Smoke and Mirrors
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all rights to Masashi Kishimoto, and I make no money from this story.
AN: Alrighty so to start off I wanted to say, in response to Leale's review, that yes Itachi is OOC in this story. I'm sorry I didn't say anything about that previously, but I kinda figured it would be known that Itachi and Sasuke are much less emo in this story considering the "non-massacre." But there you go, I guess you've now been warned. Also I wanted to thank the people who reviewed: Kosue1501, mageuchiha6990, Leale, and LadyNorth76, you're reviews made me want to start writing chapter two right away, and they are very much appreciated. Also thanks to everyone who favorite'd and alerted my story. You guys all rock for reading this =)
Also, quick explanation of the title, cause I wasn't sure if people would actually get the "smoke and mirrors" thing. It's a reference to an illusion basically. Like, magicians use smoke and mirrors to create their illusions, so just wanted to cover that so everyone got it. Now enjoy the new chapter =)
Chapter Two: The Bonding
"I hate him!" Sakura shouted. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!" Sakura was once again fuming. Tsunade sighed; she should have expected this kind of reaction from her beloved student.
"Sakura if you would just calm down for one goddamn minute and let me explain this before you go flying off the handle . . . that would make this situation much easier for the both of us," Tsunade sighed again, hoping to calm Sakura for at least a small amount of time so she would be able to explain this situation more clearly. "Now Sakura really, these outbursts of yours are quite unsightly, and I would prefer if you were able to at least keep yourself mildly calm in my presence."
"I apologize shishou, I just can't help it when the subject of conversation leads to the person I absolutely despise, but I will attempt to keep myself under control while you . . . explain this situation," Sakura stated, giving in, taking a long deep breath, and attempting to calm herself down. The last thing she needed was her shishou yelling at her, as that woman could be downright terrifying.
Tsunade sighed again, hoping this time she would be able to explain without being completely interrupted. "Listen this is something that we have always done. You have to understand that we need to ensure the utmost cooperation and teamwork from each of our ANBU squads. It is not widely known, because the point of this exercise is for it to be a surprise for each team, so they don't have time to plan out what they are going to do, and how they will react to the situation. I can only explain the basic aspects of this exercise to you, as the rest will be a surprise."
"But shishou is this really necessary? I've worked with Kakashi for as long as I can remember, and as for Itachi, though I hate him I can still respect working with him. Why do we need to be put through such a test?" Sakura asked, hoping that she would somehow be able to get out of this.
"Yes Sakura, for the last time, this is necessary. Now shut your trap and let me explain." Tsunade had tried twice to attempt to explain the mission to Sakura, but each time had been interrupted—interruption was not something Tsunade handled very well. "Now, as I said previously, the main point of this mission is to ensure the cooperation and teamwork of each squad. The outcome of this mission will decide if the team we put together is actually a good match, so it's very important. And it's only for two weeks, and if you can survive that long, your team should be fine. We will have you transported to a remote region, with minimal supplies, and you will need to survive there for two weeks. One week surviving in whatever terrain we throw you in, and you have one week to make your way back to Konoha. You, Kakashi, and Itachi will all be called in tonight for a medical exam at the hospital, and you will depart for the mission tomorrow. Is that understood?" The stern look that plastered Tsunade's face screamed to Sakura that she had better understand and give no more lip on the matter. It was happening whether Sakura liked it or not, and that was that.
Sakura's brain was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts; part of her wanting to terribly to argue back, but the other part of her knowing that if she wanted to stay alive for today than she had better let it go. If it were any other mission she would be fine with it, but the fact that it was just a "training" mission—and in Sakura's eyes a pointless one—made Sakura very opposed to the whole ordeal. Sakura lowered her head in defeat—her better judgment telling her to just let it go—and said, "Yes shishou, I understand."
"Good, now I don't want to have to re-explain this to Kakashi and Itachi, so inform them that they must be present at the hospital tonight for the checkup. You are dismissed Sakura," Tsunade said, motioning to Sakura that she was now free to leave. Sakura sighed, knowing there was nothing left to say, and left her shishou in peace. She would find a way to deal with this unfortunate situation, or she would just have to kill her so called 'teammate'.
Sakura found Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke sitting at Ichiraku's as always; Naruto had a tendency to drag everyone around him to his favorite place, and Sakura was surprised that Shikamaru wasn't there. Naruto looked up to see Sakura approaching, and enthusiastically waved her over.
"Sakura-chan! Come eat with us!" Naruto shouted earnestly, throwing his arms around slightly as if she couldn't see him. Sakura laughed a little, as she expected nothing less from Naruto and his love of ramen. Naruto always had the remarkable ability to make her smile when she needed it most, and for that she loved him dearly. Sakura took a seat and ordered herself a bowl of ramen; she figured she might as well eat while she was here.
"So Sakura-chan what was your meeting with granny all about?" Naruto asked, his mouth shoved full with ramen, not realizing nor caring that bits of his beloved food were falling out of his mouth.
"Well, apparently we have a two week long mission to an undisclosed location, where we have to survive as a team," Sakura explained. "Kakashi, Tsunade wanted me to inform you that we have to be at the hospital tonight for a checkup, and I guess we are departing for the mission tomorrow. Oh, and if you see Itachi let him know as well." Kakashi nodded his head in understanding, knowing Sakura wanted to avoid Itachi as much as humanly possible. On normal occasion, Kakashi might find a little bit of joy in making Sakura deal with Itachi, but today he was going to let her off the hook.
"So it's like a bonding mission?" Sasuke asked, speaking up for the first time. Though Sasuke was not nearly as talkative as Naruto, he was not a mute, and moreso spoke when he deemed it necessary. Sasuke could be especially loud and annoying when him and Naruto fought, which drove Sakura up the wall. She sighed just thinking about all the trouble they gave her, and how much she would miss having them on her team. She trusted them both with her life, and that kind of trust was not easily given.
"Tsunade didn't really elaborate too much on the mechanics of it, she just told me that we had a week to stay in whatever location we were assigned, and then we had another week to get back home," Sakura explained, wishing that they had more information about it. None of them were used to going on missions where they were left completely in the dark, their guesses the only thing occupying their mind. "I still think it's slightly pointless. . . I mean obviously I can work with Kakashi just fine. We've only been working together for what. . . seven years now. And as much as I can't stand Itachi, I know well enough to work with him on a mission," Sakura sighed for what seemed like the tenth time today, and stared down into her bowl of ramen, staring at the worn down reflection that gazed back at her.
"Did Tsunade tell you if we would be doing a similar type of mission?" Sasuke asked, a curious, questioning expression enveloping his features. He thought for a moment, and decided that he wouldn't much mind the mission if they were assigned something similar. He respected Shikamaru as both a teammate and a leader, and this type of mission would show him exactly what Shikamaru was capable of. And though him and his dobe fought constantly, he couldn't say he didn't enjoy their bickering, and could—for the most part—stand being on long missions with him—he did have years of practice after all.
"No she didn't say anything to me about it, though I would imagine since you guys are a newly formed ANBU team as well, that you would be put through the same bullshit," Sakura replied, spooning some of the delicious soup into her waiting mouth.
"Aw Sakura it's not going to be that bad. We just have to sit around wherever they put us for a week, and get back home. It's the same type of thing we always do, though this time we have no actual mission. Sounds like a relaxing getaway to me, and I'm sure that you and Itachi can manage to get along for two weeks. And don't worry I'll be there to keep you two in line," Kakashi said, laughing a little and giving her a reassuring smile. The last thing he needed was a pissed off Sakura before they left for any type of mission, so he was doing his best to cheer her up a bit.
"Well, I guess you could be right Kakashi. . . Maybe we'll actually get put somewhere nice and we can just camp out and relax for a week. Now that you put it that way, it doesn't seem so bad. Thanks Kaka-sensei." The thought made Sakura smile a bit, and she was grateful that Kakashi was trying so desperately to cheer her up.
"Now, now Sakura. . . you don't have to call me 'sensei' anymore. We're now on the same level, so please drop the sensei, you make me feel so old!" Kakashi complained, finally glad to be rid of the endearment that he had dealt with for too many years.
"Haha sorry Kakashi I forget sometimes. You were my sensei for so long it's a hard habit to kick. But I'll try to remember. Don't want you feeling like the old geezer you are," Sakura said, unable to resist the urge to tease him slightly. Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help but crack up a little at her joke, as they all knew how sensitive Kakashi was concerning his age.
Before Kakashi could come up with a witty comeback, Shikamaru decided to grace them with his presence. "Ah Shika! There you are! I tried to find you earlier to invite you to Ichiraku with us, but you were nowhere to be found," Naruto said, halfway shouting even though Shikamaru was standing right next to them.
"Come on Naruto I'm standing right here you don't need to yell. And I told you to stop calling me Shika, it's horrible. . ." Shikamaru complained, not liking the new nickname Naruto had given him. Naruto wrinkled his brow and pouted slightly, but another bite of his ramen seemed to cure this short lasting bout of sadness.
"So what brings you here Shikamaru? I thought you didn't like ramen." Sasuke stated the obvious fact; Shikamaru was more of a loner, and avoided group meetings like the plague.
"I don't particularly care for ramen, but I came here looking for you two, as I have some information to deliver," Shikamaru explained, taking a seat next to Sakura, and placed his elbows on the table to rest. He leaned forward so he could look at Naruto and Sasuke, and continued on with his explanation. "Tsunade called me to her office to tell me that we have to go to the hospital tonight for a medical checkup, because we have some survival mission tomorrow."
"Ah well you don't have to worry about explaining it, because Sakura came here to tell Kakashi the same thing," Sasuke replied, letting Shikamaru off the hook.
"Cool! So we're on the same mission as Sakura-chan. It sounds like fun I can't wait," Naruto said, seemingly quite excited about the prospect of going on said mission. Sasuke and Shikamaru both sighed, as Naruto was always so excitable over the smallest things. No matter what the situation, Naruto always tended to have huge reactions to everything; though, it definitely brought everyone some laughs, so no one really minded his outbursts.
"Well, I'm assuming we are not going to be placed in the same area as Sakura and Kakashi, but the point of the mission will be the same," Shikamaru explained. Naruto nodded his head in understanding, and Sasuke copied his simple action. Shikamaru really saw no point in staying at the ramen place any longer than need be, so he decided to take his leave before Naruto came up with excuses to make him stay around. He quickly stood up and straightened out his clothing, preparing to take his leave.
"Well guys, I've got some things to take care of, so I'll see you later tonight. Tsunade said to be there around 7pm, so don't be late. I don't want my ass getting reamed for your laziness," Shikamaru stated, walking away and waving to them from over his shoulder, all the while keeping his back turned to them. It seemed the conversation was now over with Shikamaru, and he wasn't waiting around any longer.
"He's so cold sometimes," Sakura said after Shikamaru had gone far enough so that their voices would no longer reach his sharp ears. "I mean Shikamaru is such a genius, but I wish he'd be a little more personable sometimes."
"Well, there's nothing you can do to change his personality. I'm fine with him not talking too much, considering I have to live with Naruto, and he talks enough for the both of them," Sasuke said, smiling a little while pretending to hate on Naruto. Naruto smacked him upside the head, and went back to eating, as he was now on his third bowl of ramen. Sakura decided, herself included, that Naruto was probably the only person who could do such a thing and live to tell about it.
"Jesus Naruto, I hope you're paying for all those," Kakashi said, leaning back and placing his hands behind his head, moving to a more comfortable position. He had been stuck with the bill too many times to count, and did not want to pay for Naruto's habit of over eating. Naruto looked up at him and smirked, an expression Kakashi did not want to see cross his face. Naruto had figured Kakashi knew he would be paying in the first place. He quickly gulped down his last bowl of ramen, and ran away, presumably back home.
"Naruto! Dammit! I'm not paying for all this shit!" Kakashi shouted, though Naruto was already long gone.
"You just had to say something didn't you Kakashi? You knew as soon as you said something about it that Naruto would run away. It's what he always does," Sasuke said, thinking that Kakashi would have finally learned his lesson. Kakashi sighed, and regretfully pulled out some money.
"That stupid kid is gonna make me broke with his eating habits," Kakashi complained, finally getting up from his seat, stretching out slightly as they had been sitting for quite some time. "Well Sakura, I guess I will see you tonight at the hospital. And don't worry about finding Itachi, I can do that for you."
"Thanks so much Kakashi, I think I'm just gonna go home and relax for awhile. I might even take a quick nap, because for some reason I've been kinda tired lately. Maybe all the late shifts at the hospital are finally catching up with me," Sakura said, standing as well. "But I'll see you tonight, and try not to be too late please or I'll be the one getting yelled at for not keeping you in line." Sakura waved to everyone, and quickly made her way back home.
"Actually Sasuke would you mind doing me a favor and telling Itachi about the mission? I have a quick errand I need to run, and I guess it would be more convenient for you to tell him, then for me to run all the over there and tell him myself. Plus, you know how lazy I am, and the less work I have to do the better," Kakashi stated, the statement of his laziness being the absolute truth.
"Yeah no problem Kakashi, I can tell him for you. I'm sure he's just out training on our property anyway, so I can go find him and let him know the situation," Sasuke replied, being more cooperative than usual. Kakashi thanked Sasuke and walked off in the opposite direction. Sasuke decided to just go home, explain the mission to his brother, and then rest. They all decided they needed some rest, since tomorrow would be the start of a long mission.
"Oh I didn't realize they had scheduled us all for the same time," Sakura said, noticing that not only was her team here, but Naruto's as well. "Well, we should all just get comfortable since we're probably gonna be here for awhile."
"Well might as well get started so we can get out of here. . . I hate hospitals," Kakashi said, cringing at the thought of having to be in the hospital. It was well known that Kakashi avoided hospitals, no matter how badly he was wounded. Luckily with Sakura around, Kakashi was either threatened with serious bodily harm, or she would give in and treat him wherever they were. Regardless he was one stubborn man, but he couldn't blatantly ignore the orders of the hokage, so into the hospital he ventured.
Shizune welcomed everyone into the main entrance of the hospital, and from there, assigned them each to their own separate rooms. She told them to just wait in their rooms until someone got to them, and assured them it wouldn't take too long. Sakura sighed and walked into her assigned room. She hated being a patient here, and much preferred being the medic, as hypocritical as that was. Sakura waited for what seemed like an eternity, but finally the door opened, and Tsunade came strolling into her room.
"Shishou why on earth are you here?" Sakura asked, quite surprised to see Tsunade actually giving medical exams. Though she was one of the best medics around, Tsunade really had more important things to be doing. 'Maybe she's just avoiding doing paperwork or something,' Sakura thought, coming to the conclusion that she was just being lazy and avoiding her work.
"Well each of you must be given an injection to prevent any diseases that you could acquire from traveling to other countries, and since there are six of you I figured I would assist Shizune," Tsunade explained casually, holding up the needle and shaking any excess air bubbles from it. Sakura seemed to understand the necessity of the injection, though she did not particularly like it. She held out her arm for Tsunade, waiting to receive her shot. As soon as the needle was pressed to her skin, breaking the thin layer, and the medicine started flowing through her veins she could feel that something was off.
"Tsunade what's going on? I feel. . .dizzy. . .and tired. . ." Sakura tried to say, slowly fading. Everything started to go black when she thought she heard Tsunade say "Everything's fine." Unbeknownst to Sakura, her five friends were experiencing the same fate.
Sakura could feel her consciousness slowly coming back. She struggled to open her eyes, her body fighting back, and doing everything possible to keep them forced shut. After a minute of forcing herself back into consciousness, Sakura was able to pry them open, but immediately regretted the decision. The current pain that stabbed through her head was like a millions needles all seeking out their vengeance for some unknown offense. "Ugh what on earth happened." Sakura was able to groan out the words as she attempted to sit up, all the while holding her head, as if that action would somehow repel the headache. When she finally got her bearings, and the world stopped spinning, she looked around to see that Itachi and Kakashi seemed to be experiencing the same waking up horror that she had.
"Guys are you alright?" Sakura questioned, her medic tendencies kicking in, wanting to make sure her teammates were safe.
"Fine," Kakashi grumbled out, obviously not in a talking mood. Itachi only grunted to show that he was alright, though she should have expected nothing more. The medic side of Sakura wanted a full in depth rundown of how they were feeling, but she let it go for now, assuming they were feeling about how she was—bad.
"What the fuck happened," Kakashi said a minute later, when he seemed to be a little more aware of his surroundings. The confusion on his face mirrored Sakura's expression to a tee.
"I'm not sure," Sakura replied, "But I'm assuming that Tsunade and Shizune drugged us based on the symptoms we're having now." In her head, Sakura was going through all the medical textbooks she had recently read, finding the most logical explanation of their symptoms.
Finally, realization seemed to cross Itachi's face, his brain working on overload. After a moment he seemed to come back to the world of the living, and decided to express his thoughts. "It seems to me that this is part of the so called mission," he explained, holding his head slightly as Sakura had done previously. Sakura felt a little appeased that even Mr. High and Mighty suffered too. "As Sasuke explained to me, the point of the mission is to take us by surprise and to see how we can handle working in an unknown environment with a new team. So, I presume that this was all set up, so that we could be transported to wherever the hell we are, so we could begin the survival mission." Kakashi and Sakura looked at Itachi, mildly impressed he was able to think so clearly after being so groggy from the drugs, though they really should have expected nothing less from the prodigy himself. Itachi's explanation of their current situation seemed to resonate with them, and it was all becoming clear.
"Well, all I can say is I'm never trusting Tsunade to give me any kinda injection after this whole ordeal," Sakura complained, fighting the urge to lay back down, knowing staying awake was important for the time being. "And where the hell are we by the way?"
"Well, from the looks of it, we seem to be in Lightning Country," Kakashi reasoned. "Because of the mountainous terrain I can only assume that's where we are, but the weather will surely confirm my thoughts."
"Yes Kakashi I do believe you are correct, but I guess we'll know when it starts to downpour," Itachi responded, hoping silently that the rain wouldn't come, and they could avoid it all together. All three were now firmly sitting up, and taking in the breathtaking view of their surroundings; though this was a mission, Sakura couldn't help but appreciate the utter beauty of this country. Sakura then took notice of their packs, which sat behind them in a haphazard pile.
"Seems Tsunade at least gave us our packs," Sakura stated, reaching over and grabbing their packs, and throwing them to Kakashi and Itachi. Sakura took her own pack and opened it to observe the contents, hoping silently that she wouldn't be disappointed. She had a few kunai, a change of clothes, and a communication headset. "They obviously aren't giving us much to work with here. The headsets are nice but I would have preferred food," Sakura stated, the disappointment of having no food openly showed on her features, as she wrinkled her brow and squinted her eyes slightly.
"Well princess, this is a survival mission, and assuming we're all thinking logically here, the point would be to survive. They aren't going to give us any handouts," Itachi stated, wasting no time in beginning the first in an onslaught of insults that Sakura knew were to come.
"God I know that you asshole, I'm just thinking out loud. Leave me alone," Sakura said, getting up and walking away from Kakashi and Itachi, deciding that she needed to clear her mind.
"Sakura get your ass back here," Kakashi said, mildly irritated with her abrupt reaction. "We aren't splitting up yet." He was not about to have Sakura walk off by herself and end up getting into some kind of trouble, she happened to be a magnet for it.
"That's the purpose of the headsets Kakashi. . ." she said pointedly, waving said item in his face to make her point. "This way I don't have to be around you two idiots forever, and you can still know where I am. I'm going to look for food. . . just put your headset on if you're so afraid I'm going to get lost," Sakura said, with no intention of listening to Kakashi, nor hanging around here any longer. She looked over her shoulder, put her headset on, and marched off through the trees.
"Just let her go Kakashi she'll be fine. She's just as well trained as we are in finding her way around. You have to remember she's not your student anymore, so let her do what she's gotta do," Itachi said, patting Kakashi on the back and moving to stand. "I'm going to look for some wood to start a fire with, and you can go look for some shelter for us. I figure since we're right next to a mountain there might be a nice cave somewhere that we could stay for awhile." Kakashi nodded his head in understanding and they parted ways, each hoping their search would turn up something.
Sakura was quite opposed to turning her headset on, but knew she wouldn't hear the end of it from Kakashi and Itachi if she didn't turn it on, so she unwillingly put it on her head and switched it on.
"Finally Sakura, we've been waiting for a good five minutes for you to turn that damn thing on. Don't you run away from us without turning the headset on. That's what they're for!" Kakashi stated, reprimanding her for making him worry slightly. Sakura rolled her eyes at the apparent concern in his voice.
"Ugh Kakashi let it go. Stop being such a nag, I'm fine. I'm just looking for some damn food cause I'm starving," Sakura replied.
"Don't get mad at him for worrying princess, you never know what could happen when we're in a foreign country like this so you should always have your headset on if you're away from us," Itachi said, chiming in for the first time. Kakashi smirked to himself, knowing that Itachi was slightly on edge as well when they discovered Sakura had not yet turned her headset on. He was glad he wasn't the only one worrying about their cherry blossom.
"You two are ridiculous. . . If you keep this up I'm gonna turn my headset off again. It's bad enough I have to be around you for an extended period of time, but now I have to constantly have you nagging in my ear," Sakura complained, not at all happy with the outcome of this situation. She really liked having her alone time, and though she understood the necessity and importance of having her headset on, that didn't mean she liked it. Itachi and Kakashi both smirked at her annoyance, as they both had a mutual understanding of how fun it was to tease Sakura. She was just too easy.
"Alright princess, we'll leave you alone for awhile, but just leave your headset on. You never know, Kakashi might get attacked by a bear and need your saving. You can't abandon him in his time of need," Itachi teased, though hoping this would be enough to make Sakura listen to them.
"Yeah Sakura I might need your god like strength to save me from mean bears!" Kakashi replied, going right along with Itachi. "I'm just a poor, innocent shinobi. . . Bears would destroy me!"
"Like I said, you two are idiots. And if a bear actually attacks Kakashi, I'll just laugh and watch him eat you. I'm sure you can manage to save your own ass Kakashi," Sakura said, not giving in to their silly trick, though she could appreciate that they were trying to make her laugh and lighten the mood. "Now both of you shut up, I found a stream and I'm gonna try to catch some fish so we can eat. Both of you better hurry up finding wood and shelter so we can eat!" Sakura finished, not speaking another word until she had caught fish. Sakura prided herself on being a fish catching master. It wasn't easy to attempt to catch fish with just your hands, but enough missions without food made Sakura learn pretty quickly.
Kakashi voice spoke through the headsets, saying that he had found a nice cave about half a mile southwest of where they had previously been. Itachi also confirmed that he found a plethora of dry wood, which would be perfect for burning. Sakura replied that she had caught a good sized six fish, which would be enough to feed them well for tonight. Kakashi instructed them on how to find the cave he was currently waiting at, and Itachi and Sakura both ran in that direction, wasting no time.
Finally they met up at said cave, and began to immediately set up a fire. No more than five minutes after they had entered the nice shelter Kakashi had found, a thunderstorm was just beginning. At first light rain pattered against the hard rock shelter, creating an almost soothing rhythm. However, soon enough, the rain came down harder and harder, the sound intensifying thanks to the acoustics of the cave. After Sakura thought the rain couldn't get any louder, the thunder began, vibrating the entire cave with shock waves that came every minute or so. Sakura couldn't help but appreciate the beauty of the lightning that danced through the sky, creating its' own rhythm against that of the rain and thunder—creating a symphony of sounds and colors for her to appreciate.
"Well at least we're inside and we have food," Sakura said, holding her fish close to the fire, attempting to cook it as fast as possible. "And I guess this thunderstorm confirms that we're in Lightning Country, so at least we know our location. Now we just have to survive here for a week, and then make it back to Konoha."
Itachi and Kakashi both nodded their heads, leaning back into a more comfortable sitting position. "Hopefully nothing will go wrong, and this will be a nice week of waiting it out until we can go back home," Kakashi said. Wholeheartedly hoping that nothing too serious was going to happen to them while they were out here. They all knew they couldn't afford to let their guards down, as that had been ingrained in them since becoming ninja in the first place, but they hoped they wouldn't have to be on such high alert.
"I think we should just rest tonight, and maybe do some exploring tomorrow to get a feel of the terrain. Who knows, maybe we could even train tomorrow. It would be an excellent training exercise to practice on this kind of terrain. Fighting on a mountainside is much different than fighting in the forest and on flat ground," Itachi explained.
"That's not a bad idea Itachi," Kakashi said, agreeing that this would probably be a pretty opportune time for them to train. They all continued to eat their fish in silence, as no one really had much to say. And as ninja, they had come to respect these times of silence. Sometimes it was what they all needed and wanted—just some time to themselves to think, and not have to worry about holding a conversation. Sakura laid back and wondered what this trip would have in store for them.
Around the same time as Sakura and her teammates were waking up, so were Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. And they were all also experiencing the after affects of being drugged. Shikamaru seemed to be the first to get his bearings back, followed shortly by Sasuke; however, Naruto seemed quite affected by the drug, as he was still passed out.
"Hey dobe get your ass up," Sasuke said, reaching over to smack Naruto on the head, and holding his own head all the while. "Dammit Shikamaru what the hell happened to us." Shikamaru seemed to ponder this for a second before giving his response. He came to the same conclusion as Itachi had previously, and explained it to Sasuke.
"So now we're stuck here for a week? I presumed we would be somewhat aware of where we were, but I guess not," Sasuke stated, still holding his head, willing the headache to leave as quickly as possible.
"Well from the looks of the area it seems we're in Earth Country. I've never actually been here before, but I have heard of it. Asuma once told me of some missions he had in the Earth Country, and explained how harsh the terrain was because it's covered in mountains. He also said the wind was excessive here, and that if I ever had a mission there to watch out for it. Apparently it was once so strong it blew Asuma straight over," Shikamaru explained, looking around again to take in his surroundings. Sasuke could also agree that the terrain around them perfectly matched what Asuma had described to Shikamaru. As they were finishing up their appraisal of their surroundings, Naruto was finally starting to stir.
"Ugh. . . What the fuck happened," Naruto complained, still not sitting up. He continued to lie down even though he was awake, and even managed to curl himself into a tight ball. "And dammit my head is killing me. What the fuck."
"Calm down Naruto, we've been drugged and transported to the Earth country," Sasuke explained, rolling his eyes about how dramatic Naruto could be sometimes. While Naruto and Sasuke bantered back and forth, Shikamaru was able to find their packs, and opened his to see what they were given. Inside he found the same supplies given to the other team—kunai, a change of clothes, and a headset. Shikamaru interrupted Naruto and Sasuke's continued banter by throwing their packs at their faces. Sasuke saw it coming and easily caught the pack, but Naruto was still shaky from the drug, so his pack hit him square in the face, causing him to tumble back over.
"Goddammit Shika, don't throw this shit at my face when I'm still messed up from that drug," Naruto complained, giving Shikamaru an evil glare.
"Suck it up Naruto, and stand up we need to get moving soon so we can find ourselves a shelter. If we're gonna be stuck here for a week we need to find someplace to stay," Shikamaru stated; as always worrying about taking care of business first. He wasn't one to idly sit by when thrown into an unknown situation, he preferred to deal with things head on. Naruto seemed to realize Shikamaru was correct, and forced himself, with much effort, to stand up.
"Should we. . ." Naruto was able to say before a kunai was thrown at his face. Luckily, he caught it just in time, and was about to yell at Sasuke for throwing a kunai at him, before he realized Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed just as confused as he was. Immediately all three of them shut up, put their headsets on, and took cover. Shikamaru scanned the area, trying to locate where the stray kunai had come from. He quickly noticed about 200 feet away from them hidden behind a tree were three ninja.
"200 feet, northwest, behind the large tree. Three of them," Shikamaru quickly whispered into the headset, informing Naruto and Sasuke. Shikamaru signaled to both of them to move in, and their movements did not go unnoticed to the newcomers, and they scattered in three directions. "Naruto, Sasuke, follow those two and I'll get this one. Try to make them talk, but if necessary don't hesitate to kill." They both took no time following Shikamaru's orders, and each jumped after a separate one. After finally catching up to the ninja he was following, Shikamaru quickly caught him with shadow jutsu.
"Why did you attack us?" Shikamaru asked, receiving silence as his answer. "Who are you working for?" he tried again. He wasn't stupid enough to think he would get an answer out of him, but he could at least try. The only thing he could gain from looking at his opponent was that he was a sound nin, and most likely of jonin rank based on his attire. He wondered why on earth a sound nin, most of all a jonin ranked sound nin, would be attacking them when they were just on a simple survival mission. His opponent continued to stand there, looking at him with mocking eyes, still not speaking.
"Dammit Shikamaru, the one I was following just killed himself. I think they have a poison capsule in their mouths or something, because as I caught up to him and cornered him, he just keeled over," Sasuke explained through the headset. At this point Naruto chimed in as well, saying the same thing happened to him.
Before Shikamaru could respond, the sound nin he was holding captive fell to the ground, and seemingly died. "Fuck, the same just happened to the guy I was chasing. Meet me back where we started so we can discuss this." They all ran back to the place they originally woke from, and stood there slightly bewildered, not sure what to make of the situation.
"Alright all I could gather from looking at him was he was a rouge nin, originally from the sound village, and he seemed to be a jonin because of his attire," Shikamaru stated. "Did you two happen to notice anything in particular either than the fact that all seemed more intent on poisoning themselves than escaping?"
"No all I noticed was a weird tattoo on his shoulder, but other than that just what you said," Naruto replied. Sasuke nodded, showing he had nothing further to input.
Shikamaru sighed, "Well, I guess since we don't know very much about who these rouge nin are, or what they want from us, we should probably be a little more careful for the next week, so we don't run into any more problems. Part of me wants to run back to Konoha to alert Tsunade of our findings, but I guess since they're gone now we may not have further problems, and we probably shouldn't ruin this mission."
"I agree," Sasuke stated. "I think as of right now we should just stay here for awhile longer. There was no harm no foul with those rouge nin, and if we're wrong and it's nothing serious, Tsunade will be pissed that we ruined a mission like this." Naruto nodded his head in agreement, though something didn't seem to sit right with him about those rouge nin. The way his had smirked at him before swallowing the poison wouldn't leave his mind, and left an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He tried to ignore it since Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed to think it wasn't very serious, and he didn't want to make a deal out of something that was hopefully nothing. Hopefully they wouldn't have anymore run-ins like that. Naruto could only cross his fingers and hope.
They proceeded to spend the rest of the day seeking out shelter and finding food. Finding a shelter in a rocky, mountainous terrain wasn't very difficult, considering there were small caves all over these mountains. Food on the other hand, was quite an issue. Since they were higher up on the mountains then Sakura's group, they had no streams to find fish in, so instead, they had to try to find some wild animals. After a good hour or more of searching, they managed to find a lone mountain lion, which they quickly disposed of—they needed to eat, and finding meat like this on a mission was quite rare, so they took full advantage of it. Naruto and Sasuke threw it over their shoulders, and ran back to meet Shikamaru at their cave turned shelter. Shikamaru already had a fire going, and was sitting around waiting for them to get back.
After they returned, Sasuke took on the duty of carving out some meat from the mountain lion. Naruto and Shikamaru greatly appreciated this, since no one really enjoyed carving up anything. Once Sasuke had finished getting some meat, they all began cooking their food, grateful they had something to eat. They were lacking in water, which was going to be an issue, but they decided the next morning they would travel down to the bottom of the mountain to find some. They also decided they needed to leave the fire on as they slept, otherwise they would freeze being so high up in the mountains, but they hoped they were well enough hidden that no rouge nin would attack them in the middle of the night. Shikamaru thought about the odds of getting attacked twice in the same day, and determined they could risk leaving the fire on, as he really didn't expect anything to happen. They all bid one another goodnight and journeyed off to dream land, all the while the fire still crackling and dancing with the wind.
Sakura woke suddenly in the middle of the night, tossing and turning on the hard ground, unable to fall back to sleep. She lay on the cave floor for what seemed like forever, before she decided she might as well take a walk if she couldn't sleep—maybe it would help her clear her head. Luckily enough for her, the previous thunderstorm had subsided, and the moon was out in all its' glory. She got up as quietly as she could, so as not to disturb her teammates. Once she assured that she didn't wake up Kakashi and Itachi, she silently crept out of the cave and began her journey into the darkness.
Though they hadn't been here long, Sakura was already able to recognize a bit of the terrain. That was a skill they acquired over the years—being able to quickly learn and remember new terrain. It was a great asset on many missions, and Sakura had become quite good at it. Even in the dark, she was able to see the path she took to the stream she had found earlier in the day. She decided she would walk along that path, and maybe sit out by the water for a little while. The water had an inexplicable calming effect on her, along with the moon. And the combination of the two gave her a feeling of serenity, so she often tried to seek out this solace. She enjoyed the feeling of walking along the path, with no one bothering her; admiring the small drops of water that sprinkled down from the tree tops. No Itachi poking fun at her, and no Kakashi being outrageous as always—it was just her and her thoughts, and the splendor of the surrounding forest, and she couldn't be happier.
After awhile of walking she finally came upon the stream she had found earlier. All this walking had made her quite hot, so she decided a dip in the stream would be relieving. Also, she was most definitely not opposed to being clean. Sakura proceeded to strip off her clothes, leave them on a nearby rock, and step into the stream. It wasn't too deep, but it was deep enough to cover up to her neck when she was sitting, and that was good enough for her. She leaned her head against the river bank, and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the cool water against her hot skin.
A few minutes later, Sakura heard a sound coming from far back in the woods. She quickly grabbed a kunai she secretly had next to her, and threw it in that direction; intent on hitting whatever had made the sound. She didn't hear the sound of something or someone falling; however, as soon as the thing got closer, she picked up on the chakra single, and realized it was Itachi. He sauntered out from the woods, holding the kunai in his hands, and giving Sakura his trademark smirk.
"Itachi god fucking dammit I'm naked you asshole! What is it with you and sneaking up on me while I'm naked," Sakura fumed, while lowering herself back down into the water, so as not to show off her body to him.
"Calm down princess I can't see anything anyway, and you should have expected this. I knew immediately that you had left the cave without letting us know, so I had to come after you. Kakashi would kill me if something had happened to you and I hadn't been here," Itachi explained, holding his hands up in a peace gesture, the cockiness slowing leaving his features to be replaced with a more peaceful look.
"Well, fine. . ." Sakura conceded, knowing there was no way around this. "Just go sit behind that tree or something; I don't want you staring at me while I'm sitting in the stream naked." Itachi laughed a little but complied with her wishes, not wanting to upset his dear teammate any longer.
"I don't know why you act like I've never seen a female body before princess," Itachi stated casually. "I've had my fair share of women, so it's nothing new." Itachi was attempting to make casual conversation, but his statement damn near shocked Sakura with its candidness.
"Itachi! Stop being so casual about it. I'm not some girl you're fucking, I'm your teammate; it's too awkward if you see me naked. Plus it makes me uncomfortable," Sakura said, slightly appalled that Itachi was taking this so lightly, when it was a big deal to her. "You're such a pig."
"Not a pig princess, I'm just a man. Can't help myself sometimes," Itachi said.
"Ugh, Itachi. . . the last thing I want to hear about is your sex life. If you insist on staying here at least do me a favor and don't speak," Sakura snapped, lowering her head to hide the blush he couldn't see. She didn't need to hear about Itachi's sex life, as it only made her think about the lack of hers.
"Aw princess, am I sensing some jealously here?" Itachi questioned, the mocking tone right back in his voice.
"No you ass, I pity the women who actually have sex with you. I can't imagine you're anything to talk about," Sakura retorted, the blush slowly fading away, and being replaced with annoyance.
"Wouldn't you like to know Sakura-chan," Itachi whispered.
"What was that?" She asked, turning around slightly.
"Nothing princess, just hurry up with your bath so we can head back and get some more rest before tomorrow," Itachi replied. Sakura nodded, though she knew he couldn't see, and quickly got out of the water, and put her clothing back on. Once she was dressed her and Itachi ran back to the cave in silence, as Sakura couldn't stop thinking about their awkward conversation. Why did it seem so natural to Itachi, while the subject was completely foreign to her? She hated how he could so easily make her feel like a child, when she was far from it. Just because she hadn't had sex, didn't give him reason enough to call her a child. She had spent her life training to be a ninja, not to mention being a top medic nin. So what if she couldn't find time to get a boyfriend or something like that, it didn't make her a child. . . did it? These thoughts plagued Sakura's thoughts while she attempted to fall asleep.
AN: Alrighty, and there's the end of chapter two. I wanted to say that I'm going to attempt to get chapter three started maybe sometime next week or next weekend, but the update probably won't be as quick as this one. I'll be pretty busy this coming weekend and next week but I promise I will do my best. As always, your reviews give me quite the incentive to write, so they're much appreciated! Anyways, until next time. . . Ja ne!