Here's a new chapter! *cheers*
Thanks so, so much for the reviews, facs, and follows! :3
Warning: unbeta, English is my second. ASL is my first. I'm Deaf. *wiggly eyebrows* xD
I don't own NARUTO. Excepts OCs.
Enjoy~ *grin*
Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Hokage Tower
"Team Ten, I'm assigned you to a new C-Rank mission." Third Hokage announced as he glanced down over the D-Rank missions scroll, calmly. While Sakura raised her eyebrows with confused yet pleasantly surprised.
'So soon? This is rather unusual though. I thought we must complete about forty D-Rank missions then take C-Rank mission?' she mused, with contemplative. Maybe it's because they succeed in their first C-Rank mission without any trouble? Maybe that's why they are getting another C-Rank mission? Then she twitches softly. 'Although, I never understand why there are rumors about Team Ten who are weak and useless Genins team of the Rookie Nine…' she mused, bitter. Sakura has been hearing rumors about her team for a while.
However, Shikamaru doesn't bother by negative rumors. Choji mainly focuses on foods and snacks. Although, Asuma cares about his team's reputation by attempted to get into more missions and training. Unfortunately, Asuma has two students who are not motivated enough to be serious about their careers.
The Third Hokage stared at his ninjas with a serious face. "This is a delivery mission. I need this message of a scroll to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Waves." He held up a sealed scroll. "However, if you accept this mission, your sensei won't be able to accompany you." He warned Genins.
Team Ten turned their attention to their sensei with confused, puzzled, and curious. Asuma just grinned at them with trust in his eyes. "It's alright. I have a feeling you all can do this." He glanced at Hokage. "They accept it." Asuma consented with confidence.
The Third Hokage nods his head and reached the sealed scroll to one of the Genins in Team Ten. The pink-haired ninja took steps forward, received the message scroll not unkindly, and step back to her teammates' side. "Leave as soon as possible. Dismissed." Team Ten bowed respectfully to Hokage and start leaving the office.
"Asuma, I need you to stay." Hokage ordered.
The Jounin nods his head, he turned to his students with a grinned. "Good luck on your mission!" his students nodded their head with determined and left the office.
Once the door shut, Asuma turned his attention on the Third Hokage with a serious face. The Third Hokage grabbed his pipe as he frowned deeply with disturbed in his eyes. "There was a rumor that caught my attention early this morning." Asuma narrowed his eyes with confused and suspicious. "I'm slightly bit bother since the rumor is about a demon."
Asuma tense as he realized what his father just told him. 'So, does he mean the tailed beast?' he mused, contemplative. "I can see why this would be a concern, but what does this have to do with me?" he asked, curious.
"It's near the Fire Temple."
The Jounin's eyes lit with understanding. "And you want me to investigate the rumor around that area without any provoke." He stated as he brushed his waistcloth with marked with the kanji that stands for "Fire" as he was one of the Twelve Guardians Ninja.
"Yes." Then the Hokage leaned forward. "Once they see your mark, they wouldn't disturb you and most likely leave you alone. However, just to precaution, any suspicious coming from them. Retreat and come back either with less or more information that you will have gathered. I don't want any fight to happen. This is only a collation data mission."
"I shall do my best, Hokage-sama." Asuma bowed professionally.
The Third Hokage nods his head with satisfaction. "Good. You're dismissed."
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Team Saku-Shika-Cho
Arc I: Bloom, Deer, & Butterfly
Chapter Six
"Another C-Rank Mission"
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Haruno Resident
Sakura hummed softly to herself as she quickly packed her things into her travel backpack. She just arrived back at her home about fifteen minutes ago and she almost ready to leave. When she heard the knocks from outside of her door. "Come in." she grants her permission as she carefully placed a seal storage scroll in.
Mebuki opened the door and watched her pink-haired daughter zipped up her travel backpack. "Leaving for a mission" she guessed with a curious smile.
"Yeah." Sakura nodded her head as she glanced over to her mother. "Is there something you need okaa-san?"
Her mother leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "I got your father's letter this morning, he needs me to assist with his merchandising." She said with fondly exasperated and resigned. "He's having a bit trouble with it for a while."
"Oh? Where?" the pink-haired ninja asked wondering.
Mebuki made a face. "Outside of Sunagakure." Sakura cringe, she knew her mother despises the heat so much since she gets sunburn very easily.
'And otou-san sucks at selling certain items that are rare and hard to find since he latched onto them like a leech. And that's where okaa-san comes in.' she mused, amused. "Otou-san couldn't sell things still?"
The woman shook her head with weary. "No, your father still has a weird obsessed when it comes to unique and rare objects." With a small affectionate smile.
Sakura giggled. "Got it. I understand." It was not the first time that her mother left on business for her father. It happened almost at least every other month or so.
"Now, tell me. Where are you head off to?" her mother asked with curious.
The pink-haired ninja picked up her backpack and placed it over her shoulders. "To the Land of Wave, a simple delivery mission." She answered, brief and straight to the point.
"Hmm… alright, be careful." Mebuki shoves herself from the doorframe and walked to her daughter. She pecked Sakura's forehead. "I'll send you a letter when I meet your father." She promised.
Sakura nodded her head, walked out of her bedroom and straight to the front door. She slipped on her sandals and left her house.
Once she is walking down the road that leads to the Konoha Gate. Sakura hummed softly to herself, gave a friendly smile to familiar faces and avoid any bumps into strangers and playing children. Then a familiar voice shouted her name.
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
The pink-haired kunoichi winced, her poor ears when she can hear the loud voice from a certain knucklehead ninja. She halted, turned her head over her shoulder and saw Naruto running toward her with a big excited grinned while waving at her. Sakura waited until he stopped in front of her. "How are you Sakura-chan? I haven't seen you for weeks!" he said, happily.
Sakura just stared at him with confusion. 'Why does he want to know? We are not even friends nor anything close… I mean, yeah he is annoying but…' she doesn't understand why he is still trying to talk to her. "Why?" she blurted it out, wondered.
"Why what?" Naruto blinked at her, puzzled.
The pink-haired girl shook her head. "Why are you trying to talk to me? Why want to know how I am?" she elaborates.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head shyly. "W-well, we are friends, right?"
'Since when?' Sakura blinked in baffled. 'Friends? But… I haven't even talked to him. The only thing I've interacted with him was when he is bothering Sasuke-kun and I always hit him… which…' a frown appeared on her face. 'I mean, he's not annoying right now but…' now that she thinks about it. Sure, Naruto can be really obnoxious but, he doesn't seem to be a bad person to befriend with. Especially since this boy actually believes they are friends despite that Sakura always punches him.
"Are you going on a mission?" Naruto blurted it out when his sky-blue eyes noticed Sakura's light travel backpack.
"Oh!" Sakura jerked her head around and start walking, and Naruto quickly follows her by walking her side. "I can't be late." She informed Naruto hurriedly who nodded his head understanding.
The knucklehead ninja placed his arms behind his head. "I just got back from my mission a couple of days ago." He grinned then dropped to miserable grimaced. "But it was tortured!" he whined.
The pink-haired ninja raises her eyebrow at Naruto with curiosity. Naruto answered her silent question. "Sasuke-teme's hand and my hand were stuck! It was a weird dried chakra from that freaky dude!" he paled when he recalled his recent mission.
"Dried chakra?" Sakura piped with interest while walking as she adjusted her backpack straps over her shoulders, comfortably.
Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah, he said something about his core being all rotten and crap. His chakra can make all sorts of type, it even looks like some kind of weird gooey blue thingy. It came out of his wrists." He shivered with disgust.
Sakura hummed. 'So, this ninja must have some kind of Kekkei Genkai.'
"The mission was succeeded." A displeased frown appeared on Naruto's face. "But that bastard escaped." He scowled, dislike the thought of that type of guy that will possibly cause all kinds of trouble to innocents.
When they reached the Konoha Gate, Sakura was in relief, she wasn't late, and she didn't spot any of her teammates yet. "It seems that I arrive on time." She mumbled to herself, relief and happiness. Then her lime-green eyes shifted to Naruto with thoughtful.
"W-what is it?" Naruto asked, nervously when her eyes stared at him; unblinking.
Sakura tilted her head. "When I get back from my mission, would you like to hang out?" she offers with a friendly smile. She wants to get to know Uzumaki, Naruto properly and he wasn't a bad person to her. Annoying, yes. But a bad person? Doubt it.
Her lime-green eyes widen in astonished and shocked to see Naruto's eyes sparkle with a sunny grin appeared on his face. "R-really? YEAH! That would be awesome!" he jumped up and down with excitement.
'…that made him this happy?' she mused, shocked but shook it off that she will think about it later. A polite smile appeared on her face. "Okay, I'll see you after my mission." She promised, truly wanted to know about this Naruto.
"Okay! See ya, Sakura-chan. Good luck with your mission!" Naruto beam happily, he turned around and dashed off with cheerful shouted.
The pink-haired kunoichi watched him with contemplative. 'Why does he act like that? I mean… is it really that excitable for him when I promise to hang out with him?'
"Sakura?" the pink-haired girl snapped out of it from her deep thinking when she heard one of her teammate's voice. Her lime-green eyes looked over and saw Shikamaru and Choji walking toward her with their backpacks on.
"Ready?" Sakura said with an excited smile, her teammates nodded their heads and they head to the small hut where two shinobis are watching over the gate.
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An Hour Later…
Team Ten has been walking down the trail for a while under a comfortable and peaceful atmosphere. Sakura is walking in the middle with Shikamaru on her left and Choji on her right. The pink-haired girl stretched her arms above her head and dropped it with a soft smile. "This mission might be one of your favorites, Pineapple." She sends Shikamaru her playful smile. "Since it's less troublesome."
Shikamaru snorted with boredom while his shoulders are slouches. "But it's a drag to do this." The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes fondly as the rotund ninja smiles as he is munching on his chips.
Sakura tilted her head when she heard the running water. "Let's stop for a short break." She halted and her teammates stopped and turned to her. "I can hear the waterfall not too far from here." She explained while taking her backpack off and took out her empty flask. "I'll be back soon." She set her backpack on the ground near the tree.
Choji sat down on the ground while Shikamaru leaned against the tree trunk. They watched their pink-haired teammate walked through the woods until she is out of their sights, waiting.
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Sakura hummed when she found a small waterfall with satisfied that she can fill her flask. She quickly reached the edge of the water, bend down and set her flask on her side. Sakura cupped the waters in her hands and splash a few times on her face, cooling down.
She inhaul through her nose then exhale out of her mouth. She stared at the reflection of the water, she can see her lime-green eyes sparkle, fair skin, and her French-braid hair that slightly grow to underneath her ribs cage. A smile stretches on her face, she turned her head to her side, picked up her flask and unscrew the lid.
Sakura bends down to put her flask inside the water, waiting until it completely filled then straighten her spine.
Suddenly, her hair was grabbed abruptly from behind and pushed down into the water roughly. Sakura gasped in shock; water rushed inside her mouth and she struggles to free herself but whoever grabbed her and hold her still was too strong for her. Sakura needed oxygen badly as she attempts to move but it was useless.
Soon, she saw black spots in her vision as her lungs are screaming for the air and before she could faint into the unconscious. Her face was out of the water and everything was blank.
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Meanwhile…
The lazy-ass ninja stares at the clouds as he is semi-comfortable, leaning against the tree with his hands in his pockets. However, he doesn't feel calm enough as he kept glances at the woods, waiting for a certain pink-haired girl to return. Yet, there's still no sign of her.
Shikamaru frowned deeply. 'What is that troublesome woman doing? It's been ten minutes…' he mused, confused. He shifted his sharp brown eyes to his best friend who is eating his snack happily. It seems that Choji is preoccupied with his food to notice. However, knowing Choji, he will notice once he discovers the missing pink-haired ninja.
The lazy genius glanced at the woods once again. 'It shouldn't take this long to fill water. Five minutes is all it takes.' He mused, and yet Sakura hasn't revealed her presence yet.
His eyes glanced up at the sky, watching one of the clouds changed shape that reminds him of a circle, like marble from the Go game. Although, he preferred shogi.
Another five minutes passed and Shikamaru's eyes shifted over the woods again. 'What if… nah, I'm being paranoid.' He mentally shook his head. The ambushed that happened to his teammates was a couple of months ago, he doubts that it would happen, not in this area since it's much open space. Anyone can come and go on this trail. However, he couldn't help it but feel something is wrong. 'I need to go check on her just in case…' he mused, worried.
He pushed himself from the tree which caught Choji's attention. "I'm going to check on that troublesome woman." He informed his best friend as his sharp brown eyes stay in the woods. He walked to the woods where Sakura walked in earlier unknowingly that Choji has a knowing smile on his face.
When the lazy ninja arrived at the waterfall area. His sharp eyes observed his surroundings in the hope to spot his pink-haired troublesome teammate. However, she is nowhere to be found and he is started to get worried. Then Shikamaru glanced down and saw an unopened flask near the bushes far from the waterfall area.
He furrowed his eyebrows with confused and worried. He is starting to feel anxious about this as he quickly walked to the flask, bend down to grab but halted when his sharp brown eyes spotted footprints. 'These footprints… they are too big for a female. Not only that, there are at least two or three males.' He quickly examined. 'There is not a single female footprint.' He carefully follows it with his eyes until he saw something blue in the water.
Shikamaru stood up, walked to the edge and lean over. He reached down, grabbed a piece of blue cloth and pulled it up. He jerked his head up with wide eyes in shock. It's Sakura's hitai-ate. Then, he realized that someone kidnapped Sakura.
Again.
Shikamaru groaned as his head falls on his palm. 'Damn it! Why didn't I go with her?!' he mused, harshly scolded himself for being worthless. He should learn by now that no one travels alone outside of the safety village.
The lazy-ass ninja shook his head, turn his feet as he shoves Sakura's hitai-ate in his pocket and dart through the path where he came from out the open where Choji is waiting. "CHOJI!"
Choji startled in surprise as he jerked his head at his best friend who jumped out of the woods with panicked. "She's gone." Shikamaru hardly gasped as he immediately got near Choji who stood on his feet, worried. "Sakura got taken. We need to find her."
The rotund ninja's eyes widen in stunned. Then he shook his head, snapped out of it and grabbed his things. Shikamaru quickly pulled his backpacks on and grabbed Sakura's bag. "Found the footprints, we will track it and hopefully we'll catch up to them."
Shikamaru is starting to think that Cherry is a magnet to danger. And something tells him that it's probably the truth. 'Wait for us, Sakura. We will find you. I'll find you.' He mused, determined promise.
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Meanwhile…
With Sakura…
Sakura feels the cloth drying her wet face, careful yet gentle. She groaned softly as she furrowed her eyebrows in pain. "Are you okay?" a timid feminine voice, asked her with concern. The pink-haired girl grunt as she could fee the soreness from her head where the man with brute strength grabbed her. "The sore will be gone in a day or two." The same voice informed Sakura.
The pink-haired kunoichi opens her eyes, meeting the bars above her as she felt herself rocking inside the riding cage. She carefully and slowly sat up while observed her surroundings with quiet caution. She noted that she is wearing metal cuffs wrapped around her wrists. From the corner of her eyes, a figure shifted which she turned and examined.
It's a very tiny, pixie-size girl who is very beautiful. Her emerald-green hair reached to her shoulders with bangs, dark honey-gold eyes, pale skin, and wears a filthy brown tattered dress and barefoot. She's really pretty, despite that she is covered with muds and scratches.
"Who are you?" Sakura's throat is dry a little and she needs water to wash away the dryness.
The little pixie girl smiles shyly. "Wakumi." Wakumi introduced herself politely.
"Hello, Wakumi. I'm Sakura." The pink-haired ninja said with a pleasant tone, then she glanced around with carefully observed. They are in the middle of the woods, traveling inside the cage while two men are walking front with a horse. Then she turned to Wakumi with a serious face. "Do you know want's going on?" she whispered, curious and confused.
Wakumi frowned prettily as she nodded her head. "I heard the men whispering a couple of days ago. They are slave traders, and their boss ordered them to capture pretty young girls." She explained, nervously in a low tone while darting her honey-golden eyes around in caution.
The pink-haired ninja scrunched her face with disgusted and angry. "I see. Where are we?" she asked, hoping she would at least know the location and how much distance she is in away from her teammates.
The pixie girl shrugged her shoulders with guilty. "I do not know any information about our whereabouts. What I knew is that those men—" she tilted her head at the oblivious men. "—will deliver us to their boss, Jako." She notified Sakura, quietly.
Sakura stared at Wakumi with contemplative. 'She acts too graceful, despite that her appearance made her look like she's living on a street. But the way she speaks is very sophisticated and formal. If it wasn't for the appearance, I would assume she's from a very important family, like Feudal Lord's family or even a servant at the palace.' She mused, tucked the information back in her head.
"I see…" she mumbled as her lime-green eyes stare at the metal handcuffs. 'This is the second time I got kidnapped… and I'm alone.' She really needs to learn and train to protect herself in case anything happens to her again. She doesn't want to repeat this situation, ever. 'I hope my teammates noticed I'm gone and find me…' she doesn't like being a burden to her teammates and she feels useless in this situation.
Wakumi curled her legs to her chest with her arms wrapped around. Her honey-golden eyes dazed off as she leaned against the bars with a sad frowned on her face.
Sakura watched the pixie-sized girl carefully from the corner of her eyes. 'Once we out, I will make sure Wakumi is safe, away from these disgusting men.' She mused, resolved. Now, she has to wait.
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Meanwhile…
With Shikamaru and Choji…
Choji halted when he saw his best friend paused, bend down and carefully studied the track. "Are we closer?" the rotund ninja asked hope and worried. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to his teammate. Sakura has changed slowly into better, and she recently started to become really nice to him and even gave him some of her lunch once in a while. Basically, he and Sakura form their friendship bonds not too long ago. And now, Choji truly sees her as one of the good friends that he will protect and care for.
Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows while examined the ground. "The trails… these lines are a wagon and footprints belong to a male. Two or three males travel on foot. And I assume that if they are the ones who kidnapped Sakura, then they placed her inside the wagon." He explained then frowned deeply. "However, there are other lines and footprints as well as… I think we are dealing with two groups, they worked together…"
The lazy ninja glanced at two paths with sharp scrutinized. "There are two paths…" he mumbled, then closed his eyes as he pressed his fingers together while deeply thinking.
Choji immediately recognized the familiar position that he grabbed a bag of the chip from his pouch, opened it, and start eating, preparing himself for whatever Shikamaru's strategies are.
'We're coming soon, Sakura! Hang on!' Choji mused, firmly.
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Meanwhile…
With Sakura…
The pink-haired kunoichi hatefully glares at the man with disgusted and angry. The slave trader held up a rag dress that Wakumi is wearing. "Change." The man smirked arrogantly at Sakura as he threw the pathetic dress at her.
Sakura ignored the rag that fell on the ground as she looked away rudely. The slave trader clicked his tongue sharply with irked. "If you don't change in a minute, then I'll happily change it for you." He licked his lips hungrily and greedy.
The pink-haired ninja shudders in terror and sickens when she snapped her head at the nasty man. Wakumi walked closer to the Sakura, placed her hand on her shoulder with pled and resigned. "You do not want them to do that for you. Hurry and change, Sakura-chan." She whispered as her honey-golden eyes are oddly sparkling with unshed tears.
"Did they…?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at Wakumi with suspicious and dreaded. Wakumi clothes her eyes and hugged herself, tightly in an attempt to comfort alone. The pink-haired girl threw her hateful and disgusted glare at the slave trader who is smirking gleefully at them.
"I'm not kidding around, girl. Fifty seconds." He crossed his arms, waiting.
The pink-haired kunoichi huffed, turned her back on hi and start taking off her shirt. 'These men are so sickening and pigs. Oh, how I want to beat the shit out of them!' she swore with anger.
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Meanwhile…
Shikamaru and Choji…
Two shinobis halted when they spotted familiar clothes and sandals on the ground. The rotund ninja's eyes widen in astonished, horror, and worried. He jerked his head to Shikamaru. "Those belong to Sak—" he trailed off as he saw something that he never has seen on his best friend's expression before.
Shikamaru's eyes are half-way opened in dangerously sharp like kunai with hatred and strong initiative, his naturally brown eyes somehow darken of black. His muscles are tense and edgy. His teeth are gritting very hard. And his fingers are curled into shaking fist, making his knuckles white.
"Those bastards…" his eyes snapped at the direction ahead of him. "We can't waste any more time. We have to get Sakura before anything happens to her." He jumped from the ground, onto the branch with his chakra, ignore that he burnt the small area of the grass. Choji immediately followed his best friend with solemn determination.
'If they ever did something to her, I will beat them, rip them limb from limb and bury them into the pit of hell.' Shikamaru mused, darkly. The thought of that right now, while he and Choji are reaching to Sakura, she could be in danger by the men, something bad and possibly traumatic. Which made him pushed himself further and faster than before, ignore the tore muscles and agony from his legs.
Right now, rescue Sakura is more important.
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Meanwhile…
With Sakura…
The pink-haired ninja and the emerald-haired girl stood in front of the man who is carrying a flask of water. "I will give you this water as long as you take one sip. That's it." He glared at them with a warning. Then a nasty smirked appeared. "I'm willing to give you mouth-to-mouth if you prefer."
Sakura scowled with revulsion as she glares at the slave trader. 'Nasty piece of assholes…' from the corner of her eyes, Wakumi nervously takes the flask from the man's hands and lifts it to her mouth. 'Poor girl, I can't believe that she was alone with them.'
Wakumi took a sip but accidentally sip another. Unfortunately, the man heard it and he snapped with anger. "What did I say, you stupid girl?!" he smacked the flask from the pixie girl's hands. "ONE sip!" he snarled at her as Wakumi yelped and whimpered.
"I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!" tears spilled from her eyes as the slave trader lifted his hand. Wakumi eyes widen in horror then quickly shut her eyes.
SLAP
The sharp sound echo through the woods. The slave trader looked shocked as Wakumi gasped as she covered her mouth. Sakura's head was on her left shoulder, then slowly shifted back to an awful man with furious glares. She ignores the stinging pain on her right cheek, as she could feel the liquid drip to her jawline, then dropped onto the ground.
The slave trader evilly chuckled with a sadistic glint in his eyes. "You are foolish, taking the punishment from the little girl." He leaned forward to bold and brave Sakura as she stood in front of Wakumi, protective. "If you are so daring and cheeky, then you wouldn't be so scared if I do this…" he grabbed her shoulders, roughly and jerked her toward his direction.
Unexpectedly, Sakura has a plan. A smug smirked appeared on her face when she went head-butted against the slave trader's and he stumbled away from her in stunned.
"RUN!" the pink-haired kunoichi hasten pushed Wakumi forward. The pixie girl gladly runs toward the woods, away from the slave traders as Sakura followed her. 'I'm so glad they are idiot enough not to put a bind on our ankles.' She mused relief and anxiety.
The pink-haired ninja easily catches up with Wakumi's side, she grabbed not unkindly the emerald-haired girl's hands and dragged her to run further and faster. "Don't stop!" Wakumi nodded her head while panting but kept pushing herself with glistening honey-golden eyes; hopeful.
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Meanwhile…
With Shikamaru and Choji…
"What is it?" Choji stopped when he watched Shikamaru dropped onto the ground, gracefully and bend down. The lazy ninja carefully investigates the prints on the ground with contemplative.
Shikamaru pressed his hand onto the dirt, carefully analyze the footprints, along the twigs snapped and strays leave crushed. 'There are two females, slightly different sizes but definitely females. I'm positive one of them is Sakura. And there are few men, chasing after them. It seems that the girls escape together…' he never would have thought that he is going to be grateful that his father taught him tracking skills. After all, it is one of the qualities requirements as a member of the Nara Clan.
"Shikamaru?" Choji speaks up, caught the lazy ninja's attention. "Do you think Sakura will be okay?" the rotund ninja asked, worried.
The shadow-user frowned as he glanced at his best friend. "Troublesome… she's very strong kunoichi, Choji. She may not realize it, but she's very sharp and has the best analysis skill." He stood on his feet while observed his surroundings. "I admitted that she's not physically strong, but she is both mentally and emotionally are stubbornly strong." He said, recalled that his bonding with Sakura during their first C-Rank mission.
Then he realized what he just said and turned to Choji with a warning face. "Don't tell that troublesome woman I said all this. I'll deny."
Choji just nodded his head with a calm smile. 'I don't have to tell her, you'll tell her soon, knowing you.' He mused, as he carefully examined his best friend. '…I don't think he knows it yet, but he is starting to developing a crush on Sakura.' he decided to keep it to himself.
"She went this way." Shikamaru affirmed confidence and dash through the wood with Choji, follow behind.
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Meanwhile…
With Sakura...
Sakura leaned heavily against the tree while panting as she could feel her heart beating fast. She doesn't have a lot of stamina and she knew that she needs to build it up soon, very soon. Her lime-green eyes shifted over to Wakumi who looked completely exhausted and clearly out of shape as she wasn't meant to do physical activity. "Are you alright, Wakumi?"
The emerald-haired girl nodded her head. "Y-ye—" she gasps while placing her hands on her knees. "—Y-yeah."
"Good." The pink-haired kunoichi glanced around with cautions. She has no weapons, no skills to break the handcuff, and the only she can do is using her intelligence. 'I need to think… think, Sakura… what would you do right now in this situation? You have Wakumi with you who is obviously a civilian.' She mused, thinking to make any plans that could work for both of them.
However, Sakura didn't get enough time when she and Wakumi heard the noises behind them. The pink-haired ninja curses under her breath while Wakumi is starting to get panic. "Wakumi." The emerald-haired girl turned to Sakura with scare and worried eyes. "I need you to run as far as possible as you can."
Wakumi frowned deeply. "B-but… what about you?" she couldn't bring herself to leave Sakura alone.
"I'll be fine, Wakumi." Sakura assured the pixie girl who stares at her with nearly in tears. "Go, now!"
The emerald-haired girl bit her lips as she walked backward a few times. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan…" she whispered, sadly as she closed her honey-golden eyes then turned around and ran.
Sakura stared the pixie girl's back then a small smile appeared on her face. "it's okay, Wakumi…" then her lime-green eyes harden. She turned around, wait for the slave traders to arrive as she became the bait. 'If I distract them, Wakumi will be far and safe enough for them not to catch her again.' She mused, satisfied with her plan.
Then her lime-green eyes snapped when she saw a group of four men who stopped, in front of her. They part ways of another man walked, calmly with a haughty smirk. He has brown, spiky hair that tied into a short ponytail, a small goatee, black eyes, tan skin and he wears a blue coat with yellow lining over a white top, dark-colored pants underneath, and a light blue scarf around his neck. "You must be one of my slaves…" he tilted his head, observed Sakura's appearance up and down carefully. "…why don't you be a good little girl and tell me where's my other slave?" he demanded the pink-haired girl.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, stubbornly refuse to answer the man who chuckled with annoyingly amused. He turned his wrists around, his inner wrists shifted to revealed small cannons as liquidized gooey light blue chakra slides down to his palm, then turned to a sharp weapon. "How unfortunate. It would be ashamed to injury a fine piece. As Jako the Boss of Jako's Gang… the reputation is very hard to maintain." Jako rolled his hand-made weapon.
'This guy… didn't Naruto mention about the dried chakra? The responsible one who trapped Naruto and Sasuke-kun? The one who escaped?' Sakura mused, with thoughtful then snapped out of it when she felt a sharp sting on her arm where Jako wrack her with his weapon.
"Answer me, girl!" Jako snapped, anger that his question is ignored.
The pink-haired ninja didn't show her pain as she glared at the terrible man. Jako raised his eyebrows then smirked sadistically. "You are making a very poor choice, little girl…" he lifted his sharp weapon.
Sakura gritted her teeth, held her chin up high, and prepare herself for the coming pain. 'I won't let them go after Wakumi.'
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Meanwhile…
With Shikamaru and Choji…
The lazy ninja and the rotund ninja continue running through the woods until Shikamaru halted and jerked his head at his left side with suspicion. Choji nearly stumbled but managed balanced himself.
"What is it?" Choji asked, puzzled of why his best friend suddenly stopped.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in the direction. "Someone is coming." As if on cue, a pixie-size girl with emerald-green hair jumped out of the bushes. She stopped herself when her honey-golden eyes spotted them.
She hesitated but her eyes lit up when she saw their hitai-ate. "You… that symbols… you're from Konoha?" she asked, hopeful and nervous. When Choji nodded his head after he noticed Shikamaru didn't respond. Wakumi's shoulders slumped with relief and hope. "Please! You have to help me! My friend need help!" she dropped her knees out of exhaustion and coughed dryly.
Choji immediately walked to her, took out his flask and handed it to her. "Here, you need to drink…" Wakumi accepted the flask, unscrews the lid and gleefully drank half of the water from the flask.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at Wakumi with cautioned and suspicious. "Where do you come from? Where's your friend?" he frowned, he doesn't have time for this but at the same time, the girl is practically begging for help.
Wakumi sniffed as she lowered the flask to her lap. "I escaped with my friend. She told me to run, and I… didn't do anything except running, leaving her behind…" she scoffed slightly, with frustrated and guilty. "I couldn't do anything. I want to help her but…" tears slipped from her eyes, she reached to her face and wipes the tears harshly. Choji placed his hand onto Wakumi's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Do you think…" Choji turned to Shikamaru with cautious hope. "…it might be Sakura?"
Wakumi's eyes light up when she heard the name of her friend. "Yes!" she glanced at Choji and Shikamaru back and forth. "My friend named is Sakura. Pink hair and green eyes."
Shikamaru's eyes sharpen. "Choji, stay with her. It's possible that whoever kidnapped Sakura, will go after this girl." He informed Choji who nodded his head. "I'm going to get Sakura."
The lazy ninja shifted his attention to Wakumi. "Do you know where you came from?" Wakumi nodded her head, she pointed at the direction where she ran from; behind her.
"I ran here straight. No turn."
Shikamaru nods his head dropped his backpack along with Sakura's backpack on the ground. "I'll be back with Sakura." He promised Choji then dart down the woods where Wakumi ran from, at fast speed.
The rotund ninja bends down next to Wakumi with a warm calm smile. "Don't worry, everything will be okay."
Wakumi stared at Choji with curiosity. "Who are you?"
"I'm Choji, the one who just left is Shikamaru. We're Konoha ninjas as you know. Sakura, the one you are friend with, she's a kunoichi." Wakumi's eyes widen in surprised and amazed. "What's your name?" he asked, politely.
The emerald-haired girl blinked. "My name is Wakumi." She tipped her head, greeted politely. Then frowned deeply with concern. "Sakura-chan will be okay, right?" she is worried about her pink-haired friend.
Choji nodded his head. "Of course, she is a very strong ninja." And he believes it.
.
.
.
Meanwhile…
With Sakura…
The pink-haired kunoichi spat out her blood at the ground as she is holding her left bicep, covered in blood while she stood on top of the branch with her chakra. She narrowed her eyes at the men gathered around the tree and Jako sighed theatrically as he twirling his hand-made weapon while standing with a bunch of his followers.
At the quick glance at her injury, it's a large cut across her bicep that won't stop bleeding. 'Shit. I really need to find something to stop the bleeding.' She cursed mentally.
"I'm getting really tired of the cat and mouse game." Jako sighed and threw his weapon at Sakura who dodged it immediately. Sakura flinched in pain when she feels the hot fire coming from her injury and continue to ignore the blood flowing down her arm.
Jako shook his head. "You know what, you are useless. I don't want to deal with you. I can always get more girls." He shrugged his shoulders uncaringly as Sakura felt disgusted and appalled. "Say goodbye to your life." He created another sharp weapon and bend down, gathered his chakra and dart to the tree. He climbed up and Sakura turned around but slipped by the blood that puddled on the branch.
Sakura yelped in shocked as she shut her eyes out of reflexed. However, she felt warm touch wrapped around her body, then felt the rough earthy ground. Sakura snapped her eyes open and sat up in surprise. She is on the ground, safety. 'H-how?'
"Shadow no Possession. Succeed." A familiar snarky voice said. Sakura jerked her head and beamed when she saw Shikamaru who has successfully trapped the men and Jako with his shadows.
Shikamaru has a smug smirked yet dark anger in his sharp eyes. "Shadow Strangle."
The shadows shifted up to the men's necks and choked them until they dropped unconscious. Soon, the shadow retreated and return to Shikamaru. The lazy ninja dropped his hands and glanced at his pink-haired teammate, he rushed to her side quickly and carefully examined her appearance.
Shikamaru felt guilty and ashamed when he saw her skin are covered with cruises, cuts, scratches, dirt, and blood. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, blaming himself for not catch up faster, for not save Sakura from the wounds, for not protecting her.
"Why are you apologizing?" Sakura furrowed her eyebrows with confused. "It should be me saying sorry. Not you." Her lime-green eyes dart down at her lap, ashamed and humiliated. "I didn't do anything. I let myself get kidnapped. Again." She slumped her shoulders, disappointed herself.
The lazy ninja shook his head, bend down the front of Sakura and reached to her. He gently prods her chin, making her lifted her head at him and Shikamaru stared at her upset and ashamed filled in her lime-green eyes. "Don't blame yourself, Sakura…" Sakura blinked in astonished, she did not expect to hear her name from his lips.
"You…" Shikamaru sighed softly. "You are…" he clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Your friend, she ran to us. Choji is with her right now. Thanks to her, I was able to get here on time." He noticed that his teammate is bound by a handcuff. Shikamaru turned around, stood up and went to ransack the men's pockets until he found the key.
Sakura watched the lazy ninja return to her side, unlocked the handcuff and slid it off from her wrists that are now red and bruises. Sakura gently rubbed her tender wrists. 'I wonder what he was trying to say?' she noticed that he changed the topic after he hesitated. "I'm glad Wakumi is okay." She is relieved when she learned that her friend is staying with Choji.
Shikamaru hummed, offer his palm to her. "Come on. We should go back to Choji and your friend." Sakura accepted her lazy teammate's hand, pulled up to her feet and she touches her cut, feeling that the blood has stopped already.
Sakura allowed Shikamaru to carefully pulled her uninjured arm around his shoulder and placed his other arm around her waist. Then, they start walking through the woods quietly. Sakura glanced at Shikamaru from the corner of her eyes as her heart glow with relief happiness.
"Pineapple-kun…"
"Hmm?"
Sakura expressed her gratitude. "Thank you for coming to get me."
"That's what friends are for." Shikamaru replied calmly as his sharp brown eyes stay ahead of them.
The pink-haired girl closed her eyes with a warm smile. "Oi, Pineapple-kun…"
"What?"
"Why do I always get myself injured on C-Rank missions? The first time is a chance, but this is a second time which is a coincidence… but I hope the third time won't be a pattern when we go another C-Rank mission." Sakura pouted and opened her eyes, watching out for stray rocks and twigs as she doesn't want to hurt her feet any more than she has to.
Shikamaru snorted. "Don't get your hopes up…"
The pink-haired kunoichi raised her eyebrow at him. "Why not?"
"Because you are a careless and danger-magnet, troublesome woman." He deadpanned.
Sakura scoffed but she couldn't urge to stop smiling. Shikamaru sends her his trademark lazy smirked as they continued walking.
.
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Location: Konohagakure no Sato
Hokage Tower
Meanwhile…
The Third Hokage signed his name and pressed his stamp of approval on it, then shifted the paperwork to the approval pile. He sighed softly as he glanced over two piles of paperwork. How he misses his wife, she always makes sure he gets his paperwork done fast and was very strict on him about his lack of eating and how he was overworked himself. He smiles sadly when he recalled his wife, stood in front of his chair with her hands on her hips. A frown appeared on her beautiful face, with disapproval glares at him and scolded him that he will be the first Hokage who will die from overworking and defeated by paperwork and that he will be an embarrassment to the Konoha if he doesn't stop and rest.
The Third Hokage shook his head and focus onto his next paperwork. Oh, how he truly missed his tough yet lovely wife. She made his day brighter and motivate. Before he grabs his pen, a knocked interrupted him. "Come in." he granted his permission and saw his son walked in.
"You finish your mission?" he asked, curious and interested when the Jounin stood in front of the desk.
Asuma nodded his head. "Yes. It didn't take me long to investigating the rumor."
The Third Hokage entwined his fingers on top of his paperwork. "Report." He stated, professionally.
The Jounin narrowed his eyes. "The rumor wasn't about the Jinchuriki nor anything that related to the tailed-beasts." He confirmed, much to the Hokage's relief. "It mentions about spirit disappeared from a trapped vessel."
"Explain." The Third Hokage frowned, calculating and curious.
Asuma crossed his arms with a barely muted sighed. "Something spiritual beings trapped in some kind of inanimate object. However, it was gone and now there are some people searching for the spiritual being. Some say it's an evil demon but others say that it's a blessing creator."
The Hokage hummed, thoughtfully. "What do you think? The rumor is true?" he asked, intrigued about this rumor.
"Honestly…" Asuma rubbed the back of his neck as he dropped his head back. "…if Jinchuriki can be real, being a human sacrifice, carrying tailed beasts until death… why not, a spiritual being can be real as well." He dropped his head and stared at his father's eyes solemnly. "It's not very attentiveness, I've noticed people just ignored and labeled as false rumor and myth."
The Third Hokage nodded his head. "It is worth investigating this further?"
The Jounin thought about it for a heartbeat or two, then shook his head. "No, I don't think it's a concern for Konoha."
"Alright. Thank you, Jounin Sarutobi." Hokage tipped his head, grateful. And watched his son bowed professionally and left the office. He leaned back on his chair and sighed softly. The Third Hokage picked up his favorite pipe from his drawer and dazed slightly. 'A spiritual being… whether it's a demon or a creator, huh? Interesting rumor…' he mused, although his intuitive told him that he should keep an ear out for that type of rumor, just in case.
Author Note:
To those who have read my old version, Team Saki-Shika-Cho. Remembered that Sakura has "Otter" as her summoning animal? Well, I've been thinking about it for a while and there are few animals that I thought would be fitting for Sakura but, I don't know which one is the BEST one for her. So, I hope you readers will vote?
What animal summoning should Sakura have?
Otter: 0
Meerkat: 0
Badger: 0
Gopher: 0
Raccoon: 0
Squirrel: 0
Quoll: 0