She and Haku thanked Kagari for the passage across the strait, both kunoichi hopping lightly to the dock.
"My pleasure. If you ever come up with another excuse for a sailing trip, look me up!" Kagari said with a grin.
"Of course," Haku laughed in response. The two girls made their way from the harbour through the city, which bustled with midday activity. They stopped to enjoy some street food – Sakura more than thrilled to have anko dango instead of fish, and Haku delighting in some soba in teriyaki sauce with beef – a rare treat on Kishimoto but fairly common in Miyajima with the farming lands so near. Arriving at the temple complex just after noon, they gave each other a hug before heading to their respective temples. Haku would have to consult with the Six Tails before her surgery, and promised to send a message to Sakura when she knew her surgery date.
Sakura got back to her little novice cell, which felt even smaller than it had before she left. At least the bed was comfortable, and it was her bed. There was something about one's own bed, even though it was smaller and not as grand as the guest bed, it was hers, and that somehow added a dimension of comfort born of familiarity.
She unpacked and sat on the bed, wondering who of her friends was still in the complex and who was off on various tasks and missions. Naruto might still be out in the desert – the trip to Toriyama took a week by caravan. If his task had taken more than a few days, he might still be on his way back. Sakura knew darn well that the jungle tasks might take some time, so Ino might still be out. She had no idea at all what Hinata might be up to. If Gaara's mission was taking him south past Arakawa Trade City again, he could still be traveling to his mission and nowhere near finished. She sighed. It might be a month or more before she saw him again.
Well, she could at least see if Hinata or Ino were here. She concentrated on her chakra sensing, to see if she could locate her friends… no trace of either of them. Wherever they were, they weren't in the Six Tails' temple right now.
Rising, Sakura decided that she had better go report in to Tsunade, and let her mentor know she had returned.
"Ahh, you're back, come on in, Sakura," her teacher's voice reached her as she approached the door. Sakura smiled and pushed the door open.
"I greet you, Tsunade," she said, giving her teacher a bow.
"Oh Sakura," Tsunade sighed at the formality. "Have a seat. How did your task go? I see Terumī Mei did not eat you alive."
Sakura grinned, sliding into the proffered seat in front of her mentor. "No, she didn't eat me alive, she's scary but nice," she began, and smiled at Tsunade's answering snort at hearing her colleague described as 'scary but nice'. "Sir Ao is really nice, and they eat a lot of fish there."
"Ao, ah yes, I remember him. You're right, he's definitely a decent man, and a good advisor to Mei. So, what did you have to do that took you three weeks?" Tsunade arched a brow.
"Oh, well," Sakura said. "I had to get a pearl from a really big clam. I could have done it quicker if I'd just used a rebreather, but I learned how to breathe underwater using jutsu instead. That took the whole time there to learn."
Tsunade stared at her, then her mouth quirked in a smile, and she started laughing. Sakura waited until her teacher had regained her composure. "You 'learned to breathe underwater'? Oh, Sakura. You never do anything by halves, do you? Who taught you that?"
"Oh, uh, his name was Rahyō…" she murmured, and remembering his apparent animosity towards Tsunade, felt nervous.
"Oh, that old goat. He's still around?" Tsunade snorted.
"Uhhh he gave me a message for you, but it's not very nice," Sakura admitted.
"Oh, no doubt." Another unladylike snort from her mentor. "Alright, let's hear it."
"He said 'tell that old bat Tsunade that she did a good job with her apprentice'," Sakura flushed, sinking into her chair. Tsunade howled with laughter.
"That old bastard. Time must have really mellowed him. He used to say a lot worse about me than that!" Tsunade laughed. "Why, at one point, he was so mad about my policies in this temple that I think he would have cheerfully killed me."
"Why?" Sakura asked, straightening up in the chair, since Tsunade didn't seem to be angry.
"It was another tense time with Akatsuki. He was far more influential then, and sat on the council with the then-high priest of the Three Tails – it was long before Mei was even born. He was in his late 20s. He kept pushing for more and more offensive measures on the border, and I pushed back, insisting that we should be more defensively focused, and insisting that preserving the health and wellbeing of our shinobi took precedent over trying to overrun the little border countries like he wanted to. He would have sacrificed a lot of people to get his way, but fortunately he was overruled. It was a different time, then," Tsunade explained.
"Oh." Well, that explained it. Rahyō sounded like a much different person when he was younger. He was nothing like Mei's advisor, Ao. Remembering the way Lady Mei and Ao had been so oblivious to each other's mutual appreciation made Sakura smile. It reminded her… "Lady Tsunade?" she asked, hesitantly.
"Yes, my girl?"
"Were you ever in love?"
Tsunade snorted again, this time in amused tolerance. "Of course I was, Sakura. I know it's hard to believe, since I've been a fixture in this seat for more than 70 years and without a husband or consort, but yes, I was a young person once too, and yes, I have been in love."
"What happened?"
"Ahh, it's a long time ago, but still sad. His name was Dan, and he was also a medic nin in our temple. Actually, Shizune is descended from his sister. She was a civilian, but there have been a few shinobi from that family over the generations. He died in a skirmish against Akatsuki. He is the reason why I keep pushing the younger medics to keep their battle abilities sharp, like you youngsters are doing now. Medics can't afford to consider themselves non-combatants in a war." Tsunade sighed. "That was a long time ago, though. I still think of him, from time to time."
"Was there anyone after?" Sakura asked, and was surprised to see her teacher blush.
"Scamp! Yes, there was, but we won't discuss that. It's personal," Tsunade insisted. Sakura marvelled, wondering who could make Tsunade blush like that. Whoever it was must still be around, to get that kind of reaction out of her teacher. If Tsunade didn't want to talk about it, then it was still something current. The thought amazed Sakura.
"Oh, Lady Tsunade… are Ino and Hinata ok? I didn't see them when I came back," she changed the subject.
"Yes, Sakura, your friends are fine. Ino came back from the jungle without any issues and is currently south of here at one of the coastal villages doing something for the Eight Tails. Hinata is in the city right now, studying something for the Four Tails. Both of your friends are ok. And there's been no word of any problems with Gaara, don't worry." Tsunade smiled at Sakura's blush when Gaara was mentioned. The girl nodded.
"Thanks, Tsunade," she replied.
"All your friends have kept up the evening training sessions – those who aren't assigned to missions or off on a task. We can only approve. The more practice you youngsters get, the better." Tsunade's face turned serious. "War is coming, Sakura. I think it may be inevitable. As soon as you make acolyte, we're probably going to need to send you out on a team. I've already got all my combat-ready acolytes and priests out on missions. The medics left here in Miyajima are mostly the ones unsuited to combat – which is more than enough to run the hospital, but still…"
A team? Things must be getting dire indeed, then. "That bad, huh?" Sakura asked, quietly.
"That bad. We need every able shinobi in the field. So hurry, and finish your tasks, Sakura. We need you. Get going, dear girl."
The pink-haired girl nodded, and rose, bowing to her teacher.
"Take care, Lady Tsunade."
"Good luck, and godspeed, Sakura." Tsunade waved her dismissal.
So. Ino was off somewhere and Hinata was in the city. Sakura had two tasks left – the Two Tails, and the One Tail. She went back to her cell and retrieved the offering she had found, weeks ago now, in the city. It was a clever little device, a dragon-headed finger trap. One part puzzle, one part prank; if fingers were put in either end of the device, it would grab on and not let go unless the person very slowly and gently pushed their fingers together until they touched. Only then would the device release its grasp. She hoped it would be acceptable to the pantheon's main trickster.
On her way out of the temple, she saw Shizune. The priestess was one of Tsunade's former apprentices and currently her aide, and had always acted kindly towards Sakura. The black-haired woman gave her a greeting and a wave, before turning to someone obscured by a pillar. As Sakura passed by, she noted the silver-haired medic who had transferred from up the coast - Yakushi Kabuto. Sakura caught a sight of Shizune smiling warmly at the other nin, and heard Shizune laugh at something Kabuto said. He put a hand on her shoulder, and the brunette seemed to accept it. So… Shizune and Kabuto, huh? That was interesting. Sakura didn't speculate too long, however, as she had a task to start.
As she entered the temple of the Two Tailed Cat of Mischief, she became aware that she was being watched. A look around revealed no-one. Attempting to use chakra detection only showed her that there was some kind of genjutsu going on. Alert for pranks, she walked towards the shrine with its obelisk. Something wasn't right. The more and more she walked, the farther and farther away she seemed to get! Pausing, she quickly made the jutsu to dispel genjutsu, and jumped with surprise to discover that she wasn't even in the temple, she was outside, and on the edge of the middens pit. Sakura stepped back, away from the edge. She then made her way back inside the temple, pausing every few steps to dispel genjutsu, until she was certain she was in front of the actual shrine.
Someone was snickering. She looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a familiar masked face. "Hello Sakura. Come to do your task?"
"Kakashi," she acknowledged the priest. "Yeah, but someone was having some fun with me first."
"Oooh, surprising that this would happen here…" he said, teasingly. She was privately certain it was his doing. "I suppose I should let you get on with it. Let me know if you need anything." He leaned up against a pillar and pulled out what looked suspiciously like a dirty novel.
Sakura turned from the priest, and attempted to bury her trepidation as she knelt with her offering, praying. The contact was instant, as though the Two Tails had been waiting for her. She probably had been waiting for her.
"Sakura..." the god's playful feminine voice filled her, clear as a temple bell and strong. The Cat spoke very clearly to her, instead of the visions and emotions of some of the others. "We need you to get us… a bucket of water. From the central fountain in the city."
That's it?! Just a bucket of water? Regular old water from Miyajima's central fountain? Sakura almost lost her concentration.
"Not quite. We have a special bucket in mind. Our priest Kakashi has it. Have fuuuuuuun!" The contact cut off, abruptly. Sakura jerked.
"Aaaaand?" Kakashi's humorous probe jolted her.
"Bucket. Water. Um…" Sakura blurted, and tried to collect herself, feeling a bit inside-out from the sudden contact and equally sudden withdrawal.
"A bucket of water?" Kakashi asked, as she stood and turned around to face him.
"Uh," Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah. She asked me to get a bucket of water. From the fountain in the city square. She said you had the bucket."
"Ahhhh… a bucket of water. Of course. I do indeed have the bucket. One moment." The other nin reached behind his back, apparently to scratch at an itch, but when his hand reappeared, he was holding a very beat-up looking bucket. He handed it to the novice. "Here you go!" he said, cheerily.
She accepted the item. It was an ordinary wooden bucket. It looked old, in poor repair, and not too particularly well-made. The bottom even seemed a little loose, the wood disc rattling in the groove that held it. "Thanks," she said, giving Kakashi a short bow.
"Don't mention it," he said, amusement dancing in his unmasked eye.
She left the temple, heading down into the city, towards the central square. In the centre part of the city, where several roads met, there was a huge, decorative fountain from a large pool of water. When the city had just been a village, long ago, this had probably been the site of a communal well. With the passage of time, as Miyajima grew from village to town, and then to sprawling capitol, the fountain had undergone renovation after renovation, finally producing the very grand water feature that existed today. As Sakura approached the steps leading up to the fountain, she noticed the coins glittering in the great tiled basin – thrown by visitors for good luck and fortune. Sakura fished a square-holed brass coin from her pocket and tossed it in for good measure.
She knelt at the water's edge, and dipped the bucket in, filling it all the way to the brim. Then she lifted it out of the water… and watched in dismay as water poured from all sides of the bucket, through the multitude of gaps in the ill-joined slats and the loose bottom.
There was no way she would be able to get this bucket back to the temple without every last drop of water leaking out on the trip back!
She groaned. For a few moments she stared at the horrible, leaky bucket, wondering how she was going to deal with this. Then, she started to think of solutions.
Chakra. She could manipulate water – could she seal the leaks with chakra?
But when she tried, she found she couldn't get her chakra to touch the bucket in any way, nor could she affect anything inside the vessel. The metal rings and the handle must be chakra blocking, or something.
She dug through her kit, to see if she had a paste or wax or unguent that she could use to seal the slats. There was nothing she could use. She tried bandaging the bucket – the water leaked through the bandages. She got up and went to the market, buying beeswax to seal the bucket, but the beeswax fell off instantly – the bucket had been imbued against such an attempt, apparently. She couldn't apparently alter the bucket in any way.
Frustrated, she threw it into the fountain, and plopped down on the stair, head in her hands. Seven tasks under her belt, and none had been more impossible than bringing a plain old bucket of water a handful of kilometers. She sighed.
The tasks weren't meant to be impossible. She knew that. She'd been challenged, worked hard, and done a lot of learning, searching, and waiting, but she'd eventually succeeded at every single challenge. Here she was, being defeated by a stupid bucket of stupid water. But, she'd been tasked with this, so she had to finish it. She considered her options.
Use water closer to the temple? Nope, she'd been specifically told to get water from this fountain, by the god, directly. Lesser water wouldn't do. Besides, the bucket would still probably leak out by the time she got to the obelisk.
Use a different bucket? Same deal. It had to be this bucket. She somehow suspected that she wasn't the first novice to be stuck with this task, and wouldn't be the last.
She couldn't modify the bucket, either, or use chakra to fudge her way around the leaks. She'd already tried that.
She could remain a novice forever, stuck on the task… but that was completely unacceptable.
She gave the bucket, now sunk and resting on the bottom of the pool, a dirty glare. Through the distortion of the water, it seemed bigger.
And then, she had a sudden realization. Wait a moment, the bucket was wood. Wood absorbed water. When it did so, it swelled. Maybe… all she had to do was wait until the wooden bucket had absorbed enough water that all the joints sealed. She'd have to get the bucket back to the temple fast, and she'd still have to take care not to spill too much, but… Maybe all she had to do was wait!
Sakura smiled suddenly, and curled up on the fountain's edge, waiting. After half an hour, she got up, used chakra to walk across the water, and pulled the bucket out.
Yessssss! The leaks were far slower, now that the wood had swollen a little with the water. This might just work. Grinning, she put the bucket back in the water and waited, testing every half-hour or so. Finally, the leaks had stopped to the point where Sakura was pretty sure she could get most, if not all, of the water to the temple. She pulled the full bucket from the fountain and headed back to the Two Tails' temple as fast as she dared.
She skidded into the temple, making quick dispelling jutsus as she did so, and ran towards the obelisk. She put the mostly full, slightly seeping bucket down on a clear spot, and knelt to pray, closing her eyes.
As she was calming herself, the sudden, shocking splash of cold water over her head had her surging to her feet, whirling. Kakashi stood, holding her now-empty bucket over her head. She blinked at him in mute horror.
He started to laugh.
"Do you know how hard it was to bring that water?" she asked, and then realized that he probably had absolutely no doubt at all about how hard it would be to bring that water – he'd given her the bucket!
He only laughed in response.
She stared at him for a long moment, and then, outrageously, the giggles started. From herself. The hilarity of the whole situation sunk in, and pretty soon she was howling with peals of laughter at the whole ordeal. When both shinobi had finally got control of themselves, she turned to Kakashi.
"I'd better take that bucket back. I'm going to need to fill it again."
And then she froze, wide eyed, as the Two Tails suddenly contacted her. The powerful presence of the god filled her. "Well done, Sakura. Remember, when life tries your patience, to try to always see the humour of the situation. You did well. I am satisfied."
The contact broke, and Sakura nearly fell over, but apparently Kakashi was expecting this outcome, because he caught her before that happened.
"Ahh, this never gets old," he said. "She is truly the best."