Beta'd: 8/9/13
Word Count: 6,298 words
Sorry about the almost month disappearance. Since I felt guilty, I'm uploading this on Saturday, be happy please. I was having trouble with this chapter and Kakashi and Obito wanted to have a say in this chapter as well. I hope this chapter is up to par for you guys. I've just been wanting to start Eri's childhood since I of all the freedom that comes with the Gaiden timeline.
A big thank you to the people who reviewed last chapter and those who have in the past! It's because of you guys that I write as much as I do each chapter! I know the plot is slow going, but I like detail and mystifying rationalizations within my stories. Things just jump out at me while writing that seem appropriate for that chapter. Thanks again for the people who reviewed, favorites, and followed this story so far.
As I usually say, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Cooperation
With Sakura effectively out of commission, Eri shook her head while sighing – disgruntled by the fact that the girl was so weak for an inexcusable reason. Despite coming from a shinobi household, Sakura was as naïve as twelve-year old girls could get.
Inhaling to find some inner peace, the Jounin sped off to interfere and mess with her next victim. On the way, the woman inwardly knew that she was setting a higher standard for the pinkette than her teammates.
A voice berated the young adult, stating:
'You're being too harsh on Sakura. You weren't exactly much of a powerhouse yourself when you were her age. Plus, hormones and love hit a girl hard during adolescence. And you weren't invulnerable to boys in your first life, either.'
Second guessing herself – Eri was second guessing herself. Her eyes narrowed in irritation as an inward battle ensued within the Yoshida's mind.
She strictly argued, 'Yeah, I know I was a lovesick puppy back then; but at least I was able to keep my focus on things that mattered. And besides, in the end – all that love and time that was put into pursuing my crush…It just shattered me completely. I can't let that happen again.'
When the voice responded, Eri felt a twinge of remorse. It replied softly, 'You're afraid for her, aren't you? You think she'll end up just like you; disillusioned by the idea of love.'
Eri sighed, choosing not to respond. However; she imagined herself nodding to the voice as it looked on at her with pity. Love…an experience that could go right, wrong, or in between. It was an experience that still confused Eri's soul. She understood versions of family and friendship love, but was still unsure and, very sadly, afraid of loving a partner for her to belong to.
Eri quickly shook her head, saving these thoughts for another time. The woman was holding an exam for heaven's sake! Knowing that now was not the time, the Jounin inwardly scolded herself before diverting her attention to finding the last Genin hopeful.
Cart wheeling onto a roof, she activated another 'Chakra Pulse'. Receiving the returning chakra echoes, the ebony haired female quickened her pace.
After escaping a katon jutsu executed by the unorthodox woman, Sasuke quickly ran across the village from rooftop to rooftop. Deciding that it was safe, the young raven opened his clue reading it over. He scowled after analyzing the text. Reading it once more, the Uchiha gritted his teeth while cursing at his sensei in a way that his father wouldn't have approved of. Good thing that Sasuke was doing it mentally.
"With warm embrace enveloped around, lakes of high temperatures mystify and soothe; a treasure solidified at its center."
The boy wondered if he was reading this correctly. From his general knowledge of the village, there was only one place that matched what the clue entailed.
Inwardly dead panning, he thought, 'You have got to be kidding me.'
Wanting to tear and burn his clue, Sasuke wished dearly to rid himself of said piece of paper. If it wasn't for the rule that stated: 'if you lose your clue by the time the bell rings, then you're disqualified' – the boy would've gladly annihilated the clue into oblivion. He'd then come up with the excuse that he didn't want to fail due to leaked intelligence.
Shaking his head to clear the mind, the young Uchiha dashed off the roof. No matter how much he hated his team at the moment, Sasuke wouldn't let himself fall back into the academy. The Uchiha heir was better than that. Still though…
He questioned within the confines of his mind, 'Why is my clue sending me to the village hot springs'?'
Yes, oh yes – did Eri love messing with people.
Silently watching from a distance, the Jounin smiled in amusement as he watched the young Uchiha trek in the opposite direction from where his tree perch was located. Seeing that familiar scowl adorning the heir's face, the man smirked while wondering what caused the young raven to be so upset.
Lightly noting, he thought, 'I should probably ask Eri about this later.'
It was his day off and a certain aviator wearing Jounin had requested his assistance for a certain task. Wondering if this was related to her new occupation, the shinobi allowed her to explain. He was surprised, not by much though, at the fact that she was allowed to test team seven within the village. But, after hearing the explanation, he found it hard to argue against the idea. The only missing pieces were a few trusted attendants to watch said exam.
This was especially important since the examinees included the Uchiha heir and the Kyuubi container. The daughter of the Harunos had to also be taken into account. Haruno Kazaki and Haruno Mebuki were long time faithful shinobis to the leaf and, despite their rank, they had been just as valiant and important to the war effort, risking their lives on more than a couple of occasions.
Understanding this, he had agreed to the mission request. Being paid to watch a Genin exam may seem boring to the higher echelons of the shinobi ranks, but when you included said Yoshida…
Well, let's just say that this morning was a doozy for the foreign relations department. He heard that people from Chunin, to T&I department officers were all clamoring to get a mission request, since it was basically an hour-long show with pay.
However, what went down with the council was a different story. Since the man had to regularly attend council meetings – which were a complete bore fest – and now understood why the Nara clan head napped in said meetings, he could only slightly blanch at the memory. The civilian council threw a fit while the military executive council took the notion with general interest. Overall, the whole mess was magically sorted out within an hour this morning due to Eri's convincing reasons, as well as the necessary terms and authority present to watch over such an exam.
He couldn't help but think of team seven's Genin exam as a mini Chuunin exam since the goal combined a test of teamwork, intelligence gathering skills, and perspective thought.
Yes, Yoshida Eri was known as an unorthodox kind of ninja, but at least she wasn't another Gai. He knew of a certain silver haired male that would probably cry at dealing with another "Eternal Rival".
Broken from his train of thought, the young and experienced ninja sensed a familiar presence residing near him. A shunshin was activated before his eyes revealing a recognizable face – or would be recognizable. Stupid mask…
He gestured a hello with a raised hand.
"Yo, Obito. You seem to be enjoying the show."
The grown Uchiha smiled at the statement.
"Hey, Kakashi. Yeah, I am. Just saw Sasuke heading off south. How are the other two victims fairing?"
Unlike in the plot that Eri knew of, Kakashi stood beside a slouching Obito while the Hatake's posture was straight and firm. Over the years, ever since the Kannabi Bridge mission, the silver haired male's stiff and rigid nature had relaxed slowly with time. Never as nonchalant as the manga, but his back was loose and firm to a moderate degree.
Offhandedly, the cyclops pulled out Eri's dubbed 'Orange Tempest'. Blanching at Bakakashi's actions, Obito watched as the ex-ANBU flipped open the book. Flashbacks of a pounding handed to him by Rin blazed before his eyes.
Shifting through the pages as Obito eyed the book warily, Kakashi answered, "Well, on my way here I spotted a certain hyperactive blonde splattered with paint. As for the other one; honestly, I was quite surprised with Eri's decision."
Wondering what his old longtime academy friend could've done to the poor girl, Obito asked, "Really? How bad was it?"
Not giving any sort of statement whatsoever, Kakashi merely stopped reading to give the grown Uchiha this pointed look – staring for a few full seconds as he blinked once before turning back to the story of how Himiko's tragedy worsened with the disappearance of her brother.
Nodding in understanding, Obito solemnly commented, "That bad, huh?"
Nodding in agreement, all Kakashi muttered was a "yup" while encasing himself in the adult themed text. Ignoring the orange monstrosity, Obito adventured further in as to what the Hatake saw.
"Well, what did she exactly do? I mean, I know from experience at how much she detests fan-girls. So, it's obvious that the Haruno girl got the shorter end of the stick."
Flipping to the next page, Kakashi lightly responded, "Naruto was fighting a clone from the moment he began his fight with her, leaving Eri some time to deal with Haruno Sakura. Meanwhile, Naruto got a taste of his own medicine of the letter paint bomb variety. Sakura on the other hand had to constantly deal with genjutsu after genjutsu, before being put out of commission by a final illusion. The girl passed out from its intensity; probably a C or B-rank jutsu."
Cocking a brow, the raven haired male was surprised. Ever since befriending each other during their academy days, Obito had quickly picked up on Eri's dislikes for fan-girls. Yoshida fan-girled too, but it was never about boys. To be more precise, she always gushed over inanimate objects – like tea, weapons, mochi, and fictional paper characters. The Uchiha could also remember that look of disgust that Eri would always wear when she spotted "excessive fan-girling", as the woman had named it.
Obito shook his head in exasperation. He felt sorry for the pinkette, but after hearing the general description from his nephew and what the Yoshida saw, the pink-haired girl had a lot of catching up to do if she wanted to pursue a shinobi career. Especially since Eri was usually a person who shot for the stars.
Slightly scowling in anxious worry, Obito could only state, "This is why I don't think Eri-chan will do well in teaching those gakis'."
Kakahsi commented, "Well, she can be very demanding. But it's rare to see her like that every now and then."
Slightly astonished, Obito argued lightly:
"For you, maybe. I, on the other hand, have been dealing with her motherly woes for most of my life."
Mentally battered by a spew of flashbacks, the young adult could literally remember the countless times he was nagged, pushed, and bothered when Eri mentioned a thing or two that "didn't look right". Heck; when it came to his crush about Rin during the academy, it was ebony haired female who immediately blurted out in a whispered tone – "You're never going to get her if you keep watching her like some creepy stalker. Start talking to her! C'mon Obito, give it a shot!"
The raven haired male shook his head in exasperation. She was a nit-picker alright; a reasonable, realistic nit-picker – but still a nit-picker nonetheless. Returning his attention back to the situation, Obito merely returned his gaze to the silver haired scarecrow.
Shifting his line of vision to a not-too-filled juicy section within the paragraph, Kakashi eyed his old teammate.
"Is that a problem then?"
Settling down, the Uchiha gave a small smirk.
"Hm, no. It's endearing in a way."
With comfortable silence filling the air, Kakashi eye smiled while Obito grinned. However, a few minutes shortly after the initial start of said silence – it was broken.
The Uchiha deadpanned, "But it's damn annoying too."
Nodding in agreement while remembering yesterday's events of the Hatake's usual visit to the Yoshida's apartment, all Kakashi could say was:
"Yup."
Yes, Yoshida Eri was a stickler of sorts.
"…Sakura…"
'Huh? Am I hearing things?'
Pitch blackness – for that was all the twelve-year old could see. She heard a voice, but everywhere she looked – it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to find it.
"Sakura. Are you listening to me?"
Wary of the monotonous, yet familiar tone, she called out to it.
"W-who are you? Where are you? And where am I?"
The voice responded in that familiar controlled pitch. It was familiar sounding, yet still foreign enough to keep her guessing.
"First of all, I'm behind you…"
Twisting her view, Sakura instantly stilled. Fear struck deep within her as her senses screamed for her to run. However, the girl was too preoccupied with the surprise person who had been standing behind her she guessed, the entire time.
"S-sensei?" was all she could mutter as the Jounin continued to speak.
"And second of all…"
The woman gave a smirk that the pinkette had grown to fear.
"You're in my world now."
Sakura instantly grew pale. She knew now where she was. From the last bits of memories before all things turned black, the experienced shinobi had trapped her on the bookstore rooftop before casting a genjutsu over her. And judging from the number of hand-seals that the girl was able to catch, Eri had thrown the Haruno into a high level genjutsu.
Her lips quivered for a few moments, unable to form a coherent sentence. She managed out: "W-what are you going to do?"
The woman before her made no move to strike the fear-stricken pinkette down. Instead, she visibly sighed while shaking her head.
In a firm, yet exasperated tone, the Jounin asked:
"Sakura, do you want to become a shinobi?"
All her fear washed away – caught by surprise by her potential sensei's question. With her attention diverted away from the situation, the girl answered with confidence.
"Huh? Of course, sensei. Why do you think I'm taking your test?"
Slightly annoyed by Sakura's rude response, Eri fought back the urge to reprimand the naïve twelve-year old while noting another problem the team had to work on. If Sakura possessed the confidence to rudely talk back to her superior, then the boys must have this trait too. The woman narrowed her eyes slightly, but this was unseen due to the metal rimmed black aviators.
Letting her battle-worn mind set take over, the mediator solemnly asked:
"Why, Sakura?"
Immediately flapping her mouth, Sakura lovingly burst out with, "Because I want to be with Sasuke-kun!"
Unlike the young pre-teen, the Yoshida didn't respond as immediately. Letting her answer soak into the endless obscuring background, Sakura wanted to firmly believe her statement.
'I became a ninja to get Sasuke-kun to notice me. Yes, that's right. Love will definitely find a way!'
The girl was firm in her belief; however, in any form of confidence lays a lingering string of doubt.
Unlike Inner-Sakura, this voice was calm and sure. The only tone was a wisp of worry that played at the pinkette's heart strings.
'Are you sure about that? Sasuke-kun hasn't been paying much attention to you ever since your team was assigned. If anything, I'd say that things have stayed the same ever since you first laid eyes upon him.'
Biting back at the voice, Sakura argued, 'No, that's not true! And even if I still haven't gotten his attention, at least I have more of a chance to win him over than that baka-Ino! I just need to try harder!'
Sakura felt the voice bat an eyelash at her reasoning. It then responded with a resounding echo vibrating off the walls.
"Listen to what you just said. 'I have more of a chance to win him'. You've already tried harder too, Sakura. At the rate that you're going, all that you're going to become is nothing but a useless nuisance to Uchiha Sasuke."
Snapping her eyes shut, Sakura panicked. She wanted to reject this with all her soul, but that string of doubt grew thicker and thicker the longer the voice spoke. Covering her ears, Sakura collapsed into a ball as she huddled further into the ground.
The voice boomed admonishingly.
"Sakura, with the way you are now; nothing will change. Uchiha Sasuke will not see anything other than just a girl with long pink hair who can't fight and can only recall the basics of shinobi code. "
Sakura screamed frantically:
"NO! That's not true! As long as me and Sasuke-kun are in the same team, I'll surely find a way to win his heart! HE WILL LOOK AT ME! HE WILL! He-"
Her tirade broke off, crumbling into pieces. Sakura tried calling upon any remaining spirit, but was left with nothing. This voice shook her to her core, shattering any perceptions she had beforehand. It left her feeling raw and naked. The confidence and persona that she once built over the years during her days in the academy; it was nothing but bits of dust flowing in the breeze now.
Sakura felt empty now. Empty, alone, and scared. What was she to do now? Realizing the inevitable after gaining what she had wished for for so many years. This wasn't what she had wanted.
Frustrated and drained, the girl sobbed into her lap. She muttered between her broken breaths, "He will look at me… He-… He has to."
It was clear to anyone of what Sakura had left unsaid. She had wasted most of her life, sacrificing all that time and friendship with the people laughed with instead of glared at; and, most of all – her best friend Ino. How could she make up for lost time?
"Then why don't you start looking at him?"
'This voice…I've heard it before. But…whose voice is that?'
It was firm and gentle, but strong and caring. The only voice she recognized from before had never been this peaceful. In the past it sounded indifferent, cold, and sarcastic.
Slowly, the girl's pale hands relaxed as they fell from the sides of her ears. Kneeling on the ground in fetal position, Sakura raised her head. How could she forget? Eri-sensei was right there from before, and she had just witnessed the young pre-teen break down into tears as they fell down her cheeks.
Closing the distance, the woman walked as Sakura could only mutter a "Huh?"
Eri knelt down, matching the broken girl's eye level. Within those dark obsidian lenses, Sakura saw a reflection – her reflection. She inwardly groaned, noting her disheveled and weary red-eyed appearance in the back of her mind. It wasn't until she felt the overflowing tears that the pinkette noticed her sensei wiping away the remainder.
Eri took the chance to say what she'd always wanted to state to the young girl, who was still overtaken by her contact.
"Sakura, Sasuke isn't a prize to be won. He's a human being like you and me, and just like all humans – he's as flawed as they come. You need to realize something Sakura, before it's too late."
Entranced with the woman's words and tone, she asked innocently, "And what's that, Sensei?"
As the woman brought herself to stand, so did Sakura as she waited patiently for an answer.
"It's that you, Haruno Sakura, are placed and assigned as a team member with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. They're depending on you, Sakura."
As if she stumbled upon a secret new revelation, she asked – not understanding the meaning behind her sensei's words, "Sasuke-kun and Naruto are depending…on me? Eri-sensei, what do you mean?"
Looking straight at her with those engulfing black sunglasses, Eri responded gently, "Sakura, you depend on Naruto and Sasuke to protect you when you can't protect yourself, right?"
As Sakura nodded in understanding, Eri felt a twinge of glee – lightly wondering if this was what it felt like to be a teacher. She smiled in reaction, continuing with her explanation as she laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder, squeezing it slightly to make sure Sakura felt the point completely.
"Well, then who's going to protect them when I can't and the enemy is too much for the three of us alone?"
Seeing the light bulb light within her eyes, Eri knew that Sakura finally got it. However that light faded afterwards as she hesitatingly asked, "Sensei, what does this have to do with Sasuke-kun? Will he pay attention to me if I fight?"
Strongly nodding, the Jounin responded back;
"Yes, he will. Sasuke wants someone strong to depend on. If you show him the respect he wants as a human being while fighting beside him and Naruto as a teammate, then you'll find him opening up towards you."
Nodding at the advice she stated a "Right!"
Eri left one more piece of info before her time was up.
"And Sakura."
"Yes, Sensei?"
"Don't just focus your attention on Sasuke. Naruto is your teammate as well, and you deserve a little time for yourself too. A girl needs to eat healthy, and train to keep up with two very pro-active boys. Got it?"
Confidently nodding, she stated, "Right, Naruto and Sasuke-kun are my teammates! So I need to protect them with all I got! SHANNARO!"
Dismayed, Sakura quickly turned red as she covered her mouth in mortification. Eri smiled at the blushing pre-teen before patting her head. With time quickly fading, her figure blurred as her voice faded with a last statement;
"Don't be embarrassed by who you are, Sakura – since there will only ever be one you. You have something that no one else possesses, and that can never be hidden or taken away. Remember that…"
As the Jounin faded before her, Sakura quickly realized that she was alone; still trapped within a genjutsu that her sensei placed on her. Silence resumed once more as the pinkette replayed the enlightening conversation that she had with Yoshida Eri. Clenching her fists, the girl felt her determination restored, more livid than it had ever been before.
As she placed her hands into the appropriate seal, Sakura thought with strapping resolve:
'Eri-sensei… She's right – I'm not alone anymore. I'm on a team and sensei recognizes that fact. I'm on a team with Sasuke-kun AND Naruto. They're depending on me. And if I'm going to be their teammate, I need to be strong! If Sasuke-kun won't look at me…'
Sakura shouted as her voice and chakra cracked the illusion.
"KAI!"
'Then I'll make him look at me! Not as girl, not as a nuisance, but as ME – HARUNO SAKURA!'
"Sakura-chan! Hey, Sakura-chan! Wake up!"
Afraid and worried, Naruto continued to shake the collapsed body of his love interest in a desperate attempt to stir her up.
After thinking about what his nee-chan had said, the paint splattered blonde still couldn't figure out what the woman was gesturing to. He couldn't figure out his clue either. Befuddled and annoyed, Naruto just raked through his already messy blonde hair before heading off in search of Sakura.
When he finally located her, he saw that she wasn't alone. In fact, her situation seemed very bleak. Slightly torn at the sight he was beholding, Naruto could only stare in shock as he saw an unconscious Sakura collapsed on the roof with the battle experienced Yoshida staring down at her – calmly hovering over her in triumph.
The Uzumaki balled his fists in anger as the emotion bubbled up and over.
Noting what Eri had commented on the last time he tried attacking, the blonde concentrated on maximizing his control, creating a single clone. With the clone acting as a distraction for the ebony haired woman, Naruto was able to knock her down the second his clone dispelled.
Unknown to the blonde, Eri was already traveling to her next and final target. The one who was keeping Sakura within a genjutsu was just another clone. With her reserves and morning training, this left the Yoshida with seven more clones left as a measure of her remaining chakra.
Although, Eri was used to running on half her chakra capacity, and since the average Jounin could create twenty shadow clones…this left a few options when it came to the Yoshida's chakra control.
Anyway, once the clone was dispelled with a punch to the back of her head, Naruto fumbled in surprise as the leftover momentum threw the Uzumaki to a tumbling stop. Quickly scanning the area, the hyperactive boy figured that it was a shadow clone. Disregarding his anger at the Yoshida, he set it aside to check on Sakura. After his first few attempts to shake her awake, he decided to try screaming in her ear. Shutting his eyes and cupping his mouth, the blonde was unable to notice Sakura lightly stirring awake.
Her vision refocused as Sakura's green emerald orbs adjusted to the sun. With her sight now cleared, the pinkette saw what seemed to be a camouflaged Uzumaki Naruto. Propping herself up with her elbows, the Haruno was about ask what the hyperactive male was doing; heck – she wasn't even sure if the person in front her was Naruto, rather than another illusion.
Cupping his mouth the blonde screamed:
"HEY SAKURA-CHAN, WAKE UP!"
Whimpering in pain, the girl's hand quickly flew up, a failing attempt as the blonde shouted another agonizing sentence.
"PLEASE SAKURA-CHAN, WAKE UP!"
As much as she wanted to retaliate with a fatal blow to the blonde's cranium, Sakura had the inkling that it was better to hold back for now and take her sensei's advice. She didn't want to hurt her teammate, as much of an annoyance the paint splattered baka was; he was still her teammate and it would be counter-productive to weaken another member of her team. Yes, Naruto was lucky….for now.
To stop the Uzumaki from further shouts of pleas, Sakura turned on her own voice box to counter the blonde's voice. This impressed Kakashi and Obito as they watched from afar as the two could still hear the girl relatively well, even with earplugs. Yup, Sakura was just like her mother. Mebuki was known as a very strict kunoichi back in her youth; seemed that Sakura just inherited that.
The girl surprisingly bellowed in a loud and clear voice that was heard throughout the village:
"SHUT UP NARUTO! I'M AWAKE NOW SO BE QUIET!"
Doubling back in fear, the blonde was surprised. On his back, he cowered underneath her flaming enraged eyes, but despite that he couldn't help but feel a twinge of relief. Sakura on the other hand was dearly trying to hold back her fist.
Acting fast, she rationally thought:
'Don't hit him, I shouldn't hit him. Yes, he's an idiot; yes, he's the dead-last of our class – but hitting him would get me nowhere. As much as I hate to admit it, I need Sasuke-kun AND Naruto. With our combined heights, I'll be able to reach that key…..even if the goofball is on the short side.'
Slowly, Sakura covered her vision and calmed herself with long even breaths as she felt a wave of cool tranquility overtake her. Restoring her sight, Sakura was welcomed with a view of a paint splattered Uzumaki staring at her slightly in fear, anticipating a punch to the head, like usual.
Huffing in annoyance, the girl put her hands on her hips as she asked, "Naruto, just what exactly are doing?"
The blonde cautiously asked, as if still fearing that something was wrong with his teammate, "I saw you knocked out with Eri-neechan standing over you. You looked to be in trouble, so I fought her off. Are you okay Sakura-chan!? I know this a test, but Eri-nee's genjutsu are damn tricky!"
Before replying, Sakura noted that the dead-last was seriously worried about her. She also unconsciously agreed with Naruto. After telling her parents about her team, she'd been told to be careful when it came to fighting the Yoshida in general. The Haruno couple had mentioned that she had an uncanny way of getting inside her opponent's head. They spoke as if she was a relative danger to people in general, but now Sakura understood fully.
What made her sensei dangerous and skilled weren't her physical abilities, but her mind. It just seemed that her sensei was a bottomless pit of mystery.
"Sounds like you're talking from experience, Naruto."
Shouting back, the blonde earnestly complained.
"I am! This one time when I was at Eri-nee's apartment, I thought I was eating ramen. In fact she let me eat all I wanted! I was so happy and full that by the time I was finished I couldn't eat another bite for the entire day! Anyway, when I was about to leave, Eri-nee chucked an entire box of ramen! I told her I was full, since she already gave me so much! But instead, she just smirked and said 'Really? I thought you'd want some ramen to eat after finishing five pots full of vegetable soup.' Turns out that I was in a genjutsu the entire time! I felt sick for a week after eating that much! I woulda been really mad too, but since Eri-nee gave me two boxes of different flavored ramen I'm not made at her anymore."
Inwardly he added, 'I'm still kinda annoyed though. After she broke the genjutsu I felt like heaving my entire stomach!...Well, at least I got a few month's supply of ramen out her as an apology.'
Annoyed at the fact that she didn't ask for one of Naruto's stories, the pinkette was slightly amazed that the ebony haired sensei was able to fool the village's ramen connoisseur. Idly wondering if the woman was a genjutsu specialist, Sakura's head popped up with attention.
"Hey, Naruto?"
"Yeah, Sakura-chan?"
"Why are you covered in paint?"
The Uchiha had finally found the prescribed hot spring. Turns out after scoping through multiple establishments, it never occurred to him that the chest could never be found within the men's side of the bath since within Konoha, the pools were gender separated. He face-palmed himself at the sheer stupidity. His sensei was a woman, so course the chest would be located on the female side of the bath.
It was times like these that Sasuke found Kakashi's offering to mentor a better option rather than just joining the Genin formulated teams to escape the Hatake's adult rated perverseness.
He scowled in disgust; there was no way that the proud little Uchiha could go bursting in on the women's bath. Sasuke was sane and proper; especially compared to his tardiness prone uncle. Plus – if Rin caught wind of such an action, there was no saving the young raven from the brunette's wrath. He'd seen the moments when the kind and soft medic-nin would transform into all the anger and hell fury that was a woman when outraged.
It was comparable to when Sakura would smack around the dobe, but since Rin actually had a backbone when it came to being professional…Well, let's just say it made Sasuke recalculate the strength of women in general.
Since it was the afternoon, most people had returned home; so the turnout of occupants was nonexistent since it was a weekday – even more so since it was Monday.
Embarrassingly enough, Sasuke scanned the empty hot spring before honing in on the idly placed chest. It was sitting on a rock that was located in the back. Thinking about this carefully, he could either plant a paper bomb to force open the chest; or check and try to retrieve the chest's contents himself.
Carefully going over his options, the first would risk collateral damage to the item within as well as the surrounding hot springs. That would result in damage to the community bath and he didn't want to make his uncle pay. Plus, if there were any surrounding shinobi in the area, they would question why Sasuke was trying to blow up the women's bath, or worse – why he was even there in the first place.
The second would risk him touching the ground while being out in the open. The boy would be fully seen and if any incoming customers walked in while he attempted such a thing, they would probably try and beat him out of the bath – forcing him to act on instinct and run. From the skill that his sensei showed this morning, Eri would probably hear the noise and disqualify him immediately for touching the ground.
There was only one way that Sasuke could retrieve the box itself then. He would have to create a tight rope with some ninja wire and kunai. Gritting his teeth, the boy thought for a moment, considering in asking his teammates.
The dead last probably had some rope from the multiple times that he'd been tied up at the academy. The wire may be strong, but it would inevitably cut into the back of his legs when the young Uchiha would try and fish for the chest while hanging upside down. Sakura would also create less suspicion since she was female. Plus, her light body wouldn't put as much strain on the rope, saving it from snapping. That would leave Sasuke with implanting the tightrope across the bath as his dead-mark accuracy could be used as a way to hook the kunai into a tree – looping it into a momentum created knot.
Shaking his head, the boy quickly denied this option. Yes, it did sound like a full proof plan, but Sasuke was better than the both of them. He didn't need their help; he was different from the both of them. They never had to go through the horrors he'd seen.
The only other person that he felt comfortable enough with was his uncle, but then even he was accepted to an extent. Obito had been out of the village, after all, and by the time that he'd arrived – a week had gone and passed. It had been only Sasuke who witnessed the massacre and lived. Even if Sasuke slightly doubted the reason for that man doing what he did; there was one thing that Sasuke was sure of…that he was a survivor.
No matter what, Sasuke pushed himself to live. To be a survivor meant that he was strong, to constantly live with the ever present danger that Itachi would come back. And when that day came, Sasuke would be ready.
"Wow, who knew that the Uchiha Sasuke was a little pervert," a voice proclaimed in awed amazement.
In reaction, Sasuke quickly turned with shuriken ready. Turning about face and ready to let loose the bladed stars, the Uchiha saw nothing. Still on the defense, he wondered where the woman was. As if answering his confusion, the voice spoke.
"Up here."
Slowly looking up, the boy realized that at her angle, she could've struck him down and stolen his clue. And there she was, hanging from a tree branch upside down; her aviators and clothes were stuck up as everything but her hair defied gravity.
The woman playfully smirked before showing her entire set of tea-untainted pearly whites. Sasuke tensed as Eri gave him a feral smile.
"Hey there, Sasuke. You ready to fight?" the Jounin playfully asked, as if teasing the little shocked boy.
Rounding his fists, the young Uchiha's eyes grew sharp.
"Hn."
Chapter 4 End
Okay, I know I said that this chapter would end Team 7's Genin test, but I had a difficult time thinking Sasuke's part of the exam. Plus, I was to excited in typing out Eri's next filler/childhood. I hope you're happy with over 6,000 words, because this chapter had me scratching my head. As I said in the beginning too, Obito and Kakashi wanted some screen time as well. I'm still sorry about my absence, but I hope that satisfied you guys.
Well, until next time;
Bye! :)