A/N: So... its been a while(that's beginning to sound old). Anyway new chapter.
Oh yeah nearly forgot, those of you who don't follow this story on DLP I would suggest reading the last chapter once more. There's a pivotal scene I hadn't added till a few weeks back. But since its been so long and all a quick recap.
Team 7 successfully completed their last mission by defeating the 'Doctor' and his legion of brain-dead minions revealing a deep connection to Oto in the process. Sasuke meanwhile is revealed to be in cahoots with Danzo who wants the Uchiha to be his inside man on Team 7 which Sasuke acquieses to in return for being reinstated back as a Hunter-nin. Team 7 is then dispatched on a covert mission to Kusa to further investigate the nature of the Doctor's experiments and their connection to Oto.
Yeah... that should do it. Anyway
Enjoy
Complications
"Good job at the surgery today Sakura," Daichi said as he watched the woman discard her green hospital gown and placing it in her assigned locker, "we thought for sure the pateient was a goner."
"It was nothing," she turned around and graced him with a polite smile, "he just needed a boost to get him going till the chief surgeon did his thing."
Daichi studied their latest import from Konoha. Brown hair tied up in a bun, with a few strands hanging over her face, dark rings around tired eyes… all evidence of the long hours spent working the night shift. Not unusual for the people in their profession.
Despite all that he had to admit she was an attractive woman and even after seven straight hours in the ER she moved with an effortless grace he wasn't used to seeing. Combined with her somewhat cool and distant if polite demeanor and competence usually seen only in veteran surgeons she had quickly become a hot topic of discussion among her peers and superiors alike.
"Some of us are going to get drinks after work," he said somewhat nervously, "you wouldn't by any chance… I mean would you… if you're free?"
Pull yourself together man!
"I'm afraid I can't," she said finally putting him out of his misery, "I have clinic duty… maybe next time."
"Of course," Daichi smiled trying to curb his disappointed as he walked away to join his friends who were on the other end of the locker room.
Sakura sighed as she watched her reflection in the hospital restroom. She still had trouble getting used to the hair and eyes… both brown to conceal their true colours. At least she got to keep her first name. It was the only thing about her which didn't stand out so she got to keep it.
The water had done little to remove the traces of exhaustion and worry from her features. The former was a result of the demands of her cover-job as a civilian intern at the hospital and the latter the product of her real one.
On the way to Kusa she had been told to set up shop and lay low while waiting for the rest of the team to contact her.
She had done precisely that.
Now almost two weeks later without so much as a word she was wondering if she hadn't misinterpreted the instructions because if there was one thing she had learnt about Kakashi in the limited time she had known him it was that either he was either testing her or pulling her leg, often both at the same time. She wouldn't put it past him to say that he wanted her to lay low and expecting her to take the initiative, just so he could rip her a new one if she didn't or doing it anyway for not following orders.
Sadly that was one of the more optimistic scenarios. The others involved the team failing to get into Kusa or captured or killed or captured and killed.
The door to the washroom opened startling her out of her thoughts. The woman who entered paid her no mind as she hurried to one of the stalls. Sakura gave herself a few more seconds to bring her heartbeat back to its normal rate before exiting. She still had work to do.
XxX
"You wouldn't mind taking a few more patients will you?"
Sakura resisted the urge to groan as she turned towards the receptionist. She looked overworked, flustered and on the verge of a panic attack.
"Its just that I was sure I was on top of the things tonight," the receptionist continued to blabber on, "had all the appointments lined up perfectly, but now… now it seems I missed some and I can't schedule them without disturbing the entire roster…"
"I'll take it," Sakura said.
The receptionist nearly collapsed with relief at those words and handed her a bunch of files, "Thanks, you may have just saved my life."
The woman wasn't really exaggerating. Hospital administration didn't take kindly to lapses like that. She had seen people fired over less in Konoha. Kusa, it seemed was no different.
Still it was the end of a twelve hour shift and she just volunteered for what looked like at least another couple of hours of extra work.
Sakura cleaned the cut with some antiseptic as the little girl sobbed. Sakura did her best to distract her from the pain but was having little success. It wasn't that deep. She could seal the wound in a few seconds if she could use her medical ninjutsu. But her cover as a civilian doctor demanded that she spend fifteen minutes stitching it up while doing her best to calm her down.
Just one more to go and she could retire for the day. Well for a few hours anyway. She picked up the file. This one just needed a check-up. She pressed the buzzer to admit the next patient and as she studied the file's contents... she realized her day had just become a little more complicated.
Name Kohaku Arakida, gender male, age thirty, profession… shinobi.
"May I come in?"
Sakura turned to face her last patient of the day and had to fight to contain the gasp that threatened to escape her lips. Dark brown trousers with matching shirt underneath a bluish-green flak jacket signifying his status as a jounin.
The worst part... Sakura recognized this man.
He was the same jounin whose team had captured her during the last mission before she was rescued by Kakashi. Sakura could feel her disguise melt off her face as the man frowned in contemplation on seeing her.
"You okay ojou-sama?" he said, concern colouring his voice.
"Yes," Sakura said weakly, "yes I'm fine," she repeated doing her best to keep the nervousness out of her voice. She realized she wasn't doing a very good job of it.
"You sure?"
"I've just had a long day and I wasn't expecting to have to examine a shinobi," she said, "I thought the ninja had their own medic programme."
"Oh they do," he assured her, "but someone in the upper echelons had the brilliant idea that there needs to be more interaction with the civilians so every third mandatory medical examination needs to be done by a civilian medic... you know, do a better job of convincing them that we aren't all monsters," he chuckled morbidly at his observation.
"In that case I think that purpose will be served better if someone else did your examination," Sakura said, trying to make one last attempt to escape the shinobi's attention, "considering I'm not..."
The man raised his hand halting her protests, "Listen doc, the nurse out there made me wait for over two hours and to make matters worse this thing has been due for a month and if I delay it any longer, the boss above won't clear me for duty... so think you can help me out... just this once?"
Sakura bit on her lip as she considered her current conundrum. It wasn't a good idea to spend any amount of time with a high-caliber ninja when you are on a clandestine mission in their village. It went doubly so when your last encounter with the said shinobi hadn't gone well for you.
At the same time, refusing now would just increase suspicion if it hadn't done so already.
Feeling she didn't have much of a choice she sighed and finally said, "Take your vest and shirt off and lie down."
XxX
"No major health issues from what I can tell," Sakura said after fifteen minutes of working on the jounin, "your blood pressure is on the high side of normal and there does seem to be some minor tissue and muscle wear and I'll have to wait for report on your blood work to give a more objective assessment, but I doubt you'll have any problems getting back on duty."
"Thank you," the jounin said as he strapped on his sandals, "you just saved me a lot of hassle."
"Don't mention it," Sakura said while marking the samples of blood and tissue she had acquired from him, "you can collect your report tomorrow by 5 PM from the reception, it'll save you the trouble of coming here."
"I really wouldn't mind."
Sakura froze. Either the man was looking for excuses because he suspected something or... he was flirting with her.
Sakura wasn't sure which scenario she preferred.
Thankfully she was spared the task of coming up with a suitable reply as the door to the room opened to admit a janitor who apologized on seeing it occupied. Before he could leave Sakura stopped him, telling him they were done and the shinobi took that as his cue to leave.
"He's too old for you."
Sakura felt her heart threaten to exit her chest as she turned to the janitor who had dropped that comment while busily wiping the floor. He might have been disguised rather well beneath a cap drawn low, which coupled with his posture hid upper half of his face, but she would recognize that cool tenor anywhere.
"Sasuke?" she gasped her hand over her heart trying her best to avoid hyperventilating, "what the hell?"
"Shut up and listen," the disguised former hunter-nin muttered, "I need you to take up that offer your colleague made about drinks later."
It took Sakura a while to realize what Sasuke was talking about as she flashbacked to the awkward encounter she had with one of her co-workers a few hours ago.
"That was you?" Sakura didn't try to keep the accusing tone out of her voice.
Sasuke didn't bother replying as he left the room as abruptly as he had entered, leaving her in more that a little confused.
XxX
An ace of diamonds, a deuce of clubs and a jack of spades were revealed after the flop commencing another round of betting. After ten years of being a dealer, he could claim to be something of an authority when it came to poker games and their players. The players usually fell into four categories.
The first kind were the casual players. They played the game as a hobby. Their bets were safe, and they never went overboard with their money. They knew their limits and knew when to walk away... usually.
The second kind consisted of the addicts. They are a step-up(or rather down) from the casual ones, making bad bets more often than not in search of that big elusive pay-off which would make up for their previous losses. These were the kind which usually ended up in drains with their organs harvested to pay the debts.
The third were the professionals. They knew exactly what they were doing so much so that they had made it their living. They treated poker games like the games of strategy and psychology that they were. They understood that poker was a game where you play the player and not the hand you have been dealt.
Then there were the show-offs. The ones who had more money than they knew what to do with and hence frequented the gambling dens.
The table he was dealing at the moment had players from all four categories. The best player at the table was a blonde blue-eyed youth. And it wasn't because he had the most chips at the table either because he didn't. To the casual observer it would seem as if he's barely keeping himself afloat. But to his experienced eye he could tell the boy was just biding his time.
After the first few rounds of betting the pot now exceeded five hundred thousand ryo. The turn revealed another ace and things got really interesting. Two of the players folded, the rest persisted. A couple of checks, a couple of raises and the consequent calls later the pot stood at nearly seven hundred fifty thousand ryo. The game had managed to attract an audience by now and each round of betting was now accompanied by oohhs and aahss. The river revealed a jack of diamonds.
By the time it was time for the showdown there it was down to three players and the pot was now worth over a million. One of the players flipped his cards to reveal a flush resulting in another round of ooohhhs followed by a round of applause. The second player just cursed and flipped his cards away in disgust without revealing them.
That just left the blonde kid and a tense silence fell over the crowd. The kid tapped his fingers on the table for a few seconds as the tension kept growing until...
"We haven't got all day kid," the man with the flush said, "just get it over with."
The boy finally sighed and flicked his cards away before leaving the table as the crowd around the table broke into applause once again, several of the spectators surrounded the winner to congratulate him by slapping him on the back and shoulder. The man for his part reveled in the attention, flush from his victory.
The dealer for his part felt confused. He was sure the boy was gonna clean the table out. Did he read him wrong? His attention fell on the cards that laid facedown near the pile of chips. He turned them over to reveal... two aces.
XxX
The blonde man pushed his way through the crowd after leaving the gambling table, dodging waiters and other patrons before finally reaching the bar placing himself a few seats away from the group of latest entrants. Their excitement shining through their otherwise tired visages. Naruto recognized the type. The ones who just realized how high-stress their jobs really are and compensated by losing all restraints when it came to blowing off steam. He would know.
One of them however stood out from the rest. A brunette who didn't quite seem to be in as festive mood as the rest. She kept herself a little aloof from the rest. She was obviously not part of the group and seemed to be an add-on. Probably invited by the guy who kept trying to engage her in a conversation.
He wasn't having a lot of success.
She seemed fidgety and detached from the atmosphere of revelry around her and her eyes kept darting all over the place. He smiled to himself and beckoned the bartender.
XxX
Sakura had been part of rowdy parties before. The party to celebrate her promotion to chunin came to mind. Ino, who had organized that party had pulled out all stops. Most of her memories of that were clouded in a haze of loud music and alcohol induced amnesia.
As fun as the party had been, compromising herself like that when undercover amongst strangers could not possibly be a good idea. Moreover she doubted Sasuke's reasons for leading her here had anything to do with allowing her a night out.
A server approached them with a tray of glasses filled with blue drinks.
"We didn't order this," one of her companions, Hina a resident from the department of neurology said as the drinks were laid on the table.
"Complements of the gentleman," the server said pointing to a young, blonde man with rather striking good looks who toasted them from his seat at the bar, before making his way to them an easy-going smile playing on his lips.
Sakura watched her companions receive him with a degree of enthusiasm that implied their familiarity with him. Judging by the way the women treated him at least some of the affection showered on him went beyond platonic.
"Taichi!" one of the girls she knew from her surgery rotation, whose name escaped her got up from her seat and squealed before greeted him with a hug.
"Hey Midori," he said returning the hug, before turning to the rest who followed her example and took turns to welcome the blonde man.
Someone was popular, Sakura thought to herself.
"And who might you be?" Taichi asked her offering his hand which she took, "I don't believe I saw you here last week."
"Taichi this is Sakura, intern from Konoha transferred to Kusa," Midori introduced her, "Sakura this is Taichi, he's here from Tanzaku Gai."
"I'm not actually from Tanzaku Gai," the man laughed, "it's just the last place I was in and when I heard the Land of Rice was getting a gambling town of its own I just had to get here," he turned to Sakura, his eyes shining with interest, "so you too live in a shinobi village huh? Can't imagine what that must be like."
"Its not so bad," Sakura said defensively, "shinobi are human beings, just like the rest of us," she felt stupid as soon as the words left her mouth.
"Yeah," Daichi, the guy she recalled as the one who had asked her to join the pasrty deadpanned as he sipped his drink, "if regular humans could breathe fire and disappear at will."
"Personally, I'd never trust someone who lies and kills for a living," Taichi declared, "let alone live in a place run by a group of them, no offence to you guys."
A chorus of 'none taken' by the rest of the group followed that statement and Sakura couldn't help but frown. She got the feeling that the rest of her colleagues were at least partly in agreement with Taichi.
"Do you know what the average life expectancy of a civilian is Taichi-san?" Sakura asked.
"No," he replied after a moment of nonplussed silence, "I can't say I do."
"Barring any incident a regular civilian on an average lives for sixty four years," Sakura said, "an average shinobi is expected to die before their twentieth birthday, it drops to fifteen during times of conflict."
"When they aren't providing security to the areas when the Daimyo forces are stretched too thin, they lose their lives in the line of duty doing missions brought to them by civilian clients," Sakura continued, "who, by the way, most of the time aren't even completely forthcoming in order to save money by paying for a lower ranked mission and in return for all their service and sacrifice they get to earn the fear and ridicule of everyone else."
At the end of her tirade, Sakura realized that everyone at her table and the neighbouring ones had gone quiet and were now openly staring at her. The loud music only served to amplify the awkwardness that arose from the lack of conversation.
"Wow!" Taichi said an impressed grin on his face, "that was very well put Sakura-san. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a shinobi yourself." The table broke into relieved laughter, as the tension resulting from her outburst seeped away.
XxX
"We're secure," a voice from called out from inside the room. That was all the confirmation she needed to get in. The room was a little brighter than the rest of the club, which wasn't saying much, but it did allow her to get a better look at her teammate who hadn't dropped his henge, even in the privacy of the room.
Not that he had a lot to drop. He hadn't even bothered to change his hair or eye colour. The only significant difference to his face was the absence of the whisker marks on his cheeks and how his usual spiky hair was now slicked back. The most drastic change, however, was the absence of his eyesore of an orange jumpsuit, which he had exchanged for blue turtleneck underneath a cyan robe and beige trousers.
She had to admit these changes while minor had a drastic effect and suddenly the orange jumpsuit that was part of his ninja attire made perfect sense. No one could take an orange wearing shinobi seriously. In that moment she had an epiphany about her teammate.
Naruto Uzumaki was never out of disguise. He just changed one for another.
She was certain if she wasn't expecting him and he hadn't sought her out along with the rest of her temporary colleagues she would have written him off as just another reveler instead of her teammate.
"We can talk freely," he assured her probably picking on her anxiety, "this place is is completely eavesdropping proof and I've checked the place for surveillance seals. We could set off a bomb in here and no one outside will be wiser."
"How much time do we have?" Sakura asked while occupying one of the cushioned seats in the room. They were firm but comfortable.
"As much as we need," he replied, "I've left a clone transformed as you along with the rest of your gang so that no one misses you."
Sakura had to admit that Naruto seemed to know what he was doing. Not something she could say for herself unfortunately.
"Where's Kakashi?"
"Sasuke's tracking him down as we speak."
"Tracking?" Sakura frowned, "you mean you don't know where he is?"
"Not a clue," the disguised blonde replied cheerfully.
"And why is it that you're so upbeat about that?" Sakura glared at him, which didn't seem to affect his mood whatsoever.
"Well," Naruto said, "it used to be his job to track down ninja who don't want to be found and I doubt Kakashi wants to hide from us. Trust me, he'll find him."
"That's a lot of confidence on someone you don't even like," Sakura retorted.
"I'm not saying the guy isn't a total dick," Naruto said, "and if you repeat what I'm about to say I'll deny it, but the bastard's is very good at what he does, its the reason he was chosen after all."
"Chosen to do what?" Sakura shouted.
If Naruto was taken aback by her outburst he didn't show it. Instead he just gazed at her as if wondering if she could handle what he had to say.
"What do you think is going on here?" he asked instead.
"I don't know what's going on," Sakura gritted her teeth, "one moment I'm a regular medic-nin running regular missions, the next thing I know I'm part of some sort of clandestine cell running off the books ops," Sakura paused to take a calming breath, "so you tell me Naruto, what is going on, because from where I'm standing you know a hell of a lot more than you have any right to?"
Naruto didn't seem offended by her not-so-subtle jab at his rank and just sighed heavily as he leaned back on his seat.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "its been a long couple of weeks and I've been on edge for a while now."
"Its alright," he assured her, "sometimes you need to vent. Its not healthy to keep things bottled up. High stress jobs like ours."
"How do you deal with it?"
"You just have to get used to it I suppose," Naruto shrugged, "talking and socializing with people who have nothing to do with the mission helps."
"Speaking of which," Sakura said, "how the hell did you get them to treat you like they did? I doubt you met them more than a couple of times and yet you might as well have been long lost friends going by the reception you got."
"There's no secret to it," Naruto chuckled, "a few rounds of free drinks and you're everybody's best friend. You'd be surprised how candid people get under influence."
"Oh yeah?" Sakura said, "and how does a genin afford drinks in a place like this?"
"Why gambling of course?" the disguised genin said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Gambling," Sakura repeated sceptically.
"I'll have you know Taichi Nakamura is a professional gambler of considerable notoriety in certain circles."
"I'll take your word for it," she conceded, "so what did you find?"
Naruto took a deep breath, "The Director is having an affair with one of the residents behind his wife's back, there are talks about setting of an inquiry committee on the embezzlement of funds from the hospital trust and then there was talk of some frigid bitch from Konoha who thought she was all that."
"Wait what?" Sakura asked completely nonplussed.
"Yeah it is pretty scandalous," Naruto said, "the Director is in his seventies and the resident barely..."
"Go back to the part about the frigid bitch from Konoha," Sakura hissed.
"Oh that was just Tamaki-chan blowing steam, I doubt she meant anything by it," he waved the matter away as something of inconsequence, "she's the dark-haired one with the highlights in case you were wondering."
That manipulative bitch!
Sakura knew her alright. She had taken an extra shift for her when she pleaded. Her generosity was misplaced it seemed. Who knew that pleasantly mild manner concealed a vicious persona.
Apparently some people didn't need ninja training to master the art of deception.
"And you got all that in one evening over drinks?" Sakura said sceptically.
"People like talking," Naruto shrugged noncomitally, "all I give them is an incentive and a willing ear."
Sakura was torn between being impressed and apalled. Just by befriending a few young medics over drinks during a night out Naruto had gained access to the inner workings and politics of the hospital while she barely knew their names of all her colleagues.
"So," Sakura shook her head trying to get the conversation back on track, "did you find anything more relevant than the sexual orientation of the Chief Surgeon?"
"If by relevance you mean anything related to our resident psychopath ," Naruto replied, "then no. In my defence a question like 'what can you tell me about the mad doctor who killed dozens of patients in the name of scientific advancement?' is kinda hard to squeeze into a casual conversation."
He had a point. Unfortunately, that did nothing to remedy her situation. She felt completely out of her depth and not for the first time.
"I'm not an interrogation or an infiltration specialist," Sakura said, "I've never been on an undercover assignment. This is not something I should be doing. Just what the hell was the Hokage thinking?"
"You've gotta stop selling yourself short Sak..."
"I can do a heart transplant in the middle of a warzone with nothing more than a scalpel and a band-aid," she snapped, "Trust me, I'm not selling myself short."
Naruto raised his hands placatingly.
Her rant over, Sakura's shoulders slumped in despair.
"I don't have the answers you seek Sakura-chan, all of us are in the same boat except for maybe Kakashi," Naruto said after a couple of moments of uncomfortable silence, he could probably tell from the look on her face that she wasn't going to be satisfied with that so he added, "I do have a theory though."
"Care to share?"
"It's a power-play."
"What?" Sakura asked nonplussed.
"Us, Team-7, these missions," Naruto explained, "Its all a power-play... The Hokage's power-play."
"Now you're just pulling my leg," Sakura scoffed, "The Hokage already is the most powerful figure in the village, why the hell would she need to make a power-play?"
"Because the Hokage may not be as powerful as you believe... not anymore," Naruto said, "maybe sometime during the reign of the Sandaime and the current Godaime the power wielded by the office of Hokage was diluted to the point that the one holding the position was little more than a figurehead."
"And how do we figure into this?"
"Oh you're gonna love this," Naruto said rubbing his hands together and eyes shining with barely concealed excitement, like a showman revealing the climax of his trick, "did you know that the future Hokage candidates are screened from Team-7?"
XxX
For the second time in as many weeks Sasuke found himself making his way into a whorehouse with the intention of meeting a shady superior. If he wasn't careful it would become a pattern. Pattern meant predictability and predictability meant death in his line of work.
It couldn't be helped though. When it came to being the kind of place Kakashi was likely to squat his ugly mug down, it ticked all the boxes.
In addition to the noticeable absence of law enforcement officials it also happened to be the kind of place where people asked few questions and anonymity was virtually guaranteed. The Yakuza who ran these kind of places enjoyed the patronage of people in power. Sometimes that included officials from the Daimyo's court and sometimes the Daimyo himself. There were times when Sasuke had tracked many an errant missing-nin to these establishments, but never had he killed one while they were on the premises. It brought more heat than it was worth, not to mention the chances for collateral damage.
Still, it was a good place to pick up a trail or in this case his team leader. Just thinking those words made him wish to drown his brain in acid. At least he had taken steps to remedy his situation. If his deal with Danzo worked out he wouldn't have to be part of this circus act any longer than he has to.
Infiltrating the building had been child's play. A minor genjutsu on an errand boy and a transformation technique was all that was needed for him to gain access to all the rooms in the pleasure hotel. No one gave him a second so much as a second glance as he picked up a laundry basket and made his way to the top floor. To keep up the pretense he even collected bedsheets and clothes from the rooms. They smelled of sweat, tobacco, sake, sex and incense. It wasn't a pleasant combination but he succeeded in suppressing the urge to throw up. It was early morning so most of the professionals were getting ready for bed as was demanded from their usually nocturnal vocation.
That made his job that much easier.
Soon he was at the last room in the top floor of the building. If Kakashi wasn't here then he would have to repeat the procedure all over again. And after spending the entire night combing three similar establishments, he wasn't sure he had the fortitude to keep going.
If he didn't find Kakashi here, he would be putting a chidori through his heart the next time he saw him, Sasuke promised himself. Few things could be more poetic than losing your life to a technique that you created.
He turned the doorknob to find it unlocked. Sasuke frowned as he walked in. The sole occupant of the room was lying facedown in the bed amongst twisted sheets covering the lower half of her obviously naked body. Long brown hair fanned out around her head on the pillow. There was no sign of another occupant.
A hand landed on his shoulder, "Let's take this to the roof shall we? Wouldn't want to disturb the poor woman, she's had a long night."
A quick application of chakra prevented Sasuke from stumbling at the end of that impromtu shunshin. The cool and fresh morning air was a pleasant change from the stuffy insides. The sun was just making its way up in the horizon signalling the coming of dawn.
"I could've just slit your throat just now," Kakashi remarked.
"I would've gutted you first," Sasuke retorted showing him the kunai he had hidden amongs the laundry, "which isn't something I've taken off the table yet."
"At least I'd have died without regrets," Kakashi said, "can't say the same about you unfortunately."
Sasuke scowled at the jab, "I noticed," he said, "you certainly seem to be having a good time."
"Its a pleasure house," Kakashi shrugged, "would look suspicious if I didn't avail their services. Speaking of which, getting a henge down is more than getting the appearance right, that's transformation ninjutsu 101. I can pick out that scowl from a mile no matter what face you're wearing."
They could do this all day and Sasuke was running out of time and patience, "This place secure?" The look he got from Kakashi in response to that question was all the confirmation he needed, "We've got problems," he said, "Sakura's been compromised."
Kakashi turned a grim eye on him, "Explain," he said shortly.
Sasuke gave him the complete rundown of the week and Kakashi listened without interrupting.
"... he personally sought her out and insisted on getting her to give him a check-up," Sasuke concluded, "he tried to disguise it as an inconvenience, but he was definitely interested. As for the nature of that interest..." he trailed off.
"You sure this was the same jounin who captured Sakura," Kakashi asked.
"Positive."
"You're right," Kakashi said, "This could be a problem,"
Sasuke scoffed, leave it to Kakashi to underplay things, "I suggest we extract her and find alternate means to proceed."
"Extracting her now would only raise more questions," Kakashi countered.
"Not doing so will get her killed or worse captured," Sasuke said impatiently, "she's been made, staying the course at this point is foolishness."
"Be careful Sasuke," Kakashi said, "or I might start thinking you're actually concerned about a teammate."
"If you're going to be obnoxious then I guess this was a waste of my ti..." once again Sasuke's reflexes stopped him from getting smacked in the face with a scroll.
"Give that to Naruto," Kakashi said as he buried his nose in his preferred paperback, "he'll know what to do."
Sasuke opened the scroll and studied its contents, "The moron is a counter-intelligence expert now?" Sasuke mocked.
"Among other things," Kakashi said without taking his eyes off the book.
Sasuke glared at his former mentor, "What's going on Kakashi?"
"You're going to have to be more specific than that."
"If I went to specifics then we would be here all day," Sasuke retorted, "but let's start with the most immediate one, why didn't we approach our local contacts because I doubt we lack a network here."
This was Sumer all over again. Sasuke's recognition of patterns went beyond his abilities with the sharingan. If he didn't nip this in the bud right now, he would find himself in the middle of another clusterfuck.
"Between the three of you, you've everything you need to complete the mission," Kakashi said, "this is a covert operation, we can't risk our other operations. I thought you understood that."
"Is that what it is?" Sasuke said, "or does the Hokage not trust her own forces anymore?"
"Last I checked you're a part of the Hokage's forces," Kakashi said with his usual nonchalance, "and she is trusting you to complete the mission without endangering our other operations here. "
The man had one hell of a poker face. His attempts at catching the jounin off-guard had been all for naught. Realizing there was no point in lingering any longer Sasuke turned to leave.
"You know its rude not to avail the services of the house once you've come in," Kakashi said just as he was about to leave, "something to keep in mind for the next time you're here."
Sasuke turned to see the retreating figure of his old sensei walk back in. Even in the cool morning Kusa air he found himself breaking into a cold sweat as he realized that his secret meeting with Danzo might not have been gone unnoticed.
XxX
Naruto considered himself an 'in the moment' kind of guy and because of that he was more aware of what he missed having in any particular moment. Usually that meant money for an extra bowl of miso ramen or a job which paid better than the regular D-rank. At that moment, he wished he had a camera to immortalize the the expression frozen on the face of his teammate.
Until his amusement turned to worry.
"Sakura-chan," he said tentatively waving his hand in front of the seemingly catatonic girl's face.
"So you're telling me," she said as if she hadn't spent the last couple of minutes frozen as a statue, "that we are unwitting pawns in a power struggle within the Konoha hierarchy."
"I wouldn't say unwitting..."
"And the Hokage is using Team 7 to take the first step towards shifting the balance of power," Sakura continued now on a roll.
"Umm...'Using' is such an ugly word when used like..."
"And if she succeeds then what?" she mused out loud, "she gets to choose the next Hokage which as you say will come down to the three of us?"
"Five actually," Naruto corrected her, "You forgot Shikamaru and Kakashi is actually the most likely to get the hat next," he leaned back into his seat as he studied her expression, "there's more to it than that of course but yes, that's one of the many..."
"Yeah," Sakura deadpanned, "I'm not buying it."
Naruto didn't expect that, "Why not?"
"I'm sorry," she chuckled apologetically, "its just that this sounds very outlandish."
"Doesn't mean its not possible," Naruto said, "and its just a theory anyway."
"Let's say you're right," she sighed, "with all the resources and manpower at her fingertips why would she choose us? I mean I'm sure she could do better."
"If she could she wouldn't need us, would she?" Naruto said, "she chose the people she felt she could trust."
"Well I guess I'll wait for the day she trusts me enough to share all this personally," she retorted
Naruto sighed heavily. Sakura was trying to bait him into doubting his conclusions and in turn probably probably soothe her own unease. But then he recalled one of the first lessons Jiraiya taught him.
"Walk over to the other side kid and things start looking a hell of a lot more different than they do from this side of the window."
"I don't think you can see anything through that window ero-sennin."
"I was speaking metaphorically brat!"
"What does mepharotically mean?"
Putting himself in her shoes he could see why it would be hard for her to get on board with what she was being told. In a profession where the only certainty one had were your orders he just tried to plant a seed of doubt.
Also, to be fair to her, for someone who had just been told that her home was on the verge of a civil war that she'd just been volunteered to, she was taking it quite well.
And by taking it well he meant being in complete denial.
At least she wasn't calling him a complete lunatic or running in the opposite direction or done anything remotely hazardous to his life or limb.
Others would call it low expectations.
Naruto called it a win.
"Either way," Sakura said, "I doubt whatever the Hokage has planned will be my problem anymore."
"And why's that?"
Sakura gave him an account of her day ending with her examining a Kusa jounin, the same one who had captured her during the last mission and then Sasuke instructing her to come here.
"So, either he's on to me and waiting for me to make a mistake in which case I'm screwed or his interest in me is genuine in which case I'm still screwed because I doubt my facade as a civilian will hold the scrutiny of an elite ninja once he starts looking closely," she took a moment to catch her breath, "I came here hoping to see Kakashi..." she concluded
"And you got me instead," Naruto finished dryly.
"You know what I mean," she said.
"That's okay," Naruto said, "it was my fault that you got captured in the first place. But thankfully Kami has given me a chance to redeem myself."
"You got a plan?" Sakura asked, her tone a little dubious.
"Not yet," he said cheerfully, "but more on that later, what has your progress been so far?"
"Not much," Sakura admitted, "the records are a dead-end and since I can't examine the bodies there's not a whole lot I can do."
"Can you get me a list of all the victims' families and their addresses?"
Sakura nodded, "I can probably manage that."
"Drop the list in the dumpster by the south-west corridor in the ground floor and I'll take it from there," Naruto said, "In the meantime I need you to take a look at this," Naruto handed her a pamphlet.
"Sunshine?" Sakura frowned after studying it.
"They're a non-profit organization," Naruto told her, "they provide scholarships and financial assistance for academically gifted kids. Guess who funded our favorite doctor's education?"
"I thought you said you didn't find anything related to the mission," Sakura accused.
Naruto shook his head, "No, I said I didn't get anything mission related from your colleagues," he said, "anyway, if we have to take shots in the dark there could be worse places to start," he extracted a scroll from his pocket bit his finger and swiped his blood across it. A puff of smoke later a few more scrolls appeared, he perused through each of them before choosing one and handing it to her, which she took with a bemused frown.
"I need you to go into their offices, see what they're about and report anything suspicious. I planned on going myself but it seems we have another problem that takes priority."
"And what is that?"
"A Kusa jounin who's getting a little too close for comfort," he motioned towards the scroll he handed her, "inside you'll find things you can use to aid you in this mission."
Sakura pocketed the scroll.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan," he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "everything will work out just fine and for what its worth I've got your back." Some of tension seemed to seep away from her as her shoulders sagged in relief at his gesture.
"Thanks," she muttered and even managed a smile.
It was a nice smile.
"Wait for ten seconds after I leave and then make your way to the restroom at the end of the corridor," he said more seriously, "after my clone transformed as you gets there and dispels, you can go and join your friends."
"Just one last thing," Sakura said, "exactly how do you plan on dealing with this problem?"
Naruto allowed a grin to split his face as he replied, "By turning it into an opportunity Sakura-chan."
Character Profile
Kohaku Arakida
Affiliation: Kusagakure
Registration ID: KU0968
Rank: Jounin
Bio: Like most shinobi of his generation Kohaku Arakida made his name during the Third Shinobi War. A part of Kusa's dreaded Strike Unit, which he went on to later command, he specialized in ambush and surgical strikes inside enemy territory. His unit was responsible for wiping out the entire 13th platoon of Kumo in a joint operation with Konoha which later allowed Konoha to score a decisive victory against their rival.
After the war he watched his nation stagnate, partly due to the incompetence and neglect of the Daimyo and partly due to the rise of Otogakure its former glory all but a part of history.
So why do things get bad? So that they can get better obviously or maybe it just keeps getting worse. But then that's life and that's what this mission promises to be. Or does it? A lot of set-up for the things to come and I'll try to get the next chapter within a couple of weeks.
I just might have crossed the 100k barrier, so that's an achievement worth celebrating. Thanks to all the subscribers and reviewers. Feedback is highly appreciated. Feel free to discuss the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between and I will be more than happy to jump in.
Until next time.