Chapter Five
Sakura maintained a flat expression, but inside she and Inner were dancing around, shouting in glee.
Shikamaru had straitened from his lazy half-lounge and was now sitting forward, gaze flittering between her poker face and the board in between them, with his fingers interlaced under his chin and lips pressed together in a frown.
We may not yet have won, but we've certainly not lost either.
She was at a severe disadvantage, but he had made the mistake of taking it easy on her in the beginning and was paying for it now. If he just overlooked her general on right side of the board for a few more moves…
The sound of the meeting room doors opening had her glancing up as the the jonin began to trickle out. Wow, I can't believe it's already been an hour… At the sight of a familiar silver head, the puzzle pieces clicked together in her head and she snapped her head back down to stare at the board.
Fuck.
She tried to keep her expression calm as Shikamaru glanced up at her sudden movement. Her mind was racing and her palms broke out in nervous sweat. Fuck, fuck, FUCK.
How the hell could she be so stupid and let her ego cloud her judgement so easily? Who in their right mind would expect a pink-hair nobody to hold their own - or beat - the Nara heir in a game of strategy? Resentment curled in her belly at the realization that her sensei was the one to put her in this predicament in the first place.
Enough. How the hell do we lose - and quickly? You know, besides flipping the goddamn table?
Sakura focused her gaze on the general she had previously been so desperate for Shikamaru to overlook. Her eyes bore a hole into the piece as she waited for him catch on.
His shoulders stiffened suddenly and he let out a soft scoff.
Bingo.
Sorry, Shikamaru. She winced internally as he reached forward to counter her as expected. One of these days we'll play a fair game. Preferably somewhere less public.
. _ . _ . _ .
"She threw the game." Disbelief colored the blond's voice.
"Mmmm, not quite." Dark eyes scanned over the board as he analyzed the pieces. "My son may be a fool, but he still would have won. By a very narrow margin."
They had wandered out of the meeting room just in time to catch the expression of shock and betrayal flit ever so briefly over Sakura's face. Shikaku noticed Kakashi wince out of the corner of his eye.
"Wasn't Ino-chan close to her in the academy?" Choza's deep bass rubbled from his other side.
Inoichi rubbed at his jaw and sighed. "Yeah they were close, but every time she came over they flipped through fashion magazines and gossiped. And by end of their academy days, they had grown apart - something about a boy." His voice lowered. "I sure as hell wasn't looking for this - Ino may not always be aware of her surroundings, but she would have mentioned something about her childhood friend being a genius."
"Hm… how troublesome." Shikaku observed how her green eyes flashed in irritation at her sensei as he and Asuma approached the pair. She was clearly displeased with his deception.
"Do you think anyone else has noticed?" Choza asked.
Inoichi let his eyes roam around the room, cataloging the different faces and expressions he came across. "No. We were one of the first ones out the door, so we caught more than most did. Shika-kun won and I don't think anyone else realizes this is still the game they started just before the meeting. For all they know, this could be the second or third time she's lost."
The Akimichi grunted in satisfaction. "Good. Last thing the kid needs is for the Hyuga or the Uchiha to get word of her abilities."
"No, but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on her ourselves, would it?" Shikaku suggested.
Inoichi laughed. "I'm certainly not opposed. Besides, Shika-kun seems to have fallen in love." He teased.
With an exasperated huff, Shikaku realized Shikamaru was staring up at the kunoichi with a dazed look on his face as she suggested that they should play another game sometime soon. At her bright smile, he nodded unsteadily in agreement and followed her with his eyes as she hurried after her sensei.
"Kami-sama, save me from a son so easily seduced by intelligence."
. _ . _ . _ .
"That wasn't very nice, sensei." Sakura pouted up at the tall jonin as they ambled away from HQ.
"Mah, forgive me Sakura-chan." Kakashi said, scratching at the back of his head. "I didn't expect that you would be playing for so long. And the meetings almost always drag on for more than an hour."
She rolled her eyes at his lack-luster response and frowned down at her shuffling feet. "Were Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru-kun in on it too?" She couldn't quite keep the anguish out of her voice.
Her sensei sighed and gently settled his hand on top of her bent head. "No, Sakura-chan. Asuma figured it out after you two started your game - and he had some choice words for me - but Shikamaru-kun had no clue. I think he genuinely appreciated having someone to play with - Asuma says his other teammates have no patience for shogi."
"Oh." Sakura brighten back up. "I enjoyed it too."
Kakashi chuckled. "I'm glad. Now how about we pop into that tea shop and grab some dango? Sensei's treat for tricking you."
"I supposed I have to forgive you if you're resorting to bribery." She teased.
. _ . _ . _ .
"GODDAMN IT, KAKASHI-SENSEI! I CAN'T TAKE ONE MORE STUPID D-RANK MISSION!"
Sakura couldn't help agreeing with the knuckle-headed ninja, but did he have to be so loud about it?
In the week since Kakashi had returned, they had fallen back into the previous routine, with only minor adjustments. Sakura still met up with Guy and Lee for morning training, but her teammates chose to train with each other at Training Ground Seven to avoid the "green spandex demons" as Naruto called them, and they would meet up in the mid-morning to be greeted by their ever-tardy sensei with a green D-rank mission scroll in hand.
He took the evenings to have them improve upon the skills that they had learned from Genma. The boys were still working on perfecting their water-walking, but Kakashi had continued to test her speed and stamina by taking up Genma's target practice exercise and throwing kunai and shrunken at her while on the river's surface. After Sakura had exhausted her chakra, which still only took a few hours, much to her annoyance, he would have her dive to the bottom to collect the sunken projectiles until the sun had sunken behind the horizon and she could no longer pick out the shining metal from the riverbed's dark silt.
By the end of the day she was aching and soaking wet, but still made an effort to prop herself at her desk to go over her books and scrolls after washing off the smell of river-gunk. At the very least, the grueling routine let her flop into bed after an hour or so of reading and fall into a deep sleep in seconds, but it was becoming tedious.
When Kakashi smiled under his mask, Sakura eyed him warily as he pull a scroll from his hip pouch. "It just so happens you're in luck, Naruto."
The trio's eyes widened in shock. The scroll in his hand was yellow, not green.
C-rank.
"I managed to convince the Hokage that you three are ready for a bit of a challenge. Now C-rank normally means a ten to thirty percent chance of encountering trouble, but this one should be on the low end of the spectrum since it's your first. And, of course, sensei will be there with you. I'll keep you kiddies out of any conflict." His chuckled at their stunned expressions. "I'm giving you guys the day off to go home, collect your supplies, and go over the mission details. The trip should take a few weeks, so make sure to pack accordingly. And try to call it an early night, we have to meet the client at the gates at dawn."
He passed out the other three copies of the scroll he had stashed and waved before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
There was a moment of silence before Naruto let our a whop of victory.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and gazed down at the scroll in his hand. He frowned. "Wasn't he supposed to go over the mission details with us?" He asked.
"That's the usual protocol, but you know Kakashi-sensei. He's not really a stickler for the rules." She sighed.
"Who cares?! We got a C-rank!" Naruto suddenly froze and look of panic spread across his face. "Wait! A few weeks?! What if where we're going doesn't have ramen?! Oh, Kami-sama, I not gonna survive." He took off in the direction of Ichiraku's, leaving the two of them in his dust.
Sakura shared an exasperated look with Sasuke. "He never changes, does he?"
He snorted in reply. "No." Waving the scroll in hand, he jerked his head towards the south side of the village. "I'm heading home to see if my brother or cousin are around to give any pointers. See you tomorrow morning."
"Mmm, let me know what they say."
He grunted and nodded in acknowledgement and shoved his hands in his pockets as he headed out.
Sakura turned and started home as well, eager to share the exciting news with her parents.
. _ . _ . _ .
"Land of Waves?" Mebuki Haruno asked. "Isn't that near the Land of Water?"
"Yes, but they are an independent nation. Why?" Sakura frowned at the nervousness in her mother's voice.
The older woman tucked her long honey-blond hair behind her ears as she turned back to the stove to finish making dinner. Sakura had stopped by the library to look up any information about the small island country they were traveling to and had burned more time than expected pursing the texts.
Not that she had found anything productive. The Land of Waves was still too newly established for any of the books on the genin level to have any useful information, though she was certain that the chunin texts on the second floor, or at the very least the jonin texts secured in the basement surely did.
Her father's heavy sigh brought her back to the present. He settled himself across from her at the table. His dark gray eyes were focused on bottle of beer in his hands that he slowly spun.
"Oka-san is just being a little superstitious."
Her mother's green eyes narrowed and she whacked the back of Kizashi's head with a wooden spoon. Ignoring his grumbling and turning back to her daughter, she addressed the earlier question.
"Obaa-sama, your father's mother, was always adamant that he never travel anywhere near the Land of Water. She never gave a specific reason, only stated he would be in danger. Though you were still an infant when she passed, she made sure to mention that that rule would apply to you as well, as his daughter."
Sakura blinked in surprise. Her parents rarely mentioned her paternal grandmother. And to learn they had adhered to the superstition for so long shocked her further. Her parents were merchants and as such frequently travelled to other nations to conduct trade. She had never questioned why they only made the journey to Stone, Lightning, and Earth, as it was common knowledge that it was much more dangerous to travel to Water and not nearly as profitable.
Her father leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hands through his short red hair. "Don't mind us, little cherry blossom. We know this is an important step in your career and we won't interfere." He said with a stern glance in his wife's direction. She huffed in reply and shuffled back to the kitchen to bang around pots in anger.
He winced and sighed again. "Your mother and I knew when we chose to support you in becoming a kunoichi that you wouldn't be able to pick where you travel. Just… please be careful."
"I will, I promise Oto-san."
"I know you will, sweetie." His eyes softened. "Oh, and don't forget we're taking a trip to Lightning while you're gone. We should be back just after you get home."
Sakura nodded in understanding and stood to help her mother set the table. A glance behind her saw that Kizashi had grabbed his wife's hand and squeezed it in apology for his harsh tone. The melting of Mebuki's flinty expression indicated that the incident had already been forgotten.
. _ . _ . _ .
For once Kakashi wasn't late.
Not that it did much to improve her mood. The bitter, drunken client made sure of that. She was just glad he was around to keep her - or the boys - from killing the fool before they made it out of Fire.
The man - Tazuna - had forgone the usual polite greeting and, once establishing that they were indeed the team assigned, had proceeded with insulting them.
Sasuke was deemed to much of a stuck up ass, Naruto a weak little shrimp, and Sakura was obviously naturally better suited to the kitchen than the battlefield. She had wanted to strangle the sexist pig for the last comment.
Kakashi had wisely decided to step in and explain that, while they were still genin, he was a qualified jonin and would be handling any real threats that came their way, subtly positioning himself between the client and his seething team in the process.
"Fine." Tazuna huffed. The bottle in his hand sloshed, already half-way empty even given the early hour. He had stumbled out of the gates and the four of them followed.
With a few words, Kakashi instructed them to form the usual guard formation around the client. Naruto was in the lead, Tazuna a few steps behind him with Kakashi close at hand to counter any threats, and she and Sasuke took the rear, ready to shoot forward at any sign of danger. It also - conveniently - placed Kakashi as the only person close enough for the bridge builder to attempt to converse with.
Sakura walked a little closer to Sasuke and lowered her voice to a near whisper. "Did you get any pointers last night?"
Sasuke sneered at the back of Tazuna's head. "Yeah. Itachi said not to let the client die."
"How disappointing."
. _ . _ . _ .
The first two hours went by peacefully. And then it all went to hell in a hand basket. Her first clue that this was not going to be a standard C-rank was the puddle they came across. At first, she wasn't too concerned… until she stepped in it. The surface didn't ripple, nor did her sandal come away wet. Fuck. Sakura then recalled that it hadn't rained since the previous week. Double fuck.
She glanced up at Kakashi and saw that he was watching her closely. A slight twist of the fingers of his left hand - one of the standard hand signs they were taught in the academy - had her continuing on as if nothing was amiss, but her heart was pounding in her chest.
Sakura glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto to see if they had noticed.
Naruto was clearly oblivious to the danger they were in as he was loudly cataloguing the various plants and animals they came across, focusing mostly on their edibility. Sasuke was walking calmly at her side, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes focused ahead. Her stomach sank as she realized he hadn't recognized the puddle as a genjutsu - if he had, his hands would be hanging loosely at his side, ready to grab his weapons at a moments notice, as her's and Kakashi's were.
She was only left in limbo for a few minutes and then sharp, bladed chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around her sensei's torso, trapping his arms against his sides. With a tug of the chains, the two opposing ninja cut him into pieces.
Or at least would have, if he hadn't used a substitution justus at the last moment.
That absolute motherfucker! I can't believe he thinks now is the appropriate time to give us a fucking test!
She joined Inner in cursing him viciously in her head as the pair turned their attention to the genin, but focused their eyes on the master bridge builder.
They're trying to get us out of the way. It's him they really want.
Sakura had only seconds to prepare as they rushed forward, trying to intercept her and Naruto, who they had evidently deemed the easier targets. Fools.
Sasuke - wisely - moved to assist Naruto, who had frozen in panic.
She pulled three senbon from her thigh holster and used them to pin the chain to the ground and save herself the trouble of having to dodge the wicked-looking weapon. With a roundhouse kick to the chest, her opponent was torn from the chain and skidded to a halt a few feet away. He paused only momentarily in surprise at her attack, but that was all the opportunity she needed.
Sakura had followed his momentum and was quick to pin his right clawed arm with her foot and attempt to slam the hilt of a kunai into his temple. He dodged - unfortunately - and twisted his arm under her foot in an effort to throw her off balance, but she had been training too damn hard for too damn long to let him get off so easily.
She let herself fall forward, as if she wasn't quick enough to anticipate his dodge, and just when he had armed himself with a kunai of his own, she bashed his left temple with the knee of her opposite leg. He dropped like a rock.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Sasuke and Naruto had also successfully subdued the mist nin they faced, though the latter still looked a bit shaken up.
"Ah, my adorable little students, I'm glad to see training has paid off. Good job."
Sakura's eye twitched. Her male teammates glared up at their suddenly-in-one-piece sensei. Tazuna looked absolutely baffled by the sequence of events and slumped against a nearby tree.
After checking his student over for injuries, they had avoided anything more serious than minor bruises, the Copy Ninja turned to the client.
"Now then Tazuna-san. It seems you weren't quite honest when placing that mission request. You put in that you wanted a standard protection unit to defend against robbers, thieves, and other minor nuisances. You failed to mention that you were being targeted by shinobi." Despite his relaxed posture, Kakashi addressed the other man with a steely tone.
"These two here," he said, gesturing to the restrained mist nin, "are chunin level. Though my students were successful in taking them down, I don't appreciate you concealing information and putting them at risk. If you had requested protection from foreign ninja, this mission would have been classified as a B-rank at minimum and you would have been provided with a team better suited to the task. For an additional fee, of course.
As it stands, I'll assume that you or your town do not have the financial ability to fund such a mission, hence the predicament we find ourselves in. I will need a few moments to discuss this with my team and we will decide if this mission will continue as planned."
Tazuna grunted in reply and headed a few dozen feet further down the road, out of hearing range, but still within sight.
Kakashi turned and faced his students.
Naruto was the first to speak. "Sensei, if he can't afford the proper protection unit like you said, should we really leave him to face more of those guys on his own?" There was a mixture of pity and anger dancing across his face.
"…I don't want to go back either." Sasuke agreed. "We took this mission, so we should see it through."
Sakura gazed at her teammates in disbelief. Are they trying to get us killed? We might have done alright this time, but there's no guarantee that next time we won't lose our heads.
Another chapter - barely - on time. Yay! ^_^"
Please remember to follow/favorite/review! The emails popping up in my inbox every time FF sends me a notification feeds my muse. :3
Much love,
Mistress-Kakashi
CattleyaViolette - I'm so happy you fallen for 'A Genin's Guide to Not Dying a Horribly Painful Death'! I hope this chapter further supports your love and I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for the review!
Gremlin Jack - I wouldn't necessarily consider my story to be AU, as it's not a high school or modern era adaptation or anything of that sort of nature which I would consider to be in an "Alternative Universe", it just doesn't follow the manga or the anime's story precisely. Also, I put a huge disclaimer on Chapter One's foreword. ^_^ Thank you for the review!
fairylover4679635 - Thank you so much! I'm a fairly novice writer - at least on the fiction side - so I'm glad you like my style! Yes, I wanted to keep her progression believable, but at the same time don't want to drag it out. Shikamaru is adorable! I feel like he is so used to Ino, who he doesn't even really see as a girl, that when Sakura shows up he forgets how to function. Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations! Thank you for the review!
greenlightsforever1 - Interesting hasn't even hit us yet in my opinion, so stay tuned, there is much more excitement to come! I'm glad you like my Sakura, I think she's awesome too. ^_^ Thank you for the review!
Dobbyhasnomastr - Yay! Inner and Genma are awesome to write, so I'm glad you like them as well! Thank you for the review!
Cruisegirl86 - I'm happy that the last chapter put a smile on your face! Hope this one does too! ^_^ Thank you for the review!
lyndyloowho - Glad you're enjoying it and I'm glad to have reeled you in! I love BAMF Sakura as well! Thank you for the review!
Suzululu4moe - LOL, it is amusing, but I figured what other Hyuga would she really have enough interaction with to compare him to? I absolutely love the Uchiha Duo and we'll be seeing more of them later! ^_^ Sasuke's personality I'm leaving fairly standard. I figure with being the second son of a major clan and living in Itachi's shadow for so long, he's bound to end up being a prissy, broody little shit, not too far off from how he's portrayed in cannon. Shikamaru is gonna be back too! I have plans… *evil cackle* Asuma is just perpetually exhausted by his students and dreams of the day they act like normal little genin. Unfortunately for him, that's probably never going to happen. And yes, his not-so loving relationship with his father is going to keep his mouth firmly shut. Thank you for the review!