Many thanks to Tavina and Poor Cynic for beta-reading.
"It ended up being behind schedule because of Gato, but we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for helping the Great Sakura Bridge get completed," Tazuna said. He sounded and looked grateful, a hand clapped on his grandson's shoulder. Inari's face was ruddy from tears, though he looked relatively happy.
We were on the bridge. Team Seven was facing Tazuna and his family, while Zabuza and Haku were standing off to one side.
I tried to resist the urge to groan, but it came out sounding more like a half-cut off grumble. I didn't want this. None of it. Not when I had such a hard time falling asleep in the first place, struggling to get last night's nightmare out of my head. And here I was, dreaming it all yet again.
Naruto nudged me in the side with his elbow, giving me a sly look as he did, completely unaware of my suffering. At some point the tear in his jacket's shoulder hem had been sewn back together. It was barely visible, especially with the straps of his pack resting on his shoulders. Tsunami fixed it.
"Hey, hey, isn't it cool Sakura got something named after her?" he tried to whisper. It was still loud enough to get attention from Haku." And we're just genin! I wish it was me, but I guess she did stop the whole fight with Zabuza and Haku in the first place…" His voice was a mix of admiration and envy.
Standing right next to Kakashi, Sakura's face was a bright red, probably from all of the attention. Having a giant bridge named after her was probably not on the list of things she wanted to accomplish or be known for.
I looked away from him to get a better idea of what was going on now. We were standing at the other end of the bridge near Fire. With how clear the day was, it was possible to see just make out Wave in the distance. A short distance down the coast here, where the cliffs eventually abated, I could see the fishing village we had started out from. It really wasn't that far at all.
"Konoha will be sending another team in two months to work on an agreement for a payment plan," Kakashi said, clearly suffering. As much as I didn't want this dream to be happening, he apparently wanted all of this even less. "The village understands that it will take some time for Wave's economy to recover, and is willing to work with you."
"Thank you," Tazuna said, once more. "It might be awhile, but I've already been told to report to Wave's Daimyo. I've heard he's planning on seizing all of Gato's assets that are in this country."
Kakash nodded, and then unsnapped one of the pouches on his flak jacket, letting a thin message scroll drop into his hand, still bound and unread, before he turned towards Haku and Zabuza. Everything about his body language radiated serious unwillingness.
Zabuza snorted. "What is it, Kakashi?"
"Because of his skills, unique kekkei genkai, and official lack of affiliation with any hidden village, I was instructed to offer Haku the opportunity to join Konoha. If he does, it comes with a year long probationary period as a chuunin before he's offered the chance to be promoted to tokubetsu or full jounin status, as well as a plot of land within the village walls," Kakashi said, completely tonelessly, as tension rose palpably in the air. Zabuza's hand clutched onto Haku's shoulder. "This is a great honor, coming directly from the Konohagakure council itself and approved by the Sandaime Hokage."
Haku gave Kakashi a polite smile. "Please let them know that I'm flattered, Kakashi-san, but my place is by Zabuza-san's side. He has plans I believe in and want to help achieve." His tone at the beginning didn't quite match his words.
"How terrible. I'll be sure to mention it in my report." Kakashi chucked the scroll over his shoulder. Considering it was made of paper and there was a strong breeze, it was impressive that it made it past the railing, where it fell to the sea.
Naruto's face fell. "You won't even think about it?"
"Sorry, Naruto-kun." Haku shook his head. "It might be your home, but it wouldn't be able to be mine. The people precious in our lives have different paths and directions. I could always write to you. I'm sure we'll be able to meet again in the future." Haku's smile this time was more earnest.
"Yeah! You could visit someday!" Somehow I got the feeling that the whole bit about how missing-nin worked had failed to fully get through Naruto's head. While Haku apparently didn't count as one, he still worked with one.
"I promise," Haku told him.
Both of the jounin shifted awkwardly on their feet, and I tried to look away.
Kakashi feigned a cough. "Anyways…" He trailed off for a moment. "We should get going." He self-consciously nodded to Zabuza, and turned away. He didn't even bother to wait and check that we were following before he began walking.
Naruto finally realized that this meant we were actually leaving, and tears momentarily brimmed at his eyes. He immediately wiped them away on his sleeve. "Yeah… we should… Bye Inari! Bye Haku!"
Sakura's face was only beginning to recover from her intense blushing earlier. "We're glad to have helped Wave, Tazuna-san," she said, with a short bow. "And um… it was nice to meet you, Zabuza-san, Haku-sempai." Her face flushed pink again, and before anyone could reply to her, she bolted.
I couldn't even pretend I had anything to say. I shrugged, and looked at Naruto contemplatively. He showed no sign that he was going to move on his own if he wasn't prompted to leave his new friends. I grabbed his arm, and started to pull him along with me.
Even though we were trailing with an increasing gap behind the other two, he still turned around to wave goodbye, digging his heels in. I started to drag him in response.
Zabuza started laughing, and it only began to die down by the time we reached solid ground.
It wasn't until Naruto started to move under his own power that we began to catch up to Kakashi and Sakura. When he finally turned around, he wiped his face away with his sleeve again."I'm glad we didn't have to fight Haku," he said to me.
"Mmhm," I went. It wasn't until Naruto began to chatter at me more that I realized I even responded to him.
"Hey, hey, Sasuke, do you think he'll really write to me? I hope he does, he said that because of Zabuza trying to kill the Mizukage and the whole missing-nin thing they travel around a lot, but that'd mean I wouldn't be able to write back to him, huh? But then again he did promise..."
Eventually, we caught up to the others, catching Kakashi mid-lecture. Or, to be more accurate, at the end of one, cut off because of our arrival.
"...which is what led to the events of the Second Shinobi World War. And that is why we don't try to interfere with foreign governments, hm?"
Sakura's eyes looked almost glazed over. "Why didn't we go over any of this in the academy?"
"Probably to not give any ambitious idiots stupid ideas," Kakashi said, all too frankly. "That and genin aren't really supposed to know." He looked at his fingernails.
"Then why did you tell me?"
"Well, not knowing certainly didn't stop you, did it?"
"What were you talking about?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing for genin," Kakashi said, brushing the topic aside entirely. "You two took your time to catch up."
"I wanted to say goodbye!"
"That's nice," Kakashi said, doing his level best to sound thoroughly uninterested. His expression and tone took a change for the serious. "Now that we're actually on our way back, this is a good time to debrief on our mission, to get some things across properly that I wasn't able to explain when we were there.
"I want it to be as clear as possible that not only was that mission not normal, but that it was a failure in multiple ways. It was a failure of intelligence: missions from potential clients from foriegn countries are supposed to be checked against our knowledge of the region to make sure they're not misrepresenting or even lying. If even one person had paid closer to the situation in Wave beforehand, it would not have been an available mission that morning, much less for a fresh team of genin.
"There was a failure of training." Kakashi looked directly at Sakura. "Sakura, you tried to intervene between two jounin. I didn't think I had to make that an explicit order, but it looks like I was wrong. You're lucky he listened. That barely ever happens. If he hadn't, you would have made yourself a target. Momoichi is known as the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist'. Do you know why?"
Sakura mutely shook her head.
"Until relatively recently, the various ninja academies had very different standards. Kiri's used to require combat to the death. Their students had to kill at least one other person in order to genin. Momochi Zabuza killed a whole graduating class." Both Sakura and Naruto looked at him in shock.
"What!? But he seemed—" Naruto cut himself off, scrubbing his face as he tried to search for the words he wanted. "Uh, not nice I guess, he was kinda a huge asshole, even to Haku, but he didn't act like a demon or a monster." There was a lingering thoughtfulness to Naruto's words as he considered everything.
Sakura looked like she was still processing what Kakashi was implying. "Why didn't you tell us this until just now?!"
"Because as funny as it might have been, your actions meant they were working with us and I couldn't risk you doing more than you already did by opening your mouth in the first place. None of you are remotely capable of holding out against a jounin, much less one of his reputation. I was under the impression the three of you would actually trust me enough to keep you safe and follow orders meant to keep you out of danger. I was wrong."
"Uh… why would we? All we've done for training is either getting kicked around or avoiding getting hit by kunai and fireballs," Naruto asked.
"And when the Demon Brothers showed up you played dead." Sakura was increasingly looking fed up.
"I wasn't aware any of you had managed to forget your training from the academy so quickly," Kakashi said, ignoring Sakura's comment entirely.
Kakashi's comment only incensed her further, and it looked like Sakura was at her boiling point. "I was doing what you said!" she shouted, before I even had the chance to weigh if I wanted to respond to Naruto or not. "You're the one who said we have to 'look beneath the underneath'! I did! You're the one who said 'those who break the rules are trash but those who would abandon their teammates are worse than trash'! Isn't that supposed to include you, too? Or are you just as big a hypocrite as you act like all the time!?" The bell test and his speech hadn't been forgotten, and combined with her temper she was throwing it in his face. She was friends with Ino too long to not pick up tricks like that. I mentally shoved the intrusive thought away.
I stepped to the side, dragging Naruto over with me. He didn't resist, eyeing both Kakashi and Sakura with alarm. "This is getting ugly, huh?" he whispered to me.
What was visible of Kakashi's face stilled for a moment into something almost sullen, his shoulders taut, before it disappeared. "And if I am? It doesn't matter. My priorities, as the jounin in command of this team, are to keep you all safe where I'm able and train you all to eventually become chuunin. Your actions were a gross overreach and impacted my ability to do that duty."
This was too much for Naruto. He ran ahead to stand in front of them, stalling us entirely. "You're both being dumb and this is dumb, you know?! You didn't tell us everything you could have! It isn't Sakura's fault you didn't! She was just trying to help! Yeah, maybe it could have gone real bad, but wasn't it going to any way in the first place if you fought him? We all saw Haku show up! And maybe she's been bossy and stuff, but it's not like you've done much to make us know you're actually gonna do what you said!
"And Kakashi-sensei's trying, Sakura! It's not like we're back in the academy, with Iruka-sensei, or even Mizuki-sensei." Naruto made a face, but pushed on. "We're not the only ones new to this, yeah? He said we're the first team he's ever passed, so how's he gonna know how to teach and stuff? We all have to trust that we're gonna try to do the best thing for everybody, yeah? I mean, I know it's not that easy, like it's gonna happen just because I said, but we need to try! We can't let one mission gone wrong stop us!" He laughed at himself, self-consciously, and the moment broke.
Sakura no longer looked as heated, and she ducked her head down for a bit, her expression momentarily hidden when her hair cascaded around her face. When she looked back up, her face was set with a determined expression. "You're right, Naruto."
Naruto's eyes lit up as his smile widened, no longer looking as self-conscious as he had just seconds before. "I am? Uh, yeah! Of course I am!" It turned into a full grin.
She looked up at Kakashi. "When we get back, I'm introducing you to Iruka-sensei. He knows how to actually teach."
Kakashi looked taken aback. "There's no need for that," he answered, holding his palms up like it would ward her off. "He was the one at the mission desk, wasn't he? I wouldn't want to bother him..."
Naruto moved to walk next to me, now that the tension had broken, and gave me a sly grin, before he leaned over to almost-whisper, "That was close!"
I indulged him by nodding. "Yeah." I didn't want to think about how effective his little speech had been, when it came to stoppen the argument.
While I was distracted by Naruto, Kakashi seemed to have recovered his metaphorical footing. "We'll debrief properly when we're in Konoha. There's more that we have to cover. I'll need all of your input for the full mission report." He idly looked upwards. "Without a civilian to escort, we'll be able to make better time to Konoha, but only if we actually start moving. Sasuke, take point."
Trying to ignore the confused thoughts of my head— the ones voicing a protest that was normally Naruto's position— I shrugged and moved ahead of them, breaking into a run. I was left alone with the increasing mire of my own thoughts.
Every single one of these dreams were just shoving more and more thoughts into my head, and I was starting to, terrifyingly, find it harder to recognize which were originally my own and which were from filling Sasuke's role in them. That wasn't normal, was it? Or was I wrong? Until this started, I had never had these many lucid dreams in a row, much less with them mostly running one from the other. I had normal dreams where just 'knowing' things happened, but for these… I didn't know. Not when they were refusing to fade away. I forcibly shoved it all down, instead trying to think about anything else. My thesis. The book my advisor suggested looking into. Trying to remember if I had all of the ingredients for dinner tomorrow.
At least I was able to admire the trees and occasional fields. Everything was the sort of vibrant green color that came from regular rain before summer hit, not the sort of constant patchy greens and browns I was used to. It made me realize that the last time I had gone anywhere this remotely green had been over two years ago. Spring break was coming up, and I suddenly felt tempted by the idea of spending it out of town.
I dismissed it for something I actually should think about, and was lost completely in thought over my thesis for when I realized Naruto had run up next to me, but only after tapping my shoulder. "Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei says we're going to stop to eat soon. There's a village up ahead."
Time to stop running, said one of those invading thoughts. I shoved it to the side, and managed to grumble something out loud to reply to Naruto as I slowed down, until the two of us were walking next to Sakura and Kakashi again.
"Why are we stopping this early? Won't it take longer for us to get back?" Sakura asked. Her tone was fairly neutral, especially compared to the usual frustration she had from talking with Kakashi for too long.
"If we keep going at the speed we were earlier, we would arrive in the middle of the night and you all would be worn out," Kakashi answered. "I'm not interested in dealing with that while we get checked in by the gate guards. We're still going to make good time. There's no reason to run the whole way back."
It occurred to me that the series had never really gone that into how long this trip had taken— at least the anime hadn't. Or if it had, it had glossed it over entirely. It made more sense that Wave would be farther away than just a day's trip, especially with escorting an older man like Tazuna, if Fire was supposed to be as large as it was.
"I was also asked to stop here on the way back." Kakashi sounded disgruntled over this part, but resigned. Was it to do with the fact he had been running for messages during the whole mission? That was the only thing I could think of. "You three should take advantage of it to eat lunch and relax before we start running again."
We came up to a fork in the road, and Kakashi guided us down one path, ignoring Naruto's questions all the while. It wasn't long at all until the village in question came properly into view, when before it had been partially shielded at the angle we were coming from by the trees.
The village ahead wasn't tiny, but it was still on the small side, since even from here we could make out where it started and ended. The only things that really stood out were a bathouse that seemed too large for the population of a village like this on the main road and a traditional-looking inn that was slightly set off apart from the rest of the village further ahead. The fact it had both of those things was at odds with how small it was, until I realized something. The road stretched further into the distance from here, heading north. The village was benefitting from being near a crossroads. Of course it'd have more than enough travellers to support things like that against its actual population.
While Sakura and Naruto seemed happy enough over even a short break, now that he had given the reason, Kakashi was just slowly slumping over more and more, especially once we were actually we were past the buildings on its outskirts.
As we took in our surroundings, Sakura's expression suddenly changed into one of pure rage.
"Huh?" Naruto looked at Sakura cautiously, before he apparently saw whatever it was, and started to look indignant as well.
I looked in the direction that had caught their ire, and groaned.
A figure was scaling the side wall of the bath house. I would have cared far less if it weren't for the fact that even from this far away, it was impossible to deny who it was, between the long ponytail of spikey white hair and the large scroll nestled in the small of his back.
A glance at Kakashi showed he had seen and identified the man as well. Somehow, he didn't look as disgruntled as he had before.
Sakura was still staring in anger. "What sort of pervert is that shameless?"
"The sort that I think is the contact I'm supposed to speak to here," Kakashi answered, as he started to walk down a side alley between two buildings, presumably for a more indirect approach.
"That guy?!" Naruto looked shocked. "You have to talk to a weird pervert like that? I mean, I guess it makes sense considering..." He looked at Kakashi, with a meaningful expression on his face.
Kakashi ignored Naruto's comment entirely. I couldn't blame him. I would have too, except for the fact I would never read anything remotely smutty in public. Even the novels I had to read for school or college if they approached being remotely risque I would put them down immediately out of sheer embarrassment. I just didn't have the bandwidth for that sort of lack of shame.
It wasn't long at all until we reached the back end of the bathhouse. By now, he was on the roof, leaning over it and looking into the walled-in open-air baths.
I wasn't the only one unimpressed by this.
"HEY! YOU PERVERT! YOU SHOULDN'T BE SPYING ON PEOPLE BATHING!" Sakura shouted.
Screams and shouts of rage, anger, and embarrassment started up from beyond the wall, and Kakashi pinched his nose as he sighed.
Jiraiya looked up in alarm before he spied us, and fled the roof— by jumping off of it and landing in front of us with his hands splayed. It would have been very dramatic, if his expression didn't immediately change from a wide grin to a crushed one from the generally unimpressed looks on our faces. Sakura had her arms crossed over her chest and Naruto's eyes were narrowed in suspicion and disapproval.
Naruto turned, and tugged on Kakashi's sleeve. "Sensei, do you really have to talk to this weirdo pervert?" he stage-whispered.
It was loud enough for Jiraiya to hear, and he slumped over with a groan, before he straightened up, jabbing his hand in Naruto's direction. "Look here, brat! I'm the holy hermit of—"
Kakashi sighed again, barely audible as Jiraiya spoke, and he cut the other man off. "This is Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, and a member of the Sannin."
Sakura's eyebrows wrinkled together. "One of the Sannin is a pervert who peeks at naked women bathing?"
"Uh, who're the Sannin?"
Jiraiya's intended response to Sakura's comment turned into a huffed exhalation from surprise and shock. He glared at Naruto before turning his gaze on Kakashi. "Are you messing with me?"
Kakashi set his hand on Naruto's head, ruffling his hair, and steadfastly ignored the resulting protests and wriggling attempts to escape. "Naruto-kun doesn't know very much about history," Kakashi said, almost too mildly. "This is my genin team. Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura-chan is the pink one," he added in a deadpan, as though it really needed to be said.
Jiraiya erupted into laughter, crossing his arms over his chest. It was enough that it made Sakura glare at him and Naruto look between him and Kakashi in confusion, presumably from trying to figure out what the older man was laughing about, while still trying to get out of the jounin's grip on his head. I had taken a step back when the laughing started, and only realized when he met my eyes that both the wide-toothed grin and laugh weren't entirely meeting his eyes. He was observing all of us, and hiding it behind his laughter. Soon enough, he let it subside. "They finally landed you with a team after all, Kakashi-kun?"
Kakashi looked like he was trying his best to ignore the diminutive. "It looks like it." He finally released his hold on Naruto, who immediately stepped away to scowl at the two men. "You three go have lunch. I'll meet you all in—" he glanced at Jiraiya, who flashed fingers at him quickly enough I didn't quite catch them , "—two hours in front of the ryokan."
Feeling strangely unnerved, I reached over to grab onto Sakura and Naruto's wrists and dragged them off with me in the direction of the main road. Neither protested, thankfully; I assume they didn't want to wait around and see if anyone from the bathhouse was going to rush out. I wasn't sure what it was about Jiraiya's expression when his eyes had met mine, but I was unsettled enough that I wanted to get away from him as fast as I could. He hadn't just looked at me. It was like he had gone a step beyond that.
"I can't believe someone that perverted is one of the Sannin," Sakura grumbled. To my consternation, she managed to get out of my hold and tried to slip her hand into mine. I let go of Naruto's arm and shoved my hands into my pockets in response, steadfastly ignoring the look of dismay I got for it.
"He can't be that important," Naruto said, scoffing. He stretched his arms back, cradling his head between his fingers as he looked up and down the road. "They've got to have a ramen stand here, right?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "He's a war hero. The Sannin were all the Hokage's students."
"Oh, that's why he's a pervert, then," Naruto decided, nodding to himself. "Hey, I think I see a stand over there…" He began to walk off.
Sakura eyed Naruto, mouth pursed as she looked at him dubiously. "What does that— wait, I'm not even going to ask, I don't want to know. And we're not having ramen!" She reached and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back before he could go any further and make the decision that way.
He grinned at her, sheepishly. "I don't hear you coming up with any ideas."
I tuned their squabbling out as I looked around myself.
The road going through the village was relatively busy, for midday. There were some who were clearly travellers actively stopping through to eat or rest, still wearing backpacks or clothes dusty from time on the dirt roads here. It was supposed to be a waypoint, and a popular one.
It occurred to me that I should have no idea what the small row of food stalls— yatai, something insisted— ahead were offering and yet, I did. The only one I knew I had known for sure before was the ramen stand. I looked away, biting the inside of one cheek, half in thought and frustration. I immediately stopped from the unexpected pain. It was still tender and even somewhat raw from biting on it from before, trying to see if the pain and blood from that would wake me up. This, like all of the other dreams I had this past week, was absolute bullshit.
Those weren't the only places we could eat, and at this point I would refuse any of them.
Instead, I looked at the restaurants that had entrances with real doors, before I decided to point at one at mostly random.
"Why not there?" I spoke up, interrupting the two of them.
Sakura and Naruto looked over at me in surprise, before they turned to see where I was pointing.
"A yakiniku place?" Sakura looked thoughtful. "That'll be more expensive, but it isn't like we've really spent that much money out here... Even with how expensive rice and vegetables were in Wave, it wasn't that bad compared to if we ate out all the time..."
I turned to look in the direction I had pointed in. By sheer chance, I had managed to pick the most expensive option of the options. Again, I felt some annoyance at that I knew it, despite the fact that I shouldn't have; even the knowledge that this was a sensible thing to come to the conclusion of from it being a barbeque place didn't particularly help me there.
Naruto made a mixed expression. "But why not ramen? It's cheap!"
"You can't live off of cheap food forever," I pointed out.
Sakura's eyes gleamed with a sudden idea. "If we get ramen here, we're not getting it in Konoha the next time we get lunch."
"What! No way, some random stall isn't going to hold up to Ichiraku's." Naruto tried to give the two of us puppy eyes. "How can you guys make me choose like this?"
"It's easy," Sakura said. "Since you always pick ramen. I'm with Sasuke-kun; barbecue actually sounds great right now." It looked like she was decisively the tiebreaker, and she began to already walk across the road.
I started to walk, sparing a glance at him. Naruto's shoulders slumped in defeat, but he pulled out his wallet, and gave it a sad pat. It looked a little deflated, but not so bad that he should be making dramatics over it. "I'm sorry, Gama-chan... I'll make sure you get fed soon."
Sakura stopped and looked back over her shoulder when she realized she was left waiting by the restaurant door. "Naruto! Finish up with being stingy already!"
He pouted, but jogged over, and we went in.
We ended up at a table in a corner of the restaurant. Naruto slung himself into the seat across from me. Sakura looked between the two of us for a moment, before finally sitting next to Naruto.
I idly listened to their chatter and occasional attempts to draw me into their conversation.
When the server brought the platters of raw meat and vegetables over, my stomach suddenly recoiled at the sight of it.
It refused to calm down even as Naruto reached over Sakura despite her protests and started to drop a few thin slices onto the grill itself.
I shoved myself up and away from the table, managing a muttered "Back later" before I rushed off, finding the restrooms just barely in time to shove the door of the tiny room close and retch into the sink.
I looked up at the mirror while I let the water run to wash it all down the drain.
The face staring dully back at me looked awful. Twelve year olds weren't supposed to look this tired, even if it reflected how tired I felt from spending so long trying to fall asleep. As pale as I remembered Sasuke looking in the mirror a few dreams ago, this was a different kind of pallor, a shade or two lighter and almost sickly under this light.
I splashed the face reflected back at me with water to try and look less awful. It didn't work. Giving up with a sigh, I wiped it dry and left the bathroom.
Naruto was standing outside, looking worried— and then momentarily surprised. "Hey! Sasuke, you uh, went into the women's restroom by mistake, y'know? Are you feeling alright?"
I managed to grunt in his direction, heading back for the table. He followed after me, silently.
Sakura gave me a concerned look when we got back, moving to let Naruto back in. She had kept the meat he had placed on the grill from burning; it was already on the dish in front of him. "Are you okay?" Her eyes darted to look down at the table instead of meeting mine. "You've been quieter than usual, since..." she trailed off.
"I'm fine," I insisted. "It's just a dream..."
She looked unconvinced, if sympathetic. "You should talk to Kakashi-sensei if you aren't sleeping well. He might be useless at times, but he has to have some ideas for helping there, since he's a jounin…"
I laughed bitterly.
They looked at each other, unsure what to say or do in response. Sakura finally ended the moment by dropping slices of eggplant on the grill top. "Let's eat."
We ate in silence. I didn't touch the meat.
Everything was tasteless, anyways.
While they were finishing up, I slipped away with the receipt while the other two were distracted. I was already at the register with my— no, Sasuke's— wallet out and paying for everyone when Sakura and Naruto caught up. Sakura didn't seem sure on what to say, if anything.
When Naruto saw what I was doing, he turned red, one side of his mouth puckering in.
"Wha— hey!" he protested.
It was already too late; the older woman at the till was giving me the change. I put the coins in the wallet, flipping it around a moment to give it a look and before I put it back where it belonged. It was a nice dark blue color that I actually liked, altered to have a uchiwa emblem embroidered in red and white on one side. I probably appreciated it more than I would have otherwise just on the basis that it wasn't shaped like an animal like Naruto's.
I looked at them again wordlessly before I slipped out the door and into the street.
Naruto followed right after, and nearly barreled into me, before he stopped himself. His fists were clenched, and his face was still flushed. "What's the big idea? I could have paid for myself! Sakura too!" Sakura entered the street just after this, pausing just in front of the door.
It was because of the money. Even though he had been talking to his wallet, he had either realized or noticed I had seen him do it.
"Then you can pay next time," I answered. "It was just easier to do like this. We still need to meet Kakashi soon, don't we?" I was trying to deescalate an argument with a twelve year old anime character in one of the stupidest dreams I ever had. I had never done anything to deserve having such embarrassing dreams, much less as an adult.
He blinked in surprise, fingers loosening at his sides. "Huh? Uh, sure, I guess." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, looking like he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself anymore.
Sakura looked at me, unimpressed. "Fine, but I'm paying after Naruto. And we're both going to pick something similarly expensive so we're all even after this, okay? It would have been fine if you asked instead of just going and doing it without us." Naruto's pride wasn't the only one I had squashed, then.
Naruto blanched at the idea, but didn't argue.
"Alright," I said, giving in.
"We don't need to go wait for Kakashi-sensei just yet," Sakura said, decisively, as she walked over. "We can probably look around for a bit before we do. I want to get something as a memento for this trip."
"Why didn't you get anything in Wave?" Naruto asked.
"I couldn't afford anything," Sakura said, blushing lightly. "The prices for everything were ridiculous, probably because of Gato… Even a stationery set would have been a week's pay for us."
His jaw dropped in horror. "What?! But isn't that just fancy paper?"
"Apparently too fancy."
Naruto was the one who found a small storefront that had a stationery set cute enough by Sakura's standards. In the same shop, he managed to find a pen with a toad-themed cap, and after some obvious deliberation, decided to buy it. I wound up shamed— how, I wasn't entirely sure— into getting something as well: a thin notebook with a pine forest theme on the front.
Sakura carried everything in a small bag from the shop, looking pleased with herself. While we waited for Kakashi, she separated the goods, carefully putting the stationery set into her bag. I barely managed to shove the notebook into mine, and Naruto
Eventually he and Jiraiya came into sight, and began to walk over to us. Again, I felt a vague unease. He was looking at me again, specifically, and at one point I locked eyes with him. It was only once he was closer that his gaze shifted, and he grinned freely, like it had never happened at all.
Being disturbed like this by a character like him who was supposed to be lighthearted didn't make me feel any better about these dreams continuing.
"Hey, Sensei, is the pervert coming with us, too?" Naruto asked. It was loud enough to attract the disapproving attention of other people on the road.
Jiraiya made a face at him. "I'm not going to Konoha, but we'll be travelling in the same direction for awhile. You should feel privileged!"
Judging from Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto's expressions, we were four for four for not feeling privileged by this.
Sakura looked at Kakashi, skeptically. "You agreed to this?"
Kakashi was already in the middle of beginning a slow decline into a deeper slouch than usual. "That seems to imply I had a choice." Jiraiya clapped him on the shoulder, hard enough that it was not just loud, but shocked Kakashi back into standing straight once more. He glared at the older man in return.
"You're still a stick in the mud like you were as a brat, huh?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto looked between the two men. "You knew him as a kid?"
"Yes," went Jiraiya, at the same time that Kakashi went "Not really." Kakashi directed his single visible eye at Jiraiya, before he turned back towards us.
"We'll be going at a run from here for now. All of you have the stamina by now that it shouldn't be a problem, but if it is, let me know. Don't just fall out," he told us. I wondered what had changed his mind from before. "I'll let you know when we'll stop to rest. We should arrive in Konoha before noon tomorrow, as long as there aren't any surprise storms."
"There shouldn't be any from here going west," Jiraiya added idly. "I haven't heard anything."
"Good to know," Kakashi managed to say. He really didn't seem pleased that Jiraiya had decided to tag along, but said nothing more as he led us back to the road we would be taking towards Konoha.
It wasn't until we were out of sight of the village that he gave the order to start running.
Naruto tried to speed ahead to take point. But before he could get too far away, he was called back. "We don't need you to do that right now, Naruto," Kakashi told him.
Naruto slowed down, turning to look at Kakashi with confusion, before he was once again keeping pace with the rest of us. "What? Why?"
Jiraiya laughed. "This is as safe as it gets, brat! It's good practice, but you're better off close by, at least until we part ways!"
He was willing to be annoyingly chatty, it turned out. I managed to tune him out, at least most of it. It was harder to stay distracted when Naruto, and then Sakura, began to interrupt his commentary and little stories to ask questions, which he usually readily answered or laughed off entirely. The poor first impression he had made on them didn't get a chance to stick.
I didn't ask any, even when I was tempted.
Eventually, the shadows started to deepen and the color of the sky changed as it approached evening, and before the sun fully set we came to another crossroads. It was here we slowed down, coming to a complete stop.
"I'm heading north from here," Jiraiya said, as he pulled a scroll out. He offered it to Kakashi, who slipped it into one of his flak jacket's pockets. He tilted his head towards us lightly while he looked at Kakashi. "Think about what I said."
"I'll keep it in mind," Kakashi answered, though it sounded more unenthusiastic than he usually did.
Naruto looked up at Jiraiya, squinting for a moment in thought, before he spoke up. "Are you ever gonna visit the village anytime soon?"
Jiraiya took a step back, looking surprised at the earnest question. "I haven't stepped foot inside Konoha for a long time at this point," he responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I have a lot to do and places to go, you see? I'll… think about it."
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, apparently taking this as a win.
Jirai'as eyes landed on me again. Unexpectedly— since I hadn't said anything to him at all— he spoke to me. "Think about writing it down. Sometimes it helps."
I could only look at him in confusion, before I looked away. I didn't know how to react to unexpected vague therapy advice coming from him, of all options.
"I'm going to… get going now. Good luck with everything," Jiraiya fake-coughed into his arm, and turned, and walked off.
"Bye, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto yelled, waving, disregarding the fact that the man wouldn't be able to see it.
Jiraiya stopped, his head ducking for a moment before he turned around to glower and shout. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
Naruto laughed.
Jiraiya grimaced, before snorting and turning around once more, raising an arm up in farewell. As he walked off into the darkening evening, he started to sing loudly, just slightly off-tune.
We could still hear it as we started to run again, well after he was out of sight.
It was fully night and had been for awhile, the moon long having passed beneath the treeline, when Kakashi finally stopped us to rest. We ended up setting up camp out of sight of the road, and decided who would have what watch. While establishing a campsite was something I actually knew how to do, I still felt mixed over it. The last time I had gone camping was on a weekend trip in my junior year of college. A few years ago, by now.
Like the last dream, trying to sleep resulted in fleeting nothingness. Sakura sleepily woke me up to take my turn, and I spent those hours staring at the stars before I shook Naruto awake, and passed out to nothing again.
Breakfast was unappealing ration bars, before we started running again.
Since Jiraiya's departure, there had barely been any conversation. Something about Kakashi's attitude had left the other two silent, and reluctant to chatter.
The sun wasn't quite at the midpoint of the day when the village walls loomed in sight ahead, and Naruto wordlessly cheered.
"Finally," Sakura said, with a sigh of relief. "I'm ready for a real bath."
Naruto nodded in agreement. "I'm excited for my bed, and Ichiraku's."
"You aren't dismissed just yet," Kakashi said. "We're still outside of the gates. I'll let you all go once we're past the guards, but I want to make a few things clear before that."
"Huh? Like what?" Naruto looked up at him. "Is it because of how the mission went?"
"Yes," Kakashi said, with a sigh. "I'll debrief everyone tomorrow, but in the meantime, don't tell anyone about what happened on the mission. We'll be giving the Hokage an oral report tomorrow before we begin on the written one. He'll decide what its new classification is, but you should probably assume that it's going to be high enough that talking about anything that happened on it will get you in serious trouble, do you understand?"
Naruto squinted. "Is it because of Zabuza and Haku? Or..." He trailed off, glancing at me.
"All of that, yes. I mean it." He actually sounded serious.
Naruto swallowed. "Got it."
"That goes for you too, Sakura."
"What?" she protested. "But I wouldn't say anything!"
"Your involvement," he clarified.
Sakura's eyes darted to look at the ground for a moment, and she gripped one of the straps of her bag. "Oh, yeah."
It wasn't until we were cleared to enter the village and all on our separate ways that I realized that since this dream had started, Kakashi had barely said or directed anything at me. At 'Sasuke'.
I let the weird and unwanted subconscious knowledge vaguely guide me to Sasuke's apartment, taking a longer route. I ended up cutting across the edge of a small training field, and paused momentarily to look. Team Ten were practicing within its grounds, and both Shikamaru and Choji were fighting against Asuma in hand, Ino on the other side of the field, but still not that far. Gauging from Asuma's expression, he wasn't that impressed or happy.
"Hey! Ino! Hurry up already!" Shikamaru shouted. He sounded annoyed.
"Ugh! Fine!"
I got a brief glance at her arms held out, fingers pressed together for a seal. She made a surprised sound when she realized I was nearby, briefly turning to look. I stared in momentary alarm before I decided I was probably safe since they were mid-practice, and began to walk again, picking up my pace.
I was still in close enough range to hear Shikamaru shout again. "Ino! I can't believe she missed again…"
Ino opened her eyes to a dark room, confusion, and pain. Did I get the jutsu wrong again? I thought I thought I had it for sure this time! If only I didn't let myself get distracted by Sasuke! She sat up, frowning, even as a pang of pain radiated out from one shoulder. Ugh. Did I fall wrong? Even in the darkness, she could tell this wasn't her room, and it didn't look like a hospital room, either. Cautiously, the young kunoichi looked around. A modern digital alarm clock provided just enough dim lighting that she could tell there was a lamp next to it, which she fumbled with for a moment before she found and turned its switch. There was a pair of glasses resting next to the alarm clock.
But the big issue was that her skin was way too dark to be hers. "What—" She cut herself off almost immediately in shock. That wasn't her voice. The mind body switch technique worked then, but who was this? She stood up and away from the bed, almost losing her balance when one of the knees of whoever this was nearly gave out on her.
"Ugh, great." Her own sense of curiosity was too strong to resist, though. Waking up in a mysterious body was too strange to not figure out. Looking around blurrily, before she grabbed the glasses and put them on showed that the bedroom was all part of the new modern style that was slowly becoming popular in Konoha. A full raised bed and mattress with sheets and bedding in a dark blue, with matching nightstands and a large dresser. She passed a hand over the bedding, finding herself somewhat surprised at the slightly slippery feel of the fabric. So weird.
There was even carpeting in the room, rather than rugs. The closet got a "tsk" from her. Outside of a few brighter jewel-toned blouses that worked with this skin tone, everything was boring, in somber or neutral colors. Dark blue, black, or white, with one cream-colored abomination that looked like it was hidden on purpose. Besides being surprisingly soft to the touch, nearly everything in there was so thin and flimsy she couldn't imagine wearing them herself. They'd tear way too easily for just a regular day's work and training even as a genin. "Ugh… Whoever this is, she's really not into fashion, is she? She doesn't even have a mirror in here!" she said out loud.
"And these clothes are so plain. Even her nightwear is boring!" Ino looked down at the blue t-shirt and black capri leggings she was currently in. The t-shirt was at least thicker than what was in the closet, but it was still thinner than any she had seen in Konoha, and definitely wasn't leggings were actually worse, since they already had a tear at the bad knee from the fabric just giving out. "No weapons anywhere in here, either, so this has to be some civilian." Another throb of pain wracked the body she was borrowing. "And a wrecked one, too."
She pulled open the bedroom door, coming into a tiled hallway. Snooping around, the two doors further down the tiny hallway opened into an office and a bathroom, before leading into the rest of the living space. The bathroom took priority, and Ino immediately flipped on the lights so that she could look at the mirror.
Even though she couldn't say she knew what every civilian in Konoha looked like, the face staring her back in the mirror didn't look like anyone she'd ever seen in the village. Black bangs framed the sides of a woman's face, the rest of her hair falling past the shoulders in a mix of thick waves and some curls that lifted in unruly licks from sleep. The arched eyebrows showed signs of being groomed, but not too much. Beneath them were dark almond shaped eyes that were bridged by a nose that Ino felt was too strong for a woman's face. It was only slightly balanced by full lips, strong high cheekbones, and a somewhat pointed chin. With those features and the olive skin, this woman would stick out like a sore thumb, even in her boring clothes.
While there were some families who had darker skin, especially if they were regularly outside in physical labor, the woman whose body she was controlling didn't show any signs of being a laborer or even an outside person. Most of the tops she saw in the closet were long sleeved, and there weren't any obvious tan lines. This woman was just naturally browner than most people in Konoha, but not like anyone from Cloud.
"She's so old," Ino said, making a face. "She's got to be like Asuma-sensei's age." She sighed, before she looked around the bathroom. "Weird bathroom…" she muttered.
The countertop the sink was in was taken up by face products, and a small hanging basket suctioned to the mirror held expensive looking electric-powered hair tools. A cursory look made it clear that everything came from brands she had never heard of.
Ino swept out of the bathroom and poked her head into the office. Like the bedroom, the desk and chair were modern, with a full to bursting bookshelf but… "No way. Is that a laptop computer? It's so sleek looking!" She sat in the chair and opened it. After a moment of poking around, she finally found the power button, and pressed it. To her disappointment, when the surprisingly vibrant picture on the screen popped up and prompted a log in for an 'SU', it was password protected. She sighed. The stack of books on the desk were weird, too. They were all hefty and serious looking titles she had never seen before, all in yokogaki, spine on the left side.
She walked out and headed into the rest of the mystery home, switching on light switches as she saw them. The kitchen was strangely set up, with so many things taking up counter space and a full oven under the range. The modern style dining table and chairs right next to it were unimpressive just because they were downright normal in comparison.
The main living area was what made her borrowed jaw drop. "There's no way that's a television!" It was so big and flat. The bulky looking sofas— both in tasteless, boring brown— didn't merit any particular attention. "No knobs or buttons… Maybe there's a remote?"
Looking around, she soon found one, and after testing some buttons, she figured out the one to turn the TV on.
The screen bloomed into white and grey, with a colorful banner at the bottom that showed different squares that looked like movie posters, with different categories. One section, titled 'Continue Watching', caught her attention.
"What the— is that supposed to be Naruto?"
Hesitantly, and after figuring out what buttons did what…
She hit play.
I woke up, and fear gripped me as I took in my surroundings. I was on the living room couch.
I hadn't fallen asleep here.
The TV was on, the screen mostly dark with the exception of the text asking if I was still watching Naruto.
I didn't remember doing this.