Happy Valentines Day! Let this be my valentine to you all!
Chapter 5: Sayonara (December 29th)
The chill early morning air was perfect for stretches. It seemed to relax the muscles, offering Sakura a feeling of pleasant euphoria. Getting back up from her crabwalk position, she grabbed her outdoor clothes from her closet and hurried to get a shower. Unfortunately she heard faint singing coming from the bathroom.
"Rats," she sighed. She had temporarily forgotten that they were sharing the home. Mrs. Akimichi took notoriously long showers, and she certainly wasn't going to be rude and ask her to hurry.
Besides, I took a shower last night. However, one last one, just before leaving, would have been really nice.
"Might as well just get changed." she muttered. She paused, when she noticed what song the woman was singing though. It was a song full of goodbyes, one about a mother awaiting the return of her husband and son.
Chouji and Mr. Akimichi must have already left. Sakura noted. She didn't feel regret about missing out on the last luxury. That woman needed the time far more than she did.
She slid into her ninja gear and packed her knee-length black skirt and a black blouse with white sleeves that struck her as sharp, and something civilian-ish, civilianistic, civilian-like? Well it looks nice but inconspicuous; I'll leave it at that.
I think that's all… she examined the room, and then noticed the picture, the one with team seven at its beginning. She picked it up. We should get a new one made. After all, we have Sai and Yamato now. She was about to put it into her pack, when she thought better of it. It would be better that it wait here for me, after all, I plan on coming back.
She hefted her pack over her shoulder and walked out, making one last look at the picture. "See you soon."
Downstairs she was met by her mother in front of the door.
"Is something wrong mom?"
"No," she said, embracing her daughter.
Sakura dropped her pack and hugged her mom back. Her mother's back began to shake from suppressed sobs. Sakura bit her lip; her mother had never been so affected by her departure before.
"Um mom?"
"Sayonara." her mother whispered, releasing her daughter.
"Oh, sayonara," Sakura replied.
Her mother's eyes were full of unwept tears but she smiled nonetheless at her daughter. "Please, stay out of harm's way."
"I…" Sakura didn't know what to say, but she figured no amount of lying or buttering up the situation would help her mother. "I am going to be helping those who have been injured, that is my battle, to send home many who would not have otherwise."
"I know dear, and I will be praying for your return." her mother's smile broadened in pride for her daughter. "Now shoo, you have to help the caravan."
"Ok!" Sakura laughed, dashing out the door.
"Oh, one last thing," her mother yelled. "We just drew the lottery; our family is going to have our house built next! You will have a home when you come back!"
"Alright! I look forward to it!" Sakura called back then ran down the road.
Once she was out of sight of the house she slowed down to a walk. She felt a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly as she looked at the scenery around her of her hometown. She wanted to remember every detail, just so whenever she needed she could feel like she was home again.
It would be a while before she was needed at the gate, so she pulled out a small scroll from her pack. Her grandmother, after giving her a short talking to, had given it to her. It was further training instructions for using the family genjutsu. She ran her hands over the first lines which read 'Kekkei Genkai of the Haruno Clan…' After that many words were missing with long gaps between scripts. She remembered her grandmother's lecture.
"This is an example of Ink Jutsu, it will reveal more as you figure out more about the kekkei genkai, also it will erase parts you have mastered. It is a way to protect these secrets. Even though the genjutsu contained within is only usable by the two of us, it would be unfortunate if others knew the effects. Genjutsu hinges on leaving the enemy in ignorance. So, just read the inked sections, and try to understand them. And most importantly, tell no one of what you learn.
"Oh, and one last thing,"
"What Haruno?" Sakura asked.
"Learn Raiken!"
Sakura winced at the memory of the door slamming in her face. Boy she is scary.
Looking down at the scroll, she found a fully black paragraph and started reading it, over and over.
Kakashi leaned against the outer wall of the village, by the north gate which was currently a bustle of carts moving out. He had helped with the loading already and there wasn't much else for him to do but wait.
Why am I the one waiting? He asked himself irritatingly as he flipped through another page of the dreadfully clean historical fiction. Aren't I usually the one keeping other people waiting?
No exact time had been assigned for the meeting, but perhaps he had made a false assumption that he was not the only one rearing to go on this mission.
"Sigh," he began, "The onsen is in sight…"
"Hello Hatake!" Raido exclaimed waving as he walked up. The rippling scar the anchored at his nose and fanned out over his left cheek wrinkled upwards with his sideways grin.
"Hello," Kakashi greeted, "taking care of last minute stuff?"
"Ah, well, yeah. Saying goodbye to my girlfriend,"
Kakashi laughed a little then corrected him, "You mean your ex. She left you months ago."
"Well, er," Raido blushed and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I, I need someone to say goodbye to."
"Yeah, well that someone's boyfriend is bound to not be too thrilled about that." Kakashi added.
Raido's eyes looked down to the left, telling Kakashi that the scarred ninja had already found that out.
"Ok, spit it out, how did he try to kill you?"
"He's got some nasty earth jutsu…" Raido muttered. "Anyway, are you looking forward to this trip or what, I mean, just two guys getting to go on an onsen getaway and the only catch is a ridiculously easy mission!"
"So," Kakashi asked curiously, "You don't know?"
"About what?"
"We're taking two medic kunoichi's, we have to watch after them, it's actually more of their mission than ours."
"Really?" Raido's face fell, "We have to baby-sit?"
"Relax," Kakashi chuckled. "They are both very capable chuunin."
"Well, I suppose that's ok," Raido replied, then winked, "At least now we get to have a couple ladies along though eh? Girl's just love the hot springs, and think of the opportunities if you catch my drift." Then he coughed and spoke seriously, "I'm joking of course we're all mature ninja, right? We'll keep things professional."
"Huh, you better, because the two ladies aren't yet seventeen and one of them is my former student." Kakashi casually advised, with a barely noticeable hint of hostility.
"Oh," was all that could escape Raido's quivering mouth.
Ino sprinted up on them, "Good morning! Mr. Hatake," she stopped in front of the two men, then turned to Raido, "and… er… Rengo?"
"It's Raido!" he exclaimed, "Remember, the guy who rescued you all from Hidan and Kakuzu?"
"Um, if I remember right, Aoba was there too." Ino said.
"And you can remember his name?"
"He did most of the work. Besides, his name is noble and memorable."
"Raido is too! Way of Lightning, that's noble!"
"But Rengo is better, Crane Defender."
"If I'm the defender than I guess that makes you the crane!"
"Shut up, jerk!"
"Okay you two…" Kakashi said, flipping a page in his book. "This hostility so early in the mission is not a good sign."
The two held their silence, though Ino pointedly walked over and stood close to Kakashi, as if to tell Raido that he was on the outside. Raido, meanwhile, sat on a crate and grumbled.
Kakashi attempted to continue his reading, but the atmosphere about him had changed towards the unpleasant. He was well experienced in team chemistry, and he had thought over how well this combination would work together. He really figured that Raido and Ino would get along swell so if they needed to split the team it could be Raido/Ino and himself with Sakura. But with these recent developments it looked like he was going to have to team up with Ino… and he really didn't want that, she was too talkative and he was already accustomed to any of Sakura's eccentricities. Why couldn't life be simpler? He prayed inwardly.
Just as the prospects of the trip seemed at their dimmest, he heard the familiar footfalls of a pink haired kunoichi. He looked up and saw Sakura walking slowly towards them. She was completely absorbed in reading a small scroll.
Why can't I understand this? It's as if it's written in gibberish. I've been thinking about what I've been reading, but it just makes no sense. Is it in code? She absolutely did not get what she was reading. The scroll was all written in Hiragana and many of the words seemed entirely made up. And the more she read it, the more possible sentences came to mind.
"Hey, Sakura!" Ino yelled."
Her concentration was broken, much to Kakashi's chagrin. He had thought he looked quite amusing with her frozen in concentration. It filled him with undeserved pride as her teacher, thinking how she had grown, and was now trying her best to learn… something. Not to mention she looked cu…"
"Oh hi Ino," Sakura replied.
"So, isn't it funny, Sakura, how Kakashi sensei arrived early for once. It makes you think he's excited about this trip."
Sakura laughed, "Him? No, he just was bored most likely, I mean Kakashi sensei and punctuality don't naturally exist. You know we had to wait five hours one time and…" Sakura suddenly a pain of guilt, bowed quickly to Kakashi, "Sorry, I was being rude. I hope you aren't irritated."
"No, I could tell you were joking." Kakashi said, waving her off and turning another page.
He's irritated… Sakura mused.
"Time to get going, we have a few days journey ahead of us." Kakashi ordered.
"Yes sir," they all replied. Sakura made sure to add an extra dose of respect to her salute to make up for being to chummy.
The four joined up with the caravan, helping out with as many various jobs as they could on the rut-filled northern road. By the end of the long day, Raido started a campfire and they gathered around it.
Sakura assisted the scarred jounin with making dinner while Kakashi and Ino both sat back and discussed books… That notion creeped Sakura out slightly. Her friend and her teacher were reading the same types of books now… she prayed that Kakashi would not get Ino into his books.
"So sir, do you think this is done?" she asked, tipping the contents of the pot for Raido to see.
He took a whiff, "It smells done, and it should be hot enough. By the way, you can call me Raido."
Kakashi stiffened momentarily and gave a one-eyed glare at the jounin.
Sakura smiled, "Alright, I'll try to remember."
Kakashi returned to his discussion with Ino, hiding his irritation. He knew what Raido was up to. He'd been dumped, and now he was getting familiar with a vulnerable and naïve girl. He was going to watch him like a hawk.
"Something wrong sensei?"
He looked up to see Sakura offering him a bowl of the stew. "Uh, no Sakura, and you don't need to…" add the 'sensei' was what he was going to say, but he decided against it last moment. "…to serve me. It's just a campout."
She smiled and briefly chuckled, then said, "I know, but I wanted to, and you looked tired."
"Well, thanks." he said, turning his attention to his bowl. However before he could get far, Ino started up they previous conversation.
"So, which author to do you prefer, Moritaka or Takagi?" she asked.
"Umm, Moritaka I suppose, I haven't read anything by Takagi yet?"
"Oh, well don't you love Moritaka's comedy? I think it's just hilarious."
He squinted at the blonde who was sitting a little to close to him. Her conversation seemed far too forced, he glanced over at Raido, who had just made Sakura laugh from one of his jokes… Raido hardly ever told jokes. It was then he noticed something else, they were both sitting at the far side of Sakura and himself, leaving the team seven members sandwiched in the middle along with a large gap. Furthermore, Ino and Raido twice in the last two minutes avoided looking the other's direction.
That's when it clicked; they still haven't gotten over their insults that morning! Moreover, this atmosphere seems more hostile then before, which means more harsh words must have been exchanged during the day. Wonderful… Kakashi was less then pleased, it meant that Ino would be clinging to him, and Sakura, who was apparently the only other team-member with any maturity, would have Raido latched up next to her the whole trip. That thought left a sour feeling in his gut as he sent one more glare Raido's direction.
"Alright!" Kakashi ordered, "We need to retire for the night. After all, we have a long way to go tomorrow and we will be crossing out of the Land of Fire. So it's best to rest up."
"Ok sensei!" Sakura replied, grabbing her pack.
Raido was about to place his pack down next to Sakura's when a bed roll landed in front of him. He looked up to where it had been tossed from and saw Kakashi walk over, and then unrolled his sleeping bag and lay down.
The jounin was perplexed but moved to lay his pack on the other side of Sakura but found that Ino was already lying down there.
The blonde shot a glare up at him, which he returned. Then he decided to lay his pack on the other side of Kakashi, feeling like an outsider.
Before he fell asleep, Raido felt a one-eyed glare and looked behind him, but Kakashi was all too innocently tucked, eye closed, and breathing evenly. Raido fell asleep, wondering what he had done to end up in such an awkward situation.
And so the journey begins at last. I hope the plot doesn't seem to be moving too slowly. Raido and Ino's mutual distaste promises to be quite entertaining. And lastly, Sakura seems to be entirely oblivious of anything going through the minds of her comrades. Please review!
Look out for the next release, Chapter 6, Samurai, coming either later this month or in early March.
And thank you very much for your reading, this story now has over 1000 views thanks to y'all!