Chapter Forty-One: Troubling News

The rest of Team Seven's time spent on the cruise had gone relatively without incident. Benni had been scolded by her family for going out at night, but for the most part, because she had escaped without injury, they weren't too hard on the girl.

Sakura had thought that she would have to bear the brunt of the Sasakis' anger, but they just seemed to be immensely grateful to her and Kakashi for being there when the bandits attacked. Lady Sasaki had even insisted that they have the ship's best tend to any wounds they might have suffered, but Kakashi had assured her that the bandits were no trouble for shinobi of their skill level at all.

As a reward for all their hard work, however, Lord Sasaki had given them the last afternoon and evening off, as there was a party for the entire family to attend. Kakashi offered to go with them, but he insisted that the Copy Ninja take at least one night to enjoy himself.

That was how Sakura found herself wandering aimlessly along the ship's upper deck, once again.

"I don't even know why I came here," she mumbled. "It's not like this place gives me particularly good memories."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai had decided to check out the ship's luxury games and billiards room, and had invited her along, but Sakura had declined. She needed some time to think, and wanted to clear her head, but neither of those things could happen with her boys constantly barraging her.

Her eyes roamed over the spot where she and Kakashi had had their encounter with the bandits just two nights previous. Now there was no evidence that anything had ever been amiss.

Her thoughts wandered to that night with Kakashi. She certainly wasn't experienced when it came to romance and relationships, but she knew as well as anyone what they had been heading toward if Naruto and Yamato hadn't interrupted them that night. And then there was the aftermath of their fight, when she'd injured her ankle.

Sakura shifted unconsciously, taking the weight off of the slightly tender ankle. She'd been too distracted to heal it properly, but the injury wasn't bad enough so she had just been ignoring it.

Deep in thought, the pink-haired kunoichi hadn't been watching where she was going, she realized as she bumped into a group of men around Kakashi's age.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said quickly, bowing her head slightly.

"Why don't you make it up to us?" one said with a sneer.

"I can think of plenty of ways for you to do that," another said lecherously.

"Oh really?" Sakura growled, smirking as she rolled up her sleeves. "Are you gonna make me?"

"Oi! What's going on over here? A group of grown men picking on a helpless girl? How cowardly. Now get out of here before I call security!"

Sakura whipped her head around to see a familiar brown-haired shinobi walking toward her, a grim expression on his face. She glared at him, opening her mouth to ask him exactly who he thought was helpless before remembering their cover.

Luckily for her—or, more likely, for them—the group of men who had been harassing her seemed to heed Yamato's warning. With a second glance at her, the leader shook his head and mumbled something that sounded like 'not worth it' before steering his group in a different direction.

Yamato sighed, signaling to Sakura that she should follow him.

"I could've handled that," Sakura grumbled, following Yamato to the nearest bar and sliding into the seat next to him as he signaled to the waiter to bring them two drinks.

Yamato laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure you could have."

Sakura glared at him, but she knew he was just keeping in character. After all, they weren't supposed to know each other here.

"Here. Just drink up."

She thought about saying something else, but she wasn't really all that angry with him. He was just in the wrong place and the wrong time.

"You shouldn't be spending your time with that old man, sweetheart. Come over here and sit with us," a young man a few years older than Sakura cooed, motioning over to himself and five of his friends.

Sakura snorted. Like she was stupid enough to fall for that.

"We could give a pretty thing like you a much better time, if you know what I mean," he added, even wagging his eyebrows for effect.

A thin, fake smile plastered itself onto her face, and Sakura turned back to the group with a sickly sweet expression. Yamato looked like he was about to say something to stop her, but then decided against it. He figured the boys probably had it coming.

"Oh really? And what makes you think I'd be interested in shrimp like you?"

The boy who had been teasing her seemed to be honestly taken aback by the fact that she wasn't throwing herself at him. He was probably one of those types who got everything he wanted all the time.

"For your information," Sakura continued, "I happen to like older men, so why don't you and your little group go fuck off?"

"What's got you so upset?" Yamato asked—against his better judgment—when the pink-haired girl turned back to him.

Instead of the glower he was bracing himself to get, Sakura simply sighed and slumped over on the bar.

"I don't know. It's a lot of things I guess."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No? Yes? I don't know. I can't really explain it. It's just…a bunch of feelings piling on top of each other. And some people are giving me mixed signals," she grumbled.

Yamato frowned, remembering her 'liking older men' comment, and wondered how much of it was actually true and how much of it was just to get those boys to leave them alone. He'd wondered before they went on this cruise if things had changed between Sakura and Kakashi, but the other night had made things plain—at least to him. Something was definitely going on.

"Well, just keep in mind that some people take longer than others to sort out their feelings. Especially if they're somewhat emotionally damaged already," he said.

"I'm not emotionally damaged!"

"I wasn't talking about you, Sakura," he said, getting up and putting his money on the counter after patting her shoulder, and walking away.

"Then who was he…?"

"I think we should celebrate," Kakashi said with a smile after the team dropped their bags back at their mansion.

"Celebrate what?" Sasuke asked.

"The first mission Team Seven's ever gone on that went exactly as planned. Or at least mostly as planned."

Yamato sighed. "Maybe that says something about your plan-making skills, senpai. None of our ANBU missions ever went exactly as planned either."

"That's not true. There was the one on the outskirts of Wind Country."

Yamato gave him a look. "Oh, so you planned on me getting ambushed."

Kakashi laughed. "Ah, Tenzo. I would hardly call getting hit on by a bunch of old ladies an ambush."

"But—actually, you know what, knowing you, you probably did plan that."

Naruto snickered.

"It wasn't funny!" the wood-style user protested. "They were old, but I couldn't be mean to them."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," Kakashi said.

Yamato glared. "I was stuck there for three hours before you came along. I fail to see what's so funny."

"Man," Naruto whined, "I wish I coulda been there for some of your ANBU missions with Captain Yamato, Kakashi-sensei."

"It seems like Captain Yamato was always the brunt of one of Kakashi-sensei's pranks. I did not realize that ANBU could be a place of such foolery," Sai said.

"I don't think it's supposed to be," Sasuke said. "I think it's just Kakashi."

"I'm offended," the Copy Ninja said, but none of the members of Team Seven thought he looked that off-put.

"Yeah, remember that time you tricked Captain Yamato into paying for our lunch by telling him he was the only one you considered an equal. I bet you say that to everyone to trick them."

Yamato glared at him again, and Kakashi put up his hands.

"No, really. I was being one hundred percent honest about that one, Tenzo. I promise."

The brunette still didn't look convinced.

"Here, to make it up to you, we can go out for drinks. I'll buy," Kakashi offered.

"Ooh yay! Kakashi-sensei's buying!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping in the air and pumping a fist for extra effect.

"Not you, just Tenzo. You wouldn't make a poor old man like me pay for six people now, would you?"

Sai turned to Sakura, who had been watching with silent amusement for most of her teammates' exchanges.

"Sakura, I am confused."

"What is it Sai?"

"I was just wondering when Kakashi-sensei and Captain Yamato had started dating. I was unaware that they were in a relationship."

Sakura bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Sai had come along way with his social skills, and she didn't want to embarrass him, but this one was just too good. A quick glance over at Sasuke confirmed that the raven-haired Uchiha had heard as well.

"Hey Kakashi," he said with a sly grin on his face. "Sai has a question for you, and I think it's one you're better off answering."

"Hm? Okay, go ahead Sai," the Copy Ninja said with a bit of trepidation. He never knew what the unpredictable former Root agent would ask, and from the look on his former student's face, the silver-haired man could only guess that it was something strange.

"When did you start dating Captain Yamato? As you are offering to buy his food, I assume you have been in a relationship for some time, and are serious about taking things 'to the next level' as my book puts it."

Yamato's face grew red, while Kakashi scratched the back of his head awkwardly, trying to figure out how to explain to Sai that people could buy food for each other without having to date them.

Sakura snickered. She enjoyed being in ANBU, and looked forward to going on more missions with Kakashi and even Yamato in the future, but there would always be something special about missions spent with her entire team.

Sakura wasn't quite sure how they ended up at the bar they were at, but she knew they were probably going to be regretting their choice tomorrow. She'd only had one sip of the sake she'd been served, but one sip was enough to tell that it was the especially strong stuff. But it was cheap too, and she knew they'd all be suffering from hangovers in the morning.

She'd tried to push the thoughts of her silver-haired team captain out of her mind ever since her little chat with Yamato, but the alcohol was beginning to loosen her mental barriers. She was a long way from drunk, but she found herself sliding her gaze over to where he sat talking with Naruto a little too often.

So far, Sakura hadn't been able to find time to talk to him. He didn't seem to be ignoring her outright, but she hadn't been able to see him in a situation without at least one of their other teammates around since the night the bandits attacked. She didn't know if that was by design or not.

Perhaps it was nothing. The more she thought back to that night, the fuzzier her memories became. She was sure there had been something more in his gaze, but her memory was fading. Now she couldn't be sure that she hadn't just imagined or embellished it.

"You seem to be deep in thought," Sasuke observed, sitting down in the seat next to her.

"Not really."

Sasuke gave her a look that told her he knew she was lying, but didn't press her. He understood as well as anyone that sometimes people just didn't want to talk about things.

"Okay, so what do you think about this mission?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. I feel like we're getting nowhere."

"I know what you mean. Hopefully Jiraiya finds something out soon. There haven't been any attacks on the Sasakis since you and Kakashi joined us, but I don't think the rebellion will sit quiet for long. I'm sure they've already redrawn their plans and taken precautions to protect their leaders after you infiltrated their ranks."

"I bet so," she said glumly. "It kind of makes everything seem pointless now, doesn't it?"

"Not really, no. You set them back and made them change their plans—probably to something that won't work as well. I'd say that was pretty good."

"Thanks, Sasuke."

"Hn."

"Yo. What's going on over here?"

"What's the matter? Naruto talk too much?" Sakura asked, but her usual playful banter seemed a bit off.

"Hm, no more than usual," the Copy Ninja said with a smile. "I left Sai with him."

Sasuke started to laugh, but quickly covered it up with a cough. "Well, I guess I'd better go see what they're up to. They've never been much good at holding their liquor."

Sasuke stood, nodding goodbye to his teammates before heading over to where the blonde and black-haired shinobi sat. Sakura wondered if she should make some sort of excuse and follow him. She felt slightly awkward, and wondered if Kakashi felt the same tension in the air that she did. Knowing him, he probably didn't. Or he was just choosing to ignore it. Both were likely with the Copy Ninja.

Sakura snuck a glance across the table, wanting to see if Kakashi looked as awkward as she felt. Of course, it would be hard to tell with that stupid mask.

"Sakura? Is something bothering you?"

The pink-haired medic wanted to smack herself in the face. Of course he would be looking right at her when she wanted to sneak a glance at him.

"Um, no."

"Okay."

"Okay."

The conversation ended there, but it didn't fall into one of their natural lulls. This silence felt suffocating.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something—anything—but as it turned out, she didn't need to.

"There you guys are. We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Temari?" Sakura asked, and Kakashi sat up a little straighter in his chair. "What's going on?"

The blonde Suna ninja was out of breath, and her hair was askew of its normal signature pigtails. She looked like she'd been running for days—nothing like her normally pristine image.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Kakashi asked, every fiber in his body tense.

"Grabbing the rest of your teammates," Temari said, to the pair's relief. They'd been worried something had happened to him.

"What's up?" Yamato asked, as Shikamaru ushered the other members of Team Seven into a nearby booth.

"We have some news. And it's urgent," Temari said.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll let Shikamaru explain. He probably understands things better anyway."

"Well, we were wandering around closer to the border with Wind when we noticed what looked like the remains of campsites. They'd been covered up well, but Temari and I are both jonin so they couldn't hide everything. Normally we would've just let it go—checking these things out can really be a drag—but they were too close to the border to be ninja from Suna."

"Who do you think it was?" Kakashi asked, even though he was fairly sure he already knew the answer.

"We weren't able to track anybody down, but we did run into Master Jiraiya not long after. It seemed he was tracking the same group that we were."

Yamato nodded. "So you think the rebels are hiding out near Wind?"

Temari shook her head. "Not anymore. It seems we were tracking them in the wrong direction. Jiraiya said they'd already been that way, so it looks like they were heading in the direction of Fire."

Sasuke frowned. Something about that was bothering him.

"What is it Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, picking up on the fact that his former student had thought of something.

"It's just…they have no reason to head toward Fire. Not unless they were trying to throw us off their trail."

Shikamaru nodded. "Exactly. That's what I thought, too. And heading towards Fire Country would make sense if they were trying to throw Leaf ninja—like Jiraiya or Kakashi and Sakura—off their trail. Any shinobi would get antsy if an enemy got close to their home, especially if the enemy knows who they are."

"But you don't think Fire is in any danger?" Yamato asked.

The brown-haired genius shook his head. "No. It's a ruse. They know they don't have the manpower to take on Fire. They're just hoping to get you lot nervous enough to go back home, leaving the Sasakis here unprotected."

"So you think they're nearby," Kakashi said, finally connecting the dots.

Shikamaru smiled. "Exactly. And Temari and I even went through the trouble of tracking them down for you. We didn't get an exact location—I think they're using some form of genjutsu to hide their camp—but we think it's about two miles outside of the gate."

Kakashi nodded. "Okay, thanks Shikamaru. What are you two going to do now?"

"We need to report back to my brother," Temari said. "Even though the rebels aren't likely to attack, we still need to be prepared. And from there we can send a hawk to inform your Hokage as well."

"Yeah, and we told that Jiraiya that we'd let him know we got you the message. Oh, and he said to tell you, Kakashi, that your friends would probably be there."

"Understood. Thank you Shikamaru, Temari."

The brunette grinned. "No problem. We'll leave the rebels to you. Catch you guys later."

"So what are we going to do?" Naruto asked once the pair had made their exit. Luck seemed to be on their side, because neither he nor Sai had had enough alcohol yet to get drunk.

"We should probably split up," Yamato said, looking to Kakashi. "We need to investigate, but it wouldn't be smart to leave the Sasakis without protection while we're gone."

Kakashi nodded. "I agree. We'll split up into teams of two. Naruto and Sasuke, you two should go to the palace and inform Osaki to have his guards ready. Then you will stay there and protect the Sasakis. Let no one in unless it's one of us, understand?"

They nodded.

"Good. Yamato and Sai, you two will come with Sakura and I and head out of the gate. But I only want you to go halfway. Look around and see how far the enemy has infiltrated, but stay within radio distance of both teams. You'll be the backup in case either of us run into trouble."

"Understood," Yamato said.

"Sakura and I will sneak into their camp since we've done it before and Sakura knows how to break their genjutsu. We'll also be able to recognize any of the soldiers that stayed in previous camps and hopefully be able to get an idea of the enemy's strength. Any questions?"

Kakashi looked over his teammates as they all shook their heads. His eyes met Sakura's briefly, and he knew that while they would need to talk eventually, it wouldn't cause a problem. They would both be able to put any awkward feelings aside until after the mission.

"Right. Then let's go."

Kakashi and Sakura moved faster now, having left Yamato and Sai behind a few yards back. They didn't speak—they were too close to enemy territory for that—but they didn't need to. The pair had worked together long enough to have developed their own form of unspoken communication.

Kakashi stopped, holding up a hand to signal to Sakura that she do the same. She slowed, landing in a crouch on the branch beside him.

"Do you sense it?" he said in a hushed voice.

Sakura nodded. She had begun to notice something slightly off before they'd parted with Yamato and Sai, but she hadn't been sure until now.

"Can you break it?"

This time Sakura hesitated. Now that she knew she was sensing the barrier, she could tell that its constitution was slightly different from the one she'd cracked the last time. Still, her genjutsu skills had improved since then.

"I think so. It's different than the last one, but I should be able to crack it."

Kakashi nodded. "They would have been idiots to use a barrier we've already broken once. How much time do you need?"

"Ten minutes, fifteen tops."

"That's going to take a lot of chakra."

"I'll be fine, Kakashi. Just watch my back, will you? This barrier's going to take my full concentration."

Sakura didn't wait to hear what Kakashi said. She knew he would look out for her while her mind was elsewhere, so she quietly turned to the spot where the chakra concentration was lowest and closed her eyes.

The barrier was similar to the last ones in terms of chakra, but Sakura quickly learned that was where the similarities ended. It was probably cast by the same user—she still thought the rebellion might be hiding someone who specialized in mind techniques—but Sakura couldn't be too sure.

Beads of sweat formed on her brow, but Sakura was too focused on the genjutsu to wipe them away. This barrier was certainly more complex than the last one, but this time, Sakura knew what to do. Carefully concentrating her chakra in only certain areas, the pink-haired kunoichi managed to apply just enough pressure to create a ripple in the barrier.

Emerald eyes snapped open, and one hand snapped out to grasp the rippling air. Bringing chakra to her fingertips, Sakura adeptly torn a small opening just large enough for Kakashi to slip through.

"How was that?" she asked, panting slightly.

Kakashi smiled, placing an affectionate hand on her head. "That's my girl."

She grinned, holding out the open edge of the genjutsu barrier. "After you."

A figure dressed in a long, hooded black cloak sat up with a gasp.

"What is it?" the other man in the room asked.

"Someone has broken my barrier."

The man frowned. "I thought you said this one was stronger than the last."

"Ah, it is. But what's more, this chakra feels the same as that little girl who broke my genjutsu the last time. I wonder how she does it. I thought for sure this one would outsmart her." The figure cackled. "She must have incredible chakra control."

The cloaked woman was rambling, but the man wasn't listening. He'd stopped paying attention after she'd given him a key piece of information.

He smiled, tossing his long, blonde ponytail behind him.

"So they've returned. Excellent. This time, Hatake, I've come prepared."