AN: I'd like to thank everyone who's read my story so far, especially Lori and xXRosexScorpiusXx who have given me such long and lovely reviews. On with the show :)
After morning practice Lee was always in a good mood. His body felt full of youth after he had worked hard and tried to prove himself a master of hard work like he did every day. He'd even had an especially good workout today. However he couldn't help but feel his flames of youthfulness hadn't fanned all that high because something had been missing.
Or rather someone had been missing from practice that morning.
Lee had gotten used to seeing Sakura in their morning workouts and looked forward to seeing her every day. He wasn't nearly as hopelessly shy as he had been before but he still got embarrassed easily. Soon after she started working out with them in the morning Guy had often started assigning Lee to teach Sakura some bit of taijutsu or correcting her mistakes. It was no secret to anyone who knew Lee that he had become quite smitten with his pink haired morning workout partner. It got him no end of teasing but as long as Sakura didn't find out before he was ready it wasn't really that big a deal. He'd almost gotten used to feeling constantly embarrassed.
Now Sakura had missed her first morning workout. She was so dedicated to her training it was extremely out of character. Lee started imagining farfetched scenarios of her being kidnapped by an evil warlord and him having to rush in to save his Sakura-Hime. Shaking his head and scolding himself for letting his imagination get out of control he decided he needed to go check on Sakura. He'd worry about her all day if he didn't.
"Where are you going Lee?" asked Guy curiously as he saw Lee about to walk off. Usually the two of them had a lightning quick breakfast before their team meeting.
"Sorry Guy-sensei. I may have to skip breakfast today. I want to check on Sakura-chan before our team meeting today," he said.
Guy gave him a proud smile and Lee couldn't quite figure out why. "Of course! Go and check to make sure she is alright. Don't worry about being a few minutes late today. If she's sick tell Sakura-chan that I wish her a speedy youthful recovery."
Lee flinched a little. He hadn't gotten up the courage to call Sakura by anything other than Sakura-san yet. He didn't want her to even guess about his feelings until after he made Chunin after all. When she wasn't around though he would occasionally call her that. It had earned him no end of teasing from Tenten when she found out.
"Hai Guy-sensei. I'll meet up with you and the team," he promised and left.
Guy had asked Sakura for her address in case of emergencies or if they needed to leave a note for her and she had given it to both him and Lee. The young taijutsu specialist had never been there before but he didn't think it would be too hard to find, he knew it was near the training grounds they used after all. After ten minutes of walking he finally found what looked to be the right house.
"Ok… have some youthful courage. Here goes nothing," he said as he knocked on the front door.
A minute later an attractive woman in her late thirties opened the door. He saw as she took in his appearance with an incredulously raised eyebrow. Maybe this is where Sakura got her expressive eyebrow thing from? Lee assumed this must be Sakura's mother.
Lee bowed very formally at the waist making sure to make a good impression. "Excuse me for disturbing you Haruno-san. I'm Sakura-san's training partner in the mornings," and how awesome that was, "and she missed practice today. I just wanted to stop by and make sure she was alright."
The woman gave him an appraising look that made him squirm a little. "You're not dating her are you? I'm afraid I can't approve of that. She's way too young for that you know," she said.
Lee's face got so red from embarrassment you'd think he'd been dipped in red paint. He raised his hands and waved them frantically in front of him as if warding off her words. "No! I never… we've never… I mean s-she never and me and and… we're just training partners! We're not d-d-d-dating," he said trying frantically to keep blood from dribbling down his nose.
That's when he noticed her playful smirk and the twinkle in her eye. Oh! She had been teasing him! Realizing that didn't make Lee feel any less mortified however.
"Well I just had to make sure you understand. You're the first boy to come to our door looking for her. It's really nice that you're worried about her. I'd invite you to come in but because of certain reasons… it's probably better that I don't. If you'll wait here a moment I'll go get Sakura for you," she said.
Without another word Sakura's mom turned and went back into the house. Lee fidgeted a little nervously as he waited by the door. Moms were scary.
A few moments later Sakura came up to the door wearing her normal ninja attire. She looked surprised to see him but greeted him warmly. "Lee! I didn't expect to see you. Sorry I missed practice today but uh it wasn't really something I could avoid," she said a little sheepishly.
Lee noticed that she looked a little stressed and her smile a little forced.
"I – er we were worried when you didn't show up today since you never miss practice. Is everything fine? You're not getting sick or anything are you?" he asked.
"No nothing like that," she said a little sadly. He had to suppress a frown, he didn't like seeing Sakura like that, "I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to tell you. It's just that I need to stay home for the next day or so that's all."
Need to stay home? Not allowed to tell him? "Are you in some kind of trouble Sakura-san? Maybe I can help," he said sounding concerned.
"Thanks Lee," she said and her smile was a little more sincere this time. It made his heart thump a little harder, "but it's nothing you need to worry about. The situation should be resolved soon."
"Are you sure? Because I could ask-"
"Haruno-san," a voice said right behind him causing him to jump, "it's time to leave for your appointment."
Lee turned and looked at the person who had spoken. To his utter surprise it was a masked ANBU who had snuck up behind him.
Sakura nodded at the man. "I need to go Lee. If all goes well I should be able to come back to practice soon. Apologize to Guy-sensei for me ok?"
Lee absently nodded as she walked passed him and went with the ANBU after yelling a goodbye to her mother. His mind whirled as to why an ANBU would escort a Genin anywhere but he drew a blank. He couldn't help but feel worried.
He should ask Guy-sensei. Maybe he could find out what was going on.
(That Afternoon)
"Well Inoichi, report," said Hiruzen.
Inoichi was in the Hokage's office along with Iruka and Kakashi. All of them had been gathered to answer the Hokage's questions about one particular Genin. Kakashi was uneasy since it had been hinted he had something potentially dangerous in mind for his student.
"The girl herself appears to be as normal as could be expected under these circumstances. With all the guilt, stress and unknown disturbing things happening to her over the last five or so weeks it's a bit surprising she's held up as well as she did. In my opinion if she had continued to try and keep this hidden as she had she would have broken down before long so it's fortunate everything came out when it did. As it is now with things out in the open and her knowing what is wrong with her I believe she will be able to make the adjustment,"
"She is experiencing guilt over the deaths that took place a fear and aversion to her Kekkei Genkai. That aversion needs to be bit in the bud soon before it had time to become more entrenched. She seems disturbed by her casual thoughts regarding death but it is truly no different than how experienced shinobi view death. It's unfortunate but she'll need to be made to accept that death is part of who she is now and probably will be for the rest of her life. I don't foresee any complications once these concerns are addressed. As far as I could tell she is loyal to Konoha and wants to protect her citizens."
There was silence in the room as they all considered these words. "You've read some of the descriptions of her Kekkei Genkai that Aiko-san gave to us. What is your opinion on it?" the Hokage asked Inoichi.
The man paused for a moment gathering his thought. "This is truly an interesting case especially given my family's specialty in dealing with the mind. From the descriptions and accounts I read last night the state of First Heaven is not even close to true psychopathy. The bonds with people she cares about remain intact so I do not believe she would be a danger to her teammates. However she truly would have no regard for anything or anyone outside of the bonds she has with those she cares about,"
"If it came down to a situation where it came down to her teammates or her mission she would choose her teammates every time. I believe her alter persona would act in Konoha's interests as long as she believed those close to her have a vested interest in Konoha's welfare. I'd like to at some point interview Sakura again while her Kekkei Genkai is activated but if the records I read are correct I'm willing to tentatively clear her for active duty. Of course if or when she unlocks the next stage of her Kekkei Genkai things will need to be reevaluated. "
Even though Kakashi didn't show anything outwardly on the inside he felt a great deal of relief. If Sakura suddenly stopped caring about her comrades when her Kekkei Genkai activated it would have just made it a liability. As it was her Kekkei Genkai wouldn't make her much different from some of the battle hardened, slightly unhinged ninja with a mean streak who he had worked with over the years.
"Thank you for your evaluation Inoichi. Iruka, you taught the girl for six years. What insights can you give me as to her personality and skills," asked the Hokage turning to the young Chunnin.
He paused to gather his thoughts and looked thoughtful as he began, "Sakura had some problems making friends at first but eventually she found her niche in the class. She is extremely intelligent and while diligent in her schoolwork I don't think it ever truly challenged her. It wasn't really a surprise to me when she ended up with the best theory scores in the class, a near perfect score. However she did seem quite focused on frivolous activities such as chasing after boys and worrying about clothes and latest hair styles and such. I suspect she only really started to get involved with that in order to fit in with the other girls,"
"As to her physical skills they were below average across the board. I got the impression that she was never motivated to put much effort into it, possibly because she was simply one of those girls more interested in silly things and the social pecking order than in her ninja skills. She was assessed as having potential in genjutsu because of her high intelligence, excellent chakra control and relatively low chakra capacity. I always thought if she got her head out of the clouds she had the potential to make an excellent ninja."
"I see," said the Hokage thoughtfully, "thank you Iruka. Kakashi what is your assessment of the girl and what can you tell us about her skills?"
"Hmm not much to say. After that mission in Wave that unexpectedly became an A-Rank she woke up, stopped being a useless fangirl and got serious about her training. I think the enemy deaths and one of her teammates nearly dying got to her. She's been working hard on the basics trying to get physically up to par. Hmmm I suppose she's done all right with that," he said. Sakura actually had a few bright spots worth mentioning but Kakashi had a feeling it would be best to downplay her abilities right now.
"I see," said the Hokage, his gaze saying he didn't believe that was the whole story, "thank you all then for your assessment. As of now I decree Haruno Sakura is reinstated to active duty. Arrangements have been made to keep her supplied with supplementary chakra."
Iruka paled a bit at the implication. Kakashi thought it was an amazingly delicate way of saying 'keep her supplied with a steady supply of people to kill'.
Now Kakashi started paying special attention. It was about time for the other shoe to drop.
"With that being taken care of I have a special mission in mind for young Sakura. If it goes well she will have done more good for Konoha than any Genin in recent memory. While there is some risk I believe with proper preparation this plan has a high percentage chance of success."
Then the Hokage told them of his plans for Sakura. Inoichi kept his face stoic but he felt uneasy placing such burden and responsibility on what was essentially just a girl from a civilian background. Iruka was the first to voice his protests,
"Hokage-sama, I can see how this could benefit Konoha but… isn't it too much? If you do this the girl with have a bounty on her head by the end of the week!" he said.
"I realize this Iruka," the Hokage said patiently, "but she is a ninja of the Leaf and it is her duty to put herself in harm's way if it will benefit the village. If everything goes according to plan the increased risk to her person should be minimal."
"Putting a little worm like her in the middle of giants is just going to get her smashed," said Kakashi, his normal bland tones giving way to displeasure, "you know the risk is much higher than that. This will paint a target on her back that she's not nearly strong enough to handle."
"I've made my decision," said the Hokage sharply, "This is no different than any other mission above D-Ranked. There are always risks. As much as I would like to shelter that girl and every other young Genin my duty is first and foremost to act in the best interests of the village. This is an opportunity Konoha cannot afford to pass up. Kakashi you will inform your team of it's new mission this afternoon. Thank you all for coming. Dismissed."
Sakura got back home from talking to Ino's dad in a surprisingly good mood. Somehow just talking about it with the man had made things easier to bear. Though the man was mainly there to assess her for the Hokage he had treated her as if she had been a patient and given her some sound pieces of advice. Things like how her Kekkei Genkai didn't make her evil or wrong or dirty and how she needed to accept it in order to get on with her life. He also told her to think of all the benefits that came with it like extra chakra and the ability to act against an enemy without freezing. It still scared the pants off her but at least she was now thinking about if there might be some positives to having the Santengoku.
She knew from what she had heard that the Santengoku was supposed to give her some other abilities. If that was true and she could be more useful to her team and help keep them safe then that might go some ways towards making up for the fact she had no choice but to become a habitual killer.
The pinkette hadn't been home for more than an hour before there was a loud knock on the door. Since her mom had stepped out for a bit Sakura went to answer the door. Standing outside was the same ANBU from this morning.
"What is it this time?" asked Sakura. She still found the ANBU intimidating in their white masks but after two days of seeing them so often it was starting to lose some of its shock value to her.
"You're to come with me," he said in flat tones. Sakura suppressed a sigh. Would it kill these guys to be a little bit more friendly? She wondered what would happen if she invited this one in for tea.
"Sure, let's go," was what she said, stepping out and locking the door behind her.
This time they took to the rooftops. Sakura struggled to keep up with the ANBU who set what was a hard pace for her but was probably an effortless lope for him. They ran until they reached a part of town she was unfamiliar with filled with what looked like low, nondescript gray office buildings. The ANBU brought them to a stop in front of another boring gray building whose most interesting characteristics were the bars on all the windows.
"Go inside, someone will take care of you," the ANBU said, before jumping on the roof and disappearing from sight.
"Thanks, I guess," Sakura muttered before turning to the building in front of her. She had no idea where she was or what she was doing there. Hesitantly she walked over to the door and opened it letting herself inside.
Inside was not at all what she had been expecting. It looked like a perfectly ordinary office foyer with a young woman sitting at a reception desk.
Hesitantly she walked up to the woman who looked up with a professional smile as she got nearer.
"Um, I'm Haruno Sakura. I was instructed to come here," she said hesitantly.
The receptionist looked her over once before she clicked on the intercom. "Anko, that girl is here. Come and get her," then she clicked it off without waiting for a reply.
"Hi," said the woman turning to her with a bright smile, "my name is Umeko. Welcome to Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department. As I understand it you'll be a regular visitor here from now on. Please fill these out so we can update your security clearance," Umeko said handing Sakura an inch thick stack of papers on a clipboard.
"Um… thanks?" said Sakura hesitantly. She really had no idea what was going on.
"You're welcome," Umeko replied, same bright smile on her face, "you can sit over there and fill those out. Mitarashi-san should be up soon to show you around."
Figuring that if the Hokage had decided to throw her in a cell and have her interrogated they wouldn't be being nearly this polite Sakura settled her nerves and sat down on a couch against the wall.
She took her time filling out the forms and making sure she didn't screw anything up. As far as Sakura could tell it was all pages and pages of legalese that basically boiled down to 'if you tell anyone not authorized about anything that you see or hear you'll be spending the rest of your short miserable life in a Torture and Interrogation cell'. She spent the better part of an hour filling out the forms before she was interrupted.
"So you're the new mascot? You sure as hell don't look like much pinkey."
She looked up to see the most outrageously dressed woman she had ever laid eyes on. The woman in front of her wore a fishnet bodysuit just wasn't quite doing the job of preserving her modesty. She had on the shortest miniskirt Sakura had ever seen, metal shin guards and to clash horribly with the rest of it a long tan trench coat. Her short-ish messy purple hair was pulled in a loose ponytail and she proudly displayed her Konoha headband on her forehead. She was an attractive woman but something about the look she was giving Sakura made that hard to appreciate.
"Who are you?" asked Sakura, sounding braver than she felt.
The way the woman flashed her teeth couldn't really be called a smile. "I'm Mitarashi Anko. While you're in here just know that I'm your personal God and you're my faithful obedient little bitch. Step out of line and I'll 'volunteer' you for some experimental interrogation techniques. Capiche little pinkey?"
Anko led her down twisting hallways deep into the building with many doors on either side. When they arrived at yet another nondescript one Anko opened the door and led them down a dark foreboding flight of stairs. While they were walking downwards Anko broke the silence, her voice echoing strangely on the concrete stairway.
"So pinkey is it true you get off on killing people? I got briefed on it and it sounded like you have an orgasm every time you end some poor bastard. Shit I get off on killing people too but nothing like you darlin'."
Sakura opened and closed her mouth a few times but no words came out. There was just so much wrong with what Anko had just said she didn't even know where to begin.
"Why am I here?" she asked eventually. There was no way she was answering that question.
"What, are you embarrassed?" asked Anko with mocking amusement in her voice, "Bet you're still a virgin huh? Well don't be. Down here in the dungeons you get to hear more nasty, depraved secrets than you can possibly imagine. Trust me creaming your pants when you kill some fucker is downright mild by comparison. Hell when it's a really good case torturing people gives me something like an orgasm too. Down here you get over that shit real quick."
Kami, just what in the hell had she gotten into? "Why am I here?" she asked again, her voice breaking a little at the end.
Anko looked over her shoulder and gave her a wicked grin, "Are you a virgin?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, getting angry at the woman. "Why am I here?"
"You tell me first or else I'll just have you follow me around on my cases all day," said Anko, wicked amusement dancing in her eyes.
Sakura swallowed thickly. She had gotten that 'cases' referred to people getting tortured and interrogated. There was no way she wanted to be made to watch that all day. Looking at the older woman Sakura could tell she wasn't going to win this one. Looking away she grit her teeth as a blush colored her cheeks.
"Yes, I'm a virgin," she ground out behind clenched teeth. "I'm thirteen, it's kind of a given people my age haven't had sex."
"Oh I don't know about that. I'd already been introduced to hard cock by the time I was your age," said Anko still looking at her over her shoulder in the low light. Sakura could see she was getting a sadistic pleasure from making her uncomfortable, "But if you'd rather be introduced to sex by a woman I promise I'll be gentle your first time."
"What. Am. I. Doing. Here? I doubt Hokage-sama ordered me here for your amusement or to talk about… those sorts of things," she said feeling flushed, embarrassed and angry.
Anko huffed rather childishly and turned to look to the front again. "Your file said you were supposed to be as smart as a Nara but so far you're a fucking disappointment. Tell me what do you think we do with prisoners once we're done milking them for everything they're worth?"
Just like that everything clicked. It should have been so obvious. Suddenly Sakura felt like there was a heavy stone in her stomach.
"So, what? I get to be like… your part time executioner?" she asked, trying to imagine coming down that dreary staircase every few days to execute another prisoner. The thought of killing someone didn't make her all that uncomfortable and that bothered her more than anything.
"So I'm told," said Anko dismissively, "me and a couple of people in this dump got the full briefing about how you get chakra from killing people and how if you don't get it regular you're bound to get murder happy. Come on we're almost there. I got one set up nice and juicy for you."
There was a seemingly random door along the wall of the staircase they came across. Anko entered it without hesitation and Sakura followed.
"I don't really need more chakra right now," said Sakura in a low voice, "I'll be fine for another couple of days."
"Me, God. You , obedient bitch. Remember? If I tell you to rape a prisoner's ass with a kunai while you're down here you will do so with a smile after asking 'how hard and deep would you like it Anko-sama?'. You don't get to fuck around and stay lily white if you're going to be hanging around at T&I. Come on we're almost there."
There wasn't more for Sakura to say after that. Anko led her down more featureless corridors with identical looking doors on both sides. They took so many turns Sakura eventually lost track. It seemed that featureless halls and confusing floor plans were deliberate down here.
Eventually Anko stopped at featureless metal door and went inside. Sakura followed with growing trepidation. Inside was a small room with rough walls and a drain on the floor. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling and it didn't do much to relieve the dark and dank atmosphere of the room. In the middle was a man who was blindfolded, gagged and tied to a chair. The man jerked when the door opened but otherwise remained slumped and still.
Sakura just stared at the prisoner, unsure what to do. Anko started to get impatient and gestured at the bound man. "What are you waiting for? Kill him already," she said. That the man didn't flinch at the mention of his own death told Sakura something odd was going on.
"I…," started Sakura hesitantly, "I've never killed anyone before."
Anko looked at her incredulously. "Weren't you the kid that killed two civilians because she couldn't help herself?"
Sakura looked away and ran a slightly shaking hand through her hair. "It wasn't like that. My Kekkei Genkai activated and I was so… starved for chakra I didn't have a choice. When it's on I can kill and it doesn't bother me. I've never killed anyone without my Kekkei Genkai on."
Anko shrugged. "So turn it on, I don't give a rat's ass. Just so long as you kill him soon, I ain't about to waste any more time in here with this shit stain than I have to," she said nodding her head at the man.
Sakura shook her head. "If I turn it on I don't know if I'll be able to turn it off. It's not really safe and I'd rather not try it."
"Hmm. Well you'll have to show it to me sometime. Not many people have seen what you can do," she said.
Sakura wasn't sure how to proceed yet and she hoped she could somehow get out of this. She asked something that had been bothering her. "What's wrong with him? Why isn't he reacting at all to us standing here talking about killing him?"
Anko gave her a rather unpleasant and self-satisfied smile, "That little Genin is the result after you completely break someone. Someone who's well and truly broken understands and accepts that their fate is completely out of their hands. They've given up on life after spilling every last secret they ever knew, even if it damned their own mothers. It's an art getting someone to do absolutely anything for you," she purred, "there's no experience quite like watching a person break once you get a taste for it."
Now Sakura was sorry she had asked. Hesitantly she reached into her pouch and pulled out a kunai. She looked down from it to the prisoner and down to the kunai in her hand again. She didn't want to be down here. She wanted to go home.
"Hurry the fuck up I haven't got all day. That's an order."
She didn't know what would happen if she turned on her Kekkei Genkai and couldn't, or didn't, turn it off. It was not something she'd had any good experiences with and she thought it was a bad idea to spend the rest of the day running around in First Heaven. Besides it sort of felt like cheating a little bit if she took the easy way out by killing and not feeling it because she was deep in her Kekkei Genkai.
She couldn't refuse orders and besides this man was an enemy of Konoha or else he wouldn't be down there. This was different from those other two people. This was a completely justified kill.
Almost mechanically trying not to think about what she was doing she stepped behind the man. She almost felt like a stranger in her own skin as she did exactly as she had been taught in the academy. Sakura pulled the unresisting man's head back and slit his throat.
Sakura stepped back and looked at anywhere but the prisoner waiting for the death to hit. Even with no blood to the brain and unconscious it still took a few minutes for the blood starved brain and heart to die. After what seemed a small eternity she finally felt the man die absorbing whatever it was she absorbed from him.
The chakra exploded from her hara in a way she was becoming accustomed too but that made it no less intense or pleasurable. As she rode the incredible feeling Sakura thought she understood why her mother said a lot of Saotome became monsters. If one let themselves one could easily become addicted to the sensations that came from killing.
"Heh, that was almost an orgasm face but not quite. It doesn't feel like that does it? What does it feel like when you kill?" asked Anko conversationally like there wasn't a fresh corpse and a pool of blood in the room.
"It's like," Sakura said in a slightly husky tone, "it's like a runner's high but a hundred times more intense. That's the only analogy I can think of, it's hard to describe what it's like."
Anko seemed somehow a little disappointed. "Well, whatever. You made a mess so I have to show you what to do to clean up and how to get rid of the bodies. Come on let's get this orientation over with."
It was a few hours later that Sakura finally made it out the dark bowels of hell known as Konoha's T&I department. She had just seen a man that had been broken by torture, killed him and disposed of the body. Then she's had to fill out even more paperwork and get threatened by no less than three different administrators about the importance of secrecy and discretion. She was feeling emotionally drained which is why she was planning on heading straight home and crashing into bed. Her potential freak out about having killed for the first time in cold blood as one hundred percent herself could wait.
"Yo, Sakura," called out a voice behind her as she was halfway home.
Sakura turned to see the man standing behind her. "Yes sensei?" she said a little warily.
"You've been reinstated to active duty. Meet me at our team's training grounds," said Kakashi, "we have a new mission."
Then he dissapared in a swirl of leaves and completely vanished from her senses. Even though she knew it was just Shunshin no Jutsu how Kakashi-sensei pulled it off was still impressive.
Sakura groaned, realizing she wasn't going to get to go home and pass out as she'd planned. Knowing there was nothing to be done she ran towards the training grounds at top speed. She was just feeling mentally drained but since she had just killed someone she physically felt like she could run all the way to Suna.
When she arrived she found the training grounds empty. It took her a few minutes of looking around to find Kakashi-sensei high up in a branch of a tree reading one of his dirty books. Rolling her eyes as a matter of course at his immature behavior she climbed up the tree to join her sensei.
"So," she began, "I guess since I'm back on active duty everything is ok with the Hokage?" she asked a little nervously.
"Inoichi decided that you're not going to go on a killing rampage even with your Kekkei Genaki activated. Hokage agreed and didn't waste time in assigning you a high priority mission."
Sakura was glad to hear that though she wasn't sure herself if she absolutely wouldn't go on a rampage if she entered First Heaven. At least being back to doing missions felt like life was getting back to normal. But something about what Kakashi-sensei had said was odd.
"What do you mean he assigned me a mission? I thought you said the team had a mission. And where are the other two anyway? Are they late?" she asked looking around but seeing no sign of them.
"No, I just haven't informed them we have a mission yet," he said.
Sakura blinked at that. "Why not?"
"Because this mission revolves around you and I wanted to brief you on it before we went to the other two."
Sakura was starting to get apprehensive about this. Kakashi was being more dodgy than usual. Hadn't she had enough surprises for one day? "Ok… well. I'm all ears I guess. It's not like I have much of a choice."
Kakashi nodded at that and put his book away. He motioned for her to sit down and she did. They were seated facing each other with Kakashi leaning up against the tree trunk when he began.
"First you need a little lesson on economics and international relations. What do you know of our relationship with Iwa?"
Sakura was caught unawares by this line of conversation. She took a minute to recall what she'd heard on the subject. "In the academy they taught us that in the last war our main opponent was Iwa. We had fought with them to basically a standstill until the Fourth Hokage developed the Hirashin and started turning the tide of the war decidedly in our favor. The war ended fifteen years ago though. I don't know anything about our relations with Iwa today other than to guess that they probably still don't like us."
Kakashi nodded in acknowledgement. "Since the end of the war Iwa and the Tsuchikage have held a particular hatred for us. Over the past ten years the Third has made several overtures to improve relations between us but they have all been soundly rebuffed. The last attempt was two years ago. After the diplomatic envoy was turned away and were returning home several Iwa Jounin had a 'training accident' that left the diplomatic envoy badly injured. After that the Hokage decided to stop trying to make nice with Iwa. As long as Onoki is the Tsuchikage it seems unlikely that our relations with them will improve."
Sakura was shocked that a Iwa had dared attack a diplomatic envoy. Attacking diplomats was absolutely taboo because no one would trust a nation that would attack those intent on peaceful negotiations. Sakura was no great political mind but even she could see such an act would have a great many tangible and intangible repercussions. If they did in fact attack a diplomatic envoy then nothing they said or did could be trusted by Konoha and other countries would take a seriously dim view of such an attack.
"So what does this have to do with our mission?"
"Lesson time is not over yet, you'll hear everything about the mission at the end. Now then between our history and Iwa's actions they are clearly enemies of Konoha. Unfortunately we are still recovering from the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox which devastated our forces much like Iwa is still feeling the effects of the devastation of the last war. The intelligence guys think that Iwa's forces are at roughly the same strength as ours right now. Since Iwa hates us so much we can't let their increasing military strength go unchecked. However the Hokage doesn't want another war. Knowing all this tell me what you think the Hokage's strategy against the resurgence of Iwa is right now."
Sakura took her time and thought about it. After a few minutes of considering and tossing out options she came up with an answer that she thought was most likely correct. What Kakashi had said about having a discussion about economics and international relations had given her the vital clue.
"We're in a cold war with Iwa aren't we? Since we don't want to risk open war it's risky to conduct operations inside Earth Country that will draw attention and can potentially be blamed on us. If sabotage and assassinations are out the best way to hurt Iwa would be to hurt their economy, or in other words to lure away or otherwise take away potential clients. If we could cripple their funding enough they wouldn't be able to keep up with Konoha as we recover. That sort of strategy is also oblique enough that it would be unlikely to start a full scale war in and of itself. If we make more money relative to Iwa in the long term we will definitely be stronger."
Kakashi nodded and she could feel his approval. That made her feel nice and she had to stop herself from smiling. "That is essentially what the Third's strategy is. Now the conversation about economics is going to get a little more abstract. The people who pay for the most expensive missions and who contribute by far the largest percentage of the money a village makes are the nobility. If a town in Fire Country wants a bandit problem taken care of they have no choice but to take their request to Konoha. However if a Fire Country nobleman wants his political rival assassinated he can hire ninja from Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, Ame or anywhere he likes. All it takes is a carrier pigeon and an arrangement for funds to be transferred."
Sakura frowned at that. "Isn't it unpatriotic or illegal for a Fire Country nobleman to hire an Iwa shinobi instead of a Konoha one?"
"Actually pretty much all missions nobles ask us to do are illegal in the civilian world. If the Fire Dynamo had clear evidence a noble paid to have another assassinated he would have that man made an example of. By definition all dealings with ninja are clandestine. What village the nobles choose to hire is all to do with perception and reputation. If a Fire Country noble got the impression that Iwa ninja were especially fierce during the last war, for example, he might decide to only hire out missions to ninja from Iwa."
Sakura worried her lip as she thought about that. "I guess that makes sense. So the nobles hire out to whatever village they think has the best or strongest ninja but it doesn't really have anything to do with reality necessarily. It's all about what village has the best name or can make the best impression."
"That's all correct. Reputation is also very important. For example Konoha has a reputation for being one of the more 'gentle' villages and generally leaving less collateral damage while Kiri is called the Bloody Mist for a reason. Their Shinobi have the reputation of being especially violent and bloodthirsty," said Kakashi.
The conversation lapsed into a momentary silence as Sakura absorbed all this. She had never thought about the finer details of how the ninja economy worked. It added a whole different perspective to what the role of the Hokage must be like.
Still… "What does this have to do with our mission? We haven't gotten to that part yet."
"Patience, patience. Now one of the things that draw people to a particular ninja village are its famous Shinobi and famous clans. For example in their day the reputations of the Sanin and that of the Fourth Hokage brought with them a substantial increase in business. But more well known to the public are the individual clans that are famed for their prowess. Uchiha. Senju. Hyuuga. Sarutobi. The mystique and power of the various ninja villages are inextricably tied to their clans in the minds of the public. You wouldn't believe how many incoming missions have a request that someone from a famous clan be included. Of course the Hokage will send whoever he thinks is best but it illustrates the point that famous clans often play a large role when wealthy clients are deciding what village to hire for a mission."
Now finally Sakura was starting to get an inkling of where this was going but she didn't have the full picture yet.
For some reason it hadn't occurred to Sakura until that moment that she was the last living member of a ninja clan. The last living member of a famous ninja clan from Iwa.
It seemed so surreal. She was just Haruno Sakura, civilian girl from Konoha who got good grades but otherwise was perfectly average. Now it seemed like her previously unknown heritage was going to come and bite her in the ass yet again.
"Ok fine. So I have the Santengoku. So what? I'm a Haruno. The Saotome clan is dead and gone," she protested. Kakashi gave her something that could have been a sympathetic look.
"Think of it this way," he said, "Saotome was not a founding clan of Iwa but they were there from almost the beginning and were one of the bedrocks of the village. A good analogue for us would be the Hyuuga clan. Now imagine this hypothetical situation from the perspective of a rich, savvy potential client. After the end of the last war which we had lost we for some unknown reason turned on one of our oldest and most powerful clans, the Hyuuga, and killed down to the last man. This was all done on the orders of the Hokage but again the potential clients don't know why. The Fire Dynamo and many Fire Country nobles are angry because in losing the prestige of the Hyuuga both Konoha and Fire Country look weaker as a whole. However the Hokage assures them it was necessary and that he took care of it and all will be well,"
"Then fifteen years later we hear that Iwa has a Genin with the Byakugan. Turns out that not only did the Hokage lose the war and then seemingly inexplicably turned on the Hyuuga clan but now we see he also screwed up in wiping them out. Not only has Konoha lost the strength of the Byakugan but we allowed our most bitter enemies to acquire it. Pretty horrible isn't it? That is the exact situation Iwa is about to find themselves in. As a politically inclined and smart client what would you think of that situation?"
"I would think," began Sakura slowly as what Kakashi was saying began to gel, "I would think the Tsuchikage was an idiot. Even if I believed his 'it was necessary' line he messed up in the worst possible way. He lost the Santengoku and the name Saotome forever and practically gifted that power to his worst enemies. He will look weak and incompetent and by extension the whole of Iwa will look weak. If I was a perspective client I would think twice about hiring from Iwa if that failure was fresh on my mind. Furthermore the perception might be there that Konoha has suddenly gotten even stronger because it now has the Santengoku. Never mind one Genin won't make a village any stronger but symbolically we would be stronger and it would look like we got one over on Iwa. All of that could potentially draw a good number of clients away from Iwa and into the arms of Konoha," Sakura gaped as her mind put together the full implications, "it would be a black eye on the reputation of Iwa and it would have the potential to cause them very real economic damage."
"It would be more like a black eye and broken nose that would last for years. So even if you don't think you're anything special it's not about you. It's all about the fame of the Santengoku and perceived prestige of the Saotome name. The Hokage is going to use this situation to do as much damage to Iwa as possible."
"How?" asked Sakura.
Kakashi gave her one of his trademark eye smiles, "Why by making you into an international celebrity of course! In a few days there will be messager birds sent out to all the noble houses and wealthy people across the Elemental Nations. They will be carrying a message inviting them to the Chunnin exam finals and outlining all the reasons they should attend. We will have the last Uchiha, many clan heirs and prodigies from Konoha taking part in the exam. There will also be a section on that message going into some length about how Konoha took in the last survivor of the Saotome clan that Iwa unjustly destroyed fifteen years ago. It will rave about how we now have a Genin with the Santengoku and how the strength of the Saotome now belongs to Konoha. Pretty much every potential client across the Elemental Nations will realize what a monumental screw up Onoki has made of this situation and many will be curious enough to want to see the last Saotome in person. There was also some talk about hanging up posters in major cities advertising the event and letting everyone know Konoha now has the power of the last Saotome and the Santengoku."
Sakura looked at Kakashi disbelievingly. "You're joking right? Tell me you're joking. Please tell me that you're joking."
Kakashi sighed. "I'm afraid not. Your name is going to be on the lips of a lot of people by the end of the week. You're going to be one of the, if not the main attraction of the Chunnin exams. Which is why you and your team are getting an A-Ranked mission."
Sakura swallowed thickly. "What mission is that?"
"To make sure that you make it to the Chunnin exam finals alive and in one piece. With your name spread all over the place like that there are going to be a lot of people trying to kill you."
AN2: This chapter ran the spectrum from light and funny to pretty darn dark. That is what I want in this story to have moments of lightness and fun and moments where the grimdark badness of the ninja world is in full display. However I'm a little worried that the contrast might be a little too jarring especially if they are both in the same chapter. Let me know if you think it worked or if it was too much.