A/N: I wanted to end this on a cliffhanger. But considering my sporadic rates of updates I decided against it. Cruelty does have its limits after all. Hope you enjoy it.
The Missing Damsel-III
"What if I told you I may have found a way to get what you want without so much as having to move from this room?"
Sasuke scoffed mockingly and Sakura's eyes narrowed suspiciously while their 'guest' seemed even more guarded than usual. Kakashi ignored them all.
"If you're telling me that." Kakashi said throwing an arm around the genin's shoulder, "Then you Naruto are my new best friend."
Four hours ago
Location: Mishima warehouse
The uniformed men worked with a kind of monotonous diligence that their job demanded. One of them was holding a clipboard and held himself with an air of superiority over the rest of the grunts. He studied the catalogue in his hand with a rather perplexed expression.
"Wait a minute!" He exclaimed gaining the attention of the workers around him. "Why is there an extra crate here?" He kicked the offensive 'crate' with his foot.
"Who knows!" One of the workers said, not really caring.
"This is unacceptable!" He seethed, "Someone fucked up!"
"What's the big deal?" The worker who had spoken up before said a little irritably, "Its just one crate, maybe someone at the customs forgot to log it in?"
"Well then remove it from here." The supervisor barked, when no one moved to do it he lost his already fragile patience, "Well? What's the problem?" He spat.
"Look man the customs office is already closed." The worker pleaded, "If we went through the proper channels and waited for things to be cleared we would have to keep it out. Who knows what's in it? And if its something precious do you really want to be the one to take it up with the boss."
The supervisor scowled heavily but after thinking it over for minute finally relented.
"Fine." He snapped, "Move it in, but it is going to the customs the first thing tomorrow."
Two of the workers picked up the unmarked container and moved it into the warehouse not even bothering to hide the relief from their faces.
An hour later when the workers had retired for the night leaving the warehouse seemingly abandoned, the mysterious crate all but out of their minds.
Within minutes the sun had set leaving the warehouse in darkness. It was then that in a burst of smoke the crate turned into the prone figure of Uzumaki Naruto. Getting to his feet he stretched to relieve himself of the cramps that were beginning to set in his body. He was lucky that the workers didn't look too close or it might've ended rather badly. As it was he was almost found out. Still he had gotten in and that was half the job done. Now he had to scope the place out and look for anything that might be of interest to the boss.
He hadn't been specific when he created him after all. So, it was all he had.
Sighing to himself the clone made his way into the warehouse which was as intimidating as it was massive if only because of the magnitude of the task in front of him.
This promised to be a pain in the ass.
XxX
Naruto didn't think of himself as a gloating man. Though to be fair he didn't really get too many chances. So he really couldn't be blamed for making the most of the few opportunities he did get, in his opinion. Judging by the baffled expression on the face of his teammates, probably not Kakashi… who could really tell behind that mask and Sasuke's scowl actually showed no signs of relaxing, Sakura raised a single eyebrow at his declaration.
This reaction for some reason felt extremely subdued to him.
"You're telling us that you managed to sneak a clone in the warehouse transformed as an unmarked crate." Sasuke said not bothering to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
"What can I say?" Naruto shrugged, "I'm very convincing."
Sasuke probably wanted to say more but was once again interrupted, this time by their reluctant guest, "Well that certainly simplifies matters." She said cheerfully getting to her feet, "Looks like you won't be needing me after all."
"Not so fast." Kakashi said stopping the kunoichi who was in the process of turning the doorknob, "You need to tell us exactly what we are looking for where we should be looking for it?"
"Fine." The woman said petulantly as she returned to her seat, "The records are kept in the southern sector of the warehouse. It is the only room with a green door so you really shouldn't have any problems getting there."
"Anything else we should know?" Naruto interjected at this point.
"The records are catalogued by their dates of dispatch so the files should be at the bottom shelves." She rolled her eyes as she continued, "The older, more obsolete files are regularly incinerated to avoid too much cluttering but considering the files you're looking for are fairly recent you shouldn't have that problem."
"This is all well and good." Sakura said a little thoughtfully, "But aren't we forgetting something?"
"And what would that be?" Naruto said.
"How are you going to get this information to your clone?"
Naruto could scarcely believe his luck. He had planned on being a little more discrete, but another chance to demonstrate just how awesome he was, was almost too tempting to pass up.
Almost.
But then he realized that this might not be the time considering they had a kunoichi in the room whose motivations and loyalties weren't to be trusted. The demonstration of the working mechanics of one of his primary skills might not be the best of ideas.
"I have my ways." He settled for saying instead trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
"Well it seems like we won't be needing you anymore." Kakashi said turning to the kunoichi, "Thanks for your help, you can leave now."
After trying all night to get away from them it seemed that when they were actively trying to get rid of her, all of a sudden she wasn't all that keen to leave.
"I don't mind sticking around." She said.
"That really isn't up for discussion." Kakashi said figuring out what she was up to, "So either you get out or we take that trip to the Commander's office."
"Can't blame a girl for trying." She said cheekily getting to her feet. "For what it's worth I really do hope that you find her."
"You better not be screwing us on this." Sasuke called out to her stopping her as she placed her hand on the door handle, "Or I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down."
"Gee dramatic much?" Naruto retorted once the kunoichi had left, "'I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down.'" Naruto said in a poor imitation of Sasuke, complete with an exaggerated scowl. "You seriously need to lighten up."
Sasuke decided that the best way to deal with the annoying genin was to ignore him altogether. Retaliating only gave him more reasons to open his mouth.
"Was letting her go really such a good idea Kakashi-san?" Sakura questioned, "I mean what if she was lying?"
"She wouldn't lie Sakura." Kakashi said waving off her worries, but then noticing the sceptical look she was throwing him he decided to elaborate, "Or rather I should say she really can't afford to. We just happen to know a little too much about her and keeping her around just to make sure she wasn't lying wasn't worth risking operational security over."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked puzzled.
Kakashi in response merely turned to Naruto, who merely shrugged and brought his hands together for a seal. A puff of smoke caused Sakura to nearly jump off the chair in surprise and even Sasuke struggled to keep his carefully maintained composure on seeing the appearance of a doppelganger of the genin.
The clone on his part looked a little resigned already aware of his fate.
"I wish there was another way." Naruto told the clone, his tone just a little apologetic.
"No you don't." The clone sighed, "Just get this over with."
Giving him a solemn nod Naruto slugged him in the head dispelling him.
"There." He said making a show of dusting his hands, "Problem solved."
"What the hell was that all about?" Sakura said giving voice to Sasuke's thoughts on the matter after a few seconds of stunned silence.
"That, my friends was the Shadow clone jutsu." Naruto said waving his arms like a showman demonstrating a trick. "And the reason for our success in this mission."
"Let's not count those chickens just yet." Kakashi said earning a pout from the genin, "But yes, this might be the break we needed to proceed with this mission."
Sasuke had to admit he was more than a little baffled as his mind struggled to dredge up the information from its innermost depths. The shadow-clone jutsu was an incredibly chakra-extensive technique. He had come across it during his early days in the ANBU and had decided against making it a part of his repertoire. Unlike other clone techniques which were elemental in nature the shadow clone jutsu was entirely a chakra construct. Theoretically that also allowed the clone to use ninjutsu-techniques, something the other variants were incapable of.
However the immense chakra required to use the jutsu coupled with the rather fragile nature of the clones themselves made it a double-edged sword, often proving more detrimental to the user than the one it was used against.
It was no surprise that it was classified as a forbidden jutsu. To see a genin not only use the technique but to maintain it for hours, Sasuke had to admit was rather impressive... and intriguing. However the utility of the shadow clone technique went beyond its combat capabilities.
"That still doesn't explain how that clone of yours will know what to do." Sakura folded her arms.
"That clone I created," Naruto explained, "had all of my memories including the knowledge of the plans we made. When I popped it I transferred memories of those plans to it."
"That's... convenient." Sakura said her voice, tinged with admiration.
"You've no idea."
"So now what?" Sasuke demanded.
"Now we wait." Kakashi said fishing out his book and putting an end to further conversations.
Location: Mishima Warehouse
The clone froze for a second interrupting his work as he processed the influx of memories. It took him a while to get to single out the memory which would tell him how to proceed.
The boss, it seemed had a rather eventful evening. Still he couldn't complain. Anything that made his job easier was something he could live with.
It didn't take him long to find the room and even less to pick the lock. The room was dark and musty and smelled of old papers. The kunoichi had said something about the obsolete documents being discarded and seeing the rows of shelves crammed with tens of thousands of files, he was beginning to doubt those claims.
The boss was sure to have a headache by the time he was done, he thought to himself dryly as he made his way to the shelves.
This was going to be a long night.
Sasuke Uchiha was no stranger to playing the waiting game. He would even go so far to say that he was rather good at it. The hours he spent scoping a target, waiting for the right time to strike had improved his patience tenfold since his days as a genin... and yet he could barely contain his restlessness now.
It wasn't easy for him to give up the control of a situation to someone else. His mood was further soured by the fact that the control of the situation now lay with an idiot, who was drooling with his head hanging back over a chair his feet resting on the table as he napped. Even the fangirl had lost the battle against sleep and was now stretched out on the couch, leaving him and Kakashi to hold the fort... so to speak. The jounin had told him to get some sleep, but he had ignored the advice and it wasn't brought up again.
At this moment only Kakashi's presence and the fact that his actions would force him to interact with the infuriating blonde had prevented him from grabbing a hold of him by the collar and demand what was taking so long.
"You really need to learn to relax Sasuke-kun." The jounin drawled, seemingly registering his restlessness, "Its not good for the nerves."
"It is rather hard for me to relax when the success of a mission relies on... that." He retorted pointing to the genin's drooling figure.
"You really don't have a lot of faith in your team do you?" Kakashi said, "And I thought you didn't care about the mission."
"It's not my team." He snapped, "And you seem to have a little too much faith in them." He decided to ignore the barb about caring about the mission.
"A leader needs to trust his team…" Kakashi said,
"And have his team trust him and each other if they're to be an effective and productive unit."Sasuke interrupted irritably, "Shinobi Code, Section C, sub-section C3, sub-sub-section C3.6. I have it memorized thank you very much. I just don't find it holding much water. I operate best when I'm working alone. I neither need nor want a team to hold me back."
"The fact that you failed to learn that lesson is my failure as a teacher."
That quip stung Sasuke a little more than he was willing to admit. When Kakashi had been assigned as his ANBU mentor, he came as close to being… happy? No, that wasn't the right sentiment. Happiness wasn't an emotion he related with anymore. But it was as close as he ever was going to get. He had absorbed everything Kakashi had to teach him. He was diligent and worked hard. There was even a time when he actively tried to make the man proud of him, as much as it galled him to admit it now.
And on the day when it mattered the most, Kakashi had betrayed him.
"So in order to beat the lesson home you decided to saddle me with a fangirl and a drop-out?" He asked him failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice, "That's a little low even by your standards." When that failed to extract a reaction from the jounin, Sasuke tried to a more direct approach, "Why am I here Kakashi?"
"I thought that was obvious." Came the reply, "We're here to find a missing girl and if possible try and return her to her family... try and keep up will you?"
"Cut the bullshit Kakashi." Sasuke snarled, "You didn't need me for this. I hunt missing-nin, not civilian girls who got lost on their way home from grandma's house. So why don't you tell me what's really going on?"
For the first time since the conversation started Kakashi looked up from his book to look at him. His initial feeling of jubilation at finally getting a reaction from the masked man was quelled by the look Kakashi directed at him. It was one of disappointment mixed with pity.
Sasuke hated that look
"What you're in the mood for has no bearing on your orders." Kakashi said, "Get it out of your head that I owe you something or the world owes you something. Here's news for you kid... you aren't nearly as important as you believe yourself to be.
You are a shinobi and I am your superior. I give orders and you follow them that's all you will ever need to know." Kakashi turned back to his book, "Remember a soldier is good to his commander only as long as he follows orders."
Through all the outrage at the dressing down he was being subjected to a part of Sasuke couldn't help admiring the way it was delivered. He never raised his voice and his voice remained sans inflections throughout.
"Ow my neck." The blonde genin chose the moment to wake up massaging the back of his neck and Sasuke couldn't have been gladder for the interruption. The chair he was on creaked in protest at his motions. On the couch even Sakura was beginning to stir.
"Anything?" Kakashi inquired.
The blonde shook his head, "My clone couldn't find so much as a post-it note let alone logs or files of the day's events."
"Are you sure your clone was reliable?" Sasuke commented bitterly.
"He would have looked longer but the workers were starting to pour in." Naruto stretched cracking his spine and then yawned heavily, "Though I am beginning to think that the files were never there in the first place."
"Are you saying the kunoichi lied?" Kakashi queried.
"No, I am saying that someone definitely removed them." Naruto mumbled sleepily as he made his way to the bathroom, only to find it locked occupied by Sakura.
"That was a colossal waste of time." Sasuke observed, "So, now what?"
"Breakfast." Naruto replied as he leaned by the bathroom door waiting for his teammate to be done, "I am absolutely famished."
XxX
"So another dead end." Sakura munched on her roll thoughtfully as Naruto scarfed down his breakfast.
"I won't go as far to say that." Naruto said pausing to swallow, "If anything this just confirms that he is hiding something."
"But we aren't getting anywhere with this." Sasuke said irritably.
Kakashi had to admit that Sasuke had a point. Their current approach would yield results... eventually. But time wasn't a luxury they had. They needed to get things moving fast and there seemed to be only one way to do it.
"Well maybe its time Taro Mishima was paid another visit."
"Yeah... about that." Naruto said, "Don't know how to break this to you but I doubt will agree to seeing us again."
"Who says he will have a choice?"
Kakashi had finally taken off the shackles. Or rather it would be closer to say that he had relaxed his hold on the proverbial leash. The basic rules still applied, don't antagonize the law enforcement, keep property damage to the minimum and above all, don't get caught. But now he was finally allowed to do what they should have been doing all along.
The only downside to the whole thing was he had once again been partnered with the blonde idiot. Kakashi had insisted on it when he had protested, telling him, that since Naruto had already been there he would know the layout and what to expect.
Sasuke had just wanted to kick in the front door and torture the information out of the guy. But even he had to admit that would attract unnecessary attention.
So they waited in the lobby until he called on one of his subordinates to chew on. The blonde idiot had said they wouldn't have to wait long.
"Trust me." He said waving off his concerns, "This guy gets off on putting down his employees. It's a sure thing. Do keep an eye out for the security though. Kakashi told us to be as discrete as possible."
"And how would we know we know which one to follow?"
"Keep an eye out for anyone who is making his way towards the general direction of his office looking like they are walking into an execution chamber."
Sasuke had to fight the impulse to throttle the blonde.
"That one." He said drawing his attention to a morose looking guy. "Do your thing Uchiha."
Sasuke walked up to the guy and just as he turned a corner out of everbody's line if sight he bumped into him. One sleep genjutsu and henge later he was the one walking to the office of their suspect. Naruto walked from the opposite side catching the guy before he collapsed on the floor and discretely moved him away to the washrooms.
The process took less than fifteen seconds.
"Come in." A gruff voice said in response to his knock. Sasuke allowed himself a smile of satisfaction as he walked in locking the door behind him.
Sasuke ignored the opulence of the office in favour of studying the man. He was seated and yet to look up to him, engrossed in the file in his hands, obviously trying to make him sweat.
The tactic would have impressed him if he was an employee. As it happened right now he was just amused. But he was wasting time here. He allowed himself one more second to savor the hell he was about to subject his victim to before dropping his henge. He walked up to the man and had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen in surprise when he looked up. Sasuke then proceeded to unceremoniously drag him out of his chair over the table and threw him on the wall.
The man seemed so surprised that he barely reacted when Sasuke kicked him back to the floor as he tried to get to his feet. Placing his foot on his chest to keep him pinned Sasuke decided to get to work.
"What did you do with the girl?"
The man had finally gotten over his shock and now glared at him defiantly.
"Who are you?" He snarled, "And what the hell are you doing here?"
"I will be asking the questions here." Sasuke pushed him to the ground a little harder as his victim tried to impotently dislodge his foot from his chest.
"Why am I not surprised?" The voice of his genin teammate beckoned him.
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said annoyed by the blonde's presence. He was supposed to be the look-out.
"I knew you'd do something like this the moment Kakashi took off your leash." He said relocking the door behind him. "I am here to tell you that what you're doing isn't necessary."
"Thanks for the advice," Sasuke retorted, "but I've got this. Now get out of here and let me work."
"He didn't kill her."
That declaration gave him a pause. What game was he playing now?
"Get out of here Uzumaki." He growled, "You're wasting my time.
"Look at his hand." The genin insisted. Something about the no nonsense tone in his voice compelled Sasuke to do it.
"What about them?"
"He is wearing his engagement ring." The blonde said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And how is that significant?"
"I will explain after you let him up." He sighed as if he couldn't believe Sasuke's stupidity. "It wouldn't do to kill our only lead now would it?"
Sure enough Mishima's face was now beginning to turn interesting colours due to lack of oxygen.
Rather reluctantly Sasuke removed his foot and immediately the man started gasping and coughing trying to get his breath back.
"What's the meaning of this Uzumaki?" Sasuke demanded, "I thought we were clear on the plan of action."
"That was before new information came to light."
"And what information is that?"
"He is not the bad guy."
A few minuted later the Mishima heir had recovered enough to talk coherently, though at the moment he was glaring balefully at the two shinobi in his office. Sasuke had to admit the guy was no coward. He was wary of them but he wasn't showing any signs of fear. That would've changed if he had a few more minutes but it was not to be.
"Why shouldn't I take this up with the Commander?" He finally said, "And have you thrown in jail for trespassing assaulting me and not to mention assaulting me."
"Empty threats Mishima-san." Naruto replied, "Considering what we know that really won't be a good idea."
"And what would that be?"
"The fact that you're responsible for Mei Arisawa's disappearance."
"You have no proof."
"The fact you're not denying it is proof enough." Naruto said, "But I also know that you never hurt her. So believe it ir not we are the only people who can help you right now."
Taro's head shot up when he heard that. The image of the stubborn, defiant man remained for a second longer, before he sighed in defeat and possibly relief.
"She came to me that day." He said, his head bowed, "Asking me, pleading me to call off the marriage."
"You refused." Sasuke remarked.
"I did." Taro nodded, "I told her that refusal on my part won't look good for my family and so I couldn't... I wouldn't do it."
"But she said she had thought of everything." Taro continued, "She would run away from home. I tried to convince her that while it wouldn't hurt my family's reputation it would destroys hers."
"She was hoping her reputation will play its part." Naruto interjected.
"No one would believe that she would hurt her family like that and everyone will assume that she was kidnapped." Taro agreed. "She was aware of the shipments we were sending out to Kusa and asked me to help her get out of town using one of them."
"And you helped her." Sasuke said sceptical about the turn of events. "Just like that?"
"You have no idea what she's like do you?" The Mishima heir laughed bitterly, "You can't help but be helpless before her. She's extremely good at having you seeing things from her side."
Taro then went on to describe how he helped her into one of the crates by having her hide in the warehouse till the caravan was ready to move and eventually helped her out of Sumer with none the wiser.
"The entire town went mad searching for her, but I wasn't worried. I thought she was safe until two days later when I got news about how the merchandise was attacked and I lost not only my men but also my fiancee."
"Why didn't you tell this to anyone?" Sasuke demanded.
Taro looked at him incredulously, "And implicate myself in her disappearance? No, it was too late for that. No one would believe me."
"So why should we?" Sasuke asked.
Taro gaped like a fish suddenly aware of the situation he was in.
"I believe you."
Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger but refrained from speaking out.
"So now what?" Taro questioned.
XxX
A few minutes later when they were making their way back to the resthouse to report the new developments to Kakashi, Sasuke took the oppurtunity to get some of his concerns across to the blonde genin.
Hence their current position with the blonde's back to the wall and Sasuke's hand holding him up by the collar of his jacket.
"What the hell Uchiha?" He shouted.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut you right now." He growled.
"Well then you better give me a reason why you want to gut me in the first place." He managed to scoff despite his predicament,"Unless you're having a psychotic break that is, which I really wouldn't find surprising."
"Why did you interrupt my interrogation?" He got straight to the point.
"Wasn't it obvious?" He said, "You were about to put thumb-tacks on the guy when he clearly did nothing to deserve them, and last I checked torturing a civilian is strictly against protocol."
"Last I checked disobeying your superior was against protocol and yet here we are." With a jerk he let go of the genin, who massaged his throat while glaring at him.
"What made you think he wasn't guilty?" He asked his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Like I said, he was wearing his engagement ring." He said,"Unless you're a psychopath you wouldn't hold on to the memento of the one you killed. Infact I think he might even be in love with her."
As far as explanations went that was an acceptable one and yet there were things that needed to be made clear.
"Since it got the result we wanted I am willing to overlook your insubordination." He told him radiating just a bit of killer intent to better emphasize his point, "But get in my way again and I won't hold back."
To his surprise however his threat wasn't met with any trepidation let alone the fear he had expected to incite.
"As long as we're making threats." He said plastering an ironic smile on his face, even as his blue eyes turned cold as ice "This was your only freebie. Touch me like that again and you'll find that holding back is the last thing you need to worry about."
XxX
Kakashi was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. When the Hokage had asked him to reassemble Team 7 and had even shortlisted the candidates for it he had jumped at the chance.
Individually all of them were exceptional in their own way, if a little inexperienced. But as he had learnt that the success of a mission was more often than not dependant on how well all the members of a team worked together rather than their individual brilliance.
It was a lesson he had learnt the hard way.
Unfortunately his current team didn't seem to be in a hurry to become a competent/cohesive unit any time soon.
His apprehensions only magnified when the two boys returned. It wasn't obvious. But to him the tension between the two was thick enough to cut with a knife.
He just hoped they would retain their professionalism or the Hokage's plan would be doomed before it even began.
"Report." Kakashi ordered.
With that command Sasuke gave a summarized account of the sequence of events.
"Hence we came to the conclusion that Taro Mishima is innocent of any crimes we may have suspected him of committing." He concluded.
"That is a bit surprising." Sakura commented.
"Indeed it is." Kakashi admitted, " But it really doesn't change anything at the end of the day. Fact remains that Taro Mishima was responsible for Mei Arisawa's disappearance."
"But it's not as if we can have him arrested for that." Naruto said.
"Arresting Taro isn't our job finding and retrieving Mei Arisawa is."
"But from what we know she might be in Kusa if she is even alive." Sasuke interjected, "It's not as if we can carry out an investigation there without starting a diplomatic incident. Allies or no."
"You're right." Kakashi admitted, "Maybe we can't enter Kusa for investigating Mei Arisawa's disappearance." He relished the baffled looks on all of their faces. These were the moments he cherished and lived for. Being one step ahead of everyone around him. "But that doesn't stop us from escorting merchant caravans does it?"
XxX
Kakashi's plan involved convincing Taro Mishima to send out another consignment of goods to Kusa.
Needless to say it wasn't going down all that well with the young heir.
"You want me to do what?" Taro demanded, his eyes flashing with anger.
"You heard me Mishima-san." Kakashi said addressing the agitated heir rather benignly.
He decided it was time he took matters into his own hands. Leaving things to Naruto and Sasuke again would not have been a good idea. The two seemed to develop an aversion to each other the more time they spent together, and while he hoped they'd learn to work together expecting them to start doing it immediately would be optimism to the point of foolishness. So he had made an appointment with the man and wasn't long before was shown to the office. Judging by the distrustful gaze of the man he could guess that his last encounter with shinobi hadn't been a pleasant experience.
This could have been so much easier.
"What makes you think I will be willing to risk more of my goods not to mention men in this suicidal venture?" He asked once Kakashi had explained what he wanted to do.
"Because it won't be your people you'd be risking Mishima-san." He said, "It will be mine."
"Are you saying you will escort the next consignment of goods into Kusa?" Taro stared at the jounin speculatively.
"I'll be honest Mishima-san." Kakashi said, "At this point we need your help to proceed. Your fiancee is most probably in Kusa, a land outside of Konoha's jurisdiction. We can't go there and start investigations. But if we are an escort team..."
"It gives you a legitimate reason to be in Kusa." Taro finished.
"I'm glad we understand each other."
"What if I refuse?"
"You're free to do so of course." Kakashi was expecting this, however he had no intention of getting away empty-handed.
"But..." Taro prompted, and Kakashi rather enjoyed his wary tone.
"I'm afraid I'll have to conclude the mission and submit the details of it to the Commander as I have given him my word." He said, "And as reasonable a man he seems to be, I doubt he will take your responsibility in her disappearance well, your money and influence notwithstanding."
But I'm innocent." Taro protested his , "I did nothing wrong."
"You concealed valuable information." Kakashi said, "That alone makes you look guilty."
Taro Mishima sank into himself, looking thoroughly shattered.
"I was just trying to help her." He murmured. "Why is this happening to me?"
Kakashi decided to take pity on him.
"We can still salvage this." He said using his best comforting tone, "If we find her we solve your predicament and complete our mission. But we can't do this without your help."
"Can you even find her after all this time?"
"Maybe not." Kakashi admitted, "But this is our only avenue."
"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice then do I?" He half-laughed and half-sobbed. He fell silent and Kakashi allowed him to think things over as he kept time with the clock hanging on the office wall.
"How do you wish to proceed?" He finally said, and Kakashi couldn't help the smile behind his mask.
XxX
Sakura struggled to stay alert as she watched the carriage moving slowly down the road. The monotonous nature of this assignment was really beginning to get to her. Her team had been hired to provide a protection detail to a consignment of textiles being exported to Kusa. Or rather it would have been more accurate to say that they had forced Taro Mishima to hire them so they could have a reason to be there. Before leaving they'd conveyed their intentions to the Commander and had made a quick stop to the Arisawa household. It had caused the mother of their victim to break into tears as her husband held her close and asked them to do whatever they needed to do.
Sakura's mind flashed back to her last mission. It had gone wrong near the Kusa border and now they were walking right into the country. Her fears and apprehensions grew as the journey continued.
"Hey!" A voice snapped breaking jer out of her thoughts, nearly causing her to miss a step.
She turned to glare at Sasuke, who was glaring right back at her from his position on top of a tree branch a few feet above her.
"Keep your head in the game and out of the clouds Haruno."
"I'm fine Sasuke." She said shortly trying not to allow herself to be distracted by the Uchiha's scowling visage and gave a cursory glance to the carriage moving at a sedate pace below them, dragged by two horses.
"You sure?" He said with mock conern.
Sakura decided then that it really wasn't all that hard to ignore his handsome face. All she had to do was focus on his acidic personality.
"Yes, I'm sure." She gritted her teeth as she resumed motion, trying to put some distance between herself and the Uchiha.
Forcing herself to focus on her breathing to calm her nerves determined not to give him another chance to call her out. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Naruto keeping pace with her, sticking out in his orange clothes. His presence in this team still baffled her.
Not that he hadn't been useful. But he was just a genin and in all honesty she'd have rather had another chunin in the squad then an untested genin. His place didn't make any sense, and yet by the looks of it Kakashi had recruited him.
She began to wonder if it was the Hokage's intention to put all the losers in one team. That way if something goes wrong during a mission at least it wouldn't be that big a loss.
Then why was Sasuke here?
He wasn't someone the village would want to lose. He was too precious. Not just because of his talents as a shinobi, but also because of his status as the last of his clan.
It didn't make any sense. There was more going on here then she realized.
They'd just neared the border of Kusa when all of a sudden Kakashi who had taken point in the formation paused, raised a fist, signalling them to stop. The carriage driver too got the message. Sakura waited with bated breath, her muscles taut and ready as she struggled to contain the rush of adrenaline.
The road seemed empty, but the jounin had definitely picked on something.
A few seconds later a carriage not unlike their own rolled down the road from the opposite direction.
But two things syood out about this one. The first it wasn't being drawn by any horses unlike their own.
And second…it was on fire.
"Get back." Kakashi barked to the driver as he watched the carriage rolling towards them. It was an ambush. Wrapping an exploding tag around a kunai he flung it towards the carriage.
It exploded with a resounding boom. All of a sudden the area was swarmed by masked men pouring from either side of the road. They were still some distance away, and Kakashi had managed to avoid walking into the trap.
Kakashi was about to shout some orders when he felt movement in his periphery.
"Sasuke no!" He screamed at his former student as he broke formation and charged into the comimg horde.
"Naruto, Sakura!" He commanded his remaining subordinates, "Guard the carriage", getting a nod from them he was about to charge in to help Sasuke, who had now engaged the enemy, but almost immediately he was forced to change directions to avoid being skewered by a hail of kunai. He wasn't given a chance to recover as he was attacked by two men. Palming a kunai he parried the attacks. Trapping the arm of one, he skewered him through the arm-pit. The second tried to get behind him to decapitate him, but he ducked under the swing and nailed him through the chin. The two, crumbled into piles of earth.
Earth clones.
"That was rude." He observed, keeping his tone light and casual. He wanted to back Sasuke up, but there was a high level shinobi here and he doubted he would be allowed to go help Sasuke.
Well he didn't believe in doing things the easy way anyway.
Sasuke was on his own... for now.
"You're a long way from home Tetsuo of the Black Rock." He said recognizing his opponent who was perched on a tree ten feet off the ground.
The man didn't bother replying and instead went through a series of hand-seals and forcing him to execute a jump-roll to the side, barely avoiding getting skewered by the spikes of earth that had risen from the ground.
His opponent didn't seem to be in the mood for banter.
Well talking was over-rated anyway.
XxX
Sasuke wasn't quite sure what went wrong. So they were ambushed by a bunch of bandits. That wasn't a problem.
Or at least it shouldn't have been. He'd even been ready to feel a little sorry for them. That sentiment didn't last long.
Drawing his chokuto while still in motion he charged through the ranks of the bandits. Dodging a swing here, countering a blow there, stab to the kidney, severing the jugular of another. Yet the longer he fought he realized something was wrong.
All of them should be on the ground, writhing in agony if not being dead outright and yet they kept coming back for more.
Only his experience as an Hunter-nin kept him from panicking. Despite their ability to shrug off pain or fatal injuries, they weren't all that fast and he could easily avoid their attacks.
And if stabbing them wasn't enough to stop them, maybe he should see if decapitation works.
But just as he finished that thought kicking away one of the bandits away to gain more space and avoid being surrounded, two of the bandits charged him in a sudden burst of speed. Eyes widening in surprise he parried their blows hastily. Ducking under a blow he slammed the hilt of his blade into the stomach of his opponent. In the same motion he drove the blade into the stomach of the other and almost immediately realized his mistake. The bandit held onto the blade and Sasuke was forced to let go to avoid decapitation by another opportunistic bandit. Rolling backwards he executed a kick catching the bandit under the chin. The force of the blow lifting him off the ground. A split-second later he found himself executing an arm-lock on a bandit trying to skewer him. The next few seconds of the fight passed in a blur and he was beginning to regret his decision of jumping in. There were too many of them and despite being relatively slow they seemed to work together impeccably. Not allowing him any respite to break out his jutsu or any respite.
Almost as if they shared the same brain.
As soon as that thought struck Sasuke, he felt a tugging sensation on his body he had learnt to associate with the substitution technique. He fought it.
"Damn it Sasuke! Its me!" The genin joined the fray, intercepting one behind him and kicking him away.
"Get out of here Uzumaki." Sasuke snarled, ducking another swing and countered by driving his palm into the offender's nose, "I don't have the time to babysit you."
"That's rich." The genin replied just before getting stabbed only to disappear in a burst of smoke, almost immediately another took his place and plunged twin kunai into the neck of the one responsible, before uprooting the head off the shoulders, spraying the nearby area with blood and gore,"And here I thought I was bailing your sorry ass out of trouble." Unlike his efforts this time the bandit didn't get up.
As much as it galled him to admit it, Uzumaki's presence was giving him the required breathing room to allow him to finish the fight. He was currently engaging three of the masked men and had all three on the defensive, while the rest were coming his way. Deciding he had enough he flashed through a series of signs, "Head's up." He said as a way of warning, and spat out a massive, ten feet in diameter, fireball incinerating not only the ones coming his way but also swallowing up Uzumaki and his opponents.
XxX
A part of her wanted to jump into the fray and help her team, while the other was dragging her back in lieu of the orders of her superior. This was turning into a disaster. Both the fights had moved away from her line of vision. Kakashi had been engaged by a high level ninja judging by how he was throwing out high level ninjutsu like party favours and that fight had now moved deeper into the woods. Sasuke had broken away early to engage the bandits. After a while despite being ordered to stay with the carriage Naruto had gone to back Sasuke up with a curt, "The Uchiha needs help", and the disappearing in a burst of speed. A part of her couldn't help feeling annoyed and a little betrayed by that.
And now she was here alone guarding the carriage with only a cowering civilian for company. Any other time she'd have tried to offer words of comfort to the man, but as things were she was struggling to hold on to her nerves.
A thud followed by a hissing sound was all the warning she received. But her training and conditioning allowed her to keep her head well enough to react on the spot as she flew off her feet and tackled the carriage driver off the cart just as it exploded.
A howl of pain greeted her ears over the ringing as she realized it was coming from the civilian. A cursory examination showed the cause of the man's agony to be a splinter of wood sticking out of the man's leg.
But she wasn't allowed to dwell on it as she felt a kunai to the back of her head.
Reacting to the threat she immediately dropped down and performed a leg sweep, catching her opponent off-guard, but before she could subdue him completely she felt another unfriendly presence behind her. Executing a side-roll she got to her feet and intercepted the kunai aimed at her abdomen with her own. Fortunately she was more skilled than her opponent and it didn't take long for her to disarm him. Not giving him a chance to recover she knocked him out with a kick to the head. But almost immediately she was engaged once more by another, except this one seemed a tad more skilled. This time it was Sakura who found herself at the receiving end of a vicious kick to her ribs.
Gasping at the loss of air from her lungs, she struggled to keep her wits about herself. Flipping backwards to regain her balance she felt another presence behind her. Quickly flashing hand signs, she managed to substitute herself just in time with nearby rock as the man stabbed it. Her position timely substitution put her behind him and was about to knock him out, when the guy who had kicked her intercepted her. Sakura defenses were beginning to crumble under the assault. Close-combat was not an area she particularly excelled at and her opponent was way better than her. He was an expert in keeping her occupied with the kunai in his hand as he used his other hand to land decisive strikes on her face and abdomen. One particularly vicious strike had her splitting blood. But she remained patient and between his fast strikes, Sakura saw an opportunity to attack, and tried to capitalize on it.
It turned out to be a mistake. It was a trap and Sakura found herself overextended. Her opponent grabbed her arm and twisted it, getting a scream of pain from her and causing her to drop her kunai. The man was in the process of subduing her. But Sakura wasn't ready to give up. The enemy had relaxed his guard and that was all the opening she needed. Executing a reverse somersault with a grunt, she managed to break out of his hold. Making a single hand sign, she spat copious amounts of green poisonous fumes right to the man's face. Her enemy caught completely off-guard inhaled some of it and almost immediately collapsed.
Sakura kept her guard up, her eyes darting around as she scoured for more threats. The only ones in the area were her unconscious enemies and the sobbing carriage driver who was now cradling his leg as a splinter stuck out of it.
Maybe she should take a look at that. But before she could act on that thought, a sudden blow to the back of her neck had her seeing stars as she lost consciousness.
XxX
Sakura woke up with a groan. Her head was throbbing. So was her jaw. She even had trouble breathing, probably the blow to the ribs she had taken. Whoever had managed to sneak up on her was good. Better than the three she had defeated. Probably someone way beyond her league. She shifted and found herself rendered immobile courtesy of ninja wire.
Great.
"You're up." An unfamiliar voice broke through her haze of unconsciousness, "I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's just a safety precaution. I hope you understand." This declaration was followed by a few seconds of silence. Sakura was placed face-down on the ground and she struggled to get o her back.
"Sorry, how rude of me." Came the voice, "Here let me help you." She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders as she was turned over before being helped to lean on a rock. Sakura caught the first glimpse of her captor. He was a man probably Kakashi's age, wearing a jounin's vest and a Kusa headband covering his forehead. "Hope that's better."
She checked her surroundings. It was a clearing in the woods, probably twenty feet in length and twelve feet in width.
"Why would shinobi from Kusa attack shinobi from Konoha?" Sakura addressed her captor.
"What are shinobi from Konoha doing in a route infested by bandits in Kusa territory?" The man countered, "I know we're allies, but this sort of thing is actually frowned upon."
"We were on an escort mission before we were ambushed by bandits." Sakura said keeping things as brief and to the point as possible, "My team is… was engaging them."
"Don't worry." The jounin reassured her detecting the note of concern in her voice, "Your teammates were still alive last I checked."
"So, what now?" She questioned, feeling a little detached about her predicament.
"Now you tell me how I can help my comrade." He said, "The one you hit with that poison gas jutsu of yours. Though I have to complement your proficiency in taking out three of my subordinates."
Sakura wasn't sure how to take that. The man sounded absolutely sincere and his politeness didn't seem like an act. If she wasn't tied up she would've thought she was out for a tea with him.
"Well take off my bonds and allow me to meet up with my team and we'll see." Sakura said, realizing her predicament wasn't as hopeless as she imagined.
"I say we carve the bitch up and force her to help us." Another voice snarled. Sakura turned her head to the source of the voice to see two of the men she had knocked unconscious. Now glaring venomously at her. Their vests suggested they were chunin. One of them was sporting a black eye, she noted and couldn't help smirking at him.
"Thanks for taking care of my subordinate." The lazy drawl of Kakashi reached her ears and her heart leapt with jubiliation, "But if you don't mind I would like to have her back."
Her captor turned to see the silver haired jounin making his way towards them, his hands in pockets and posture slouched. The fact that he wasn't reading his porn was the only way Sakura could tell that the jounin was actually taking this very seriously.
"Sharingan-Kakashi." The Kusa jounin said, as if playing with the words, "We were expecting you."
"Well I am here." Kakashi paused several yards away from them, "So I think you've played host to my cute little subordinate long enough, allow me to take her off your hands."
Sakura fumed at Kakashi's way of addressing her.
"I am afraid it isn't as simple as that Hatake-san." The Kusa-jounin said apologetically, "You are in Kusa territory as you might've noticed. Your very presence here is unlawful."
"Last I checked this was still disputed territory." Kakashi said, "Kidnapping a shinobi of another nation during peace and that too of an ally no less on the other hand, might be considered a bigger offence."
"So we are at an impasse."
"It doesn't have to be." Kakashi said, "You let me have her, we walk away, no one gets hurt."
"Is that a threat?"
The temperature around the clearing seemed to drop ten degrees. The two Kusa chunin tensed and even Sakura felt a shiver of fear and anticipation run down her spine.
"If that's how you want to see it." Kakashi replied in his usual nonchalant way, "But one of your subordinates' life depends on help that only we can provide."
"Why don't I simply take my chances with a hospital?"
"You're more than welcome to do that of course." Kakashi said, "After you let go of her."
The Kusa jounin remained silent, the threat in Kakashi's words didn't seem to go unheard.
"Fine." He finally relented, "You can have her back."
"But sir…" One of the Kusa Chunin protested and was silenced by a look.
"We will escort her to the border, where we will let her go after she tells us how to treat my man." He said, "We let her go once he is out of danger." He then proceeded to pull Sakura to her feet, "I hope for your sake you can keep your word." He whispered in her ear, "Because if he dies, you're coming back with us."
It took them less than half-an-hour to get to the border. The jounin had decided to carry her himself, a fact she found herself grateful for. She would have rather been set free, but in the present company she was glad it was him. The two chunin were glared daggers at her all the way as they tree-hopped beside their leader, carrying their unconscious comrade, who was now sporting an unhealthy shade of green
The man gently placed her down, and the flicked out a kunai. He then proceeded to cut her bounds. Sakura flexed her wrists and feet to get the circulation going and then approached the still unconscious chunin. One of his comrades moved in front of her to block her path. Sakura merely arched an eyebrow and he moved away. Leaning beside the man, her palm glowing with chakra, she placed it on his chest.
The poison she'd used wasn't fatal at all. It was designed to put people to sleep. Not kill them. Depending on the dosage and metabolism it could knock out a full grown man anywhere between eight and twelve hours. She would just speed up the recovery process by purging the poison from his system. She was glad they hadn't called Kakashi's bluff. She couldn't see him, but was sure, he was there unseen. It made her wonder where Naruto and Sasuke were.
The chunin regained his colour and groaned.
"That should do it." Sakura said addressing the jounin. "He should be fully conscious within an hour. Make sure he drinks a lot of water once he wakes up."
"Thank you." Sakura was once again surprised by the sincerity in the man's voice, "I am sorry for what you had to go through."
It wasn't an apology. But it was as close to one she was going to get. Acknowledging his words with a bow she made her way back to the other side of the border, where she found Kakashi waiting for him and was soon joined by Naruto and Sasuke. The former looked a little singed for some reason, but he greeted her with a big smile, one she found herself returning despite herself. Sasuke just grunted.
XxX
The Kusa team made their way back into their territory. It was a mixed bag for them. They had only partially succeeded in their objectives.
"Was that the right decision sir?" One of the chunin asked his team leader, "This was the opportunity we were looking for after all."
"That may have been." The jounin replied, "But the risks were too great for the rewards we'd get. Let's just be glad for having gotten out of that encounter, without sustaining casualties. Not to mention Kakashi's presence means that Tetsuo lost."
"He was alone sir." His other subordinate chipped in, "Together we could've taken him for sure."
"That's the thing though." He said, "He wasn't alone."