Author's Note: Gah, I feel like I'm getting behind on writing this story. :(
I've got lots of homework lately. It's very annoying. BUT I will try really hard to make sure I get the chapters up on time. :)
I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter! I can tell you want them to kiss... hahaha. I can tell you that it's soon. Within... 3-4 more chapters. Hehe.
Thanks to Evalyd Yamazaki, BlackRose723, Angel42497, and Echo Uchiha for the amazing reviews! They made me happy, as always. :D
Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and if you would be so kind as to review, that would just make my day. :)
I notice I use a lot of smiley faces in my notes... Hopefully that's not annoying! :) :D :P :O

Thirteen: Corruption

I awoke the next morning to the brightness of the sun casting its warmth through the windows. My eyelids fluttered open, immediately squinting against the blinding light, and I groaned as I rolled over onto my stomach to peer at the digital clock on the nightstand. The pattern of the flashing neon lights on the screen told me that it was time to get up and prepare for the day, so I forced myself out from underneath the blankets despite the fact that my body yearned for more sleep. I ignored the screams of my legs and feet, remembering that I had a mission to complete and a student to protect.

Sakura was still passed out in her bed, her usually lovely pink hair knotted and tangled from tossing and turning throughout the night. Smiling at her, I decided to let her sleep a little longer. I retrieved my clothes from the storage unit on the other end of the hall and took them with me to the bathroom. I quietly pulled the door shut before tossing my garments to the floor so I could splash some cold water on my face. The instant that the water collided with my skin, I could feel my body becoming energized and awakened. I stood there for a few moments, simply staring into the mirror and watching the droplets as they glided down my cheeks and dripped off of my chin. "Today, I will find those bastards," I told myself, "and I will make sure get what they deserve."

I quickly replaced the peach-colored robe that I was still wearing with my black Jonin uniform I had abandoned the previous night. The fabric felt rough against my skin, a drastic change from the soft material that lay in a pile at my feet. After rolling my sleeves up to the elbows, I slipped into my green vest and zipped it up halfway. There were complementary toothbrushes on the countertop, still sealed in their original packages, as well as other toiletries. I grasped one of them and ripped the seal to extract it, turning on the faucet to wet the bristles as I did so. I squirted some toothpaste onto the brush before gliding it over my grimy teeth, a minty sensation filling my mouth.

After I had finished, I rinsed my mouth and put the toothbrush back into its package. I was going to want one for the next day, and I had stupidly forgotten to grab one from home. I put my hair into a messy bun before taking the toothbrush and paste in my hands and exiting the bathroom. Luckily, there was some extra space in one of my bags, so I quickly shoved the items inside and latched it shut before attaching my holsters to my pants.

Sakura must have heard me, for I heard a tiny groan and a faint sound of crackling as she stretched her body. "Morning, Sakura," I greeted the girl, "It's almost time for us to be leaving. Don't take too long in the bathroom, ok?"

The pink-haired girl nodded sleepily before rolling off of the mattress. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, yawning as she trudged past me to grab her things and proceed to the restroom.

I took my headband from the shelf it resided on and immediately shielded my forehead with the metal plate. I yanked the fabric to form a tight knot, enjoying the sense of satisfaction I got whenever I heard the sound of the friction between the cloth. My ensemble was complete when I slid my feet into my black sandals. As I waited for Sakura to finish getting ready, I plodded over to the other end of the room to gaze out the large glass doors that separated me from the outside world. My eyes roamed across the horizon, eventually falling on the garden, and my eyes widened in shock as I remembered what had happened the last night.

It all came back to me. Kakashi… He held me so much closer than I had ever been held, so close that I could feel his breath tickling my skin. What we had almost done… the thought was revolting, yet strangely exhilarating. As I found myself wondering what it would have felt like, I mentally slapped myself. Nothing happened, I told myself, he caught me before I fell, and that was it. Nothing more…

But if that really was all that happened, then why did the thought of seeing Kakashi again make me nervous?

A creak of the door hinges caused me to whirl myself around. Sakura, who was surprised by my sudden movement, furrowed her eyebrows as she made her way to grab her belongings. "What's wrong, Kaeda Sensei?" she asked me as she began tying her red headband around the top of her head.

Smooth.

"N-Nothing," I quickly replied, stepping away from the doorway to approach her, "are you about ready?"

She gave me another skeptical look before stepping into her knee-high sandals. "Sure," she finally answered.

We met Naruto and Kakashi in the lobby. I felt my chest tighten and my heart begin pounding within my chest when I saw him, and I knew that the rest of the mission was going to be terribly awkward between us. I avoided eye contact with him, focusing instead on the ground in front of me, and I subconsciously held my breath when he walked past me. I was surprised, however, when I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. "Good morning, Kae," he said to me.

I lifted my eyes hesitantly, wondering if what I had just happened was actually just a figment of my imagination. I saw his hand slide off of my shoulder as he continued past me to approach the front counter, and, as I moved my gaze further up, I saw him looking at me for a split second before he turned his head to face the woman at the front desk. "G-good morning," I managed to croak in a voice so quiet that I wasn't sure he had heard it.

I examined him as he conversed with the employee. I tried to find something about him that seemed a bit off, but I couldn't. He seemed perfectly normal, or at least as normal as he could have possibly been. To say the least, I was a bit confused. How was it that he could take the previous night so calmly while I had just spent half of my morning obsessing over it?

I hated him for it.

Waving at the employee, Kakashi turned on his heel and began approaching Naruto, Sakura, and I. I silently cursed myself when a nervous jolt shot through my body like an electric shock. "I just asked the woman at the counter about the men that you had seen, Kae," My eyes widened at the sound of my name. My heart began to race when his eyes met mine. I must have looked awfully stupid.

Kakashi continued before I had a chance to stutter something incoherent in response, "She said that there is another town a few miles East of here. Apparently it's riddled with gangs and criminals, so there's a good chance that we'll find some useful information there."

"Alright then," Naruto said in his usual determined tone, "Let's do this!"

Exiting the tranquility of the small town, we immediately ascended to the treetops to begin our travels. The morning air was surprisingly warm against my face, or perhaps it was my embarrassment that made my face hot. I couldn't quite tell. Either way, it felt good to be on the road again. Kakashi took the lead this time, while Sakura, Naruto, and I followed closely behind him.

The trip to the next town was surprisingly short; we had arrived after only thirty minutes. Lowering ourselves to the ground, we began to follow the trail of dead grass that led into the village, earning strange looks from random passers-by. I couldn't help but notice an eerie atmosphere. The smoke from peoples' lit cigarettes clouded the town in a dense fog, and the smell of alcohol lingered in the air. The buildings were rundown, obviously not following updated building codes and regulations. The inhabitants shared the same rough exterior with their ragged clothing, tattooed skin, and matted hair. Manual labor had kept their physiques looking strong and powerful, yet their faces appeared tired and angry. Elders and orphans begged for food, money, anything at all that they could get. My heart sank in my chest. What terrible lives these people lived.

"Whoa," I heard Naruto say softly as his ocean eyes examined the scene, "Kakashi Sensei, what happened here?"

Kakashi sighed, wrenching his eyes away from the disastrous sight. "It happened many years ago," he began, "During the Third Great Shinobi War, Iwagakure attempted to destroy Konoha. Iwagakure was winning, and Leaf Ninja forces were being pushed back into the Land of Fire. We managed to gain the upper hand by destroying the Kannabi Bridge, which meant Iwa's line of supply had been cut off. What we didn't know, however, that a village inside the Land of Fire—this village—had previously formed a secret alliance with the enemy land and prepared to attack the already weakened platoon on their return to Konoha."

Naruto and Sakura listened intently as Kakashi spoke.

"The village was destroyed in the battle, and, due to their traitorous actions, neither Konoha nor the other neighboring villages attempted to help the survivors rebuild their fallen town. With the government's order crushed to pieces, all hell broke loose. The strong overpowered the weak, stealing all they had and leaving them to starve in the streets. The town actually looks better than it did all those years ago, but it's obvious that people are still suffering from the corruption that still remains."

"That's terrible," Sakura frowned.

"If life is so terrible here, then why don't the people just go somewhere else?" Naruto asked.

"It's hard to start a new life somewhere else when you have no money," I answered him, "those who are the victims of thievery are left with nothing, keeping them trapped here with no way to get out. Thieves won't leave because they have means of acquiring money without working. It's a vicious cycle that never ends."

"And this is all because of something that happened a long time ago," Sakura murmured, "It isn't fair that these people should have to live like this."

I agreed with her. Most of the people who were involved in the treason had probably been killed in the battle, meaning that a lot of the current inhabitants were innocent. A life like this was a fate worse than death, and I didn't think it was right to allow it to go on. But, because of Konoha laws, ninja weren't allowed to interfere, meaning I had to witness this atrocity without being able to do a thing about it.

It made me sick.

"Anyway," Kakashi started, breaking the dismal silence that had fallen over us, "We should really start investigating now."

Naruto, Sakura, and I nodded our heads in agreement.

"We should form teams of two," He suggested.

"I'll go with Kaeda Sensei," Sakura offered.

"Hey, no fair!" Naruto whined, "You got Kaeda Sensei yesterday!"

"It's good to know I'm wanted, guys. Thanks," Kakashi pouted, his eyes drooping even more than they usually did.

I had to admit that, although I still felt a bit awkward around Kakashi, the group's usual goofiness seemed to help relieve my discomfort. I actually laughed at my best friend's sulky expression, and, for the first time that day, I wasn't electrocuted by the look in his eyes as he glanced at me.

The two teenagers were still bickering about the teams when Kakashi spoke. "Naruto, why don't you just come with me. Let the girls do whatever it is girls do."

"Fine," Naruto huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he trudged toward his sensei's side.

"We'll take the East side of town and you two take the West," Kakashi instructed, "Let's meet back here in two hours to discuss our findings."

Sakura and I agreed to the terms of the investigation before the groups split in two directions. We walked down the dirt path that led between rows of small shops and eateries, earning strange looks from the town's inhabitants along the way. I could understand their confusion. They probably hadn't seen a Leaf ninja since the war all those years ago. I tried not pay attention to their stares, and instead focused on finding any sort of suspicious activity.

But that proved to be difficult, considering just about everything in this town seemed suspicious.

"So, Kaeda Sensei," Sakura said, breaking the silence. If she was going to make small talk, I just hoped and prayed that she didn't mention anything about this morning. It was the last thing I wanted to talk about at the moment. "What was with the weird behavior this morning?"

Of course.

"What?" I asked, acting puzzled by what she meant.

"You know," she accused, "don't try to deny it."

I rolled my eyes. "No, I don't know. And I'm not denying anything."

"You were acting all jumpy and nervous," she explained to me, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she started becoming impatient with my less-than-satisfying responses, "Especially around—"

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream filled the air, causing my eyes to dart in the direction it came from. In front of a building that appeared to be a grocery store, a large, bulky man held a small boy by his shaggy, unkempt hair. The boy carried a small paper bag in his arms, only to have it ripped away from his grasp by the man who captured him. I could see tears beginning to glide down the boy's cheeks as he kicked and screamed and begged the man not to steal his food, but the man didn't care. He pulled back on the boy's hair even harder and laughed when the boy cried out in pain.

I tried to follow Konoha's law. I tried to just look away and ignore it. I tried not to let the boy's bloodshot eyes and bony arms and legs get to me. I really tried, but I just couldn't. My hands formed fists and my jaw clenched as my blood began to boil. I could see the man raising his knee to strike the poor boy, so I sprinted, leaving Sakura behind.

I made it quickly enough to stop the man's knee with my right arm. In a split second, I had managed capture his left arm, which held the grocery bag, in a hold that gave me full control. At the same time, I used my other hand to pull out a kunai and place the blade against his throat. "Release the boy," I growled into his ear.

I could sense the evil smirk the bastard had on his dirty face. "And what if I don't?"

Narrowing my eyes, I shifted my weight a bit to put more pressure on the man's trapped arm. The man, obviously caught off guard, let out a loud, painful grunt. Without meaning to, he let go of the boy's hair and, at the same time, let the paper bag he had stolen to fall to the dirt. Sakura, who had caught up with me, caught the boy in her arms before he could stumble to the ground.

Now that the boy was out of harm's way, I could get serious. Using the control I had over the man's pressure points, I forced him into a brick wall, smashing his head against it in the process. The man released another loud cry, cursing wildly at me, and struggled against my hold. Little did he know, I was an expert in joint manipulation.

"You coward," I spat at him, pressing harder against his pressure points, "stealing is bad enough, but from a child?"

I whirled him around so I could see him and give him a proper punch to the face. Maybe I was going a bit overboard, but I was so disgusted by what I had just witnessed that I didn't really care. When I saw his face, however, my fist stopped just before making contact.

"Sakura," I called to my pink-haired partner, "this is the guy."