Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto.
Konoha's Deadly Blossom & Copy Cat
Chapter FourKakashi swung one leg over the branch that he was sitting on. He faced Sakura so he could look into her eyes. "You think I am right? You feel it too?"
"Hai. I just didn't think that you did." Sakura answered quietly.
Kakashi's eye widened at her confession but at the same time he was bewildered as to why she would think that. "I don't know why you would think that." Kakashi said before he smashed his lips against hers again.
Sakura let her legs fall as she leaned in more to Kakashi. Her arms wound tightly around his neck and pulled his body against hers. Kakashi's hands found their way to Sakura's waist; he gently squeezed her before he picked her up from where she was and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as they both melted into the kiss.
Snap.
Kakashi and Sakura broke apart and scanned the area.
"Did you hear that?" Sakura asked.
"I really wish I wouldn't have." He said as he pulled his mask back into place.
Sakura smiled at him. "Later. Go find Naruto and let him know that I am going out to scout. Check around the camp site and make sure everything is okay."
Kakashi brushed his hand against her cheek and nodded before he vanished in a poof of smoke. Sakura inhaled trying to calm her breathing. She jumped down from her tree and made her way to the area where she believed the sound came from. She heard another noise and pulled out a kunai. Quietly and silently, she stalked towards the noise. She pressed her body against a tree as she closed in. In the moment that she came from her hiding place she recognized the figure as one of the guards.
"What are you doing this far from camp?" Sakura scolded.
"Bathroom?" he replied, clearly scared from her appearance.
"That's all well and good, but you shouldn't be this far from camp. It's not safe."
"Well you are out here so it's safe enough."
"Hai, it's safe for me… but not you – I mean that is why you hired us? Get back to the camp site; I am right behind you so you don't set off any of our traps."
Sakura and the guard entered the camp site a few minutes later. He seemed annoyed with her but she didn't care.
"Pass the word that you shouldn't wander." She said.
The man grumbled and went to the guards' fire. Sakura sighed and walked back to their fire. She sat down next to Kakashi and looked at him.
"Where's Naruto?"
"He's out running a quick scan of the area. Everything's okay?" he asked her.
She nudged him with her shoulder. "Hai, everything's okay. One of the stupid guards was out to take a leak and went too far. They are making it very hard for me to like them."
Kakashi leaned over and kissed her on the head through his mask. "It's okay."
Naruto came out from the bushes near them with a serious look on his face. He sat down across from Kakashi and Sakura and glared at the fire.
"Naru? What's wrong?" Sakura asked the blonde.
"On my sweep in, I passed by the camp and I overheard them all talking. They were questioning our ability to protect them. They sounded really nervous and they didn't speak of an heirloom but of a package. Doesn't sound like it's too legit."
"I knew they were trying to con us." Sakura replied.
"I think we should stay." Kakashi added. "Find out what they are up too and what they are trying to move."
"It's not part of the mission but this guy needs to know who he's trying to take on – he needs to know this shit won't fly in the Leaf." Sakura agreed.
"Hai, I agree. But we can't just go in and say he we know you are lying give me your heirloom… we have to catch them or get more proof."
"This is going to be fun." Sakura said with a wicked smile. "I love being sneaky."
"You do?" Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow.
"Love it." She said with a wink.
Naruto rolled his eyes and groaned. "Oh come on! Really ya'll are going to do this now? Ten years and then boom you can't wait until a mission is over?" he shook his head and walked back to the bushes. "I'll take the next watch."
Sakura giggled and put her head on Kakashi's shoulder.
"So do you want to be sneaky?" Kakashi asked.
"Kakashi… maybe Naruto is right. It won't kill us to wait a little while before we figure us out."
"Us? I like that." He said with a smile.
"Me too."
"Not even a little sneaky?" Kakashi added after a brief moment of silence.
She kissed him on his cheek. "Think of it as motivation to find out what is going on with the little fat man in the carriage."
- - xXxXx - -
The next day passed and it was pretty much a repeat of the day before. The caravan moved way to slow and didn't cover near enough ground. A trip that would take a ninja a few days max would take them well over a week. Sakura didn't know if she could keep her cool until this all worked out.
They day was pretty uneventful – as Sakura predicted, no ninjas attacked. They set up camp once again. Sakura sat by Kakashi as she cooked over the fire. It wasn't anything fancy. Naruto had caught and cleaned a few rabbits for dinner in stead of ramen. Naruto had left to check the perimeter and set a few traps before dinner was ready.
"This is getting old and it's only the second night of this damn mission. I wish something would happen already! I want to go home."
No sooner had those words left Sakura's mouth a kunai flew into the camp ground and imbedded itself right next to the fire.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled.
"No, not Naruto. Get down!" Kakashi yelled as he jumped over Sakura bringing her to the ground.
Attached to the kunai was an exploding tag. It sizzled and ignited. Kakashi shielded Sakura from the debris that flew through the air. In the after math, a few dull thud noises were heard and the camp site filled with smoke.
"Smoke bombs?" Sakura questioned as she moved into the brush once Kakashi deemed it safe. "What are ninja attacking this man for? I just don't understand. I'll cover the client, go look for Naruto."
"Hai. Be safe." He said.
She looked at him with concern, "You too."
He nodded and jumped off into the trees in search of Naruto. Sakura ran towards where the client was. She surveyed the area and it seems that the attackers were trying to take out the ninjas first. That only solidified Sakura's idea – the attackers were ninja themselves. Sakura drew her sword and banged on the carriage.
"Get your ass up!" She yelled.
"What is going on?" The man demanded as he kicked the door to the carriage open.
Sakura saw the door swinging towards her. In one fluid motion, she caught the door, pushed the fat man back in and slammed the door. She turned and managed to deflect five of the ten shuriken that had been launched at the man – the other five were embedded in the carriage door. The fat little man squealed in terror.
"So much for you extra muscle." Sakura scoffed. "Keep your ass in there and stay down!" she commanded.
Sakura flew through a few familiar hand signs and a clone appeared. The clone went around to the other door of the carriage to stand guard. It didn't take long for a kunai to find its way into the clone effectively dispelling it.
"Shit!" Sakura cursed. She hated this. They were protecting a man that was hiding something from them and now they were facing several unidentified ninja. A silly little mission that was supposed to be a piece of cake was turning into a thorn in her side. These were not odds that they couldn't face; it was the fact that they had to face them for an annoying whelp like the one who was currently crying in his carriage.
"Would you shut up in there!" she hissed as she kicked the carriage.
"What's going on out there?" he asked through tear wrenched breaths.
"We are surrounded… that must be some family heirloom you have there." She said the last part sarcastically.
"Well do something! That is the reason why I hired you!"
"Look you little…" Sakura began.
"Sakura!" Naruto yelled as he and Kakashi came charging into the clearing.
The two males skidded to a halt next to her. Sakura looked at the two men and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and searched for the chakra signatures. She exhaled in relief as she counted five retreating signatures.
"How many did you count?" Kakashi asked.
"Five – they are leaving. How many did you find?"
"Five." He answered.
"Why are they retreating?" the little man asked through his carriage door.
"I don't know. I would bet that they didn't expect to find us with you." She replied. "But I do know one thing… they will come back."
"Then why didn't you kill them?"
Sakura whirled around and ripped the door off of the carriage. Before she could throw it against the tree and start yelling at the client, Kakashi and Naruto tried to restrain her. Naruto took the door while Kakashi grabbed her. He threw her over his shoulder and walked away from the man.
"Little man, I would watch what you say to her." Kakashi warned over his shoulder.
Kakashi walked off into the woods with her still trembling over his shoulder. He placed her down with her back to a tree. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her face.
"Sakura, calm down and look at me. What's wrong?"
She looked up with the traces of tears in her eyes. "I hate being lied too and I hate it even more when I know that I am being lied too." She said with a bite of rage. "This is bullshit, Kakashi! You know it!"
"Hai I do. But we have faced worse than a little man lying to us, why does this upset you so much."
"It was ninja who attacked us… it's not some little lie anymore. What if this heirloom that we are protecting isn't even his? What if these ninja are just retrieving something that was taken from them? I don't kill innocents. I will not have a repeat of that mission. I can't…" she trailed off.
He knew which mission she was referring too. Right after she became a chûnin, they were given a mission with similar parameters. The whole mission was a set up. A crooked official had claimed that he was attacked on a trip while in possession of some classified documents. It had been a retrieval mission at first, but once they got there things changed.
There were no documents, just some ninja that had refused to do anything criminal for a twisted leader who happened to have an official or two in his pocket. The ninja attacked out of defense. That was when Sakura made her first kill. It wasn't until the last ninja saw their Leaf hiate-ate that they questioned Team Seven. When Sakura found out she cried for weeks and locked herself in her apartment. She had taken the life of an innocent.
"Sakura, calm down. I won't let you go through that again." Kakashi said in a soothing voice. "I won't ever let you hurt like that again."
Sakura reached out and grabbed Kakashi's vest and pulled him to her. She knew the rule. A shinobi must never reveal their emotions. Sakura buried her face into his chest and wept – damn the rule. Kakashi wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. At that moment, Sakura was not a ninja to him – she was not The Deadly Blossom. She was the woman he cared about and she was hurting. He would let her get it out because that was all that he could do.
When he felt her body giving into the exhaustion, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the camp site. Naruto sat – waiting for them to return. He looked at Sakura sleeping in Kakashi's arms and his brows knitted together.
"Is she okay?"
"Hai. This mission is hitting to close for her. She is worried that it will be a repeat of her first kill." He whispered.
A knot formed in Naruto's stomach. He remembered the hell that she went through from that mission. A low growl rumbled deep in his stomach. Kakashi looked over at his teammate.
"Get her bed roll please." He asked Naruto.
Naruto took out one of his scrolls and unsealed his own bed roll. "I don't know where hers is. She can take mine. I won't need it tonight."
Kakashi nodded as he laid her down on the bedding. He brushed a stray stand of hair from her face and looked back at his other teammate.
"Would you stay with her while I go have a little talk with our client?" Kakashi asked.
"Hai." He said through gritted teeth as he glared across the camp. "Give that asshole a piece of my mind for me."
Kakashi strolled across the site closing in on the client and his three goons. One of the men was trying to put the door back on the carriage as the other two were "guarding" the area. Kakashi laughed at their efforts. When the fat client saw Kakashi coming over he jumped up off his seat and ran towards him – he reminded Kakashi of a blow fish.
"What? You came over here to laugh at my men?"
"No, I came over here to talk."
"Talk? I'll talk! Where's that little bitch who ripped my door off?" he spat.
Kakashi could hear Naruto growl from across the camp. He narrowed his good eye at the man, "First of all, you are lucky that is all she did to you and your carriage and second of all," he focused a large mass of killer intent at the man. "Watch your mouth."
The short little man swallowed hard and took a few steps away from Kakashi. "So, what did you come to talk about?" he said meekly.
"You lied to us."
"I did no such thing!" he blurted out.
"Hai, you did and you still are. As ninja we are use to that. We also don't have any proof that you are lying…yet. But don't worry, we will because also as ninja… we are pretty good at finding out the truth."
"Is that it?" he managed.
"For now it is… sleep tight." Kakashi said as he walked back to their camp.
- - xXxXx - -
A safe distance away from their target, the group of five ninja stopped. They had to discuss what had just happened.
"I thought he just had the three stooges with him? He's got ninja too?" The first ninja said out loud.
"It looks like it. Did anyone see where they are from?"
"I didn't have too, they are Leaf shinobi." The leader answered.
"How do you know that?"
"The female – she had pink hair. That was Konoha's Deadly Blossom – Sakura Haruno. So that means Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze are with her."
"So? We out number them… I say that we go back and get what we came for." One of the five said.
"Do you have a death wish? Konoha's Team Seven? No… we go and report this. We will not engage them unless ordered."
"I thought that Konoha was our ally?"
"They are. They must not know everything about this situation. I bet that thief lied to them in order to gain protection. But for now we return home. Move out."
- - xXxXx - -
The next day proved to be more of a challenge for Team Seven. Sakura woke up in a rather spiteful mood and it was all that Kakashi and Naruto could do to keep her away from the client and his men. Naruto took point and Sakura stayed close to Kakashi.
"If looks could kill." Kakashi joked with her.
She turned her death glare to him and he held his hands up. "Kakashi, as much as I appreciate you trying to make me feel better… please don't." she told him.
Kakashi nodded once and walked closer to her. He put his arm around her and kissed her on her head through his mask. She looked up at him and she couldn't help but smile a little.
"Sakura, please don't be upset. A scowl just doesn't do your face justice and like I told you last night, I won't let you hurt like that again. So please try not to think about it. It took us so long to get you back from the darkness, don't go back."
She sighed deeply and fell into his side more. "You're right. It does me no good to dwell on the past. Please forgive me?"
"Already have." He replied.
- - xXxXx - -
The five ninja arrived back at their village and met with their Kage of sorts. After much deliberation and much arguing, the leader of the village decided that it was best to meet with Team Seven himself. He was confident that this could be worked out in a nonviolent manner. After all, he wouldn't be their leader if it wasn't for Team Seven to begin with.
He and two guards were slated to leave at noon.
-End of Chapter-