Aequitas Arbitratus

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Spoilers here and there, don't blame me if I spoil something for you.

Summary: An unexpected decision from Kakashi sends Team 7 on a troubling B-class mission, which leads to an adventure undreamed of by Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Before the mission starts can start; Sakura gets pissed, Naruto faints, Kakashi spies, and Sasuke broods.

Chapter 2: Calm before the storm-- Team 7's lunch

"The Akatsuki must be up to something/The team members move in teams of two at all times..."

Jiraiya; Volume 16, Chapter 139

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, Kakashi reappeared in the woods adjacent to the bridge.

He was observing them; waiting for one of them to detect and break the jutsu he had secretly placed. If any of them were to catch his genjutsu, Kakashi placed his hopes on Sakura. Since the beginning of Team 7's training, she had the most knowledge in genjutsu compared to both Naruto and Sasuke.

Kakashi couldn't help the smile tugging at the ends of his mouth when he saw Sakura reverse Naruto's grip, flip the hapless boy unto his hind side, then vice Naruto's head into a sleeper hold. The pair always fought like this and Sakura always ended up choking Naruto in some fashion. But Sakura seemed especially angry with Naruto today...

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to, really!" Sakura merely squeezed harder making Naruto's eyes glaze over.  "Sakura-chan, I-I can't... I can't breathe..."

"Naruto..." Sakura said calmly, her eyes flashing, and her tone very very dangerous. "You must never ever handle a lady like that ever again. I wouldn't even care if that particular area became covered by blood sucking leeches and you're the only one who can save me from dieing.  If I find you're hand there again, I'll personally lop off your arm, and beat you with it. Do you understand, Naruto?"

Naruto opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Being difficult, eh?" Sakura smiled slighty then tightened her vice grip across Naruto neck. "You will never ever handle a lady like that again-- say it, Naruto!"

Sasuke jumped in and pointed out, "Sakura, Naruto can't very well talk without air, can he?" he stared at Sakura, calling her an idiot with his eyes. Sakura's eyes blinked, realizing Sasuke was right. "Right then-- let him go, Sakura."

Sakura released Naruto from her lock and dropped his unconscious body to the floor. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, smiling impishly at him.

All thoughts of Naruto were pushed aside, and Sakura linked her arm around Sasuke's. "So, Sasuke-kun—how about some lunch? We could get a cozy both in the corner of the restaurant. It'll be so--"

"No." Sasuke said simply, and then suddenly-- almost violently-- he jerked his arm out of Sakura's grip. "You're pathetic. If you have some free time, why don't you practice a jutsu or two? Because frankly, right now I think you're even below Naruto."

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered, as she watched him walk away. Sakura's face seemed to crumple into little lines of hurt, but as quick as the lines appeared, they disappeared a moment later.

She let out a long suffering sigh, then turned to Naruto, still unconscious. She looked at him, just looked at him for a good long minute before she finally tried to rouse him. She kneeled down and gently shook his shoulder; calling out to him, "Naruto, wake up. We'll go get some ramen-- my treat, okay? Naruto..."

Instead of waking up, a cheesy grin broke out on Naruto's face. "Sakura-chan-- don't go..." His hands unconsciously snaked around Sakura waist and his head pillowed itself on her lap. "Come back to bed, Sakura-chan..."

 "N-Naruto! W-W-hat-" Sakura stammered out, her face shading a bright red.

The smile on Naruto's face seemed to stretch several breaths wider as he nuzzled his face deeper. He sighed, "Sakura-chan..."

"Naruto-- you, you… PERVERT!" Sakura exploded. Her hands went to Naruto wrists and she pulled herself from his grip. Still grasping Naruto, Sakura swung him in several circles before letting go and flinging him off the bridge into the cold water below.

When Naruto splashed into the water, he awoke with a start. Sakura glared at him from the bridge, her face still bright red with anger and embarrassment. "That's what you get! Hmph!"

Sakura stomped off, while Naruto waded through the river utterly confused of what just happened.

Kakashi sighed to himself. Perhaps he was within the right to deny Team 7 the chance to take the Chunnin Exam. Even if each of them had the skills and drive individually needed to become a Chunnin, they lacked team cohesion; Sakura always stood behind and almost never fought in battles, Sasuke still refuses to place his trust in his fellow teammates, and Naruto just didn't think most of the time.

And as strong as his team was on missions, when off guard, they were still easy prey for simple tricks.

And if his team had looked carefully, they would have noticed a couple of things.

One, the mission slips they received was blank; illusionary writing conjured by Kakashi's genjutsu.

Two, Kakashi lied about the exact details of the mission. Instead of a C rank mission, he had been assigned an important B rank mission. Team 7 would be teaching not only children like Konohamaru and his ilk, but pre-genin who did not receive a Jounin teacher: all the students who had graduated from the academy, yet failed the preliminary tests to be placed in a team in the first place-- children much older than Naruto himself.

Kakashi smiled; perhaps he would run into some of his old would-be teams. After all, he was responsible for sending more than his fair share of rookies back to the academy...

"Oh well," Kakashi shrugged; crumpling then tossing the mission slip over his shoulder. "Next time, they'll learn to be less trusting..."

And as Kakashi walked away, he fingered the folded letter he had received earlier. Todays mission would require the full attention of his entire team for the whole day-- more than enough time to prepare for the difficult tasks ahead of him...

**

Sakura had taken Sasuke's words to heart.

After leaving the bridge, Sakura decided to go home for some lunch (not to mention practice a jutsu or two):  not expecting to instead catch up with Sasuke on her way back. She was about to call out to him: shout his name and get his attention. She imagined he would turn around, flash a charming smile, wave her over, and invite her to have lunch with him.

But some part of Sakura, the pragmatic side, insisted it would only be a dream. And like all dreams, eventually, they disappear. Sasuke would never show her such open affection.

Concealed behind some bushes, she watched as Sasuke walked inside the building; a newly opened Wave Country styled restaurant. Pushing down the rash, and thoroughly embarrassing impulse to march inside the restaurant and join him: Sakura thought best to just avoid Sasuke and eat lunch at home instead. Well, not completely alone. Her bratty little sister would be home for her lunch break...   

Sakura sighed unhappily as she lifted herself from her crouched position. She just couldn't understand Sasuke. When Sakura thought she had him figured out, he was do or say something to completely throw her off. Did he like her? Did he even tolerate her?

The only thing that really consoled her as she continued on her way home was the thought that Sasuke did in fact care about her. They almost kissed after graduation, but most importantly, he had wanted to kiss her. And for the briefest moments during the wave country mission, after he had miraculously shrugged off Haku's needle wounds, Sasuke didn't flinch or push away when she hugged him.

Sakura broke out into a light jog, her growling stomach prodding her to get home; and to food, much faster.

She wasn't particularly looking where she was going, just involved in her worries and thoughts, so it wasn't surprising that she plunged body-first into another person as they both rounded a corner from opposite directions. Sakura let out a grunt of surprise, the force of the encounter sending her sprawling. The other girl staggered back and fell, crying out as her hind side scrapped on the dirt-rock road.

"Ow," the girl muttered, slowly pulling herself to her feet.

"Oh, I'm so sor--" Sakura began, but stopped as she lifted her head and saw who had slammed into her in the first place. "Ume!" Sakura said irritably. "Next time, watch where you're going!"

"Wha? Who?" Ume said, as she blew away the stray strands of pink hair that fell across her face. Her eyes narrowed at Sakura. "Oh, it figures I'd run into you."

Sakura rubbed her sore underside, wincing when her fingers touched what was probably now a bruise. "Ow!" she cried, touching the bruised spot a little too hard. "Look what you did to me!" Sakura yelled. "You klutz!"

Ume rolled her eyes, "Better a klutz than an airhead like you." She said, then raised her voice a few octaves to do a fallseto imitation of Sakura. "My name is Sakura, I have such a big forehead, I can't think of anything besides Sasuke-kun: Sasuke-kun loves me-- Sasuke-kun hates me." Ume simpered mockingly. "Sasuke-kun, can you marry me? I want to have your babies." Ume pretended to gag; almost as if the words she had just spoken were poison.

"You little brat, I'm going to--" Sakura had half the mind to pull out her kunai and tear her little sister a new one, but put down the thought immediately. Mother wouldn't be very happy if any harm came to her precious Ume. Sakura gritted her teeth forcibly. "So... Ume, what are you doing out so early? Ohh, you better not be cutting class again--"

"I'm not cutting class!" Ume said defensively.

"--Cause you remember what Mom said, right Ume? Next time she caught you cutting class-- or sneaking out, whichever. She will pull you out of the academy and teach you herself. And you know Mom will do it too. You saw how angry she got the last time you were caught skipping..."

"Will you just shut up and listen?" Ume said, exasperated. "I am not cutting class! Raido-sensei let us out to lunch early, something about preparing for a special instruction in the afternoon."

Sakura's ear perked. "Special instruction? Really?" She asked, curiously. "What kind of special instruction? Did your sensei say anything specific about what you would be doing?"

 "How should I know, Sakura? Raido-sensei wasn't exactly giving with specifics. He just said it in his usual stupid way. You know, half amused and half sarcastic. Well... mostly sarcastic." Ume breathed in, and lowered her voice to imitate her sensei. "After you come back from your lunch break, I prepared for what I hope to be a very fun and very special event. I can't tell you much of anything, but before you come back to class, bring any technique scrolls you are even mildly curious about: taijustsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu, anything. Trust me when I say this, today is going to be a very interesting day." Ume coughed and her voice reverted to normal. "Okay, maybe I paraphrased a little bit, and probably wasn't as sarcastic as Raido-sensei, but that's more or less the jist of what was said." Ume looked at Sakura curiously. "Why would you want to know, anyway?"

Sakura groaned inwardly. Of all the academy student classes Team #7 was going to teach, figures Kakashi would assign them the class that had her little brat of a sister. If Kakashi acted any crueler, he would have assigned them the class with all of Ino's younger brothers and sisters.

Lost in her troubled thoughts about the Team #7's latest mission, Sakura didn't notice a pair of hands waving in front of her face. "Hello, Sakura?" Ume called out multiple times, while snapping her fingers and clapping her hands; anything to get Sakura's attention. Not working, Ume huffed in exasperation. "You know what? I think you can get home yourself. And I'm not going to waste my precious break time waiting for an absolute airhead like you to come to your senses and finally pull your head out of your ass. It's no wonder why Sasuke doesn't like you." Ume walked away, a quick hitch in her step to put some distance between them.

A full minute later, Ume's comment finally sunk into Sakura. Flushed red and furious, Sakura broke out into a dead run, fully wishing to catch up and body slam her sister into the nearest wall.

**

"Welcome to Waves. My name is Nanami; I'll be your waitress today. Would you like anything to drink?"

Sasuke looked over the menu, then up at the pleasant waitress waiting for his order. "Large glass of Fruit Juice."

She scratched the order on her paper pad. "And are you ready to order your main course, or do you need some a little more time?"

 "I'll order now, thanks." Sasuke said, closing the menu and handing it out to Nanami. "I'll get number 20; the Vegetarian Kabobs."

"A number twenty... anything else-- no? Okay," she flipped her order pad shut, then slipped it into the side pocket of her smock. She took the menu and slipped it under her arm and body. "You're food will be out in five to ten minutes. Call me if you need anything else. And thanks for eating at Waves." A quick smile, and she was gone.

Already, without even tasting the food, Sasuke listed Waves as his new favorite restaurant. If he were to eat at any other place in Konoha—restaurant or not—he always attracted very unwanted attention; turning heads of all ages, male or female, rich or poor. Sometimes he would see groups of brain dead girls who would always tell him how handsome, or how great a ninja he was: he could careless about them. They didn't really see him for what he was, they didn't understand him, nobody did.

But almost anywhere else people would whisper and gossip; Is that the Uchiha boy? – He's the only one left, isn't he? – Do you think he's anything like Itachi? Sometimes Sasuke didn't bother finishing his food, preferring to instead leave on an empty stomach rather than be gossiped about right in front of his face. But no one would recognize, much less gossip about him at this restaurant.

The ceiling lights were dim enough as not to be easily spotted, and the booth walls were high enough to give customers privacy. If he ducked his seat and slid forward a little, no one would see him as they walked by and because the restaurant staff was entirely composed of a family from the now free Wave Country, none of them recognized his face. At Waves, he was just another regular paying customer.

And like any regular customer, he wondered why the hell his food was taking so long.

As Sasuke turned a glance toward the kitchen doors, his gaze inexplicitly drew toward two figures sitting in a corner booth. Both wore large basket shaped straw hats, and the same cloud embroidered kimono that cinched up a little past mouth level. Sasuke had an uneasy feeling about the two, especially the one figure who was sitting so only the backside was shown.  He felt this feeling from somewhere long ago; an, odd, dull ache anchored in the pit of stomach. The backside figure had familiar black hair peeking out from under the hat and was a guy as far as Sasuke could tell.

Before he could scrutinize the pair even further, the waitress girl serving him earlier stepped out: walking toward him with a circular tray balanced on one hand.  With her free right hand, she grabbed the plate and glass from the tray and set them in front of Sasuke.

"Fruit Juice and Veggie Kabob platter-- Enjoy."

Sasuke picked up the kabob stick ends and held it up to his nose, whiffing in the smell. His stomach growled and his head felt faint. Hungrier than he earlier thought, Sasuke didn't hesitate to open his mouth wide to take in the most amount of vegetable chunks as possible. But before he could even taste a morsel of food, the waitress girl Nanami appeared again.

"Sorry for disturbing your meal, but we at Waves have a special deal for first time customers." She reached into the smock side pocket, withdrawing a purple shaded glass bottle. "For first time diners at Waves, we are offering a free sample of Lilith Syrup Extract to be added into your fruit drink. It is guaranteed to give it a delicious kick. Did I mention it's free?"

Sasuke looked skeptically at the purple shaded bottle. "And tell me, what exactly is Lilith Extract?"

"Glad you asked," said Nanami, grinning at Sasuke. "Lilith Syrup Extract is liquid extracted from boiled essence of the Lilith Leaf, or is it liquid extracted from the caramelized Lilith?" she said absent-mindedly, then shook her head. "I don't know how it is exactly made, but anyway, Lilith Leaf is indigenous to Apoji, a small cluster of islands southeast of Wave Country's mainland. They've been pretty much off limits for years, thanks to that dick, Gatou." Nanami coughed. "May his soul burn in hell. Anyway..." Nanami grinned, "the Apoji islands are now open to commercial traders. Oh, and if you are worried about health issues, the Lilith Syrup Extract has been passed and approved by Wave Country's Medical Committee for consumption." She turned the bottle so the approval label was showing. "So, what do you say? Would you like a free sample? I guarantee you won't regret it."

Sasuke looked between Nanami's reassuring smile and the rather shady bottle in her hand trying to decide if a free drink add-on was worth the slight possibility of massive diarrhea. Sasuke sipped the fruit drink: not bad, only adequate. He looked back at the oddly colored purplish bottle and against his better judgment, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why not?"

"Oh lovely!" said Nanami as she poured. "You'll love it, trust me." 

Sasuke watched as the Lilith Extract liquid mixed inside the glass, the dark green extract swirling with the red-orange fruit drink turning it into a light olive shade. But not only did the color change, but the fruit drink seemed to turn into a type of a fruit smoothie. He eyeballed the drink-smoothie, unable to keep down thoughts of how sludge like it looked.

"Go ahead," Nanami said, motioning with her hands encouragingly. "Bottoms up."

Sasuke brought the drink under his nose, and smelled; it was odorless. He couldn't decide if odorless was a good or bad thing. Good that the drink, even though it looked like sludge, didn't smell like sludge. Bad that he had no idea was he was drinking. He tipped the drink back and swallowed. A faint frission of something shuddered through Sasuke followed by a light, happy, dreamy feeling in his head. Sasuke tipped the smoothie back again, taking another sip.

"Good, huh?" Nanami said while grinning at Sasuke's obvious approval of the drink.

"Yeah, not bad." Sasuke said offhandedly, but still draining half the drink in a few gulps. "Pretty good, actually. Much better than your regular fruit juice at any rate."

For some reason known only to Nanami, her amused grin grew a breath wider. "Well, I'll be around. Just call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"Right," said Sasuke, already biting into his kabob. "Will do."

Sasuke ate in relative peace and quiet after Nanami had left. He felt tempted to call her over and order another fruit drink/smoothie, but decided no more drinks. Before biting into his last kabob, he looked up toward the hanging wall clock; the mission was going to start soon. After gorging the final kabob and downing whatever was left of the smoothie, he called for Nanami.

She appeared a second later. "Yes?"

"Check," and after a second thought, "what the hell, another lilith fruit drink to go!"

Nanami happily brought back the check and the smoothie in a plastic cup container. She handed him the check, then the plastic cup. "Here's your check, and here's the drink. Enjoy!"

Sasuke paid the bill and left a hefty tip for Nanami. Standing up, he cast a glance to the corner of the room; the two figures were still seated, but were different somehow. Maybe it was the food, but the pair didn't make his as uneasy as they did before. They still felt odd, but the dull ache he felt earlier was gone. Sasuke shook off the feeling, attributing it to his hunger and nothing more.

**

This chapter is kind just scenes and set up, I hope you enjoyed it! Yep you did just meet Sakura's younger sibling, a character inspired by a combination of Ino + inner Sakura + Naruto.

Next chapter, Naruto meets up sand-genin three, or more accurately sand-genin two. I hope the angst/introspection parts weren't too boring...  Exciting fights next chapter, Naruto fights an unexpected trio of Leaf Nin's and Naruto battles Temari, stay tuned!

Cyber1: Yes, I also wonder why Kakashi wouldn't want them to take the exam... :D KawaiiKenshin: Here's some more of my stuff, hope you enjoy. Dan Inverse: This chapter is mostly just setup. More "interesting" action scenes next chapter. Miya: Thanks for the encouraging review.