chakra, making them into scalpel blades.
"What!?" Kabuto grunted in confusion as Sakura was using an attack he'd only recently made up. Deciding to get serious, Kabuto infused his palm with chakra as he grabbed Sakura's wrist. He swiftly hit Sakura's chest, making her cough for breath.
"Ugh…" Sakura muttered out loud, her body already trying to negate Kabuto's physical attack to her lungs.
"Where did you learn that? That's my technique." Kabuto questioned. Sakura's eyes widened slightly. She couldn't think of an excuse.
"Alright. I guess it's time I introduced myself to you." A new shinobi behind an ANBU mask, resembling a cat, entered the field. "I suggest you let the little lady go." She spoke. Kabuto reluctantly complied and Sakura stumbled back slightly while letting out a huge sigh of relief.
"I don't recognise you." Kabuto spoke. Sakura looked at Kabuto's stern expression briefly before following his line of sight.
"Yeah…come to think of it. I've never seen you in the ANBU task force." Sakura agreed. The lady behind the mask giggled before holding her hands up in defeat.
"It's true, I'm not a member of the ANBU." She confirmed.
"Then why do you have the ANBU mark branded on your arm?" Kabuto continued to question.
"I like to pretend…Plus, it's easy to use your chakra to make permanent marks once you know how it's done." She replied. Sakura held her hands on her hips.
"Isn't that...Like illegal or something?" Sakura cautiously asked, not sure the laws on faking belonging to a faction.
"Nope. If anything, I'm just a bigger target for enemies, they think I'm ANBU and I get a better challenge." She replied nonchalantly while walking closer to the two. Sakura started to remember things of this ninja…but she couldn't quite think of where she saw this kunoichi in her previous life.
"What rank are you?" Kabuto questioned further before the lady reached him.
"Genin, I'm to be a part of your team in the Chunin Exams." She started before removing her mask to reveal bright green eyes, rivalling Sakura's own. "You can call me Haiyaku."
Sakura frowned as the memory returned to her thoughts. Sakura had to try and save this ninja with Tsunade before during her training as she had fallen in battle.
A new shinobi entered the hospital on a bed. The medics, including Shizune, were rushing her to the room Sakura and Tsunade was in.
"Tsunade!" Shizune spoke loud, snapping the two's attention onto her. "Haiyaku encountered the Akatsuki, and she is dying and I-" tears were spilling down Shizune's pale face.
"Leave it to me. Come, Sakura." Tsunade interrupted before moving the bed in between her and Sakura. the other medics left the room. "You should leave too, Shizune." Tsunade continued. Shizune nodded before slowly leaving the room. "Okay." Tsunade said as she hovered her hands over Haiyaku's body. "She's sustained quite a lot of poison damage, and burns…this will be very difficult but it's possible." Tsunade started to mutter off to herself.
"Sakura, I'd like you to get me a bowl of sterilised water and an empty bowl, now." Tsunade ordered. Sakura complied instantly before rushing to get the required items.
"It's useless, Tsunade-sama." Haiyaku sputtered. Tsunade looked down at her with a fierce expression.
"Don't speak, you're only going to accelerate your death."
"It's okay, I know when nothing can be done…and in this case, nothing can be. You know that yourself Tsunade." She continues, blood pouring down the sides of her mouth. "I was told that I only had three days to live and I'm on my fourth…this poison is beyond even myself…so this is inevitable." Tsunade stopped healing Haiyaku.
"Lady Tsunade?!" Sakura spoke aloud. Tsunade shot a glare in her direction, making Sakura flinch.
"I have a bit of information for you though, before I pass." Haiyaku said before erupting in a fit of coughing, blood coming out from every wound that was on her body. "The Akatsuki are planning to attack soon…and Kabuto has some sort of link to them…That's all I found out." She said before tears formed in her eyes. "God, I wish I was stronger…I wish I could've found out more…to see Kakashi one last time." Haiyaku muttered before life started to escape her face. "I'm…Sorry I failed you."
"You didn't!" Tsunade barked just after Haiyaku died. Sakura stood in silence as Tsunade tensed up.
"I heard that someone collected intel on the Akatsuki…Anything I can benefit from?" Kakashi suddenly spoke as he walked into the room. An overwhelming feeling of sadness hit Sakura as she rushed over to Haiyaku to close her eyes.
"Oh." Kakashi spoke, making Tsunade's eyes grow red.
"Do you know this woman, Kakashi?" Sakura questioned. Kakashi nodded slightly before walking to the bed.
"We did a few missions together…before I became a sensei." Kakashi replied taking in the view. Sakura frowned as she started to cry for Haiyaku.
'Her last wish was to see Kakashi…but he didn't come on time…as usual' Sakura thought to herself, subconsciously frowning at her thought.
"Okay…Haiyaku," Kabuto spoke, snapping Sakura out of her daydream. "We were in the middle of training."
"Actually, the Hokage sent me here to collect you both, we have a mission to tend to." Haiyaku spoke as she attached her ANBU mask on the back of her pouch. "No time to waste, he's quite impatient at the moment. We can learn about each other as we carry out the mission."
She darted off in the direction of the Hokage tower, Sakura following close behind. Kabuto hesitated before going after the two.
"So, I've heard that you're quite the talented young kunoichi." Haiyaku started to make conversation, making Sakura's heart feel warm.
"Yeah, I take a lot of interest in Tsunade's teachings. I've trained very hard to reach this point…How about you? What kind of jutsu's can you do?" Sakura questioned back, genuinely wanting to know what her new teammate was capable of.
"Well. I trained under a highly skilled Poison specialist. So, I can concoct the deadliest of poisons within seconds, I like to fight with my two swords here." She spoke as she used her two thumbs to point at the swords on her back. "And I have a little interest in puppet jutsu…I'm not good at it though, at best I can attach strings to my enemy and make them move slightly." Haiyaku spoke on. Kabuto didn't care to listen to what she was saying.
"Poison specialist? You couldn't mean Shizune, could you?" Sakura spoke, again not putting a filter to the amount of knowledge she has.
Haiyaku raised an eyebrow at Sakura.
"You're correct. I'm surprised you know of her." Haiyaku spoke as she looked over at Sakura suspiciously.
"Hey! You gonna pay for my stock you just ruined?!" A shop owner shouted after the three ninja just after Haiyaku had accidentally knocked over a stand of fresh fruit.
"Oh jeez…I'm sorry mister." Haiyaku spoke as she picked up the fruit that had fallen on the ground. She rushed to place the fruit in the correct places but it was taking a long time, making Kabuto sigh with impatience.
"Let me help you." Kakashi spoke as he'd walked onto the scene with Itachi. Sakura eagerly waited for Kakashi to recognise the girl he was helping but he didn't look up once to see Haiyaku.
"Ah, Thank you very much! I can be a bit clumsy." Haiyaku spoke, her voice shaking audibly. Sakura frowned before walking over to Kakashi and Haiyaku.
"This girl has an ANBU mask." Sakura spoke out loud, making Haiyaku flinch before covering Sakura's mouth.
"YEP! That's true, but I already told you that it was from the stool and that I'm not really a member of the ANBU task force." Haiyaku sang as she furrowed her brows and looked down at Sakura.
"You've got the ANBU symbol branded on your skin." Itachi stated monotonously. Kakashi finally took a look at Haiyaku and his eye wrinkled up in slight happiness.
"Oh! It's you Haiyaku." Kakashi spoke. Haiyaku's cheeks dusted themselves in a generous pink shade as she let Sakura go.
"Hi, Kakashi." She spoke sweetly. Sakura smiled and rested one of her hands on her hip before walking over to Itachi.
"Were you one of the members to attack her before?" Sakura whispered to him. Itachi merely looked down at her and shook his head.
"I don't recognise this woman." Itachi spoke loudly, causing Haiyaku to frown.
"I don't expect you to remember fully, Itachi, but I was in the same class as you…you just graduated early." Haiyaku stropped. Itachi showed no hints of regret with what he said as he brushed Haiyaku's comment off.
"We need to reach the tower. The Hokage is waiting for us." Kabuto snapped everyone's attention on him. Kabuto nearly flinched as Sakura, Itachi and Kakashi gave him a cold look. He gave them a glare back in defence.
"I'll see you later Kakashi! Maybe we could grab lunch once I return from my mission!" Haiyaku chirped before walking off. Kakashi sighed quietly before looking down at Sakura.
"I'll see you…later." Sakura spoke gloomily. She briefly glanced from Kakashi to Itachi before walking to her new team.
It took two minutes for them to reach the Hokage's office.
"Ah, you're finally here." The Hokage spoke as the three lined up in front of his desk. "This will be classified as a 'B' ranked mission." He informed before pulling out a scroll and reading from it. "I'd like you to visit the village hidden in the sand and deliver these weapons." He pointed to three hefty bag of weapons.
"The fact it's a B-ranked mission makes me slightly nervous…considering all of us here are Genin." Kabuto spoke out, making the Hokage hesitate slightly.
"I trust in your teams' ability to complete this mission safely." He replied calmly. "Once you're ready, I'd like you to leave the village as soon as possible. The weapons are to be delivered to the Kazekage." Haiyaku and Sakura nodded in agreement before walking over to the bags.
"This won't take us too long Geezer!" Haiyaku joked playfully before the three exited the Hokage's office.
A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please review :3