It was exactly three weeks and four days later that Sakura received a summons from the Hokage, first thing in the morning, in the form of a chunin messenger right outside her door.
She had set up a nice little routine for herself so far and this was the first break in the norm for her. In the mornings, right as the first rays of sunlight hit her face, she would get up and go to training ground 3 to do her first set of exercises. She stayed there until she finished Lee's workout at about ten o'clock.
She would then head back home, shower and eat breakfast with her parents before heading to the mission assignment desk to scrounge up whatever D-rank they had available at the moment.
She had decided long ago that she needed both the money and the missions in her curriculum if she wanted to go anywhere. It had started with a normal training session with Tenten in which she had realised she would have to buy a tantou of her own and soon.
The allowance her parents gave her wasn't nearly enough to cover the cleaning kit for the short sword.
So she worked hard every morning doing odd jobs around the village; helping a construction site, walking someone's dog, painting a fence. Anything she could get her hands on.
She had her lunch at the memorial stone by the three stumps where Team Seven had their first lunch together. She used that time to think about her progress and, in those days where the training was particularly intense and her muscles straining, she liked to let her eyes rove over the smooth characters on the stone and reminded herself of why she was doing this.
Her afternoons were spent with Lee and Tenten, sparring or practicing advanced katas and tantou work. Every week, Lee would give her a heavier set of weights and she would practice her genjutsu by concealing the hideous orange of them. Whenever they had a mission, Sakura would head to the library and look up any genjutsu material available for gennin.
It was a pitiful collection to be honest, but it had good books on theory and basic groundwork, which Sakura figured would come in handy in the future, and it was enough for her to teach herself some D-rank genjutsu and how to conceal the weights.
The break in her routine was jarring, to say the least. What could the Hokage possibly want with her ? She was a no one now that Team Seven had officially dissolved. A civilian genin with no outstanding skills besides her brains.
Just the thought of that sent another pang through her chest.
Sakura was broken out of her reverie by a familiar face outside of the Hokage's office. Or rather, half of a face.
"Sakura-san."
"Shino!" Sakura stared wide eyed at him. She hadn't seen him since the Chunin Exams. "Are you here to see Godaime-sama too?"
"Aa," was his only reply.
Sakura stood awkwardly with him for a while, not knowing if she should continue the conversation or not. They had never been the best of friends growing up, but there was still a closeness that being Rookie 9 entailed and she didn't know how to act around him.
Should she ask after his family or something? Only, she knew that the Aburame were an awfully closed off clan and wasn't sure he would take it well.
"Enter!"
She was saved from further awkwardness by her Hokage. Without hesitation, she strode into the room and bowed.
"Hokage-sama." She deferred and Shino echoed a second later.
"Haruno Sakura," Sakura raised herself to look at the Hokage for the first time and was awestruck.
The woman wore a sensible green haori on top of a low-cut top and had beautiful blonde hair that fell over her shoulders in two pigtails. Her eyes were a bright honey that spoke of years of sorrow and she was easily the most beautiful woman Sakura had ever seen. The Godaime looked much younger than Sakura was expecting.
She didn't let her admirations show and instead let Inner swoon in the back of her mind while keeping a straight face even though it took everything in her.
"Aburame Shino," Sakura saw Shino get up from his own bow in the corner of her eye.
"You're both here today because of an oversight on my part," Sakura recognized that to be an apology of sorts. She was confused as hell but managed to keep her straight, expressionless face. "I was catching up to the village's finances and completely disregarded the mission you both undertook during the attack."
Sakura couldn't help the small frown that settled between her brows. Mission? Was this about the orders she took to follow Sasuke-kun when he went after Gaara? She wouldn't exactly call that a mission even though Kakashi had said it was. It had been more of a 'follow-your-teammates-before-they-do-something-stupid-yet-again' kind of thing.
"Yesterday I finally got the full report on what happened." Senju Tsunade leveled her chin on top of linked fingers and fixed her gaze on Sakura. "Haruno Sakura, you showed great abilities in breaking out of an A-rank genjutsu without assistance. You followed orders perfectly and was able to work well under pressure while breaking your comrades out of the jutsu and escaping the team of oto-nin. In your fight during the Chunin Exams you held your own and fought admirably against the Yamanaka kid.
"Aburame Shino, you took great initiative in following your fellow ninja into battle and showed great skill while fighting against Sabaku no Kankuro. Konoha isn't known to make these exceptions since the Third Shinobi War. However, the council and I have agreed that the village is in need of your services as certified chunin."
There was a pause in which Sakura couldn't hear anything but the sound of the blood rushing through her ears and then the Godaime was speaking again.
"However unorthodox, you both earned this. Congratulations."
A woman in a black kimono stepped forward with two bundles in her hands and Sakura had a fleeting moment to think what a dangerous, dangerous woman she was if Sakura hadn't noticed she was there throughout the conversation before she was being handed something. A flak jacket.
Her chunin jacket.
Sakura felt the Godaime's eyes on her and looked up to meet them. There was a glint in her gaze that left her wondering if she was supposed to say something. It surely looked like Hokage-sama was waiting for Sakura to do… something.
But before she could blurt out the first thing that came to mind, a chunin she often saw at the gates burst through the doorway.
"Tsunade-sama!"
"What's the meaning of this, Kotetsu?" The Godaime frowned at the man.
"Tachibana-sama just entered the village!" Kotetsu panted. "You told me to let you know immediately when he did."
"Shit," the blonde cursed and massaged her temples. "Aburame, you're dismissed." She opened her eyes and fixed them on Sakura. "Haruno, you just got your first C-rank as a chunin."
"Hokage-sama?" Sakura cocked her head to the side as Shino and the gate guard quickly left the office.
"Tachibana Sadatoshi is a samurai from the Land of Iron. Rich and not very personable but we go way back and he accepted my invitation. Do you know why I brought him here?" The Hokage raised an eyebrow at her.
Sakura thought about it for a moment.
"You want to show him that Konoha's fine after Suna's betrayal and the attack… right?" The blonde stayed quiet so Sakura took it as a sign that she should keep speaking. "Tetsu no Kuni is a neutral ground, sure, but they value honour and integrity and with Suna's betrayal we have to make some kind of statement that we remain loyal to the peace we fought for." Sakura narrowed her eyes in thought. "Are you bringing anyone from Suna?"
It took a moment for Sakura to realise she was speaking so plainly to her Hokage but one look at the woman told her she didn't really mind. Tsunade-hime had a small smirk on her pink lips and a pleased shine to her eyes.
"I wasn't sure when he'd get here, so I asked Temari to come earlier in the week." She nodded. "You're to show him around the village after my meeting with him and as soon as he's ready you begin your journey towards Tetsu. He already has a bodyguard with him but I offered you up as reinforcement and he was kind enough to insist on paying." Sakura almost scoffed. The way the Godaime said kind confirmed her suspicions that the Tachibana guy was trying to subtly show off Iron's wealth. "Choose two genin to take with you, you'll be captain for this mission."
Sakura's heart beat faster as she bowed.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!"
"Sakura," the Godaime stopped her before she could leave, "Tachibana is a big investor in the tourism industry. This meeting is also important for Konoha's economy."
Sakura knew where she was getting. In her tour, Sakura had to make sure Tachibana-sama saw the most prosperous districts, those that had been unharmed during the attack. Preferably how active the commerce in the village was.
"Understood." Sakura nodded.
"You have about two hours to collect your subordinates and your things. Don't forget to also pack something warm enough for snow." The Hokage shot her a look that was a little too sharp not to have a deeper meaning. "Dismissed."
Sakura bowed one last time and left, almost bumping into the man that was waiting outside the door. It was the same one who had come to warn Tsunade-sama.
He was taller than her but not by much, she was afterall tall for her age at all her five ft four glory. His hair was black and spiky and his eyes were half-lidded and equally as dark. A weird bandage ran across the bridge of his nose and covered his chin, like he had some serious injury but Sakura couldn't see anything alarming.
"Kotetsu, right?" She gave him her best smile. "I'm Sakura. Nice to officially meet you."
"Nice to meet you, kid. Congratulations too, I guess." He narrowed his eyes at her after a second. "You look like you need something."
Sakura thought about keeping up her cheery charade for a moment but then gave up on it. He seemed like a guy who appreciated bluntness over subterfuge.
"Could you get Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino and tell them to meet me here in two hours with nice traditional-ish clothes and a pack for our escort trip?" She widened her eyes to plead at him.
"No, absolutely not." Kotetsu shook his head but then covered his eyes dramatically. "That puppy eye isn't going to work, I'm immune to it."
She didn't really know him but somehow doubted it. However, she didn't have any time to spare so just decided to go for the killing blow.
"I'll trade you a nightwatch this week."
He peeked at her through his fingers and quickly stopped his melodramatics to shake her hand.
"Deal."
And then he was gone.
Sakura almost ran home to get what she needed. Her dad was at the Haruno stall in the market and her mom was locked away in the office they had on the first floor of their house so she was able to make it to her room without any interruptions.
There she began planning.
Everything about the meeting with the Hokage was off. She shouldn't have received this promotion. She didn't deserve it. Shino had at least shown bravery at going after them but she had simply followed orders that day, not exactly chunin required characteristics.
Something the Hokage had said rang in her head, though. It hadn't been done since the Third War. She had just received a field promotion and that could only mean one thing. Konoha was preparing for war.
No one said it out loud but it was there in every action they'd been taking so far and only now was Sakura realizing it. The sudden influx for high ranked missions meant Konoha was trying to appear active and strong, they were most certainly protecting their borders. The field promotions ensured that their numbers hadn't dropped. Having a rich samurai from Iron-the neutral land that would be extremely valuable during a war-come to Konoha.
It was all coming together now.
Suddenly Sakura realised what had been going on during that meeting. The Hokage's pointed looks, how she had let Sakura, a completely inexperienced chunin, choose who would accompany her, how she hadn't outright said anything about the mission and rather had Sakura draw her own conclusions. She was being tested .
The Godaime was testing her and she had clearly passed the first part of the test.
Now she had to make sure that Tachibana invested in Konoha. They needed the money and the support and just like sending jounins out to show that Konoha still had its manpower, this was to show that they also had economical power.
The weight of her responsibilities pressed on her so suddenly she couldn't breathe for a second but it was easy to shake it off and put it in the back of her mind. The Godaime may be new to the Hokage position but she was smart, she definitely had a backup plan, Sakura just had to make sure there was no need for that.
Exactly an hour and forty-three minutes later she was watching by her place outside the Hokage's office as Hinata and Ino came up the stairs chatting idly.
They looked exactly like Sakura hoped they would. A mix of traditional but with an edge that was definitely shinobi. Samurai respected history and tradition, the significance of putting two clan heirs as part of his detail wouldn't be lost. Sakura wanted to remind him that Konoha's ninja clans were strong.
Thinking about how she chose the girls made her realise that Tsunade probably did the same to choose her . The Haruno clan was very present throughout the nations, small to medium sized caravans that were perpetually on the road selling anything from civilian weapons to fine silk and a few families stationed in every village big enough that would accept them.
If you were a shinobi you probably wouldn't recognize the name but their network was huge in the civilian world. Sakura knew that the head of the family, her great aunt Haruno Yuuka, lived next to the daimyō and payed frequent visits to him.
Just like that, her plan was set. She had at first just thought that showing him around the market and how well trades were going would be enough but now she realized she could do better. She would introduce Tachibana to her dad, he was afterall next in line if baa-sama's son didn't sire a heir.
Infertility or difficulty in conceiving was a common trait in the Haruno clan and because of that, her father and his cousins received the same training as children to take over in the future if necessary. Sakura was sure he could make an impact on Tachibana.
"Forehead!" Ino exclaimed and Sakura had to fight a wince at the volume. "I can't believe you got promoted and I didn't!"
Despite her words, Sakura could see that she didn't resent the fact that Sakura was the first to get promoted. There was pride clearly shining in her pupiless eyes and Sakura felt warmth curling beneath her breastbone at the sight of it.
She was on an impasse, though.
Whenever Ino goaded her like that, she usually raised up to the challenge and the result was several loud insults thrown around until whoever lost left. After their conciliation and Sasuke leaving, they hadn't had time to really settle themselves into their tentative friendship and this was the first time in a while that they'd seen each other.
Sakura could say something scathing back and they could fall back on old patterns but somehow the urge to fight wasn't there. She had so much more to worry about than some petty competition about who would get the cute boy in class.
She had to keep said boy and the others safe and for that, she had to make sure this mission went well. If Konoha went to war, it would be so much harder to protect them, especially Sasuke.
There was also the warm memory of how she and Ino used to be. Soft and supportive and how the girl had brought her out of her shell. She wanted that, she wanted her best friend. I don't want a rival , Sakura thought, flashbacks of the hospital's rooftop and what she had seen there rushing through her mind.
So she pushed the terrible images away and smiled softly at the blonde.
"I'm sure you're next in line, Ino-chan." Her smile grew a little ruefull. "You are the best kunoichi of our class, afterall. I was just at the right place at the right time, I guess."
Ino's look of surprise would have been funny if Sakura hadn't noticed the beginning of tears shining on them. It was, shockingly enough, Hinata who broke the tension.
"Ano, Sakura-chan, c-congratulations," Hinata smiled shyly at her. "Kotetsu-san told me you and Shino-kun made chunin. I'm very happy for you."
Sakura beamed at the girl. They'd never been awfully close but she could relate to the overwhelming shyness that plagued the dark haired girl. If she hadn't met Ino when she did, she would probably be just like her. She'd been oddly proud but still so sad when watching her fight with Neji.
"Thank you, Hinata-chan," Sakura said sincerely. "Let me give you a quick runthrough of our mission and of what I need you to do." She addressed both girls. "Then we'll go over the gear you brought and what strategies I've decided for this mission, if that's okay."
It was weird to be giving orders to people who were in her same Academy class, even weirder because they were Rookie 9 just like her, but Sakura found it to be easier than she expected. Naruto always did say-no. Thinking of the blond-sunshine on his smile and the sky on his earnest eyes-would lead her down a slippery path that she had to avoid.
She had to focus on the mission.
After discussing the finer details with Hinata, Sakura turned back to her position by the door and almost had a heart attack when a second later a pair of blue eyes met her own.
Tachibana Sadatoshi was a tall, imposing man. His dark brown hair was in a low ponytail down his back and it was clear he was off duty because of his lack of armour. Instead, he wore traditional clothes. Blood red hakama and kimono with a black haori on top and setta sandals complete with tabi socks.
He looked like he could be anywhere between late twenties to early fifties. He was beautiful, even with the scar that stretched his smile to the middle of his cheek on the left side of his face. All his physical attributes registered in the back of her mind but what really caught her attention wasn't that.
Tachibana Sadatoshi was fast .
So fast that she didn't have time to blink before he was towering over her and looking assessingly between her and Hinata.
Sakura had really wanted to put on her flak jacket for this mission-her first mission as a leader, her first chunin mission-but she knew that today was going to be all about appearances. So she took a traditional Haruno qipao dress with long sleeves, the same kind of shorts she usually wore but this ones reached just past her knees and donned the only black shinobi sandals she had.
She took care to sleek her hair into a short ponytail on the back of her head with her bangs framing her face and put her hitai-ate on her forehead like it was supposed to be.
She knew by the glint in his eyes-not exactly approval but definitely not disapproval-that she had succeeded in making a good first impression. She had to consciously try to repress her satisfied smile.
"Tachibana-sama," Sakura bowed low but was careful not to bow as low as she did her Hokage. "I'm Haruno Sakura, I'll be team leader for this mission." Her heart beat faster at that. Holy shit she was team leader. "T-These are my teammates Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata."
A nod was all she got in return. Right. The Hokage had said he wasn't personable. Good thing that Sakura had learned quite a few things from interacting with Sasuke on a daily basis.
She reprehended herself for her stutter, Inner cursing up a storm on her head. Her voice yelling at Sakura to pull herself together, cutting down her insecurities to the quick. If she didn't feel like a leader then she'd better act like one until it became true.
It was easy to let Inner's confidence take over and Sakura led them around the village, calmly explaining the main monuments to the samurai. They met up with Temari outside the Hokage tower and Sakura was amused to see the older girl being cheerful and pretending they were friends.
By the time they got to the civilian district, she dived deep into all the things her dad had taught her about trade lines, touristic influence and the economy.
Tachibana was looking at her from the corner of his eyes now instead of keeping his eyes averted like he'd done the rest of the tour and Sakura fought to keep her satisfaction to herself. From time to time she caught one of the girls looking at her incredulously.
By the time they reached the center of the market district, Sakura had carefully devised a plan to accidentally cross paths with her dad. She couldn't be obvious about it or it would look like she was trying too hard and Konoha was desperate. She had to keep doing what she had done so far which was to play in subterfuge, the few questions he had asked she took the utmost care in answering.
"Sacchan?" Someone called from behind them and she knew her plan worked. Her dad was a creature of habit and every morning at exactly ten, he would leave his business to the employees and cross the street to his favourite tea house.
"Otou-san!" Sakura turned around and smiled the most polite smile she could. He would know that something was off by it.
Her dad instantly looked around trying to get a feel of the situation. Sakura saw how he took in Ino and Hinata and the gear they were all wearing, the backpacks on their backs. His eyes fell on Tachibana behind her and she saw recognition flash on her dad's grey eyes.
"Sadatoshi-sama, it's been a while." His voice was the same he used when Sakura was little, before her Academy days, and she went with her parents to all the conferences abroad. It was a voice that demanded respect. It was his heir voice.
To Sakura's utter astonishment Tachibana—who her dad referred to by his first name and wasn't that a surprise on its own—bowed his head slightly.
"Kizashi-san." Sakura could feel his eyes on her. "I wasn't aware your daughter was a ninja."
Sakura had no idea if he was happy or not about it, his poker face was good , but her dad clearly did because the next thing he did was smile brightly.
"Yes, and I'm sure she'll be one of the best!"
She had to fight hard to keep a frown off her face. Her dad had never acted like that about her ninja career. Her parents had always indulged her when she showed interest in something but they never outright encouraged her in becoming a ninja. She was almost certain they never expected her to graduate the Academy, let alone become a chunin.
She could tell by his reply that Tachibana valued shinobi. It was weird for a samurai to do so. From what she'd heard they either were indifferent towards ninja or thought they were inferior.
This was good. She could use that information in the future.
Sakura kept quiet and watched as her dad charmed the pants out of the surly Tachibana. She immediately wrinkled her nose at the image that brought to mind. Poor choice of words aside, she could see her dad subtly implying that Konoha would be a good investment for the samurai.
She could also see that Tachibana was almost sold.
She expected that his connection to the Hokage had worked in her dad's favour. All she had to do now was make sure he kept his opinion favourable and this mission would be a success.
"I'll be home soon, otou-san," she bid her dad goodbye when their conversation came to an end and began leading the way out of the village.
"You said your bodyguard was waiting for you outside the gates, right Tachibana-sama?" Sakura asked conversationally, not really expecting him to say anything.
"Yes," his reply was curt but it still made her turn to him in astonished silence, unable to hide her surprise. The slight upturn of the corner of his lips threw her in for a loop. It was like he was a different person.
She caught the girls eyes and they were both looking rather surprised by the turn this mission was taking. When they heard it was a C-rank escort mission they probably thought they would have to fight bandits, not find their way around politics.
Thankfully, the three of them had received the same type of training on politics that Sakura had. They knew to keep their mouths shut and smile prettily for the time being and to let their team leader handle it. And that would be her. The team leader.
Sakura's breath caught in her throat, anxiety bubbling in her stomach and making her nauseous. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself. It didn't matter if she was ready to be a leader. She would do what needed to be done.
By the time she came back to herself they were already crossing outside the safety of the gates.
"What took you so long?" A bored voice called from their right.
A samurai that looked more man than boy got up from his slouched position at the base of a tree. His hair and eyes were the same shade as Tachibana's but his ponytail was shorter and perched high on his head, his bangs framing his face like Sakura's. He wore the same kind of garb as Tachibana did only his were completely black and he also held two wakizashi on either side of his hips.
So far, samurai were breaking all of the expectations she had of them.
"Stop your complaining, Shinsei." Sakura thought that if his face wasn't made of stone, Tachibana would be rolling his eyes. "This is Haruno Sakura. Her team will help you escort me back safely to the Land of Iron." Sakura didn't miss the emphasis he put on her clan name and the responding eyebrow the boy raised.
It was clear after an awkward pause that he wouldn't acknowledge them. A flash of anger cursed through but she pushed it down and sent a warning look towards Ino to do the same. She knew she must be getting pissed at being kept out of the spotlight while Sakura got the attention.
"I'll take point, Tachibana-sama," she looked directly into his eyes. "You'll be in the middle with your bodyguard to your right and Ino to your left. Hinata will take the rear. Temari will be with me."
Thankfully, Tachibana didn't take offense to her bossiness. The boy, on the other hand, smirked at her.
"Looks like kitten's got claws."
Sakura thought his voice was nice. Which was weird because she had only ever noticed someone's voice like that when Sasuke-kun spoke but there she was. Thinking the arrogant samurai had a nice voice.
She frowned at him.
"If there's an attack from the rear, Ino you'll be backup and Temari will take your place on the left. Don't break formation otherwise." She gave the dark haired boy a pointed look. "It's unlikely that anyone could get past Hinata, but I just want to cover all basis."
She waited for the others to nod before continuing, a strange feeling rushing through her at having all of their attention.
"We'll walk tonight until we reach Kawaboko. Tomorrow we'll cross over into the Land of Rivers and stop at Kin Gai. The day after we'll reach Suna and follow the border into the Land of Iron." She cocked her head. "I assumed that you didn't come with a full entourage because you wanted to keep a fast pace. Is that plan to your satisfaction, Tachibana-sama?"
"Aa." He nodded.
Shinsei narrowed his eyes at the older samurai before focusing his gaze back on Sakura. The intensity behind it surprised her and made her pulse quicken.
"O-Okay, we'll set out now." Sakura cleared her throat and they moved into formation.
The trip to the first town was uneventful but Sakura had been wired the whole time. Nothing could go wrong in this mission. She had to succeed.
Shinsei was annoying. He was laidback and cocky and kept complaining loudly about how bored he was of the whole affair. He didn't act at all like a bodyguard and Sakura was one innuendo away from punching him in the face.
It was amusing to watch Ino get redder and redder at each pass he made at Sakura and brushed off Ino's advances. Sakura just hoped they got to their hotel before Ino exploded.
The first half of the trip was taken in awkward silence between the girls but after it became obvious that Tachibana wasn't as strict as he looked—he let Shinsei talk his mouth out and Sakura had even caught the tiniest of smirks on his lips once—they began to engage.
Tachibana had insisted on the daimyō suite and despite Sakura's protests, had payed for them all. All the rooms were connected to the great living room where a banquet was brought to them. The samurai didn't stay long, though, and quickly retired to the master suite.
"Aniki is an old man he has to be in bed by ten otherwise he falls asleep on the table." Shinsei joked.
"Aniki?!" Ino exclaimed. "You're his brother?"
"Are," He blinked at them "you didn't know that?"
"But you're young!" Sakura blurted and immediately regretted it as he turned his full attention to her, the same flirtatious flair to him he adopted throughout the journey.
No one had ever flirted with her before. It made her uncomfortable but at the same time it made her heart beat faster and her belly feel weird. She felt like she used to with Sasuke-kun, definitely not love—she wasn't even sure she had ever really loved him—but excited .
"How old do you think I am, Kunoichi-chan?" He smirked at her and leaned his elbow on the table in a show of terrible manners.
"I, I mean—" she stuttered before clearing her throat and scowling at him. "Definitely not old enough, by the way you've been acting." She mumbled.
Hinata and Temari were talking quietly amongst themselves but Ino was looking at them intensely and Sakura could practically see the cogs turning in her head. Shinsei leaned further into her space and Sakura cursed the fact that she had sat down next to him.
She could feel the little bit of sake he had on his breath and his arm just brushed her covered ones enough for her to feel the heat coming from it.
"I can assure you I am old enough ." His voice was so low it was almost a whisper. "Are you, Kunoichi-chan?"
Sakura's eyes were as big as saucers as she gaped at him. She knew what he was implying and it was like a bucket of ice water had been poured on the somewhat pleasant heat on her belly. She definitely wasn't old enough for that.
"Would you look at the time!" Ino exclaimed loudly and laughed even louder. "Why don't you just say how old you are and we can call it a night, Tachibana?"
Shinsei looked over at Ino speculatively for a moment before a frown marred his features. There was an expression on his face almost like bashfulness but a second later it was gone and Sakura was left wondering if it had been there at all.
"I'm nineteen." He cleared his throat in the first display of awkwardness that showed he wasn't as cocky as he liked people to believe. "It's getting late, I guess. See you girls in the morning."
He got up but before he could leave Sakura remembered her manners.
"Goodnight, Tachibana-sama." She looked at him from under her lashes and watched bemusedly as he frowned even deeper than before and left without saying a word.
"What was that?" Sakura asked quietly to herself. Things had been going fine so far. Had she said something she shouldn't?
"Let's go to bed, Sakura-chan." Ino took her hand and pulled her to her feet unceremoniously before dragging her towards one of the two bedrooms left. Sakura barely had time to say goodnight to the girls before the door closed behind them.
"Ino!" She exclaimed when the blonde pushed her down to sit at her futon.
"Finally we have some time alone to talk." Ino looked intently at her. "I'm going to talk and you're going to listen, okay?"
"Okay?" Sakura looked confusedly at her.
"Look, from the beginning of this mission you've been acting real formal and I can see that you mean business. It's why I kept my complainings to myself, you know, I don't want to ruin this for you." She took a deep breath and looked a bit unsure of herself. "Shinsei is Sadatoshi's little brother and it was clear from their interaction that they value each other opinions. He's into you, Sakura."
"He's so not-"
"No interruptions." Ino covered Sakura's mouth with her hand. "You took the same kunoichi class that I did, Sakura. You know what the best course of action is in this mission."
She did.
She had been naive enough so far to hide even from herself the signs he was showing-and that she was strangely enough reciprocating-and she knew exactly what it meant. Kunoichi class had taught them flower arrangement and etiquette, sure, but it had gone much deeper than that.
How to read a target to find out what type of man he was, how to hold yourself accordingly, how to seduce, when to fight back against advances.
When to give in.
It was a chilling thought and Sakura remembered that she spent two nights without being able to fall asleep after that particular lesson. She had pushed those lessons to the back of her head since then, only remembering them when she had her first moon cycle, and needed Ino to remind her.
"I didn't even have my first kiss, yet," Sakura mumbled without realising she'd said it out loud.
Ino's face contorted into the most heartbreaking expression before she went back to frowning at her. Her hands moved around her as she spoke.
"You don't need to do anything about it, Sakura!" She grabbed her by her shoulders. "You really don't, okay? The Hokage didn't order you to so there's absolutely no obligation whatsoever."
"No," Sakura shook her head, "there really isn't." She took a deep breath and looked Ino right in the eyes, her hands coming to grip her friend's wrists. "But I still want this mission to succeed, so I'll do it."
"Sakura…"
"Ino," Sakura said more firmly, gaining confidence. "I promised myself that I would do whatever it took. Sure, at the time I was thinking more along the lines of dying for my village but sometimes there are better ways to go about things, ne?"
Ino looked at her silently, admiration and sadness shining in her beautiful eyes before nodding.
"At least he doesn't seem to be too big of a jerk." She offered.
"No, he doesn't." Sakura smiled gently at the girl and tried to reassure her. "Now, help me make a strategy to go about this. You're the one who knows more about this stuff anyway."
The plan was simple, really. Shinsei seemed to like Sakura just fine the way she was, now Sakura only had to pay more attention to his cues and give some signs of her own that she was open to whatever he wanted. She was relieved she wouldn't have to do much acting but just the thought of the… physical stuff was making her nauseous.
She and Ino had decided that it wouldn't make any sense for her to try and seduce him. She wouldn't be able to fake having the experience and he didn't seem like he would appreciate it either. All Sakura had to do was pretend she wanted him but wasn't sure how to go about it or what to do exactly.
Which wasn't far from the truth.
Sakura was exhausted by the time they agreed that they needed to make some alone time for Shinsei and her so when she fell back against the pillows to rest her eyes for a bit it was no surprise at all that she couldn't open them again.
The last thing she remembered was Ino laying down beside her, her warm weight and soft breaths just what she needed to fall asleep.
Hey, guys! Just to remind you that there will be no explicit sexual contents until Sakura is older, but keep in mind that Sakura isn't a child anymore and that even though the show didn't really know how to differentiate preteens to teens to adults, the same thing that happens with societies and eras where people were considered adults at young ages happens here. Meaning, body development and also personality growth occurs earlier and faster.
I hope you guys enjoyed this!