Chapter 3 Mission 1 : The Stingy Coward Part 2
"I see, so the castle was vandalised by Orochimaru?"
Sakura hung her head, "If you consider completely destroyed as 'vandalise' Lee-san, then yes." It was roughly mid day in Tanzaku Gai, as the teens continued their discussion.
"So then, after that, Naruto-kun found Hokage-sama?"
Sakura nodded, "Well not exactly, from what Tsunade-sama says, it was a complete coincidence when Jiraiya-sama and Naruto found her."
"What are you both talking about?"
"Never mind Chokichi-san, are you ready now?"
"I am." Both shinobi stood not far behind Chokichi as he lead them through the city to where the deal was taking place.
Since the situation had changed, Chokichi was asked to explain who this person was he was dealing with. From what they had gathered, it was a historian that had a passion for collecting ancient artefacts. Chokichi approached a wooden door, and grabbed the finely decorated golden hinge and knocked. The door opened to reveal an elderly man in his late sixties, wearing an immaculate silk kimono, with golden shaded patterns that resembled flow petals flowing diagonally across. The elderly man himself was bold, but had a long twirled goatee reaching down to his chest.
"Ah, Chokichi. I trust you have another marvellous item for me?"
The trader gave that faux smile both shinobi recognised right away, "You bet I do, old man."
Ushering them inside, the old man smiled at the additional guests, "Konoha shinobi eh? They are getting younger every year."
The older man held out a hand to Lee, "They say it is courtesy to announce your name first when addressing a stranger. I am Satoh Kou."
Lee accepted the gesture with a sparkling smile, "I respect that saying very much Kou-san. I am Rock Lee."
He then turned to the already hand held out Sakura, but made her yelp when he took her hand and kissed it, "An who would you be my dear?"
'Don't get all girly, don't get all girly.'
Too late.
Sakura already had her over hand covering her face in a desperate attempt to hide her embarrassed pink hued cheeks, "I am Haruno Sakura, pleased to meet you Kou-san."
"You know she's your granddaughters age right Kou?"
The older man released her hand and turned to walk further into the house, "There is nothing wrong with showing respect to a young lady. Bah, you young people, always twisting what us old people say and do."
Kou grumbled to Chokichi, while the shinobi followed close by but soon froze when they glanced at their surroundings. The house from the outside did not look anything unique, but on the inside, it was almost like walking in a museum. One room they passed had several display cabinets, full to the edge of each shelf with dolls that looked easily over hundreds of years old. There even were some immaculate condition weapons set up on display of the wooden walls, and even an entire set of golden samurai armour. Chokichi was not kidding when he said this man was a collector.
"What an marvellous collection. It looks like Kou-san takes very good care to preserve these beautiful pieces of history."
Sakura could only nod dully at Lee's ecstatic statement. Kou slid open a door that lead to a back room, with a flaming lantern hanging from above, along with what Lee guessed was a kind of incense candle burning in the corner, relaxing the mood.
"So what is it you wish for me to buy today, Chokichi?"
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The door opened to the outside world to reveal a very satisfied Chokichi, holding a large red sack that looked very heavy, but it was obvious Chokichi was not going to trust anybody to hold it, even his own escort. The two shinobi followed him out after bidding a proper fair well to the old man. When the door closed though, both looked down at the ground, as the sudden feeling of responsibility weighed down like bricks on their shoulders.
"Sakura-san..."
"I know Lee-san..."
Catching up to the humming cheerfully trader, Sakura voiced their thoughts aloud, "Chokichi-san. We are remaining in Tanzaku Gai for the day."
Said trader stopped with his foot in the air and span around, "What?! But I need to be at border town for the Suna nin!"
"Shinobi are after that item, which Kou-san now has in his possession."
"So what?"
"So what?!-" Sakura growled, but bit her tongue from speaking her thoughts of 'You heartless bastard.', despite how unbelievably sweet those worlds were wanting to roll out.
"-Listen...he is an innocent old man. He is defenceless. You will wait for us an additional day, until we are certain his well being is not at risk."
Chokichi was about to retort, but Lee never gave him the chance, "You have been given a great fortune by Kou-san, and it sounds to me you are a regular seller to him...you should allow us to do this for the amount of money he gives you alone."
"To put it bluntly Chokichi-san...we do not give a crap what you think. We are doing this, with or without your approval."
The trader's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Fine then."
The teens never even bothered waiting, since they already were back and knocking at the door. The door reopened to reveal Kou again, "Oh? did you forget something?"
"Kou-san, there is something very important we need to discuss with you."
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Night fall soon set over Tanzaku Gai, the night sky full of sparkling stars, along with the crescent moon illuminating over the city. Three shadows were shifting soundlessly through the darkness covered streets, 'That trader should have made the exchange a long time ago, this will be easy.'
Taro mused, while they approached the house believed to belong to the old man that was described to them in their mission briefing.
Katsumi approached the door with a small tool, while Isamu held a seal, "Meisaigakure no Jutsu." Whispered in the night, as the entire team blurred and blended in to their surroundings. The only sound heard was the 'click' of the door's lock releasing, as the door was soundlessly crept open.
Without even a creak on the wooden floorboards, the three grass nin's crept inside and began their search. Eventually, Taro slid open a door to see their goal. There on the end of the room, being proudly displayed in front of a squared window on thin, sleek stand, was the sparkling red fist sized ruby.
"The old man is not home." Announced Katsumi, who was tailed by Isamu.
"Hmm. No matter, our mission is here." Taro replied, walking in to the large empty room.
A solid hand held him back making him turn, "What is it Isamu?"
"Overlooking everything again I see Taro...Look at this room."
Taro peered around the square wood to wood walled and floor room, only again to see nothing, "It's empty. Probably a new storage room."
Isamu sighed, "Look CLOSER oh great leader. There is square dust prints on the floor...this room was packed with cabinets and alike earlier but someone has moved them elsewhere, and also..."
Whipping out a shining kunai from his holster, he threw it at the ruby, which 'clinged' it away, "That is not what we are here for!"
Taro went wide eyed to hear a disgruntled groan emitting from the 'ruby' as both the stand and the jewel shimmered away to reveal Sakura. She was sitting cross legged on the ground, with a seal formed with one hand, and a kunai in the other.
"W-What the hell is th-"
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
Taro was cut off mid sentence by an unimaginable force hitting him square in the centre of his back. The force made him fly straight over the now ducking Sakura, and crash through the window, shattering sharp pieces of glass both outside and inside the room.
The slightly shaken Sakura raised her head to see the back of the spandex wearer in his stance, "M-My apologies Sakura-san."
The Kunouchi sighed while darting back to see the unfortunate grass nin's legs dangling in the air, since his face was dragged meters through the dirt outside.
Wincing at the sight, she turned back, "Don't worry about it Lee-san."
Both Isamu and Katsumi were agape in shock still from the surprise attack.
Lee's thick browed glare made Katsumi twitch in intimidation, "Trying to disrespect and rob and elderly man's payed for item. I will educate you in manners with the full force of my youth."
The grass nin both shared a raised eyebrow with their shock now gone, "What the hell are you trying to say?!"
Lee was about to respond to Isamu, but Sakura stepped forward wide eyed, "Wait...your nin from Kusa."
Katsumi and Isamu looked at each other and shrugged, "So what?"
Shaking her head, she continued, "We are Konoha nin...we are allies!"
Sakura blinked blankly when they laughed at her, "Whatever you say then."
Both Sakura and Lee snapped their gazes to the ceiling to see an uninjured Taro dropping, a kunai wielded in each hand aiming for their heads.
'Lee-san kicked him out cold?!' Sakura inwardly questioned, while both hit the opposite sides of the room to avoid the now dug in kunai were they were once standing.
Quickly raising, he darted for Sakura, "Isamu, Katsumi, handle the other one."
"Huh?! Why do you get the easy one!?"
"Shut up an-" Taro was cut off arguing with Isamu when a green blur suddenly popped up in between him and Sakura, "Konoha Senpuu!"
The shockwave whiplashed against Taro, sending him once again sliding back across the room. 'He is damn fast!'
"Sakura-san orders?"
Recomposing herself, Sakura eyed their odds, 'I don't know why they are still fighting us...but it looks like we have to defend ourselves.'
"Can you handle two Lee-san?"
"Hai!"
"Take care of the one in the fish net shirt and the short one..." Sakura then glared while pointing a finger at the one who called her 'easy', which happened to be Isamu.
"Leave that guy to me."
"Yosh!"
"Who thinks we are going to play by you-" As if following tradition to the others, Katsumi was cut off when Lee disappeared from Sakura's front.
'How can he move tha-'
"IKIMASHOU!"
Katsumi made the mistake to turn around to meet a brick like fist colliding with his nose, sending him off his feet towards Taro.
Isamu reached for another kunai and met Sakura's own, "Do you really think you can handle me? Heh, you stupid girl." Sakura inwardly matched his smirk with her own.
'He appears to be the strong one with genjutsu. I don't think Lee-san can counter genjutsu...but I know I can.'
Sakura heard more glass shatter, and risked it to dart her eyes to see that Lee and the other two had left to outside, their blows just being heard from in the turning quiet room.
But why was it getting further and further away, and so quickly?
Sakura looked back to see Isamu no longer was there, "You should never look away from your opponent when they are standing in front of you." She heard echo all around her.
She gasped in surprise when she felt the world spin under her feet, as in a blink, she no longer could hear Lee's exchanges outside...or anything. It was so quiet she could hear her own heart beating over the howling wind from the broken window.
'What genjutsu is this?'
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'So I sent a mud substitute out the window earlier, he has good perception if he knew I was behind him from the start.'
Lee mused, when his fist collided with 'Taro', but made his hand feel numb as it felt like he punched solid rock. Sensing danger from behind, Lee back flipped over several sharp shurikens, and hit the ground on his knees.
Taro was rifling through seals already, "Retsudo Tenshou!"
Lee leapt to the side when the concrete underneath his feet twisted up to form a spike, ripping up the cement to reveal the long forgotten dirt underneath. Taro frowned when Lee disappeared again in a blink of an eye.
'That's not even shunshin jutsu...he is physically moving that fast.'
Taro dodged the blurred fist aimed for connecting with his face, but then received a knee that made his chest vibrate, "Katsumi!"
Said grass nin already was behind Lee, three kunai wielded as if to make claws in his hand.
Despite his slashes combined with Taro's own exchange of blows from in front, neither of them were even succeeding in dealing any amount of damage at the smoothly evading and blocking spandex wearer.
"Konoha senpuu!"
Both nin's were taken off their feet by a solid shockwave released from Lee's spinning kick, Katsumi crashing into a closed kiosk with a loud crash. Lee looked to his feet when two smoke bombs were dropped to his feet, and in an instant, exploded in a puff of thick smoke.
Katsumi and Taro quickly regrouped, the former rubbing his bleeding nose, "This guy is insane!"
"Ah, it seems he is a close range fighter."
"No shit!"
"We cannot take him in taijutsu, let's try some other tactics."
"Whatever."
Both turned when the smoke suddenly blew away, as if a great gust of wind formed from within the cloud. The remaining thin layer of smoke soon cleared away like a fading mist to reveal a shockwave emitting from Lee's spinning foot. The pair watched at the spandex wearer stood back up, his raised hand from his stance facing towards them.
"Bunshin no jutsu!" Both shinobi shouted forming the same seal, as dozens of doppelgangers phased into existence around them.
'Bunshin no jutsu...' Lee dashed towards the group, attempting to hit the first two he saw perform the jutsu, but succeeded only in hitting the thin air as the two bunshins phased away. Not relenting, Lee charged into the maze striking left and right in an attempt to find them, until after the twelfth attempt, a burning smell got him to look down and go wide eyed.
'Explosive note!'
The sound of an explosion rumbled throughout the city.
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Sakura felt a rumble at her feet, but as if somebody was correcting an error, the sensation soon disappeared. She formed a seal as she closed her eyes, "Kai!"
The sound of an explosion hit her ears, making her spin to the window to see smoke outside, but in an instant, the noise was killed, along with the smoke only flashing in her eyes.
'He reset me in the genjutsu that quick?!'
"Kai!"
"You are going to have to do better than that to get out." An amused, but cold voice echoed around her, making her spin around to try and determine where the nin was hiding.
"Keep looking...you won't find me." Sakura ignored her pacing heart at his chilling voice and tried to think over the silence.
'He is constantly trapping me in the genjutsu, despite my every successful attempts to break out. The area around me flickers for a split second back to the normal world...'
Dashing to the centre of the room, she formed the seal again, "Kai!"
Ignoring the sudden rumble and explosion hitting her ears, she shifted her eyes as quick as she could to try and depict anything to help her. Before silence was restored, her eyes did not miss the red seal paper attached to the wall.
Flickering again confirmed it, 'I see, so he is using those seal papers to retain his jutsu...so I am basically in an area effected by the genjutsu, and constantly falling back in it...that must mean that isn't the only one.'
Her eyes locked to the window a few meters away. 'I can just leave this room, and escape the genjutsu!' She already started sprinting for the window.
"Now, Now, Where do you think you're going?!" Sakura's eyes went wide as her senses screamed 'danger!', and on the next step, pulled her head back, avoiding a sharp gust of cold wind whip against her face, which cut a few loose strands of her hair.
Her eyes didn't miss the detail of her hair following the sharp gust, as if it was being dragged by something. She again gasped, when her cut strands flickered as if whatever it was attached to had suddenly span around and lunged forward.
'It's a kunai!' Her mind screamed, as she once again felt the sharp wind miss her neck, but she then met what felt like a solid fist connect with the side of her face.
The force was enough to make her lose balance and tumble.
"Die!" The voice echoed all around, as she on impulse rolled to the side to see the wooden floorboards crack from something sharp penetrating into the wood.
Not losing her opportunity, she burst from the floor and span a blind round house kick over the puncture, and was surprised to feel her chakra enhanced leg connect to the hard material of a vest. The loud 'thump' vibrating under her feet made Sakura guess her hit had made Isamu get knocked across the room. Letting her sense of direction guide her, she aimed for the corner of the room while charging with her fist. She was met with the wooden wall instead, which made a large veined crack trace around her fist.
"W-What the hell?! are you a woman or a bloody man?!"
Sakura didn't know why that shocked question made her suddenly see red, or make that vein on her forehead snap, "Quit playing this babies game of hide and seek and fight me, shannaro!"
She growled out with venom, only to be rewarded by a snicker, "Hehe, so you have a short fuse...whatever, I guess you aren't as much of a joke as you first looked."
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" She asked void of emotion, while walking back into the centre of the room again.
"No...it means I am going to have to take you seriously."
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'Did we get him?' Katsumi wondered, trying to pear through the thick smoke. When Lee revealed himself, they both shared a groan.
'What does it take to take this guy down?!'
Lee rubbed over a slightly burnt wound on his arm, "I see....You are trying to deceive me with greater numbers, and strike at me when I have been mislead...very well thought out tactic."
'Is he for real?! he is flattering us?!'
"However, I cannot waste time any longer."
Amongst the maze of doppelgangers, Katsumi and Taro raised an eyebrow to see Lee reaching down to his ankles, and unclipping something on each leg.
Both shinobi's eyes bulged to see the good foot length sized weights, 'Holy shit!'
The loud 'thump' of two brick like objects hitting the ground and shattering the concrete made Katsumi gulp. Before either could react, Lee was beginning his relentless attacks of sweeping through the bunshins again, but was defeating them far quicker than what speed the other two could replenish.
Lee eventually met a solid object that grunted to his solid fist to his gut, "FOUND YOU!" Lee cheerfully announced, while quickly delivering a high kick to the grass nin who happened to be Katsumi's jaw.
While Katsumi was raised several feet into the air, Lee did not let him recover by jumping up and kicking him again in the chest, sending him a spinning missile into another kiosk with a second crash. Katsumi this time stayed in the destroyed store, showing no signs of getting up.
Taro cringed while forming a seal, " Retsudo Tenshou!"
Slamming his palm into the ground, a trail of concrete formed spikes chased after Lee, who was continuously back flipping several steps in front of the arising attack. Once Taro's jutsu had ended, Lee zigzagged through the spikes, "If I follow the trail, it will eventually lead-"
Taro never even got to stand up as all he saw was green, "-TO THE SOURCE!" Lee concluded, his fist added the 'period' at the end which made Taro go airborne.
A presence below him made the grass nin look to confirm, 'Shadow dance?!'
'Sasuke-kun, I never forgot that day you copied the start of my Omote Renge with your sharingan. I admire you that you saw its uses for your benefit that made you win the preliminary...but let me demonstrate, even if you are not here, what you discovered was your limit to copying my jutsu.'
His bandaged hands loosened in their bindings, as the breeze blew the streamers away from Lee's arms, which soon streamed up as their decent began.
Taro's chest was then entangled by the bandages from the upper torso, stopping him from moving his arms, 'OH SH-'
Taro was cut off by the barrage of kicks delivered to his going numb sides, but then feeling a yank on the bandaging, he was span around to meet Lee face to face. First there was the drum like beating given to his chest, then came the jaw loosening blow to his face, but Lee then gripped the bandages again and effectively switched with Taro now below, to receive a knee straight into his back, coughing out blood. While their decent now increased in speed, Taro's near unconscious form span around as the distance between himself and Lee widened. On his sprained back crashing into the ground, Taro's vision began to blur, but not before all the air in his stinging lungs was denied by the kick to his now hollow rattling chest.
"Shishi Rendan!" Lee announced, while using pushing away from Taro and gracefully falling back into his stance.
'I will keep the name Sasuke-kun, since it is your jutsu after all.' Lee mused, while quickly confirming both his opponents were knocked out.
'Now how is Sakura-san going?'
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Sakura rubbed the gash on her side, feeling the cool liquid of blood tickling between her fingers, 'He just missed me then.' She inwardly thanked, while ignoring the stinging sensation and trying to think of a strategy.
'I have gotten a couple more hits on him, but unless I work out some way to get out of this genjutsu, I will not win this.'
Remembering where the now several discovered seal papers were in the room, she gripped on two hand full's of shurikens from her holster.
'So he can manipulate the different genjutsu in the seal's with his chakra...so if I destroy them, the genjutsu should fall.'
Glancing at her invisible marks, she then threw her collection of weapons all around, some colliding with the walls, floor and the ceiling. As if somebody had flicked on a light switch, the empty and silent room switched back to the normal world. She heard Lee's shouts from outside, along with seeing her kunai marking dead on where the seal papers were. Standing a few meters away was a partly injured Isamu, who's blood tickling face showed his frustration.
Sakura took her opportunity and dashed towards him, "THIS GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK IS OVER SHANNARO!"
He blocked her fist with his arm, but emitted a pained grunt from the impossibly solid impact. Recovering, he grabbed a kunai from his holster, which she gracefully evaded time and time again.
'What the hell?! why can't I hit her?!"
This one sided dance continued to the other side of the room, when Sakura had had enough, and gripped her hand on his wrist, feeling the bone's within nearly snapping under her chakra strength.
"LET ME GO!" Isamu screamed, the kunai dropping from his hand along with him falling to his knees at the pain.
Satisfied with seeing he had no fight left in him, she did as told as he whipped away his hand to cradle it protectively.
"Who are you people?! You cannot be grass nin."
Isamu took a minute to say anything through his pants and suppressed cries, "Like I am, telling you, anything!" he staggered out.
Sakura extended her arm out to him, which made him try and desperately move back, "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"
She glared, "Then answer my question!"
"...We are Oto nin."
Sakura's eyes shot open at mention of the country she knew one of her teammates was at, "Oto nin?!"
"We use different countries attires and insignias to get around."
"Do you know anything of Orochimaru?!"
Isamu blinked at her demanding question and shook his head, "We have next to no relation to Orochimaru, other than just working for him to bring in Oto funds, THAT IS ALL, I SWEAR!" He quickly finished, seeing her eyes narrow in suspicion.
"Fine then...Who employed you?"
"Some trader, said something about a ruby stolen from him, I don't know."
'Stolen?!'
Sakura blinked, "Chokichi-san said he won it in a card game."
Isamu scoffed, "Who would be stupid enough to gamble something like that?!"
Sakura could have sworn she said something similar, but shook her head clear. Moving on, she sighed while kneeling down, "Let me see."
"Huh?!"
"Let me see your hand."
Isamu held that look that read 'what the hell?!' while she again sighed, "I am not a sadist, I am a medic nin in training. Now let me see your damn hand before I change my mind."
Shakily he did as told, while she looked at in on closer inspection. Reaching into her pouch, she dropped a red capsule in his other hand, "It's not broken, just don't do any frantic movements with it and it will be fine. Take that pill, it will help with the pain."
The nin slowly nodded his head, void of emotion as she stood up and looked to the window, "I wonder how Lee-sa-"
"DIE-AAGHH!" Sakura rolled her eyes to see Isamu fall back to the floor, his once grabbed kunai digging into the floor board.
She didn't miss hearing the 'crack' of his hand breaking, "I said don't do any frantic movements with it...you idiot."
Lee jumped in the window at the ready, and at the sight of Sakura mostly uninjured relaxed, "You hurt Sakura-san?"
"Just a little cut and bruised Lee-san...how is your arm?"
Lee blinked to see his burnt graze and shrugged, "I am not hurt."
Looking back at the groaning in pain nin, she rubbed her neck, "What do we do with these guys?"
"We will handle that." A deep voice said behind her, as both turned to see a tall man wearing the undeniable attire that belonged to an ANBU.
"E-Eh? A-ANBU? What are you-"
"This city has been attacked in the past by Orochimaru. The Daimyou requested Konoha to appoint a small team of operatives here for protection, so here we are." The goat mask wielding ANBU explained, walking past Sakura and approaching the now trembling in fear Isamu.
Lee quickly glanced out the window, to confirm he saw two other ANBU's recovering Katsumi and Taro.
"What will happen to them?" Sakura asked, only to receive silence...and then she understood.
"...Let's go Lee-san." She whispered, walking towards the door.
"W-WAIT! You said you weren't a sadist, help me!" Sakura paused by the door for several moments to hearing Isamu's pleading request, as the ANBU was already unsheathing his sword.
Why should she even care, he didn't even show any gratitude for when she helped him, instead he tried to attack her afterwards.
"...If you didn't try to kill me after I helped you, I would have argued-"
"I know more about Orochimaru!"
Sakura snapped her gaze back to look into his pleading gaze, "...Wait."
The ANBU released his grip on the hilt of his katana, "You shouldn't trust what an enemy says to you."
"I know that!"
She retorted, walking by the ANBU and heaving Isamu up to then shove him against the wall, "Talk!"
"I-I know outposts, I know hide outs!"
"You say you do, but I am not buying i-"
"I know about his little brat-that- that Uchiha guy!"
Sakura released him, as he slid back down, "...Take them in for questioning. Tsunade-sama would want to hear this."
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Chokichi and Kou were waiting by the carriage, as Sakura and Lee returned. Kou stood at looking at both shinobi's expressions, "Are you alright?"
Lee waited for Sakura to respond, but seeing that dull look in her eyes, he decided to help, "We are fine Kou-san, I regret to inform you though that some of your property was damaged. We apologise."
"No, No, don't be silly, I already owe you enough thanks for going out of your way." Kou rebutted, picking up a thick blanket and placing it over Sakura's stunned shoulders.
"You look cold."
He explained, while Sakura smiled, "Thanks."
"I will go look at what's happened to my house later, I will return soon." The elderly man left, with Chokichi deciding to join him. Sakura sat down and brought the sheets closer as she sat in silence.
Lee sat next to her, "Are you alright Sakura-san."
"...Ah."
Lee was about to protest, but Sakura over talked him, "Do you think he was telling me the truth Lee-san?"
Lee went agape in question, but recovered, "A lot of people cower when they discover they are about to die, I do not know."
Sakura ran a hand through her hair while releasing a sigh, "I hope so."
After a few moments of peace, she broke the silence with her announcement, "Chokichi-san stole that ruby, Lee-san."
Lee looked in surprise, "I see...so those nin from before were being hired to return it to its rightful owner."
"Ah...I don't think Kou-san knows either..."
"We should confront Chokichi-san then."
"No...we can't Lee-san."
Sensing a questioning gaze, she tried to explain, "Shinobi are hired to do all kinds of things Lee-san, we unfortunately have to undertake them, no matter how twisted and dark they may be. I am not saying I don't want to do something, honestly, I want to go and make the jerk give Kou-san his money back and give him a piece of my mind. But we cannot intervene, not this time Lee-san."
Lee just sharply nodded, "Hai, I understand." Sakura could tell he was dissatisfied though, since she was feeling the same.
Even in the darkness though, she did not miss seeing the dark red sack behind her, "However, he did Lie to us yet again Lee-san."
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The remainder of the mission went uneventful after that, as after the two men had returned, Kou offered them payment for their services, which they kindly did not accept. With his thanks, the shinobi escorted Chokichi to the border town, who then left with his new Suna escort. Both were wondering how long it was going to take the trader to realise that heavy sack of 'money' no longer contained any money at all. Deciding for their own means of justice, they left the money on Kou's front porch. It was not enough to punish Chokichi, but it was more than enough to satisfy them both knowing he was not getting the money he literally had stolen.
The pair had returned to Konoha much quicker, since they didn't have to stick to the main road anymore.
On Approach to seeing those familiar giant gates known as 'home', Sakura broke the silence, "I think that went well Lee-san." She admitted honestly, earning a thumbs up from Lee.
"Hai Sakura-san, I am sure then next eleven missions will be much easier."
"Hehe, I hope so."
Crossing the fresh hold into Konoha, Sakura smelt in the fresh air she was used to and smiled, "Let's go give the mission report to Tsunade-sa-"
"YOUR GUARD WAS DOWN!" A voice shouted out behind them, as Lee's face suddenly met the dirt from a raging foot. Sakura already was half way to unsheathing the kunai on her back, but then slumped her shoulders at the identity of Lee's attacker.
'Oh great...'
"Lee, you should always be alert at every second of the day. You never will know when an enemy may attack from the shadows!"
"I am sorry, Gai-sensei!" Lee replied, raising his head and standing, while Sakura felt her sweat drop.
'He just walked back into Konoha, you lunatic!'
"You will have to undergo extra training to ensure this does not happen again Lee."
"Hai! I will be at attention for three days straight with no rest!"
"That's the eager spirit I want to see from my exploding with enthusiasm student!"
Sakura jumped in her spot when those thick eyebrows literally turned to her with a sparkling smile bundled with them, "Sakura, I trust my student has been meeting the expectations for demonstrating the blossoming talents required to be a satisfactory chuunin."
Sakura paled, "E-Erm, Hai! Lee-san is doing very well so far." Gai was going teary eyed by her words mid way, which made her left eye twitch at the upcoming overload of 'youth' talk and praise.
'How on earth am I going to get out of this one?'
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"So you went against the mission to help a man in a matter that did not directly concern you?" Tsunade announced like a judge in a courtroom.
Sakura shakily nodded her head, "We know we went against the mission, but we both felt it was for the best...sor-"
"You did the right thing."
Sakura went agape at Tsunade's interruption with an approving smile, "The shinobi rules and regulations state that completing a mission is a top priority. But what makes a good shinobi over a bad one is knowing when they should apply and when they do not. You both made that decision, and chose to protect an innocent elderly man's possession and possibly his life. Neither of you should be ashamed at your actions, if anything Sakura, that is a commendable quality that both you and Lee have demonstrated...be sure to not leave that out of your report for Lee."
The quiet spandex wearer held his fist as if cheering in victory, 'Yosh! another positive mark to get me closer to my goal!'
Sakura eventually recovered from her shock and bowed, "Thank you, Tsunade-sama-"
"However-"
Tsunade stood up and walked around to look at her puzzled apprentice right in the eyes, "I trust you did not take further action into your hands at the discovery of Chokichi actually stealing that piece of jewellery."
The moment Sakura's eyes went shifty, Tsunade snickered knowingly, "Right?"
She persisted, earning Sakura's nodding head, "A-Ah, we didn't do anything."
"...Good...keep it that way." Tsunade smirked while shooting a wink, and returning to her desk.
Both teens realised the topic was growing more serious, as Tsunade's scowl killed the joyous atmosphere, "Those three nin you had brought in...Ibiki is currently interrogating them." "Have they said anything about Orochimaru or..."
Tsunade apologetically shook her head, "So far they have told us of great length about how Oto's mission employments function, but otherwise there has been little mention of Orochimaru...or Sasuke."
Sakura slowly nodded in acceptance, and tried to move on with a brighter note, "What is our next mission Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, but welcomed the change of topic, "That eager to start the next one? Have a week's break, we have a year to meet the deadline of the next chuunin exam's remember?"
"Thanks Tsunade-sama."
Once exiting the hokage tower soon after, Sakura turned to Lee, "I am going to head home Lee-san, I will see you around."
Lee nodded, as he watched Sakura disappear into the streets of Konoha, before turning to see a proudly grinning Gai waiting for him by his side.
"What is your next test of your limits?"
"We are being assigned the next test in a week's time, Gai-sensei."
"Yosh! Then we must begin immediately, Lee!"
"What for Gai-sensei?"
Gai snickered uncontrollably while giving the nice guy pose, "You will find out when we get to the training field, Tenten is waiting for us!"
