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PREVIOSULY:
For the first time, Sakura noticed the people scattered around the room. Naruto grinned cheerfully at her from his spot in front of the desk, waving enthusiastically. Neji met Sakura's gaze with his trademark glare, while Shikamaru yawned and Genma nodded lazily.
"What the... what's going on here?" Sakura looked up at Kakashi, who shrugged.
Tsunade smiled sweetly, "A mission de-briefing, of course!"
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"A mission?" Shikamaru scowled. "Your little lackey said this was for a shougi tournament."
Tsunade grinned. "So that's how he got you over here so quickly... I'm going to have to give that man a raise."
"Well, he told me that this was so I could sign-up for Konoha's annual ramen-eating festival!"
"Naruto," Neji said disdainfully, "when has Konoha ever had a ramen-eating festival?"
Naruto frowned. "I... well... that's besids the point! Why the hell didn't the man just to come down here to for a mission de-briefing?"
The Hokage shrugged carelessly. "I can't control what that man says, or how he lured you down here. But let's be honest, Naruto, would you have rushed down here as fast as you did if he hadn't have told you to hurry and sign up, and that you'd get all the free ramen you could eat?"
"For a mission? Hell yeah!"
"You know, for some odd reason, I don't think you would have. The 'lackey,' as Shikamaru so nicely named him, knew that the only way to tear you away from Hinata for more than 10 seconds was to mention the words 'free' and 'ramen'."
Naruto's eyes widened. "He knew I was with Hinata? That means... was he spying on us?"
Sakura guffawed loudly, "Oh, come on, Naruto, everyone in the village knows that you're with Hinata 24/7. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
Tsunade nodded, "It's pretty much common knowledge that you're always with Hinata, and that Sakura's always with Kakashi. Congratulations, by the way." She winked at Kakashi. "You won me a free night of sake from Jiraiya."
"I did what?"
"Well, Jiraiya didn't believe all the rumors that you and Sakura were an item--"
From his corner, Neji rolled his eyes-- as much as he respected the Hokage, she could be extremely vexing. What about the mission?
"--and so I bet him money that yes, you two were, and that you had actually committed to a serious relationship--"
A loud cough was heard from the dark little corner.
"--and he agreed to it. I mean, it's common knowledge that you two are together--the whole village knows-- so I was surprised that the old hermit didn't know. But hey, I won! And he still hasn't paid up yet--"
Neji coughed again.
"--so I suppose I should tell Shizune to remind me to remind Jiraiya. And do you need a damn cough drop or something, Neji?"
Venturing out of the shadows, Neji bowed formally, "Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but I must ask... what does all of this have to do with the mission?"
"I'll get to the mission when I feel like it, Neji."
Sakura-- her cheeks and ears a bright shade of red-- glowered at her teacher. "Just get on with it!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You're just embarrassed."
"No I am not!"
Shikamaru lazily looked around the room, trying his best to ignore the troublesome women. His gaze settled on Kakashi, who was currently staring out the window with a look of intense thoughtfulness. Probably thinking about the mission, Shikamaru thought sluggishly.
In reality, Kakashi was thinking of something far more important.
Good gods, did Tsunade actually say that I was committed in a serious relationship?
Kakashi shuddered. He, in a serious relationship? He was only thirty-two! There was absolutely no desire settle down… maybe in a few years, but now?
No.
Well, an annoying little voice nagged, if you weren't ready to get in a serious relationship, then why did you lead Sakura on?
Kakashi blinked. He had done no such—
The flowers, the shameless flirtation… you knew what you were doing. You were enjoying it all way too much, and you didn't stop to think about how she would feel.
The voice had a point.
Of course I do. So what are you going to do about this problem?
Kakashi sure as hell didn't know.
I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're going to stop giving Sakura false hope… you're not ready to settle down, and you know it. You like the girl, right?
Yes, he did.
So stop acting like an ass.
Kakashi frowned—the voice was being entirely unfair. He wasn't ready to settle down at the moment, but there was the future to think about. When he was ready, Kakashi would settle down—no doubt about that—and the only woman he could possibly see in his version of the future was Sakura.
Exactly—that's the future, but you're living in the now, Kakashi. Unless you want Sakura to think you're ready and willing to settle down at this very moment, you'd better tone it down.
Kakashi's frown deepened—he had never said anything to her about settling down. He hadn't even said anything about them being a couple.
If the village thinks that, you idiot, then the girl probably does, too.
"Oi, Kakashi!" Naruto was suddenly bobbing up and down in his field of vision. "What's wrong with you?"
He blinked. "Just... just thinking." Looking down beside him, he saw Sakura gazing worriedly at him.
Stop it now, Kakashi. End it.
Kakashi quickly looked away, forcing her image out of his mind and instead focusing on the Hokage.
"So... now that you're back down to earth with the rest of us," she was saying, frowning up at him, "we can begin discussing the mission." Reaching under her desk, she brought up a small basket full of thin scrolls, "There's one here for everyone-- you can get one at the end of the discussion, but right now I'm going to... discuss."
"This mission," she began seriously, "is vital. Konoha is getting paid extremely well for this, so I expect nothing but the best from each and every one of you." Her gaze settled on each person in the room, "They requested our elite, and we are going to deliver. Understood?"
The room rang with a chorus of "Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Good. Now, the main point of this mission is this-- Suna is under attack from a group of rebels that are, apparently, unhappy with Gaara's reign, simply because they still view him as a monster. We know better," she said quickly, cutting off Naruto's angry outburst, "and so we're going to help. This group's assignment is to go to Suna and find the headquarters of the rebels. You are to crush the leaders of the rebellion, effectively quelling the uprising."
"No offense or anything," Genma drawled lazily, "but why can't Suna just do this themselves?"
"Every time Suna officials discover the site of the rebel's headquarters, the rebels move out to another location. Gaara suspects there are spies inside his cabinet that are informing the rebel's of Suna's plans, not allowing them to do anything effectively. With this team doing the hunting and extermination, there is no way the rebel's spies can do anything about it."
Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, yes, but what's stopping the rebels from already knowing that we're headed there?"
"Gaara sent his request of help directly by his sister, Temari, who slipped out of the city unnoticed-- at least, they think she did. No one knew of her leaving but Gaara." Tsunade sighed. "There's always a chance that the rebels know of this group's coming, of course, but at this moment it seems unlikely. As long as you keep a low profile in Suna, you should be fine." Tsunade's eyes slid closed. "That brings me to the next part-- when you arrive at the village, you are to not enter until nightfall, and then only when escorted by Temari, Kankurou, or Gaara himself. If anyone else tries to escort you, you are to kill them. It matters not if they are old, frail, or even a child."
"We're to kill a child?" Sakura looked around uneasily.
The Hokage opened her eyes. "If necessary, then yes. According to this report, the rebel group is fond of using children-- they load the child with explosive tags, and then send them into heavily occupied places. People hesitate to kill a child-- people just like you, Sakura-- and that gives the rebels all the time they need. The tags detonate and everything is destroyed... one child was loaded with enough tags to vaporize an entire square block. Nothing was left standing."
Sakura gasped loudly. "But using innocent children... that's terrible!"
" 'All's fair in love and war,' " Kakashi muttered sardonically.
Tsunade nodded grimly. "Exactly. You are at war with these rebels, and are to use all methods necessary to win. The rest of the information you need is in these scrolls, so I suggest you take them home and study them." She pushed the basket forward, "Just don't stay up too late."
Naruto ran forward and snatched a scroll. "Why does it matter?"
"Because this mission is of such importance, and because it takes three days to get from here to Suna... you all leave immediately at five o'clock tomorrow morning."
"What!" Sakura's eyes opened wide, "But... that means we have no time to get prepared! What about our supplies, our weapons, our--"
"Everything will be provided," Tsunade said firmly. "I will personally meet you at the front gate at four forty-five, and I expect you all to be there-- did you hear that, Kakashi?"
He nodded.
"All of the supplies will be there, but you will, of course, have to bring your clothes and other personal necessities."
"Great," Shikamaru muttered. "I can tell this mission is going to be troublesome already..."
Tsunade smiled slightly. "Yes, it will be, but somehow I think you can make it through. This group is the best this village has to offer-- prove it. Make us proud."
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The group walked silently out of the building, each clutching their scroll. The mission weighed heavily upon their minds, smothering everything else.
"Well," Genma said slowly, breaking the silence, "guess I'd better go tell bye to Ino... something tells me I won't be seeing her for a while."
Naruto nodded, "Yeah... I wonder how Hinata will take this."
Shikamaru scowled up at the sky, "So this is why Temari came to town yesterday, this is why she was so edgy... how troublesome."
Neji stalked silently away, planning to go home and diligently memorize every inch of the scroll
Sakura silently watched the rest of the team walk away, leaving just herself and Kakashi. "Well," she started flippantly, turning towards him, "looks like you'll have to walk me home, eh, Kakas--"
He was gone.
Sakura felt a wave of puzzlement wash over her. Why had he had just walked away, not even bothering to tell her good-bye? Nobody else did-- all were to busy with their own problems-- but she honestly thought Kakashi would have. She thought he would actually walk her home...
What in the world had happened? Less than two hours ago she was sitting beside him, laughing loudly and now... now she was alone, without even a good-bye to echo in her ears.
And the way he had looked at her in Tsunade's office-- it was as if he thought she was annoying. She should know… she had seen that look many times over the years.
You should have known, an annoying little voice inside her said. Did you honestly think you had a chance? Did you honestly think that maybe, just maybe he actually felt more for you than just a friend?
"Yes," she muttered darkly. "I actually did." She had every right to-- hadn't he told Genma, who told Ino, who had then told her that… damn.
She should have known right at that moment, when Ino had relayed the information to her. "Never trust just word of mouth, honey," her mother had often told her. "Ask for the facts."
She hadn't, and look where she ended up-- falling in love with someone who didn't feel the same.
How typical.
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A/N: I'm sorry for the lack of updates, I really am, but there was nothing I could do. My computer crashed, erasing everything, and then I had to send it back to Dell, who then sent me a new one, and the new computer came TWO WEEKS after it was shipped, and I just finished installing everything on it. (Hence the late/short/suckish chapter.) I'm EXTREMELY sorry, and I'm serious when I say it won't happen again… as long as my new computer doesn't crash. And the next chapter will be the usual length, I promise, because I know this thing is super short.
Thanks to Akemi Nyoko for the help with this chapter!
On another note, I want every single person reading this to go check out Mere Anarchy. Her stories are simply amazing—mine look like the works of a second grader compared to hers—and she deserves some credit. She has a wonderful Kaka/Saku story out right now, so… mosey on over there!
EDIT: Another case of FF runningallthewordstogether and eating quotation marks. Thanks, FF.
