Chapter 10: The Spider and the Fly

"'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the spider to the fly;

'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.

The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,

And I have many pretty things to show you when you are there.'

'Oh no, no,' said the little fly, to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again.'"

-Mary Howitt

A week passed in a frustrating combination of exhilaration and exhausting monotony. Every day Sakura would show up at the bridge just after Sasuke. She would mediate and re-sort the frazzled chaos that was her inner system. Everyday Naruto would show up and jabber on about something ludicrous. And much to Team Seven's frustration, everyday their silver haired sensei would show up agonizingly late, terrible excuse at hand, and make them complete mind numbing, muscle burning, sleep til' you're dead exercises.

Sakura had had enough.

She had been under the impression that being a shinobi required a skillful mind, strong body, and cunning ruthlessness. So far Kakashi-sensei was only allowing them to work on the 'strong body' part of that.

Everyday he would gleefully toss out an order of exercises for them to complete, while remaining slouched against a tree reading that damned Icha Icha book.

There were no lessons on how to create mission strategies, different battle formations, hell, not even a lesson on how to properly sneak up on someone. Naruto of all people could use a lesson on that.

Sakura had figured that Kakashi-sensei wanted them to learn through their own trials and errors when sparing or completing whatever training tasks he had assigned with each other. But with absolutely no input from him on how to improve it was useless.

And what was most frustrating of all was that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't let them accept a single mission. He kept prattling on about how they weren't ready yet and how they needed to improve their teamwork. And while Sakura could admit, their teamwork was certainly less than desirable, especially with Naruto and Sasuke getting into fights more often than not, she still longed for a real mission. They all did. It was probably the only thing Sasuke and Naruto could agree on.

She had expected that the famous Copy-Cat nin would be teaching them all sorts of exciting jutsus by now- that they would out in the world, using their new found knowledge for important things. Sure, Sakura was realistic enough to know that they were only genin and important missions wouldn't fall to them. But at this point she was willing to do anything as long it was stamped with an 'official' mission status.

So on the eighth day of being a part of Team Seven, she deigned to do something. Clearly Naruto's whining and Sasuke's demands had done nothing to convince their sensei to accept a mission. So naturally, it was up to her.

As she meditated on the bridge that morning, she studiously ignored the rapidly growing black mass writhing inside of her, and strategized on ways to bring up accepting a mission without sounding like she was complaining.

She thought about using the face that many parent's had coined 'puppy dog eyes' to win her sensei over. But Sakura had never ever used any sort of pleading tactic on her own family, knowing it would be futile. So she wasn't keen to test it on her sensei. Besides, the thought of using a coy face and childish voice to con their sensei into accepting a mission was too much for her to stomach. She trashed that idea immediately.

Another, slightly more sinister, and definitely more ruthless idea popped in her mind and Sakura pondered it endlessly as she plucked at her chakra. She wondered if she had the brazenness to outright go through with it... If it backfired on her, than seeing her sensei on a day to day basis would be a thoroughly uncomfortable, not to mention potentially dangerous situation if her sensei was a sadistic type of man.

But as Naruto thundered down the bridge already cursing about how Kakashi-sensei better give them a mission that day, she decided that Plan B might just be worth it.

"I mean, we are already awesome ninjas- at least you and me are Sakura-chan. We deserve a mission! Right?" Naruto declared, hands on his waist, and a fierce expression painting his face.

It took quite a bit of effort not to laugh at the picture he presented. "Right, Naruto," Sakura said, a small smile gracing her lips. "I think I will try and talk to Kakashi-sensei about it today…"

Naruto's entire face lit up, and even Sasuke turned to look at her.

"Do you want some help talking to the old man?"

Sakura nearly grimaced at the thought. Naruto was a lot of things, but subtly devious was not one of them. She caught Sasuke's eyes and he quirked a brow in question. She was sure they were both thinking the exact same thing about their teammate.

"No thank you, I have somewhat of a plan," she responded.

"What is it?" Naruto questioned.

Sakura bit her lip, not willing to divulge any details of it. She wasn't sure she wanted Naruto knowing the unsavory depths of her mind just yet. Not to mention Sasuke…

"How about I let you know if it's successful."

"Of course it will be! I know you will be able to convince Kakashi-sensei to give us a mission. You're amazing!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura suppressed a sigh. As much as she was growing accustomed to her new teammates- she even went out for ramen with them once more, Naruto's crush was a problem. She needed to be able to rely on him as a teammate, not a love interest. Especially since the feelings were one- sided.

She couldn't decide if she was either a late bloomer or it was simply her personality, but Sakura scoffed at the idea of romance. She didn't have time for petty infatuations. She was destined for greatness and she would never allowed anyone to wield power over her like her mother had.

But at the same time she could recognize that not everyone grew up under the same circumstances as herself. Not everyone abhorred touch and shied away from a fairytale happily ever after sealed with a kiss. So she would subtly rebuff Naruto's advances, but she would never be outright cruel to him.

When Kakashi-sensei finally did show up, Sakura had to fight the urge to fidget. Nerves made her stomach squirm. An unhelpful mantra of 'what if this doesn't work?' chanted through her brain.

"Alright Team Seven, you know the drill, start with laps," Kakashi drawled, not bothering to look up as he rooted through his pockets. No doubt for a copy of his favorite book series.

Sakura almost wanted to be angry at the small cowardly part of herself that was relieved at the delay in orchestrating her plan. She completed the laps, lunges, one- armed handstands, and twists with no complaint. She needed the distraction to gather her courage.

When lunch rolled around, it appeared as if Naruto and Sasuke's patience concerning her confrontation had worn out.

"When are you going to ask him about missions?" Sasuke said, dark eyes intent on her.

And as much as she wanted to avoid their intensity, Sakura didn't want to allow these two any other proof that she was weak.

Naruto stopped trying to heat his ramen cup and looked up to see her response.

Sakura held Sasuke's eye and pasted an indifferent expression on her face. An expression so very different than the nervousness she was reallyfeeling. "I thought I would bring it up once you two are paired together. One on one he may be more likely to say yes."

Sasuke nodded, his eyes growing distant as he thought over her response. Naruto on the other hand furrowed his brows.

"What if we all ask him together? If we all gang up on him, won't he be more likely to say yes? You know, practicing teamwork and all?"

Sakura thought over Naruto's suggestion. It actually was a fairly good idea, especially seeing as Kakashi-sensei kept preaching to them about teamwork. Perhaps she wouldn't have to go through with Plan B after all…

"Let Sakura try her plan first. If that doesn't work, we'll all ask him together," Sasuke stated.

The fates, she decided were against her.

After lunch was all finished, Kakashi-sensei called for Sasuke and Naruto to begin sparing against each other.

Sakura remained seated on the grass and tried not to be too conspicuous as she peered at her lazy sensei. His book, as always, was propped open, but upon closer glance, Sakura realized that his dark eye was not in fact reading the sordid pages. He was exceptionally good at hiding the fact that his gaze was intent on the two boys sparing.

Sakura gathered her courage and uttered a tentative, "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?" he murmured, making a show of turning another page.

"When are you going to teach us one of your thousand jutsus?"

Kakashi's dark eye immediately snapped up to her face, and Sakura fought the impulse to swallow as her sensei stared at her.

"My thousand jutsus?" he lightly questioned, but his intense stare gave him away.

Sakura almost felt offended at his boldness. Did he honestly think that she would attempt to manipulate him without checking her facts first? He may not have known her for very long, but everything from her academy records to her sparring performances should have indicated that she was anything but callous and negligent.

Feeling daring, she hummed nonchalantly in response.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean Sakura-chan…" Kakashi trailed off. His head was now cocked as he studied his smallest student.

"Oh I think you do sensei. They really should have given you a more discrete alias than 'Kakashi of the Sharingan'," Sakura said, proud of the ease in which her words flowed out.

Kakashi froze in a shockingly still motion as the word 'sharingan' left her lips.

"And what would you know about that?" Kakashi questioned, his eyes deliberately sliding away from Sakura, over to Sasuke, and back to Sakura again.

Sakura sighed, and attempted to fake an interest in her empty bento box, rather than he sensei's intense eye. "Only what the Bingo books could tell me, and rumors of course…"

Which was absolutely untrue, because Kakashi-sensei was mysterious enough outside of their team that there weren't any rumors circulating about him. Or at least none that reached her ears. But when bluffing it was always a rule of thumb that you presented yourself with more ammunition than you had.

"And have you told Sasuke about your newfound knowledge?" Kakashi asked, sarcasm dripping off the last word.

Sakura smiled angelically, the effect only ruined by the sharpness of her eyes, and internally wondered if this was her version of 'puppy eyes.'

"No, of course not. It would be cruel to give him hope…" she paused, feeling very dramatic. "But I do think Sasuke deserves to know. Perhaps if we were busy with a mission though, it would slip my mind…"

Her attempt at being blasé was only ruined by the sweat dripping down the back of her neck. Thankfully, Kakashi-sensei couldn't see it.

Kakashi stared at her for a moment before throwing his head back and letting out a deep laugh.

Sakura scowled not at all appreciative of his amusement at her expense. Especially when it took her quite some time to work up the nerve to blackmail him.

"Of all the attempts to get a mission, yours has been the best Sakura-chan," Kakashi said, reaching over to ruffle her hair.

Sakura's scowl deepened and she shifted out of his reach.

"Boys," Kakashi called, "come over here."

Sasuke and Naruto both ran over, their eyes automatically shifting to her. She read the unspoken question of 'did it work?' in both their eyes and shrugged in response. Kakashi-sensei had neither accepted nor declined her proposition.

"I'm ending today's session early." Naruto opened his mouth, but Kakashi quickly continued on, "Sakura-chan has convinced me that you three are ready to go on a mission."

Sakura's heart dropped to her stomach, but she met Naruto's wide grin and Sasuke's smirk with a small giddy smile of her own. Her plan actually worked! They were going on a real mission!

"I'm giving you the rest of the day off to rest or practice as you see fit," Kakashi –sensei continued. "Tomorrow we will meet on the bridge at the same time as usual. I will collect our mission briefing from the Hokage before meeting you."

"And don't you dare be late Kaka-sensei! A mission depends on it!" Naruto fussed.

Kakashi just smirked at the boy before doing quick hand signs and disappearing in his signature cloud of smoke.

"So what exactly did you say to him to get him to agree?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura knew the key to boldfaced lying was to not fidget and to keep eye contact. But a shriveled up part of her conscience kept her from meeting Sasuke's eyes. She truly was a horrible friend for not telling him about Kakashi's sharingan, and then using that knowledge to her own benefit.

But, another darker voice whispered- it's for his benefit too.

"Just the regular pleading. I think he's just soft because I'm a girl," Sakura said as she bent over to pick up her bag.

Naruto laughed, but Sasuke remained silent in his observation of her.

"We should go get ramen to celebrate!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura hid a grimace- she didn't think she could stomach another bowl of the sodium packed meal. "Perhaps once we are successful with our mission than we should celebrate."

Naruto gave her a look of disbelief, and Sasuke caught her elbow, ignoring the way she tensed at his touch, as he pulled her off the training grounds towards Ichirakus behind a happily chattering Naruto.

"I wonder if we are guarding a princess? Or maybe stop a group of bandits? Oh, I know, we are probably retrieving a stolen scroll!"

They ate their ramen at a leisurely pace, while Naruto both entertained and annoyed them with possibilities at what their mission would be. Sakura doubted any of the glamorous possibilities that Naruto came up with would be their assignment. But listening to him was amusing.

And when they all parted ways, Sakura felt excitement bubble up within her. Her first mission! She knew it wouldn't be nearly as exhilarating or dangerous as anything Naruto had described, but she still hoped it was thrilling.

She was in such a good mood for the rest of the day that even Misa-sensei noticed as she helped her train with her whip. And when she got home, she easily ignored her father's beady glare and sneering mouth.

She crawled into bed extra early that night, wanting a full nights rest in preparation for tomorrow's mission.

But as Sakura closed her emerald eyes, sleep lulling her into the abyss, it seemed as though another inner eye opened and exposed her to the most radical sort of dream.

Her feet sunk into the plush carpet as she travelled down the hallway. Impressive and expensive paintings lined the walls, and normally they would have caught her gaze, but not tonight.

A tall mahogany door, slightly ajar stood at the end of the hallway. Anticipation rushed through her veins as she crept closer to it. Her heart was thudding the beat of a nervous drum, as her small hand pushed the door open slightly. Green eyes watched a peculiar scene through the crack in the door.

A woman with long auburn hair and a shimmering gold gown was standing next to a large grated fireplace. Her back facing the door, but Sakura could already tell that she was beautiful. In front of the enchanting woman, a man in traditional shinobi gear lay writhing at her feet. With only the dim light from the fire cast on his seizing body, Sakura couldn't tell if he was experiencing pain or pleasure.

But as the man's back bowed off the floor to impressive heights, he suddenly coughed and bright crimson blood splattered out of his mouth and down his neck. Sakura's heart leapt in shock as she spotted the empty vial lying near his shaking form.

Her breath caught in her throat as the woman tilted her head to look over her shoulder. Bright green eyes captured her own, a mouse paralyzed in a viper's gaze. A smirk pulled at the woman's plush ruby lips.

"Come inside my dear."

Her voice was stunning. Smooth as the finest silks, yet husky with womanly charm. It lilted with a strange musical quality. But above all, the woman's voice felt powerfully compelling.

Sakura found herself automatically pushing open the door, her feet taking her inside the extravagant room. She drew herself up next to the woman, feeling an odd combination of terror and exhilaration.

The woman was staring down at the now twitching man at her feet, her gaze dispassionate. Her eyes held cruel mischief as she turned to look at Sakura.

"I have been playing with him all evening, but I thought I would save the grand finale for you," the woman said, her words trickling out in rushed excitement.

Sakura's stomach clenched and breathing picked up. Her whole body felt as if it was on fire. In a good way.

"Do it," the woman said.

Sakura's breath hitched. The man's twitching stopped, and he turned his agonized eyes to her.

"Do it," the woman repeated in a caressing whisper. "Say the words. Put him out of his misery."

Sakura inhaled deeply and opened her mouth. And just as the words- the words that she knew would end it all were ready to flow off the tip of her tongue, her eyes flickered from the man's haunted brown up to his forehead protector. A forehead protector that claimed his as one of the Hidden Leaf.

Sakura gasped as she wrenched herself upright in bed. She exhaled shakily and absently reached over to shut of the trilling alarm clock. She had never had such a vivid dream before. And she had never been pulled out of sleep quite like that before- even now the details of dream remained startling clear.

A shiver crept along her spine as Sakura realized what impulse she had been about to give into. And although it made absolutely no sense, she had wanted to kill the Leaf nin. She wasn't exactly sure how, but she had been sickeningly excited at the prospect… And who was that woman? She burrowed further under the covers and pondered over just what her subconscious was trying to tell her.

But as she heard her father rustling around downstairs, Sakura shook the pointless thoughts out of her head. It was just a dream. The woman, the nin, and her gruesome thrill at the prospect of murder were all just figments of her imagination. She shouldn't waste her time lingering on what her subconscious was creating and should focus on her mission instead!

Jumping out of bed, Sakura darted out her door and into the bathroom for a quick shower. She hastily threw on some nin shorts and a black tunic. Grabbing her weapons pouch, and bag, she added some more weapons and a few medical supplies to it, along with her bento.

She ran down the road, not able to control her excitement and continue at her regular leisurely pace. It didn't matter that Kakashi-sensei probably wouldn't be there for hours, or that Sasuke or Naruto would tease her for it. Nothing could quash her enthusiasm.

And when she reached the bridge, only slightly out of breath, and definitely early, Sasuke was already perched on the railing. He raised a brow at her uncharacteristically uncouth entrance.

"What?" Sakura demanded, feeling the flush rise to her cheeks.

Sasuke only smirked in response.

Huffing, Sakura leaned against the posts opposite to him. "What do you think he will have us do today?"

"I'm not sure," Sasuke said with a small shrug, "Not rescuing princesses or facing bandits."

A surprised laugh trilled from her lips. She had yet to hear Sasuke make a joke. Or at least one that wasn't intentionally cruel and not to Naruto's face.

"No probably not," she agreed.

Her thoughts still spun as she considered what they would do. Genin were typically used as messengers.

"You really aren't going to tell us what you did to make Kakashi agree to a mission?" Sasuke asked, eyes intent on her.

She avoided his eyes once again, and arranged herself in her usual meditation pose.

"Very subtle evasion," Sasuke snarked.

"Thank you," Sakura sassed back before closing her eyes.

She knew that mediation would do her body a world of good. The strange combination of her macabre dream and her excitement for the mission had her body in pandemonium. But she couldn't concentrate properly- she was too busy trying to think what exactly Kakashi-sensei would have them do…

She idly noted that the chakra on her throat had once again gotten thicker. Sometimes she wondered if instead of getting an external growth spurt like everyone else seemed to, she was getting an internal one.

"Sakura-chan, its mission day!" Naruto shouted as he practically flew down the bridge towards her.

Sakura opened her eyes, willing to accept defeat on her meditation. Especially with Naruto around.

"Are you excited?" Sakura questioned.

Naruto grinned a wide grin, "Are you kidding me? It's going to be awesome!" He then seemed to take notice of Sasuke's lounging form. "Eh, I already know I'll succeed, I'm one of the top genin already."

Sasuke snorted, "The only thing you are the best at dobe, is embarrassing yourself."

"Shut up teme! Not even you can ruin this day."

Sakura rolled her eyes as the bickering started and pulled a scroll out of her bag. She had been woefully neglectful of her reading lately. And Muzuki-sensei had always told her that training the brain was just as important as training the body. Sakura could only hope that Kakashi-sensei would adopt the same outlook. As he limbs felt tired and aching every night, but her mind felt thirsty for some sort of new tactics.

By the time Kakashi-sensei had shown up, Naruto and Sasuke had calmed down slightly, not wanting their sensei to change his mind about the mission at the sight of their arguing. But their competitive nature couldn't quite prevent them from shooting each other comically fierce glares.

"Alright you three, I need you to pay very close attention," Kakashi said, his voice uncharacteristically serious.

He unrolled a small scroll and scanned its contents. Sakura found herself leaning forward slightly.

"Well? What is it?" Naruto demanded, practically bouncing.

Sasuke seemed similarly eager, but his anticipation was only belied by his stiff posture.

"Team Seven you have a mission from the Madam Shijimi, the Fire Diamyo's wife," Kakashi announced.

Sakura sucked her breath in sharply, ignoring Naruto's excited shout. She had never expected to receive a mission from someone so important.

"What does she want us to do?" Sakura asked, not willing to believe their luck.

"Ah," Kakashi said scratching the back of his head. "Madam Shijimi has lost one of her prized possessions. She needs you three to retrieve it for her."

"And what sort of possession did she lose?" Sasuke questioned, suspicion blatant in his voice.

It appeared as if he too was thinking this was too good to be true.

"Stop being such a downer, teme! We get to go on a mission for the Diamyo's wife!"

"Dobe," Sakura her Sasuke scoff under his breath.

"She lost her cat, Torra. Torra is very dear to her," Kakashi said, his voice so bland that it had to be covering up amusement.

The declaration made her slump slightly. So it wasn't exactly the ideal mission, but at least it was a mission. And it was a mission for an important person. At least finding a simple cat wouldn't be too hard…

Five hours later, riddled with too many scratches to count, and having to break up fights at least seven times, Sakura had to reassess her earlier opinion. Finding the stupid cat was indeed hard. She almost suspected that it was either a secret nin cat or had another few tails, as the animal was surely demonic. It clearly had a knack for sensing nearing genin.

Even though they had come up with a somewhat decent plan, their teamwork sucked. Sasuke seemed to think he was their de-facto leader, which Naruto took great offense to. Sakura didn't know if Naruto realized it, but every time he bungled up a plan or started to loudly protest, Torra would be gone with the wind. Each time they tried tracking the cat, something horrific would happen.

And Kakashi-sensei was absolutely no help! Every time they would look his way, asking for help or suggestions, he would look her dead in the eye and say 'you asked for a mission, you have to complete it.' And every time Sakura got within six feet of the stupid cat, Kakashi-sensei seemed to poof out of nowhere to check on them. Sakura was thoroughly convinced that this was his payback for trying to blackmail him.

In the end it took Sakura noticing the cat, Sasuke grabbing it and throwing it at Naruto, and Naruto potentially being exposed to rabies as the cat sliced his face to ribbons before they stuffed it in a bag. Madam Shijimi had burst into tears of relief as they delivered her devil cat.

"Good work Team Seven," Kakashi-sensei said, smiling at their ragged forms. "Sakura-chan since you requested this mission, I think its only fair that you write the mission report. Have it done by tomorrow and I'll hand it in to the Hokage."

Sakura grit her teeth as they were dismissed. She hurried away before Naruto could suggest they go out for ramen. She was in no mood to deal with her two idiotic teammates anymore than she had to.

Writing the mission report wasn't nearly as challenging as she thought it would be. She remembered Iruka-sensei telling her class that all you had to do was recount the most import highlights of the mission. And Sakura couldn't help but feel bad for the Hokage if he actually had to waste his time reading reports on genin chasing after cats. The only difficult part of the exercise was trying to politely phrase Naruto and Sasuke's ridiculousness.

The next day Sakura delivered their mission briefing and was surprised when Kakashi-sensei had another mission set out for them- pulling weeds in a civilian's garden. And if Sakura had any doubt whether or not Kakashi was punishing her, it was made very clear as he each portioned off bits of the garden to work on. Sakura was given the biggest portion of land, filled with the most weeds.

And Naruto, the absolute idiot, had spent the day uprooting the owner's flowers instead of the weeds. Sakura didn't know what she should be more embarrassed about- having to weed a garden for a mission or failing at it.

And after that Kakashi-sensei had them picking litter out of the river. Sakura wished she could confirm whether or not he was wearing a gleeful smile as he handed her the trash bag. And once again, a mission that anyone with half a brain should have been able to complete was failed when Naruto and Sasuke started fighting and Naruto fell in the river.

At the end of the week Sakura felt both humiliated and frustrated. She would have almost preferred getting no missions to the stupid 'D' ranked ones they were being sent on. And adding to the fact that she wasn't sleeping well, having either that same strange dream reoccur or nightmares about Great Uncle Itsuki plague her.

The only thing that made it all slightly worthwhile was on Friday afternoon, Kakashi-sensei pulled out three pouches of money for each of them. Naruto cheered as he rooted through his pouch and Sasuke wordlessly accepted his.

Sakura waited until they were all dismissed before she opened the sack and counted her earnings. A smile curled across her lips when she realized she had enough money to coat her whip in flame resistant sealant like the one Misa-sensei had. And if she had that, she could practice elemental jutsus with her whip.

Entering the weapons shop, Sakura went straight to the polishes. She picked out the correct one that Misa-sensei had shown her. Handing over her measly payment, Sakura pocketed the polish and ran back to the training ground. There was no point practicing at home where she could both damage the house and get in exponential amounts of trouble.

But Training Ground Three had been empty since Naruto chased Sasuke off of it earlier that afternoon. Pulling out the rag that came with the coating, Sakura unscrewed the cap and slathered the thick material onto her whip. It shined in the sunlight, looking like a large black snake basking in the sun.

Sakura reread up on combining weapons with fire jutsu as she waited for the coating to dry. She felt confident in her ability and once the forty-five minute drying time was up, she assertively gripped her whip. A tiny part of her wondered if she should wait for Misa-sensei to practice this, but she squashed that voice. She was here now.

Practicing one of the safer jutsus, Sakura waved her whip out in slight patterns, in place of hand signs, and channeled her chakra into the whip. Sparks danced down the length of it. Sakura grinned.

Success.

She consulted her book again, looking for another more powerful jutsu. Spotting one where flames would actually leap out of the whip, Sakura swished her whip and poured more of her chakra into it. Her chakra stuttered in protest, but Sakura stubbornly held on, trying to gather some of the energy from the large cluster of spiritual energy in her throat.

But the result she got was unexpected. Instead of letting the energy flow out, the chakra based at her throat seemingly objected and started sucking the energy back in. She cried out in pain as open flames danced up her arms.

Dropping her whip in panic, Sakura frantically started patting down the sleeves of her shirt and arm bindings.

She was in such a state of frenzy that she hadn't even realized when another person had shown up on the training grounds after hearing her cry. And when a large hand clamped down on her, quelling the last twirling bit of flame clinging to her cuff, she screamed again.

A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Please review and let me know what you think!

-Nyx