Hello!

Wow, it's been SO LONG since i updated this! Heh heh...sorry?

Well, I'm happy to find that i have renewed vigor (for some reason the word "youth" came to mind instead of "vigor"...wow...and i dont even LIKE Lee and/or Gai!) for this story!

Hope you all enjoy!

PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 8: Choices

What can we do but keep on breathing in and out, modest and willing, and in our places?

~Mary Oliver

Sakura couldn't believe that she was on a mission with him…the love of her life, her soul mate, her significant other, her treasure, her heart's desire, her one and only love.

Kenji Hyuuga.

The pink haired girl, who was walking next to Kakashi, sighed in happiness as she let her eyes appreciate Kenji – he was walking up next to Sasuke, the two of them quiet and serious as Kazuki and Naruto chattered happily behind them – for several seconds before forcing herself to look away. He was so perfect. Shoulder-length brown hair, pearly-gray eyes…

She couldn't speak around him, because every time she did, her stomach clenched and her throat closed up. When he happened to glance at her, the butterflies already present in her stomach – a result of being within a hundred feet of him – morphed into screaming raptors with lethal claws.

Kakashi glanced over at her, and she pouted at the stern glint to his single visible eye as he caught her staring at Kenji. Kakashi had been uncharacteristically brisk with her at the gates, before Kenji and Kazuki arrived.

"Sakura, come here," Kakashi said casually, and Sakura nodded obediently, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she walked past the arguing Naruto and Sasuke to stand beside her sensei.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

The man's tone hardened slightly. "I know that you have an…attachment to the Hyuuga boy. It's a foolish tie for a kunoichi to have, one that will only bring pain, but it's not my place to tell you what to feel."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what this has to do with the mission, sensei." Sakura was blushing, partly from embarrassment and partly from irritation that her sensei was being so blatantly negative towards her feelings for Kenji.

"Sakura, feelings are powerful tools, ones that can be both used to help and hurt you. In this case…your feelings for Kenji may put you in danger. I need you to promise me that you will remember your duty, no matter what happens to Kenji or to anyone else. Our job is to protect Tazuna, nothing less will do. I don't want you to get distracted by Kenji, understand?"

Sakura's face was pale as she bit her lip. "I understand, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi's face then relaxed, and he gave her one of his familiar smiles, his eye crinkling slightly as he ruffled her hair.

"Good girl."

Sakura sighed, and quickly jogged so that she was walking beside Naruto instead. The blonde smiled at her, and Sakura forced a smile at Kazuki. She was on her love's team, but she was still Naruto's sister.

"Hi, Kazuki," Sakura said sweetly, and Kazuki seemed shocked at Sakura's words, her eyes flickering to Kenji for a moment before returning to Sakura's sea-foam ones.

"Hey Sakura."

There was a tense silence as Sakura tried to think of something to say, and Kazuki looked like she was doing the same.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Here I thought that I was awkward…you two are even worse!"

"Shut up Naruto!" the two girls cried in unison, both of their fists automatically slamming into Naruto's head. The boy yelled, and crumpled, clutching his head. The girls glanced at each other, and grinned.

Maybe they would get along after all.

Sakura giggled, and she and Kazuki started walking once more, this time side by side, the tension broken between them. Naruto whimpered from his position on the ground, and Sakura and Kazuki burst out into another fit of giggles when they saw Kakashi – his nose stuck in his orange book – step over Naruto and walk on without paying any heed to the fact that his student was currently dazed and unmoving on the ground.

Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes at the disgustingly obvious looks Sakura gave Kenji as the day wore on. She was so stupid sometimes; it made Sasuke wonder how she had passed the exit exam out of the Academy. He had been beginning to appreciate Sakura as a teammate – she was incredibly smart, and she packed one hell of a punch when her heart was in it – and now she had to go and revert back to the giggling fan-girl.

It wore on Sasuke's nerves, and also made him resort to avoiding her. The boy sighed softly, shoving his hands into his pockets, his dark eyes staring at the dirt road dejectedly.

Why had the Hokage – the brilliant man that he was – assigned Kazuki and Kenji on this mission as well? It was stupid to just place more genin on the task, rather than putting more experienced chuunin on the mission. Sasuke disliked the mundane missions most often given to genin as much as the rest of his team, but he also knew that they weren't skilled enough for a mission that might involve ninja gangs. He had read about them in school, and more often than not, they were involved with dangerous mafia leaders and such.

Kenji – the only quiet one in the group – walked beside the Uchiha, the two naturally gravitating away from the loud yells and giggles of the three behind them. Sasuke had never really bothered to get to know Kenji back at the Academy – it had been damn near impossible to speak to him without a group of squealing teenage girls crowding around – and so the silence was slightly awkward as the two boys stared straight ahead.

Sasuke sure wasn't the one who would be breaking the silence any time soon, and it seemed that Kenji was of a similar mind-set, because the two continued to walk in silence even as the minutes ticked to hours, the sun drifting across the sky aimlessly.

Finally, Kakashi called for a break, and Sasuke was grateful, for it was growing hotter by the hour, and sweat was beginning to uncomfortably trickle down the curve of his back. He sank down in the shade of a tree, sipping at his water as he watched Kazuki and Kenji sit together. Kenji seemed to be speaking to the girl about something important, because Kazuki was giving him her full attention, scowling briefly at something the Hyuuga said. Sasuke rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time as he caught Sakura staring jealously at the two sitting together, and was a few seconds away from tossing a bit of water in her direction when something caught his eye.

It was a white rabbit, its coat strikingly white against the foliage around it. Sasuke felt something akin to suspicion spike through him, but then Naruto's loud and angry yells drew his attention away from the creature, and the suspicion was forgotten.

Two long days later, they reached the Wave Country border.

It was raining when they arrived at their destination, and Sasuke frowned as his hair drooped wetly on his face and neck, and pushed a few stubborn strands out of his eyes as he peered into the pale gray fog that permeated the air. Sakura was walking beside him, her attention temporarily distracted from Kenji as she struggled to comb through the tangles that were her hair. Sasuke glanced around, and then cleared his throat.

"Do you need a brush, or something?" he asked tentatively, not sure of what kind of reaction he would get. Her sea-foam eyes snapped to him, and her breath was released in an annoyed sigh.

"Well no duh! But of course, I just had to forget mine at home. I don't even know how that happened…it was probably Eri; she always takes stuff from my room without asking!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at that. He had only seen Sakura's sixteen-year-old sister once, when Sakura had pointed her out in passing, and so he couldn't make any definite judgments of his own concerning her personality. Eri was tall for her age, with waist-length brown hair and a rather serious vibe. The only similarity between then that Sasuke could see was that the sisters had the same color eyes.

A clear green color that reminded Sasuke of the small pond in the Uchiha Compound, that had a thin sheen of light green algae at the bottom which caught the light on sunny days. He always liked skipping stones on that pond in summer, because the sun made the ripples sparkle and shine prettily.

"I'm sure that Kazuki has a brush…" Sasuke murmured, and Sakura's eyes lit up as she gave him a delighted grin. She really does have a nice smile, Sasuke realized with a jolt. Sasuke shifted hurriedly, averting his eyes to the road once more, angrily forcing the warmth from rising in his cheeks.

"Ooh, good idea, Sasuke!" she squealed, and immediately turned to where Kazuki was walking with Kenji. Sasuke flinched as her wet hair swung behind her in her haste, whipping him in the face. Onyx eyes flared in irritation, and he huffed a great sigh, sticking his hands in his pockets as he continued walking.

Sakura could be so annoying.

And yet, Sasuke couldn't help but smile slightly as the image of her smiling so freely at him floated before his eyes. It was one of the first times that she had smiled at him so…genuinely. Normally, she was only smiling in order to wheedle something out of the male members of her team, or she was smiling in an attempt to gain the attention of Kenji. The smile that Sakura had given him moments ago was strangely different.

He quickly pushed the smile from his face as he looked around, worried that someone might read into his expression. But he needn't have worried.

Naruto was too oblivious to pay attention to anything, and the other three genin were too busy talking to notice. Kakashi wasn't reading his book, but his attention was focused on scanning the trees.

Sasuke felt his anxiety fading, and allowed himself a small smile as he turned back to face the road ahead once more.

A figure crouched in the trees, his dark eyes staring at the group of shinobi as they passed the official border that separated the Wave Country from Fire Country. It wasn't officially Wave Country, but it was the small part of land that was used to dock the boats that shipped both goods and visitors to and from the mainland.

The lower half of the man's face was covered by several layers of white bandages, and his brow was permanently creased, giving him an unusually severe look for a man that was only twenty-six years of age. His abnormally large sword was strapped securely to his back, and it showed how at ease he was – even in the face of the great Kakashi Hatake – that his hand was not warily gripping the handle.

Instead, his posture was relaxed…as relaxed as a proficient shinobi could afford to be when so close to the enemy, anyway. The air was filled with the soft sounds of the rain against the leaves of the trees and the whoosh of the wind. If the man strained his senses, he could hear the gentle rasp of the ocean against the docks.

The genin couldn't sense him, which was boringly pathetic. Were they really that unaware of their surroundings? He had taught Haku that very early on, and he wondered – with a pang of amusement and pride – how long it would take for Haku to take down all five genin.

Probably not long at all, if Haku was in the right state of mind. Zabuza knew that, realistically, Haku probably wouldn't want to kill these genin. He was always so soft and gentle…it was pretty damn pathetic of Zabuza

Kakashi at least had sensed his general presence, but the mist and the conflicting scents and sounds made it difficult for the jounin to pinpoint his exact location. Kakashi looked around warily, but continued walking a moment later, his eyes scanning the trees as he stuck his hands deep in his pockets.

Konohagakure must be getting pathetically complacent if they were sending a single jounin and a bunch of useless genin on a mission to protect a target of Gatō. Honestly, the assassin was surprised that no other village had taken advantage of the village's weakness. It wouldn't be long before someone took advantage of its lack of discipline.

But instead of making his position known, the man remained silent and observed; a snake coiling as it eyes the unaware prey.

There were five genin in all.

One of them looked around with his pale eyes, and his distinct, lack of pupils made it known that he was a Hyuuga. The Water-nin looked closely at another dark haired boy with equally dark eyes, and his lips turned slightly downward at the Uchiha clan insignia stitched on the back of the boy's shirt. The man remembered seeing another Uchiha in these waters not long ago, meeting with a red and black cloaked man…but it was too long ago, and the man's memory failed him in this rare account. There was a girl with shocking pink hair – the Water-nin scoffed at the stupidity of having such a noticeable attribute; it was as if the idea of subtlety no longer existed – and from the way she frowned up at the rain and tried to comb through her hair with her fingers, the man guessed that she was one of those annoying girly kunoichi.

His keen eyes immediately spotted the Hokage's son; the resemblance was unmistakable. The daughter wasn't much of a challenge either – the lovely Kushina Uzumaki's vivid red hair and violet eyes, seeing as she was the daughter of the leader of the now decimated Uzushiogakure, were well known in Kirigakure.

The stupidity of the Hokage made the Water-nin smile. For all of his great titles and skill, the Fourth Hokage could be a real fool when it came to his children. Honestly…sending both of them? It was all too perfect.

That Gatō rat will be very pleased to have this advantage over Konohagakure, the man mused, leaning forward slightly. The Fourth might be able to sacrifice one of his children in favor of the village, but to have both of them in enemy hands at once, and at such a young age…

The man knew that the Fourth would do anything and everything to guarantee their safety, the village be damned.

The pink haired girl was yelling at the Namikaze boy, who ran to hide behind his sister. They both backed up in order to avoid the girl's delicate fists, and the Uchiha and Hyuuga merely rolled their eyes as they continued on. Kakashi was reading his book, but that didn't encourage the Water-nin to let himself relax, not even for a second. Genin or not, Kakashi was still an S-class threat, and the man wasn't willing to get himself killed just because he felt like being overconfident.

He shifted slightly on the branch, careful to keep his chakra suppressed and his movements bereft of any sound, and debated whether to attack. If he attacked now, he could kidnap the old man, as was his assignment. But…something held him back. A mere bridge was nothing in comparison to having two children that could place his boss – and paycheck – in a favorable situation with one of the most prosperous shinobi villages in the world. Who knows what could come of this if he let Gatō decide what the next plan of action was.

And so, with that in mind, Zabuza Momochi turned and melted into the surrounding mist.