"Hide!" whisper-shouted Sasuke to Kanari.
"But Himitsu, if it's a shinobi, they probably already know that I'm here," Kanari whispered back.
"But what if it isn't a shinobi," Sasuke whispered.
Kanari must have thought that was a good point and quickly found a spot on the other side of the bed, not immediately visible to anyone entering the room.
Sasuke made sure he was completely composed before opening the door to the outside. What he saw there caused him to take a step back.
"Hello….Himitsu, was it?" said the beautiful lady knocking on the door. It was the Mizukage.
"Uh, yeah," said Sasuke. He had not been expecting this, that was for sure.
Mei entered the room and sat down in the first chair she came across – luckily for Kanari, it was still by the door so she was able to remain hidden.
"Tell me, Himitsu. How is the mission going?" she asked.
"I'm not sure why you needed to come all the way here to ask me. It has not been fulfilled yet," Sasuke answered. "But then again, it hasn't even been a day since I left Mist…I haven't had a chance…"
"You can come out now, Kanari," Mei said aloud. She obviously already knew she was there. She turned her attention to Sasuke. "I didn't come alone. I have a few other shinobi with me. They have been monitoring your progress ever since you left the village."
"What?!" exclaimed Sasuke. "You didn't trust me after all?"
"No, that wasn't it," Mei replied. "I trusted you. I was simply curious as to how you would handle a situation such as this. No matter what your decision, you have already shown yourself to be a fine shinobi."
"I'm afraid I don't understand," said Sasuke.
"Kanari, are you going to come out now?" Mei shouted aloud again. "What is laying there on the floor behind the bed going to accomplish."
"I'm just….listening," she said softly. Kanari must have been feeling a little uneasy given the current circumstances as well.
"Fair enough," said Mei. "First of all, this is Sasuke Uchiha, not Himitsu. He is a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf and he was given a mission to eliminate you. You have been plotting against me, haven't you?"
Kanari turned bright pink in frustration. She had been caught red-handed as it were. Perhaps if she denied it, her sister would believe her.
"…and don't try to deny it. My shinobi have already captured your comrades…what was it? Ten missing-nin?" added Mei.
"Damn," Kanari muttered under her breath.
"So what are you going to do to me?" asked Kanari. "Did you want this shinobi to kill me right here in front of you then?"
Mei confidently turned back to Sasuke. "If you had killed her, you would have successfully completed your mission. However, I wanted to see if it would be that simple for you…and as I thought, I was right. You tried to convince her to stand down."
"I'm sorry," said Sasuke. "I may have disobeyed orders, but having been through something so similar myself, I wanted to see if I could help her instead. That way, at least, she could continue living."
"But what if you had told me you had killed her and, later on, to my surprise, there she was trying to kill me again? You don't find that somewhat risky?" asked Mei.
"I would not have let her go if I wasn't confident in her change of heart," said Sasuke.
"So you are that secure in your ability to read people that you could have made that call yourself?" Mei asked.
"Yes!" shouted Sasuke. "I - "
"That's alright Sasuke, you can stand down," said Mei, who suddenly flashed him a smile. "I appreciate that you were attempting to save her life. Truth be told, I love my sister. I always have and it broke my heart when she abandoned the shinobi corps and went missing."
Kanari flashed her sister a look of surprise.
"I had never intended to let this shinobi kill you," said Mei. "Even if he had attempted to fulfill his mission, I would have stopped him. I knew in my heart-of-hearts that you couldn't kill me….and I wanted to apologize for anything I may have done to fuel your rage and jealously in the past. It was not my intention to alienate you."
Kanari simply stared at her sister, her mouth agape as she took in this confession.
"You knew I couldn't go through with it?" she repeated.
"Hai," said Mei. "I set this up not only to find you and talk to you once again, but also to test this shinobi - one of the most powerful in the world – to gauge how repaired his heart truly was."
"So now what?" asked Sasuke.
"You are free to go," said Mei. "You are welcome in the Hidden Mist at anytime. You have earned my deepest respect."
With that Sasuke, still trying to absorb what had just happened to him, started to gather up the small amount of belongings that he had with him. He definitely needed to change back into his usual shinobi gear. He would need to return the clothes and the booklet that were given to him, but he guessed that should be done back in the village.
"Are you leaving?" asked Kanari.
"Hai," answered Sasuke. "Now that you are in safe hands, I'm going to head back to Hidden Mist. There is someone there I'm in the mood to see."
Kanari smiled. "Thank you, Sasuke."
"What about you?" he asked in return.
"Kanari, please come back to the Mist with me. Stay by my side. Let's work on this together," said Mei not giving Kanari a chance to answer Sasuke.
Sasuke gave Kanari a look. She remembered what he had told her earlier that evening – how lucky she was to still have her sister and not to take for granted that she would always be there. "Hai, I'd love to," she replied.
With that, Sasuke nodded, walked out the door, and launched himself full speed down the road and into the trees.
OlOlOlOlOlO
Sakura was in bed and asleep when a few unexpected noises woke her up. Her eyes opened wide as she listened to the sounds being made near the door to the place she was staying. Not only was the person not attempting to hide their presence, but it seemed too casual an entrance for it to be anyone but...
"Sasuke? Is that you?" she said aloud.
"Hm," he answered. "I need to go shower."
"But what are you doing here?" asked Sakura. "Aren't you supposed to be on a mission?"
"It's over," he replied.
"Already?" Sakura asked. She still didn't understand. "Didn't you just leave earlier this afternoon?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Wait five minutes and I'll explain."
Sakura settled back into the bed and waited for Sasuke to take his shower. She heard the bathroom door close, the water turn on then off again, and in about five minutes, he was crawling into bed next to her.
"Turn over," he nudged her so that she faced away from him. He settled in behind her and hugged her tight.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I just needed to hold you," he replied. "It's been a very long half day...not so much physically, but emotionally."
"Can you tell me about it?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke weighed that one for a moment. Technically, he shouldn't be talking about his missions to anyone, but in light of all that had happened, he decided to break the rules just this one time.
"I was given a mission to kill the Mizukage's sister, a shinobi who abandoned Mist a few years ago and was plotting against her along with about ten missing nin," explained Sasuke. "It was a seduction mission."
"What?!" said Sakura. She was no fool; she knew that the day would come when either she or Sasuke would be asked to do what was necessary to complete a mission for the village (or in this case, a mission assigned by the Mizukage as instructed by Tsunade herself). However, now that the day was here, she wasn't quite sure she was ready to fully deal with it.
"Don't worry," said Sasuke. "I didn't have to..."
Sakura exhaled with relief. "So what happened?"
"Even before it came to that, I got Kanari - that's her name - to reconsider her decision to attack Mei. She and I met in a bar and she dismissed her missing nin comrades. We talked for at least an hour about how much she hated her sister, but by the time we got back to the room at the inn I had reserved for the night, she was already not sure. I told her about Itachi and me and I think that may have helped sway her. But right then, the Mizukage herself entered the room," explained Sasuke.
"Wait - the Mizukage?" repeated Sakura.
"Hai, Mei Terumi herself entered and told me that not only was she looking for her sister so she could make up with her, but that it was the perfect opportunity to test me...to see if I'd follow through or find another solution, namely convincing Kanari to stand down," said Sasuke.
"Did you pass the test?" asked Sakura.
"I think I did," said Sasuke. "Based on what she said and how she said it, finding an alternative to killing, even though that was technically the order, was completely acceptable."
"It seems that this world has changed post-war," said Sakura. "That never would have been acceptable even a few years ago. An order was an order."
"I know," said Sasuke. He squeezed her tight. "I'm just happy I'm here with you."
"I can tell," Sakura said with a smirk. Sasuke's body had obviously reacted to being so close to her own. "But aren't you tired?"
"Yeah, I am," he admitted. "Just a little, ok?"
"Hm," she answered, feeling him use one hand and crookedly attempt to remove her underwear. He got it low enough so that she could successfully kick them the rest of the way off, even being entangled under the blankets.
She felt him shimmy his shorts down just far enough to expose himself. He guided himself to her opening and slowly entered from behind. All the while, his tight grasp on her hardly let up at all. It was slow and sensual, two bodies, both on their sides, undulating under the blankets. It wasn't mind-blowing or fast and furious...instead it was emotional and comfortable. Sakura could swear she was actually feeling what Sasuke was feeling just by reading the tone of his movements. It was incredible.
Sasuke made sure to make Sakura feel good, though this time it was apparent to both of them that it was about being close and intimate and not necessarily about reaching the highest peak possible. In no time at all, a mild climax was heard and felt followed by two lovers falling asleep in each other's arms, not even bothering to disengage from one another after their act of love.
OlOlOlOlOlOlO
The four traveling Leaf shinobi remained in Mist for about one more week while the twins further healed and then spent time with several key sensory Mist shinobi. Sumato and Kanja were back to their normal selves in no time and the journey back to the Leaf ended up being simple and routine.
Once they entered the village once again, Kanja said aloud, "It is so good to be home again."
Sakura smiled. "There is nothing quite like being home, is there?"
The four shinobi were on one of the busy thoroughfares on their way to the Hokage tower when Kakashi suddenly appeared next to them.
"So...you finally made it back," Kakashi said to the four shinobi.
"Hi Kakashi-sensei," Sakura greeted.
"Unless there is anything of substance to report to the Hokage, you needn't tell her you are back. I was in her office when she received the message from the front gate that you had returned. I have already told her of everything that happened before I left Mist and Sasuke, the Mizukage has already informed her of the details of the mission you completed for her," said Kakashi. "I'm guessing the remainder of the time spent there was uneventful."
"Hai," agreed Sakura. "Nothing additional to report."
"Then you should probably take these two home to their clan. I'm sure these two jewels were missed greatly. The clan has a lot riding on them and this is the first time they were away from home...not to mention all the things that happened to them."
"Understood," said Sasuke. "We're off to the Koshosuru clan compound then."
"Good. I will see you two at dinner tonight," said Kakashi. "There are a few...things we need to discuss now that you are back."