"Here you are little girl, that will be 850 yen."
Offering a bright smile, the pink haired girl handed the pharmacist the money before picking up the bag containing cold medicine and walking off. She half listened to the blond boy walking beside her, babbling about how idiotic Sasuke was, all the while licking a chocolate ice-cream she bought from him not too long ago. Silently, she sighed as she resisted the urge to rub her temples.
Not too long ago, Naruto and Sasuke had engaged themselves in an ice-cream eating contest in order to outdo each other and to prove who is the best. That would be on of the many ridiculous things they had agreed on. It so happened that the day happened to be an extremely cold one, with rain pouring down heavily. It was not surprising that Sasuke lost easily, having a low tolerance for sweet things and effectively falling sick easily. And what better way was to deal with it than to continue eating until everything regurgitated out?
Having the Kyuubi to assist him had not only gifted him the power to heal himself within a short period of time, but has also apparently bestowed on him a ridiculously high immune system that prevented him from catching the cold. She had berated herself once she realized it, for not having known that earlier, having spent years living by him.
"Naruto, you can't blame Sasuke for falling ill." she raised an eyebrow, making the boy stop his chattering and raise his angelic, Sapphire eyes up at her. The surprise vanished away quickly though and a pout made its way to his face and he turned back to the road.
"Yes I can, he should've told me if he were feeling sick. He didn't have to agree to eating sweets when he has low tolerance to them." He snorted softly, locking both hands behind his head.
That being said, she reminded him that Sasuke was as competitive as he himself was and quickly added the incident where the Uchiha kid made him swallow tomato slices and ended up drinking three packets of apple juice in order to rid his mouth of the taste, much to the tomato lover's chagrin. She smiled as an appalled look made its way across his face as he remembered it.
"Uhh...that was a long time ago." He muttered as he bit down on his ice-cream and muffled out the rest of what he said. She uttered a soft, amused snort herself and patted his soft, golden puff of hair. It was a miracle it remained that way even with minimal care. She guessed he probably got it from Kushina herself. Kakashi reported that Minato's hair was supposedly very rough though Kushina possessed unbelievably soft locks.
When asked for an explanation on why he was touching people's hair, his response was that he asked to touch his sensei's hair and then eventually he made her touch his wife's hair before proceeding to whine about women and their naturally occurring beauty. So much for beauty; Sakura hardly cared for her own locks of unique colored hair.
There was once a time where she used to fawn and obsess over her looks in order to attract her teammate but then, she put that past her in the Chuunin exams and vowed to focus more on stronger. As if she made a difference in that though. It still didn't help but make her feel jealous of other women's hair. Particularly Mikoto San's. The Uchiha Matriarch was a Jounin and had lead a tough Kunoichi life and yet, looked like a hime of the rarest beauty.
A stranger would have guessed her of being a single, civilian girl instead of a kunoichi. She was graceful and poised; much like a Kunoichi who specialized in assassination with the help of seducing.
"Well that's disturbing." She muttered to herself as the thought crossed her mind.
"What is?"
"Nothing." She smiled and nodded at some elderly Uchiha folk engaged in a game of shogi who waved at her cheerfully. Though most Uchiha were still wary of her, the young children and older people seemed to adore her to a great extent. It was heartwarming to know that at least. "We are here."
As those words escaped from her mouth, Naruto bolted forward and snatching the medicine bag from her, ran into the Uchiha household. "MIKOTO SAN~! I GOT THE MEDICINE! ONEE-CHAN HELPED!"
She watched with amusement as Mikoto came running to catch the swinging medicine bag in his hands, laughing all the while and thanking him. Ever since the little incident at the park, Sasuke grudgingly introduced Naruto into the family (with Sakura insisting he did) and was immediately accepted by Mikoto, much to little Naruto's surprise. He was expecting a harsh berating from them of course, but to his joy, found that they had no resentment towards him as others did.
Even Fugaku Uchiha seemed to show a slight, if any compassion for him. Naruto had learned to read kindness in the eyes of people; having experienced so little taught him to grasp whatever people would give him and so, caught it well. The family truly one with a warm aura. Perhaps the ones he liked the most in the family were Sakura onee-chan and Mikoto San. Itachi San was nice too, though a bit silent at times. And silent people tended to creep it out at times.
"Tch how annoying, keep it down..." Naruto snickered as an extremely pale little Uchiha wrapped with a large blue blanket came into view from a doorway, rubbing his little red nose and glaring with eyes that wore heavy dark circles.
"Well lookie here, the zombie kid has arrived!" He pointed at Sasuke. "This is what happens when you try prove yourself to be the best at everything!"
"Hmph..." The boy muttered, trying to glare harder but miserably failing. He was too tired as of now to even move. The only reason he got out of bed was because he saw Sakura neechan walk towards their house. Shuffling his feet lazily against the polished wooden floors, he rubbed one eye and let out a large yawn before staring up at the pinkette with tired eyes.
With that he leaned against her, encasing himself in darkness and trying to find comfort in her. He felt himself being pocked up gently and felt warm, protective arms encase around him. He smiled a bit as he found her shoulder and rested his head on it, this time coughing a bit.
"I'll go get his soup ready." Mikoto announced as she turned around half-way to run to the kitchen. But Sakura's and Naruto's worried looks made her stop briefly. It warmed her heart to know how close her youngest was to the girl and felt that he was indeed protected within this household. After all, with two older siblings and a kindhearted, fun loving friend, there was slim chance Sasuke Chan would be in danger.
"Don't worry Naruto kun, it's just a minor cold. Sasuke gets them a lot." She reassured the him, laughing when a look of relief crossed over the tanned boy's angelic face.
"I wasn't worried! Just wondering when he'd get better." He lied quietly, crossing his hands over his chest with a stubborn look crossing over his face. "As if I'd be worried about the jerk face..."
"Anou, where is Itachi San?" Sakura turned towards Mikoto with a questionable look when she felt his presence being missed from the household. Normally he would be in the grounds training or playing shogei with Shisui. But it seemed that today, he had been absent since the sun rose.
"The Hokage called him. I think its for a mission." She answered with a smile and then, lowered her voice to a whisper as she saw that her youngest had fallen asleep already. "It would probably be the first mission for you guys so you better get ready. He'll come home soon."
"Ah I see. I'll put Sasuke to bed and then will be back with you okay Naruto?" With that, Sakura quickly made her way to his room. The room was as usual, disorganized with toys, paper and crayons scattered around the floor. She reckoned that Mikoto would once more have to clean the place up.
Slowly then, she lowered him onto his bed and covered him with the sheets. The moment she let go of him however, he clenched his small hands on her shirt, refusing to let go. Sleepy eyes cracked open again and attempted to glare at her.
"I'm sorry Sasuke Chan." She apologized and smiled gently as she ran a hand through his raven tuft of messy hair. "But, I have to go meet up with your older brother to see about upcoming missions."
"You promised to play with me." He mumbled, sounding highly displeased and upset. It might have been the sneeze that followed after that sentence, but Sakura saw that his eyes started to glisten. "You are starting to act like Nii-san...you are never home."
At that, she felt slightly remorseful as well as annoyed at Itachi. She knew that he was busy with duties but that did not mean that he should make promises that he could not keep! She made up her mind to try talk to him about this to settle this all down.
"That's not true." She protested poking his forehead gently, imitating his brother on purpose as so to annoy him. Sasuke did not disappoint and she smiled as she saw his signature face; the infamous scowl make its way to his face. "I promise I'll play with you once I get home okay?"
"That's what he said." He argued, fighting to keep his little eyes open but miserably failing. Sakura realized that he was too tired to put up much of a fuss and decided to leave him be and to save the annoying for later.
"I'm sure he did. But it's a promise okay? When we get back, I'll make him play with you the instant we set foot in this house. To do that you must be in good health. So go to sleep, drink your medicine and eat your food. Deal?"
Sasuke seemed to accept it after a moment of thinking and nodded. With that, he stifled another yawn before sniffing softly and closing his eyes. Once she was sure that he had drifted off to sleep, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and walked out of his room, slowly closing the door behind her.
"Protecting some prince sounds ridiculous. I hate the mission!"
Kakashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to keep his irritation levels to the minimum. "We don't have a choice Shisui. This mission will judge our capability to work together as a team." He argued quietly.
"I reckon our teamwork would just go steps backward than forward. Princes are known to be extremely obnoxious and annoying!" The master of the body flicker jutsu exclaimed as he clasped his hands behind his head.
Sakura couldn't help but snort softly in amusement. Was it a must to have a loud comedian one in every team? It was really no wonder that Naruto bragged that Itachi had compared him to an Uchiha back then. She wondered how the serious Uchiha tensai could have dealt with him through the years.
It was absolutely entertaining to see Itachi pinch the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily as Shisui and Kakashi started arguing. It somewhat reminded her of her old team. Except for this situation, the role of Sasuke and Naruto were being played (very well) by Kakashi and Shisui, while her sensei's role was being executed out by Itachi.
"You both," Itachi started slowly. "I would rather if you silence yourselves this instant."
She turned to him in mock horror as the two shut up at once, instead opting to glare at each other, seemingly communicating through use of their eyes. "Itachi that was scary!" She exclaimed, making sure to exaggerate the sound of disbelief. Onyx eyes narrowed imperceptibly at this.
"The sarcasm has been noted in your voice." He slid his eyes over to where she was, without turning his head around.
"Your nothing of the sarcasm has been noted." She replied cheekily, grinning wider. She was in a mood for joking, even if he wasn't. She knew why he was in a bit of a foul mood; she too would be annoyed if she was given a rude awakening by her best friend. In his case, would be Shisui who poured a jug of freezing cold water on his face before dragging him out of the window; all because he heard the Hokage was giving them their first mission for the team. At least thats what the cheeky Uchiha told her.
The poor half asleep boy apparently couldn't even change his clothes and thus, arrived in the Hokage's office half freezing, dripping with water and dark circles underneath glaring eyes. Sarutobi had taken one look at the pouting face, slouching form, angry expression and had burst into rackets of laughter. As if the morning wasn't hell already...
"Cheer up weasel boy!" She patted his head, earning a grunt of displeasure from him. "I've gone through worse with Naruto hanging around with me. I can relate."
"Fine. We are doing the mission." She grinned as she heard Shisui finally give in. That was Kakashi for you; always stubborn and sticking to his word. He rarely gave in to others when he himself had already decided something; she was aware from personal experience. Said ANBU captain nodded and then turned to his team.
"Alright then. Since we got your approval..." He coughed slightly to clear his voice. "Let's head out. The boat shall be leaving the Port in-"
"BOAT!? NO WAY! I GET SEASICK!"
If Sakura could laugh, she would've laughed to her death and continued while bereft of life until kami's wrathful side kicked her back to earth for being too mirthful. The look on Itachi's face was just...priceless.
"Sakura..I hope you have a good excuse as for why you just took a photograph of my face...?"
Roughly two hours later, the team was settled on the large boat that was cruising through the clear blue waters. Sakura disliked summer and its unforgiving heat and yet, this was almost complete bliss. All this would be perfect if they were leaving on a vacation instead, and if the noise of two boys puking would just stop.
"Itachi kun...you didn't tell me you get seasick too?" She smirked as she observed the kid next to her heave once more into the ocean. He didn't answer her, or rather he couldn't. She sighed and rested her chin on a hand as she let her weight be supported by the railings on the side of the ship and waited for his spell to pass.
"Some..." he finally got back up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, looking slightly green in the face. "...helpful medic you are."
"Still in a foul mood? I don't blame you." She snorted softly as she looked at the horizon, trying to catch a glimpse of any island that would come by. But according to the captain, there was no land for miles and the soonest they could arrive to their client's land was a whole day and night at the pace they were going. Any faster would mean the boys would die of hurling up too much.
Slowly, she reached for her water bottle and handed it to him. "Here, take this."
Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Kakashi furiously patting Shisui's back as he continued heaving. Apparently he had eaten three big bowls of pork ramen before coming on the mission. No wonder why he was feeling rather sick. She wondered whether most Uchiha really hated water. She recalled Sasuke had once looked rather green while on their mission to protect the runner Idate. Perhaps it ran in the family?
"I do not get seasick." Sakura blinked and turned back to her (generally) sane teammate (who was probably going to be in a foul mood for a long time) as he spoke. "I think it was...something I ate.."
"Eh? Who gave you what?"
Itachi seemed to try think for a moment before nodding and turning to her. "I reckon it was the sandwich in the fridge...I ate it before coming here."
"Sound's like a case of food poisoning." She chuckled as she placed a hand on his slightly flushed face. "Hmm...it seems slightly warm too-"
"I'M DYING. CALL THE PRIEST!" They both had to turn as they heard Shisui's rather loud proclaim. There he was, tugging at the captain's legs and begging him to call someone to help him. The captain who was a largely obese, jolly looking man with a rather unkempt auburn colored beard laughed loudly and pinched the boy's cheeks, effectively turning them red.
"We don't have a priest! Why do we need a priest to ruin our fun? It's a sailors life out here!" He peered into the genius of the body flicker jutsu, grinning from ear to ear. The news was not taken well by said shinobi who truly believed that he was dying. Clutching his stomach then, he used his specialty to appear at the rails at the back of the boat and started to gag.
It was absolutely clear that he had a severe case of seasickness and that had completely emptied his stomach. Still, the older Uchiha continued to gag loudly, choking in between.
"He's not very fond of the mighty oceans I take it." The captain let out another laugh as he hobbled back to the cabins. Sighing, Sakura made her way over to Shisui. Seeing him severely weakened really was putting a strain on her.
She walked over to him just as he stopped gagging and leaned over the rails to try relax. "Oi, are you okay?"
"I told you I'm fine princess..." He sniffed, not turning to look at her even as she placed her arms around him. After a while of silence and being unable to put up with her stare, he sighed and turned his extremely pale face tinted with a slight green to her. "...Alright. I may have gotten a bit sick."
"I'M DYING! CALL THE PRIEST!" She imitated him, making sure to behave the same way he did. The little act sent said copy nin into peals of hysterical laughter and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Itachi smirk. Thoroughly pleased that she made a complete fool out of him, she crossed her hands over her chest.
"Not funny! I'm sick!" Shisui whined in protest, clenching his hands at his sides and turning a slight pink in the face. The rosette just raised an eyebrow and stared up at him, engaging both of them into a staring contest. Before a whole minute was over, the preteen gave up. "Okay I admit it, my stomach is a bit upset alright? But I told you that I get seasick a lot!"
"In which case you should have taken medicine before coming on board." She sighed, glaring at him sternly and placing both hands on her hips."As a Shinobi you are supposed to be aware of the basics of medic-"
"I'm too lazy to learn them." He interrupted her, leaning over the rails once more to stare out at the sea with a pout on his face. "Besides...we already have a medic on the team, who is you, and so we have no reason to worry."
Sakura could only sigh as he proceeded to start choking once more the moment that sentence left his mouth. But his stomach was completely drained of its contents and he had nothing to lose now. The best he could do was to try drink some lukewarm soup and to take a nap on the deck. If he were to return to his cabin right now, his symptoms would just get worse. Same thing could go for Itachi.
And so, she asked some of the crew members to get them two deck chairs, some soup and ginger tea. However, since ginger was not available on board, she ordered some dry crackers and lemon. It was less effective, but it would have to do for now she supposed.
As Kakashi watched Sakura take care of the two Uchiha, he began to wonder that it wasn't unlikely that she would become their personal babysitter near future. He could just imagine her clad in a kimono and hugging the two to her squealing "my babies" and trying to spoon-feed them. The comical and highly disturbing thought was cut off shortly when Sakura pushed two empty bowls of soup into his arms.
"Go down to the cabins and bring back some bread." She ordered, shooting him a half glare. Kakashi could only sigh and obey her. Disobeying would certainly lead her to attack him and he knew that it would be far from pleasant. The copy nin was already beginning to tire of this mission which barely begun.
Hardened onyx eyes devoid of any emotion stared down at the man kneeling in front of him, eyes cast downwards as well as trembling uncontrollably. The shinobi was new to his presence and therefore it was to be expected that he was terrified. But of course, that was how things should be; they should be fearing him. He was after all, the head of the ANBU root.
Danzou Shimura was the founder and head of ANBU root; an organization that served directly under him and strictly bid by his rules instead of the Hokage. Since long, he had lost hope in the ruling system of Konoha and believed that their beliefs in the 'Will of Fire' and 'peace' would soon lead the village to destruction. The main reason he decided to take matters into his own hands to protect Konoha in his own way was because he believed that none other than himself was suitable for the task!
Hiruzen Sarutobi himself was too soft and the fact that he held the Uchiha in high regard was one reason Danzou believed that the man have finally gone senile. The Uchiha were long known to be a clan who lusted after power; a group of shinobi with a power so great that if it got out of hand would definitely put the village under grave threat. It wasn't long ago that a certain Uchiha had gone against them. So them why was the old man trusting them so much as to place a strong Kunoichi under their care?!
"M-My lord Danzou Sama...the girl seems to be extremely well skilled. Enough to meet up to the standards of Uchiha Itachi."
He flinched and whimpered at the loud sound of his masters walking stick slammed down on the marble floor and at the low growl that escaped from his throat. It was clear that the leader was furious and to his dismay it was clear that with this situation, he would be in a bad temper for a long time. "Up to...the standard of Itachi?"
"Yes...it has been rumored that she has defeated him in battle..."
With a grunt, he leaned back into his comfortable chair and raised a hand to his temple. This was going to stir up a lot of trouble in his plans, especially if this girl was as powerful as the reports seemed. It would further mess his plans up if she were to be on the side of the Uchiha. The little prodigy boy himself was a grave threat to him; one more would be more of a hindrance!
He had been planning to somehow convince Itachi to take part in the root or at least, to participate within their activities. It would make it easier for him to control the boy into doing his work and would of course, in due time to rid the village of the Uchiha menace. From what the rookie reported to him, it seemed that the Kunoichi was growing close to the Uchiha at a steady pace and had even teamed up with the three prodigies of Konoha; Itachi Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.
"What is her physical appearance?"
"O-Oh um..uh..." Quietly berating himself for shuttering, he held up a smaller scroll; much smaller in size than to what he handed over earlier. "It..it has her photograph-"
Without hesitation, the now completely irritated Konoha elder stood up from his seat and marching over to him, grabbed away the roll of paper and began scanning through it. So it seemed that she had pink hair, green eyes and pale complexion. Apparently she had excellent chakra control as well as a large reserve of it, and possessed extremely high speed and strength that rivaled Tsunade Senju's herself.
A loud chuckle echoed around the room then, sending chills down the spine of root Anbu shinobi who was now extremely eager to run out at the earliest. This man's presence was largely uncomfortable and intimidating and he was sure that being old, was somewhat loose in the head as well. Of course, no one dared to speak out like that against Danzou Sama. Punishment was often merciless and he had heard many stories of shinobi who had been tortured to death.
He was not going to be one of those who would die here. Not yet anyway.
"This is ridiculous. The girl spells nothing but trouble and I am sure she will be up to no good. There has to be a reason as to why she is closely involved with the Uchiha and since she was placed there by the Hokage, there is no doubt that she sides with them!" Anger now evident in his voice, Danzou flung the scroll back at the terrified shinobi. "I want as much data gathered on her and bought here within this week!"
"Danzou Sama they...they've left on a mission. Today." The simple sentence was followed by deathly silence that lasted for a chilling two whole minutes, before head of the ANBU root once again, slammed his walking stick down on the floor. With a huff, he walked past the nin, quietly ordering him to leave. The latter was too happy to comply and bolted out faster than his master himself.
While somewhat amused at his antics, Danzou was still thoroughly irritated with the situation. Right now, he was making his way towards his chambers to think and to formulate a plan to try grasp his hands in it. There was no doubt that the Konoha elders had absolutely no idea of the Kunoichi residing with the Uchiha as of yet.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been his teammate and friend for several years, at least before the second Hokage proclaimed him to be the third Hokage. It was utter humiliation he faced on that mission and he would forever loathe that night as well as the one who was considered superior to him. Konoha needed a strict ruler who would impose certain rules and regulations for all to follow without question. Sarutobi was too soft and was unsuitable for the job.
Someone who considered teamwork, self sacrifice as more important to paying attention to completing missions was truly unsuitable for the role of Hokage. It went against the very principals of Shinobi and had destroyed many a reputation with it. The famous White Fang of Konoha fell into utmost disgrace after choosing to save his teammates instead of attending the mission. His final outcome was death by suicide.
"Naive...ridiculous..." He muttered to himself as he opened the door to his room, nodding at the two guards that stood in front of it. "Make sure no one disturbs me."
Then, once safely inside, he cast a seal over the door before giving a cursory glance around the dimly lit room. His quarters were furnished with only the most basic furniture needed. A small low level table in the middle of the room that supported a few open scrolls, shelf at one corner stacked with books and more scrolls and a small folded futon at another corner.
He was not the type who craved luxuries and so, though he could afford it well, decided to spend it all on recruiting new shinobi for the Root and occasional bribes. While his acts were suspect and most saw him as a questionable and senile old man, he saw himself as the complete exact opposite. Of course, fools would not be aware of how big sacrifices he made to protect Konoha.
"Sakura, the one who beat Uchiha Itachi hm?" He chuckled again as he laid the new scrolls in front of him. A sole photograph of her was attached to the smaller one, just as the rookie shinobi told him. She was petite and fragile looking, with a pale and white face that still contained some baby fat and large green eyes that were cast somewhere else. It radiated of innocence.
And yet, she was a potent killer and one who could very well hinder his plans...that is, unless he turned things into his favor.
The gentle sound of the waves crashing against the side of the boat was music to her ears. It almost made her forget that her sick teammate was just lying on the bunk above her, still begging god to have mercy on his soul. She was grateful about the fact that they would soon reach the island. Hopefully by then, Shisui would feel better.
Still, it did not change the fact that she was unable to sleep. Probably hours had passed by since her teammates drifted off peacefully and yet she was still tossing and turning around in her bunk, sleep refusing to claim her no matter how tired she was.
"Kakashi, are you awake?" She whispered, turning to her left where Kakashi and Itachi were sharing a bunk. "Kakashi!"
Silence followed after the loud whisper and a few seconds later, she heard a rather loud snore. Irritated, she reached beside her bedside for a piece of paper and crumpling it up, aimed it at his head. A soft grunt escaped from the copy nin and after stretching a bit, once more, remained motionless. So this was the famous ANBU captain, son of the white fang who was one of the best shinobi of all time? Weren't shinobi of his status supposed to be light sleepers, ready for any crisis that might make its appearance?
Completely irritated now, she reached for one of her shurikan and sitting up, catapulted at at his bottom. The reaction was immediate and she had to surpass a smile as the masked nin let out a pained howl moments before he fell from the top bunk. 'That ought to teach you for sexually assaulting Naruto with your perverted techniques.' She thought as a slight smirk finally made its way to her face. How could one not be amused at that?
It was a good thing that the girl had mixed a sleeping drug in the soups of both Uchiha before they went off to sleep; they were supposedly extremely light sleepers. That sharp object she threw at his butt stung hard and he was sure that if not for her potion, the little scream he let out would have probably shocked the two brats to their deaths. Especially the idiot Shisui. Kakashi wondered whether the rest of the crew heard it.
He glared up at the pink haired child, who was seemingly lost in thought as of now and felt slight annoyance start to prick at his senses. She had disrupted a delightful dream he was having, in the most distasteful way one could. More to add to that, he had forgotten about the fact that he was on the top bunk and so, had a rather hurtful fall onto the wooden floor.
"What is your problem?" He hissed as he folded his legs to sit cross-legged on the floor, snapping her out of whatever she was thinking. "You better have a damn good reason brat. I was having a good dream too. Now spit it out."
"I can't sleep." She pouted petulantly, starting to swing her legs back and forth with childish annoyance. "I feel like something's bugging me."
Kakashi could only stare with disbelief up at her and a long silence followed after that, the only sound in the room being Shisui's occasional murmurs and the soft creaking produced by the soft swinging of her feet. His left eye began breaking out into a series of twitches and he bought a hand up to his temple and started to massage it.
"You...threw a dart at my ass because you couldn't sleep?"
"Shurikan." She corrected, with a cheerful grin that only served to irritate him further. She clearly was insane and certainly found pleasure in deriving people from happiness. It wasn't hard to come to that conclusion as she had woken him up at roughly three am in the morning. And there was no known person who would wake someone at this ungodly hour except besides Gai. "Hey, I'm having this REAL bad feeling. Have you got a bad feeling?"
"...Yes. You threw a shurikan at my ass. Why wouldn't I get a bad feeling? I bet it made a nice hole there." His reply was grumpy and it was apparent that he really didn't want to continue this conversation. But Sakura did not feel like letting her teacher go off to sleep just yet. She was bored and wide awake and besides, felt like talking to him anyway.
"Serves you right for poking Naruto in the ass." She snorted softly, crossing her hands over her chest. "Do you have any idea how much that would have traumatized the little boy?"
The copy nin sighed and ran a hand through his hair with an exasperated look crossing over his face. "We've discussed this Sakura. That was in YOUR time. Besides, he was 16."
"No he was 13 when you first assaulted him. I know we do Kancho now and then for fun but...you had your chakra inside your fingertips. I'm pretty sure you scarred him for life. Probably that's why he ran after Sasuke."
"..Are you implying that Naruto was gay in your time...and that I was the cause of it?"
"Not really." Came her amused reply. "Naruto was definitely straight. I'm just saying you scarred him for life."
Kakashi just let out a loud groan. "Why are we discussing this at 3 AM in the morning?" All he wanted to do was sleep peacefully and to let himself be carried away by dreams. And yet, she was keeping him up and reminding him of idiotic things he used to do at her time. It was completely revolting to think that he of all of people would do such...imbecilic things.
By now he was sure that even if he went back to sleep, there was no chance that he would see pleasant dreams. High chances were that he would see disturbing images of what she just described. Silently, he decided that he was never going to use that technique on her precious, beloved 'Naruto-Chan' ever again. If he were to, she would probably mutilate him the worst way possible; enough for him to never see the light of the day ever again.
He recalled hearing around town that, the Kyuubi container was hanging around with the pink haired girl who seemed to act like his over-protective guardian. Apparently she was so obsessive about him that she nearly strangled a fellow Jounin for yelling at him. In public. She was supposed to be keeping low profile and yet, seemed to be unable to stand by and watch while he ex teammate get hurt repeatedly.
Also, apparently she was the only one who could land a blow on his head whenever he was up to mischief. And the blond boy seemed to be perfectly at ease with it. She probably had enforced that rule back in her time as well, and would certainly explain his growing idiocy. Women were truly strange things which were the hardest puzzles to ever be created by nature for man.
"Kakashi, why does your face resemble of one who is severely constipated?" His left eye twitched once more, as the seemingly innocent question was aimed at him.
"Because you woke me up by tossing a weapon to my ass?"
"Cheer up! At least we'll be reaching land soon!" She slid her way off the bed and made her way towards the tiny window. "Oh look, I was right! Wake the idiots up!"
"I will have you know..." The two shinobi turned towards Kakashi's bunk as a tired and seemingly amused voice made it's appearance. "...You woke me up long back with that scream...Kakashi San."
"It was Sakura's fault! Don't you put that blame on me Itachi!" The copy nin protested, his voice largely coming out in a childish whine. "She hurled a shurikan at my butt!"
"As an ANBU captain...you were supposed to be expecting it." Rubbing one eye with a clenched hand and stifling a yawn, the little genius sat up and focused his stare on the two. "Sakura San, you knew I was awake were you not?"
"Why wouldn't I? It was the famous ANBU captain here who didn't notice you." She snorted softly, shooting Kakashi a mocking smile. With a sigh, the teenager stood up to go wake up Shisui. If these three were driving his mentality to this point, he mulled over how much trouble Sasuke and Naruto would cause him. It would certainly be something to really be prepared for.
"I just hope this prince won't be too troublesome." She added as they all braced themselves for the boat to reach the port. "Most are known to be really annoying. I know from personal experience."
Silently, they all agreed upon her statement and hoped that this mission would go smoothly and even though it was unlikely, that the prince would not be some stubborn, stuck up and irritable teenager.
Q&A section/Authors Notes:
...This has to be the shortest chapter I have written yet...as well as the most mind-numbingly boring. I sincerely apologize to you all who had been expecting a better chapter than this. However, I just could not think of good scenes for this.
The 4 reasons why I had been so late in updating are:
1) I had been unsure of how to write this chapter
2) I was slacking off like the lazy prick I am
3) I had been busy with real life as well as obsessing over my other, less appealing stories and wondering what to do with them.
and
4) I was working on the manga which I am going to do on this story.
Yes you read that right people; I am creating a manga on this story! ^.^/ (As soon as I get the equipment that is) So I hope you have forgiven me for slacking off! Earnestly waiting for you to do so that is..
Now onto some questions you may have about this chapter:
~It is not surprising that Sasuke fell ill after all that. He truly does have low tolerance to sweet dishes according to the official Naruto data book. Still I don't think he would consider that while in a competition with Naruto. He is, by nature, very competitive and dislikes losing to other people even on silly things. I doubt he learned his lesson yet though...
~Naruto does have natural healing powers and those of you who carefully watch the Naruto series, you will be aware that he recovers from even major injuries in less than three days. As for the high immune system; I have personally never seen Naruto being stuck in the hospital as a result of a flu or any other disease. Sure, several other characters have been bedridden because of different aliments and yet our hero hasn't. It can be proven through his living conditions; who wouldn't fall ill while living in a messed up room as his? Still, I can't promise you people that he won't fall ill in my story. ^^"
~The part of Shisui getting seasick easily was entirely my idea. I doubt he gets it in the original Naruto series. (Heck, they don't even give much about his background! A shame really. He would make an excellent character...) While I am aware that I am giving him more and more on the role of being the comic relief character, I will remind you, once again, that he is not an idiot...on the level of Naruto is.
~Well...Danzou found out. I intended this to happen later on in the series but then, like I mentioned before, had no idea on what to write on this chapter and so threw in some randomness. While most of you may be shocked that he is considering to make Sakura join in the root, I think it is to be expected. Danzou is smart and he is aware that if she had been placed there by the Hokage, she is definitely on the Uchiha's side. Now he hates the Uchiha and is extremely wary of the genius Uchiha Itachi. Sakura had defeated Itachi in battle and therefore, she poses a threat to him. If he brings her to his side, he can battle against Itachi and bring him under his control.
He does not intend to do this right away though; for now he would watch from the dark and observe her movements and record them silently. No one knows that he has found out and I doubt Sakura would soon either. My best guess would be that he would somehow try to corner her.
Now remember, while most of his deeds may be unacceptable and doubtful, he is trying to protect Konoha in his own way. And that is the form of a dictatorship... which is against the philosophy of the will of fire. That may be the key reason why Tobirama Senju refused to choose Danzou as his successor. And thus..making him resent the ruling system...kind of.
~Sakura still has the photo she took of his face. Probably will show it to Mikoto or something. I'm just why on earth she had a camera in the first place. I am aware I am the author and that I am supposed to know but...oddly I don't. I suppose we could conclude that as being random...
Reviews motivate me to keep writing! So keep reviewing! ^.^/
Owari~