Chapter 9 – The things I can do and the things I need to do (Wave Part 1)

Summary: She was just a sickly girl back home, living her short life to its fullest. She was supposed to die, but she woke up in an entirely new world as a completely different person in a baby's body.

A/N:

1. Hello! Thank you again for reading and liking the story!

2. I like Sara too. She's my first OC main character so it's really hard pushing her to different compromising situations.

3. And the reviewer was right in saying that she's only optimistically giddy about everything because she did have a higher appreciation of life and the world. She was previously sick and dying after all, and she was a super fan of the show. I'm really happy that someone noticed this development.

4. Thank you for pointing out that I should tag this as OC. It completely fled my mind. But thanks for reminding me. XD

5. I'm a little hesitant about ships for now because it's still too early to really tell. So let's just see where it goes.

6. I'm sorry that this one is such a long chapter! I just thought that I needed to give some detailed tactics and strategies from Sara, so noone would be too surprised about what she'll do during combat.

7. Enjoy reading and don't forget to comment please! Thank you again!

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"You should really look into getting your own apartment soon." Hinata casually mentioned as she looked around, disapproval shining in her eyes. Sara whistled innocently beside her.

Sara and Hinata were currently kneeling by the locker room of Sara's orphanage. The room was filled with old rusty lockers piling up in columns and rows, with numbers and names labeled at the upper part of each. It was a small, tight, and crowded locker room because of the low number of children actually staying in the orphanage, and thus, less people using said lockers.

The girls were kneeling on the floor in front of three lockers with Sara's name and the numbers 15, 16 and 17 embedded on the top. As it was, Sara occupied 3 lockers to put all her ninja stuff and everyday things. She had to pay a small amount to occupy all three, otherwise, the caretakers would force her to throw away some things to fit her stuff in just one locker. And yet, even as she got herself three lockers, her things were still awfully cramped inside.

Sara had a big backpack lying open beside her, which she was currently filling with equipment, scrolls, and provisions she thought she would need for her C rank mission in the morning.

Hinata shook her head as she glanced at Sara's disorganized things with a frown. "You're not a child anymore Sara. You really shouldn't be staying here now. Do you still expect to be adopted?"

Sara laughed at that, amused at the thought. Children in her poor orphanage rarely get adopted anyway. Only 1 out of 20 kids actually find a new home and a family. The rest of them just grow up and move out. But that was besides the point. Even at 12 years old, she should have still been too young, so she should still be eligible as an adoptee. But because of her ninja graduation, she was officially considered an adult.

She could only imagine the horrifying thought of considering 12-year old children as adults in her old world. It would be a total riot. But this world, on the other hand, really pushed ninja children to mature faster. So at 12, in an official genin team, she was legally an adult.

"The caretakers told me I could stay as long as I want." Sara explained, shrugging. "I don't have enough money yet to buy a place for myself. But I'm betting after this mission, I might be able to get one." Because it will turn into an A rank mission after Tazuna gets attacked by Chuunin ranked and Jounin ranked ninjas. Sara thought bemusedly, shaking her head to push away the unnerving thought. But she frowned, chewing on her bottom lip uneasily. Then again, the Wave is still poor. Maybe they can't pay us properly even after all that. I hope Hokage sama will have mercy on us and shoulder our supposed pay.

Hinata's brows raised at that, blinking confusedly at her. "This C rank mission? I doubt it will pay enough for a new place." Hinata sighed, eyeing Sara's opened lockers and the squashed things inside. "You're a ninja now Sara. You make original seals. You have dangerous and sharp weapons in there. I just don't think it's safe for you and for the kids around you to have these things lying out in the open."

Sara gasped at that, putting a hand on her chest in mock offense. "They don't lie in the open! I have security seals around my lockers!"

Hinata's lips pursed as she tried to give Sara a stern look. Of course, the light blush on Hinata's face betrayed her increased effort to look strict instead of giving in to her friend's whims like always. "I'm just worried Sara. Besides, I don't think it's fitting for you now. I wish I could convince father to just let you room with me."

"Oh your father will have a heart attack if you ask." Sara chuckled, imagining Hiashi's expression if Hinata would ever make such a bold demand. Despite the Hyuga clan's apparent acceptance of her as their heir's companion, she knew that she was still on rocky grounds and was under constant observation by the older peers of the clan. Hinata had already been kidnapped before. And Sara's invisible civilian status only made them wary, despite the number of years that she had been loyal to Hinata as the girl's best friend.

Hinata actually rolled her eyes. "They all overact. I don't know how many times I have to tell them that you're not planning to scoop out my eyes when I'm unaware."

Sara flinched at the image in her head. "Okay. Not a nice thought. But it was nice of you to consider. Knowing how much of a slob I am, you're a saint for considering rooming with me."

Hinata just gave her a sweet smile. "You will learn how to be completely organized within a week of staying with me."

Sara visibly scooted away from Hinata, throwing her a wide-eyed look of mock fear. Hinata giggled and hit Sara's shoulders lightly. "You're the only girl in your team you know. You have to learn how to clean up."

Sara pouted and shook her head stubbornly. "That's sexist! If I'm cleaning, then the boys will clean with me. Noone gets to freeload!"

Hinata raised her hands in surrender, throwing her an exasperated look. "Okay okay. Whatever you say. Maybe Kakashi sensei could clean up after you and the boys."

An image of Kakashi with a broom and wearing an apron flashed in Sara's heads, making her gasp and snicker. Hinata giggled beside her, probably imagining the same thing.

Bad ass, 6th Hokage, ultimately awesome ninja and the head of Team 7, named Team Kakashi later on, cleaning up after his rowdy team of brats. Nope, it's an extravagantly bizarre thought.

Sara sighed as she nodded in defeat at Hinata. Sara knew that she should at least learn how to clean up after herself. So she sulkily pulled out the clothes she already squeezed into her bag to attempt to fold them properly.

On Hinata's end, she was happy that Sara was finally taking cleaning up seriously. Sara always wanted to focus on what she deemed to be more important things. For Hinata, cleanliness and orderliness were also vital things. It made it easier to look for things and to quickly pull out important things at urgent times if the cleaning was done properly. So Hinata beamed at Sara for at least fixing her packing. She raised her hand for a high 5, but Sara broodingly stuck her tongue out and turned away. Hinata pressed a hand to her own mouth, her muffled laughter soft and sweet.

After trying to fold her clothes well, Sara pulled out the rest of her stuff from her bag to rearrange them.

Hinata eyed what Sara packed curiously. She reached over and took the stack of papers with drawings of the same seal in each of them.

"Ohhhh what seal is this now?" Hinata inquired, tracing the lines of the seal with curiosity. "It looks like you really worked hard on this. Look at the number of papers you drew this on."

Sara peeked at what Hinata was holding and gave her friend a mischievous smirk. "Paralysis seal. It paralyzes whoever touches it after I activate it."

Hinata's mouth rounded into a small O. "Okay, but you drew a lot of them. Are you going to attempt to paralyze an army?"

"Ah no, I was just trying to master the form completely." Sara answered, excitement gleaming from her eyes. Hinata smiled at that. Sara loved discovering new things from her sealing. "You know how if you do a summoning jutsu, you just slam your fist on the ground and the summoning seal appears?"

As usual, Hinata had no idea what Sara was talking about. But she nodded anyway. "Hm?" She said, urging Sara to go on as the latter literally shivered in enthusiasm.

"Well, I found a way to do that. Slam your hand on any surface and a seal would appear. I figured that a person could perfectly manifest a summoning seal because of their blood contract with the summons, who has mastery over the summoning seal. They know it like the back of their hand." Sara explained, her hands waving in front of her as she talked. "But if you don't have your summon's mastery, then you gotta master the seal yourself. Memorize each line, each symbol, and each shade of the seal. Perfectly imagine the correct spaces. Visualize it into perfection and will that visualization into the surface or the ground that you're applying it on!"

Sara took a deep breath. "But mastering the seal is not enough of course. You need to have an intimate connection with the surface you will use it on. Like, if I want to place a seal on someone else's body, then I need to have a way to interact with that other person's chakra to place a seal on him or her. If I want to place one on the ground, then I also need to interact with its chakra-"

Hinata placed a hand on Sara's back and patted it gently. "Okay, breath child." She teased, chuckling at her hyper friend. "And also, interacting with the ground's chakra? Doesn't it mean nature chakra?"

Sara's head bobbed quickly. "Precisely! Nature chakra!"

Hinata frowned, staring at her friend in bewilderment. "But...uhmmm...you don't have nature chakra. Did you sign a summoning contract secretly and somehow became a sage?"

Sara slammed her hands down to her lap, looking exasperated. "No no. I told you. We don't need summoning contracts for this!" Hinata sighed, but only shook her head amusedly. Her friend really was a genius. It was hard to keep up at times but she loved Sara's passion and determination. Besides, Sara was always coming up with the most interesting things. Hinata fiddled with the weights on her wrists unconsciously.

"What we need...!" Sara continued, pulling up her sleeves on an arm. "Is this!" Sara bared her left arm to Hinata and excitedly nudged it towards her friend.

Hinata blinked as she stared in surprise at Sara's arm. She was looking at an intricate tattoo. It looked like a seal. It had swirls and elemental and symbolic balances that Sara always declared as important factors in making functioning seals. The way the lines curved though made it look like a small tree with swirling roots.

"You...! You got a tat!" Hinata gasped, her eyes widening in alarm. She was concerned that Sara would seal herself with something so permanent.

But Sara just grinned widely. "This is a nature blending seal. It allows me to connect to nature chakra, but only enough to use its surface. I can't actually use nature chakra with this seal. But it allows me to utilize the surface. Watch this!"

Sara's face scrunched in concentration, then she slammed her palm to the ground. "Paralysis seal!" She yelled, leaping back after touching the ground. Then almost immediately, the same seal that was drawn in the dozens of papers that Hinata clutched appeared on the spot Sara slammed on. The seal was a thick dark red. Hinata looked at the papers, then on that spot on the ground. It was really the same seal, copied perfectly.

"Mmmm well since I'm doing this on my own, I had to use my own ink..." Sara mumbled sheepishly, scratching her head.

Hinata gaped at it. "Your blood. You used your blood."

Sara shrugged. "Yeah, no other way to do it. Besides, it looks pretty cool like that."

"Is...is it working?" Hinata asked with morbid curiosity as she inched closer to the seal.

Sara smirked at her. "Well step on it and you'll see. If you freeze, then it's working."

Hinata immediately stepped away, making Sara chuckle.

Hinata shook her head in awe. "Wow Sara, you just figured out a way to use seals on any surface!"

"Well I can't use it in the wind. Like I can't raise my hands and make seals appear in the air. There's nature chakra there too but I'd need to devise a more complicated blending seal for that. I could probably use it on water the same way we can stand on water if we control our chakra enough, but I still need to experiment on that." Sara said in thought, obviously making theories again that Hinata was sure she'd test as soon as possible.

Hinata lifted a finger to touch Sara's tattoo, sliding on the lines hesitantly. "Why did you need to tattoo this on your skin. Can't you just stick another paper seal on yourself whenever you need to use a seal on surface? You know, like you do with your chakra storage seals?"

Sara lifted her shoulders helplessly. "Well I could do that. But I suspect that I'll be using this form of sealing more often. It would be a waste of time if I have to put a paper seal on me everytime I have to do it. So I just tattoed the blending seal on me." She paused thoughtfully. "Although it's true that I really need to master the seal I want to put on a surface. If I get one detail wrong, and if I don't concentrate hard enough to visualize it into the surface, then it's just not gonna work."

Hinata nodded, knowing that Sara was probably on the process of mastering all her seals so she could slam all of it on a surface anytime she wanted to.

Sara blinked and turned back to Hinata, smiling widely. "Anyway, so I got that paralysis seal down. It's bloody red though because it's drawn with my blood, so if the enemy is extra focused, he would see it and avoid it." Sara pouted at that. Hinata laughed. "Oh well. Better try to blend it in the surroundings."

Hinata casually flipped the pages of the paralysis seal sketches. She paused as she came across a second batch of papers with a different seal. This one looked more complicated. It was a mass of lines and shades that swirled around a figure that looked like a blurry human form.

She lifted it up for Sara to see. "Uhmmmm..."

Sara perked up when she saw it. She carefully took one of the papers that contained the sketch from Hinata delicately, as if it was glass.

"This one is a protection seal."

Hinata let out a little laugh. "You really should be more creative when you name your seals."

Sara stuck her tongue out. "Well I just don't have the knack for it! I bet if I ever get a kid someday, I'll name it 'baby' because it's a baby when I first saw it."

Hinata giggled. "Oh no. I can see you actually doing that. Poor Neji niisan."

Sara squeaked in protest, glaring at her. "Are you still pairing me up with your cousin? Stop that! He doesn't even know me!"

Hinata smiled at her innocently. "Oh he knows you. I think he's aware that it's your fault he got more fans. He just has not seen you yet. Besides, if you marry him, you'll be a Hyuga! We'll be family!"

Sara grimaced at her. "Oh no you don't! You're not baiting me on him and make me pull that stick out of his ass."

"But he hates me Sara!" Hinata groaned, looking up at the ceiling. "Seriously. He looks at me like he wants to kill me. I thought maybe if he falls for you, he could be a little happier? Besides, he can't hate me if he loves you. We're best friends so he'll just have to deal with me if he wants to keep you. "

Sara gaped at Hinata and blinked at her. "Damn, you really put a lot of thought into that! Aw Hina chan, I really can't perform that miracle. If he can resist your cuteness, there's no way I can seduce him."

Hinata sighed. "Just a thought. It's because I'm weak you know, that's why he hates me."

Sara immediately squawked in protest. But Hinata cut her off, raising a hand and shaking her head quickly, not really wanting to talk about it. Hinata knew that Sara would always stick with her and battle anyone who would attempt to hurt her. Sara was the most awesome friend in the world. To be honest, she was already family. She was even closer to her than most of her actual relatives. And Hinata promised that someday, she would talk about the heartaches of being the clan heiress with her. But not right now. This was a battle that Hinata wanted to fight herself. She knew that telling Sara would mean setting the fierce girl against her hurtful family. Maybe she'll ask for help in the future, but for now, it's a war that Hinata wanted to bravely fight on her own.

She would fight like Naruto fought against the whole village who hated him. She would fight like Sara fought to become the best even if she was born ordinary. If they could do it, she could do it too. Hinata would just have to steel herself against her murderous cousin for a while longer.

Hinata cleared her throat. "So anyway, tell me about this protection steal."

It wasn't a smooth change of topic, so Sara stared at her, gauging her emotions. It was clear that Sara really wanted to talk about it. But looking into her eyes, she must have sensed Hinata's silent plea to let it go.

So Sara sighed exasperatedly and frowned discontentedly. Hinata forced a beam at her friend and waved a cheerful hand in front of Sara's face.

"Hello? Protection seal?"

Sara rolled her eyes. "Alright alright." She lifted the paper where she sketched the seal. "Protection seal. This one took me 6 years to develop."

Hinata's mouth dropped wide open, her eyes going round. "6...6 years?! You started making this on your first year at the academy?!"

Sara shrugged. "Well, I think it's an important seal as a ninja. I just finished this a few months ago. Now I'm trying to master it so I could just touch my client and cast it immediately."

"Ohhhh. Well, this should be useful for you in this mission. You said this is an escort mission, yes?" Hinata asked, nodding at the seal. "So how does this work?"

Sara traced the lines of the seal and pointed at a bracket symbol. "Shield. Absolute shield. Nothing and no one can touch you when this seal is activated on your skin. You can't use it on yourself though. You can only cast it on another person. And only on one person too. So that means putting a shield on someone else."

Hinata frowned, staring at the seal with raised brows. "Is that even possible?"

Sara's finger moved to the spirit symbol. "Sure. But it has a huge drawback on the caster. See, the seal caster creates the shield using his own life force. It becomes impenetrable because the life force is transferred to another body that it is not tied to." She pointed at a container symbol. "You can only cut or harm a life force along with its inherent physical embodiment. So as long as the life force is away from its actual body, it's invincible. Wrap it around the person you want to protect and that person will be untouchable. But!" She pointed outside the symbol at an empty space and tapped it impatiently. "This leaves the actual body of the caster without its life force. The moment I cast the seal to another person, I'll have to purge chakra forcefully around my body, 10 times harder on my systems to keep it functioning. It'll be my sustenance while my body is essentially a moving corpse."

Hinata gasped in shock. "You mean, technically, as soon as you perform the seal, you die. Because you transfer your life to another person as a shield."

"Yup." Sara answered nonchalantly.

Hinata clasped her hands on Sara's shoulders and gripped tightly. She shook her friend. "Are you out of your mind? Why would you cast a seal that kills you?"

Sara waved her hand dismissively, shaking her head. "I won't be dead. As long as I keep my chakra running to keep my organs functioning, I'll be fine. But...if I lose my chakra..."

Hinata blanched. "You die for real. You need a large amount of chakra and you have to keep it that way, or your systems will falter."

Sara nodded solemnly. "Yes. And the shield will disappear if I die. The life force is impenetrable without its body, but it also can't exist without it. If the body dies, the life force will die as well. The...cast-ee? Will be without a shield."

Hinata let out a shaky breath. "That's a really dangerous seal."

"Yeah." Sara said, frustration creeping in her voice. "Even after 6 years, I still couldn't find a way around that. It will work best if no one will target me when I cast the seal. I'll be weaker at that time because I'm focusing all my chakra into purging around my body."

Hinata frowned, her mouth set in a hard line. "I don't know, it sounds like a risky seal. You protect your client completely, but it also leaves you completely vulnerable. I don't like it."

Sara shrugged. "We'll see." On Sara's part, she knew it would work because if she was playing Sakura's role in the Wave mission, then she will only stand and gape at everyone and she would go home without a scratch. Of course, despite attempting to manipulate the timeline to be as it was, Sara really wanted to use these seals and practice her combat. And definitely, she also had her personal mission to save lives.

Hinata shuddered, glaring at the offensively life endangering seal. "So if you drew it a dozen times too, you can also apply it in any surface?"

Sara nodded, grabbing Hinata's wrist suddenly. There was a flash of light, and the next moment, Hinata was staring at a red seal engraved on her wrist.

"Uhmmmm..." Hinata stammered, panicking slightly. She looked up at her friend quickly, activating her Byakugan and looking down at her friend's form.

Sara was right. She really did purge her chakra like a tsunami inside her body. It was fast and very robust, forcefully pushing each system to properly work. It looked like all of Sara's systems and body networks went on pause, and her chakra was forcing it to move again unnaturally. In Hinata's eyes, Sara's body was dark, without the light of someone who was alive. Looking down at her own body, she could see that she was surrounded by a soft white light. It looked like she was glowing.

"So...if someone stabs me with kunai right now?"

Sara smiled, although Hinata could see that it was a little strained. She was probably focusing hard on keeping herself alive. "It would be deflected. You're protected as long as I keep myself alive."

Hinata lifted her sealed wrist and shook it at Sara. "Take it off now. You're straining yourself!"

Sara weakly grabbed her wrist again. In another flash, the seal was gone.

Suddenly, Sara slumped forward and fell face first to the floor.

Hinata yelped and quickly caught her friend.

Sara smiled sheepishly. "Well...I'll have to work on that. It's all practice."

Hinata scowled and shoved Sara off her lap. "That wasn't good at all! Try not to use that seal if you don't have to!"

Sara merely smirked mischievously at her best friend. "We'll see."

Hinata frowned at Sara and firmly shook her head. "Sara. No! Seriously!"

Hinata looked like she was about to go into a round of vicious scolding, her face contorting to an unusual glower that usually frightened Sara. Hinata could go unnaturally brutal when it concerned her safety. So it never failed to shock Sara.

Sara immediately shoved another sketch of a seal to Hinata, wishing it was enough to distract her outraged friend.

Hinata eyed it stonily, her scowl still not fading away. "I hope..." She was seething. Sara flinched at that. "...that this isn't another suicidal seal!"

Sara quickly shook her head, raising her palms up in defense. "No no! Those are clearing seals!"

Hinata raised a brow. "Clearing...seals?"

Sara shrugged helplessly. "Sorry. I'm still not good with names." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "This one's supposed to clear the mist in your vision."

Hinata's face softened. It sounded like the seal was perfectly harmless so her intrigued look reappeared. She surveyed the seal with renewed interest. "In your vision? So the mist will not go away, but the one casted with this seal will see through the mist." Hinata curiously lifted two papers that had almost identical seals, but there was a slight difference to it. She lifted it up with a questioning gaze.

Sara held the papers. "This one sees through normal mist." Sara tapped one of the papers. Then she pointed at the other one. "This one sees through chakra induced mist."

Hinata tilted her head, her brows furrowed. "Why the distinction?"

Sara shrugged. "Hunch?" She explained lamely. Sometimes, Sara couldn't help but be less wary around Hinata. She was sure Hinata would be getting suspicious soon. But she loved her friend dearly and she just couldn't take building walls between them.

Hinata sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get around her friend when she was making excuses. So she just lifted the last seal she saw. "How about this one?"

"Chakra band aid." Sara waved her hand proudly. "When you're chakra exhausted, it would supplement you a little more so you will have an extension of consciousness before you pass out from it. We'll have time to move to a safer hideout or take you to a doctor."

Hinata nodded, looking at the seal with approval. "Useful." A loose string with a seal wrapped around its center caught her eye. She picked it up. The ends of the strings were attached to 2 kunai.

"Oh, that's just a trap. It can be used in the heat of battle. Throw it down on opposite ends, and if the opponent trips on it, he explodes." Sara explained. "I devised it in a way where the one who will trip on it will be the only one to detonate. It's an in-body explosion."

Hinata dropped the string and kicked it away. Sara giggled.

"Relax. It's not activated." She took the papers from Hinata's arms and carefully placed them inside her bulgy backpack. "Now, are you done exploring with my stuff?"

Hinata beamed at her. "It's always an adventure snooping through your seals. I wish I knew how to write seals too."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Well I wish I knew how to do gentle fist!"

"You copied it the first time you saw it!" Hinata exclaimed, pouting at her. She was so cutesy that Sara immediately reached over to pinch her cheeks. Hinata's pout morphed into a small scowl.

"Princess, I could only push my chakra in the tenketsu point. But I couldn't do what you Hyuga people do. I can't manipulate the chakra network of another person to stop flowing or to increase its flow just by hitting the tenketsu. I'd still need the Byakugan to do that correctly. I know where the tenketsu is but I can't see what happens in the body so I can't inject the chakra however I want." Sara explained, molding her best friend's cheeks contentedly.

Hinata weakly tried to tackle her hands away, to no avail. "Yes yes. My eyes are awesome. Thank you very much. Oh get off!" Sara only giggled, poking her friend's nose and eyes. "Sara!"

Hinata jumped to her feet, pushing Sara's face away and blocking the tenketsu on her hands. Sara laughed loudly, wagging a weak finger.

"Well my mission is accomplished." Hinata said, glaring down at Sara without real malice. "I got you to fix your packing."

Hinata winked at her and started walking away. Sara let out one swift whistle, and suddenly Hinata's direction curved and she walked right into a locker.

Hinata yelped in pain, clutching her head as she fell hard on her ass. She turned to Sara and glared ferociously. "Did you...use your...annoying genjutsu...on me again?" Her voice was merely a whisper, but it was dangerously low.

Sara chuckled, raising her palms and sliding away quickly. "I was practicing! I'm sorry!"

Hinata rubbed her head, wincing as she threw an annoyed look at Sara. "To be fair, I didn't even hear the whistle anymore. In my head, I'm just walking and I suddenly bumped into that damned locker. You did whistle again, right?"

Sara nodded happily. "Yeah, remember, I was whistling earlier to infiltrate your senses, let my whistle blend into the background of your mental environment. So the next time I whistled, you won't hear it anymore. I made your head believe that you should turn right."

Hinata frowned at her. "Stop doing that. I'll hit the tenketsu on your throat!"

Sara slid away and laughed freely. "So violent! I'm a good influence on you!"

Hinata just shook her head and pushed herself up, throwing a warning glare at her friend. "I better not see you in the n-next week! Go d-disappear in your mission!"

Sara knew Hinata hesitated because no matter what she did, Hinata would definitely be awaiting her return every day. Her friend was just a sweetie pie like that.

So Sara also stood up and shoved her offensively heavy bag up her shoulders. "Yeah yeah. I know you'll miss me."

She was all packed up now. She spent so many weeks making sure she would come prepared. To be honest, she was well aware that if she did absolutely nothing in this mission, she will still be fine. After all, she was in pre Shippuden Sakura's shoes. She literally stood by the sides the whole time and she was fine. Aside from the medical tragedy that Sara was planning to do at the end of the mission, Sara supposed that she could chill.

Not.

She spent all her life in this world shaping herself up. Sara was really excited. It was her first high rank mission! So it's definitely time for an adventure!

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"Alright! Let's go let's go let's go!" Naruto declared, his eyes sparkling in excitement as he eyed the village gates.

Sara was shuffling beside him animatedly. She pumped a fist above her head and yelled loudly in the crisp morning air. "Yes, let's go!"

Kakashi chuckled, putting a hand on both of their heads and ruffling their hairs. "Well aren't you two just excited."

Sasuke sighed and turned away from them, standing a little further from the group. Tazuna eyed Sara and Naruto with a dubious frown.

"Will these kids really be capable of this mission?" He asked, doubt flashing in his eyes as he regarded them.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tazuna san!" Sara politely responded, facing the older man. In the flesh, Tazuna was really just a grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark eyes. It was a little hard to believe that he really would be the client who requested the mission that would become team 7's first turning point. Tazuna, the famed bridge builder of the Wave arc, simply looked like the usual civilian hard at work. He wore a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head.

Sara tilted her head and smiled charmingly. "It's just that I have never been outside of the village before. So it's really exciting for me."

Tazuna's scowl softened, blinking up at her with wide eyes behind his glasses. "O-oh. Is that so? Well, I guess...it should be...fine then?"

What an adorable girl. Tazuna thought to himself, swallowing his guilt as he watched her beam at him and giggle in delight. Why are they sending such a small sweet girl in this mission? Tazuna knew that he was a prime target for a powerful individual. He couldn't imagine putting this little girl in front of him while strong ninjas attacked them.

Naruto turned towards Sara and held her hands. "You too Sara chan? I've never gone outside of the village too!"

Sara squealed, shooting forwards and inching towards the gate dramatically. She held her breath before slowly pushing her toes across the line of the gate. When both her feet were officially outside, she leaped in victory. She pulled Naruto along and they both started jumping around and surveying the 'outside world'.

Kakashi looked at them with amusement. Sara and Naruto were both orphans who never had any reason to go outside of the village. Sasuke, on the other hand, was tagged along in official family businesses or events outside of the village before so he wasn't as thrilled.

So Sasuke just shook his head before following them out, catching them by pressing a hand on their shoulders and pushing down heavily to force them to stop moving. Sara and Naruto both scowled at him.

"TEME-"

"TSK SASUKE KUN-"

Sasuke's brows furrowed, glaring at the two. "Idiots. Behave yourselves."

The hyper kids yelped in protest, tackling Sasuke in an effort to make him let go of them. Sasuke just gripped them harder, a vein ticking on his temple.

Tazuna started to look really worried. They're just kids!

Kakashi smiled reassuringly at the older man. "Ahh don't worry. Their team dynamics are usually pretty good. Sasuke's just not a morning person."

It was a lie of course. Sasuke had made it a habit to wake up extra early so he could have the usual morning trainings with Sara and Naruto. It was just that the racket that his 2 other teammates were causing as of the moment would pretty much annoy anyone within their range.

Sara looked up at Tazuna and grinned. "Kakashi sensei is really amazing Tazuna san! He's a seasoned Jounin! With him around, you never need to worry!"

Naruto shot a look of disbelief on Kakashi, looking at the man up and down. Naruto made a face. "You're such a fangirl of sensei, Sara chan." Naruto muttered, obviously judging his sensei negatively. After all, Kakashi hanged around them with his orange book, doing nothing else but giggle in a disturbing manner every now and then, probably at the perverted scenes on that dirty novel.

"But he really is!" Sara protested, pouting at her blond friend. "Right sensei?! You are the most amazing-est, super-est, brilliant-est Jounin ever!"

Kakashi smirked at that and shook his head. No matter how dismissive and silly Kakashi made himself out to be in front of the kids, Sara would always look up at him with awe and wonder in her eyes. She must have done some research then if she knew exactly what he was capable of.

But he bowed his head in a pretend show of humility anyway. "Mah Sara chan, your superlatives don't even exist. But I'll take those as compliments and give you my thanks." Sara grinned and winked at him, then leaned down to attempt to bite Sasuke's hand off her shoulder. Sasuke stepped on her foot and shoved her face away. Sara yelped in protest.

Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "She's right though, I'm a Jounin and I should be capable to protect you in this journey."

"You should be honored Tazuna san!" Sara piped up. "THE Hatake Kakashi is guarding you. You should be paying ten times more for just having him here!"

On Sara's part, she remembered that Kishimoto, the great creator of Naruto, mentioned that one of the main reasons of the Wave arc was to showcase Kakashi as an extremely badass ninja. It was totally true anyway. Itachi was still her ultimately favorite character but Kakashi was not far off. While being in team 7 totally terrified her, she was still thrilled to no end that Kakashi would actually be her sensei.

Although she knew that Kakashi wouldn't actually focus on her though, not with Sasuke and Naruto in her team. But she was still pretty happy. That, and she knew what Kakashi actually looked like without his mask. She could just see it. That beauty mark and that handsome perfection. Yeah, she was a fangirl and she would totally embrace it. So she would gladly oblige Kishi on this.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Okay that's it. Sasuke let's take this fangirl down."

Surprisingly, Sasuke actually cooperated with Naruto to turn on Sara and tackle her to the ground. Sara yelped and started kicking playfully, laughing as she batted her teammates' light punches on her.

Tazuna started to look horrified. Children. They're children. Kakashi looked at Tazuna curiously, wondering why the man was so terrified. The kids were still ninja after all, despite their young ages. They were skilled and talented enough to defend against rogues and bandits on the road. Something must be up.

Sara, on the other hand, finally kicked her teammates away, sticking her tongue out and wagging a finger. "Can't catch me doofuses!" She declared, winking at a resigned Sasuke and smirking victoriously at a beaten-up Naruto.

"Are we going or are we staying here all day?" Sasuke asked grumpily, dusting off his shirt and imparting a pointed look at the team. He turned his back on them and walked away on his own. Sara flanked him and tugged at his shirt, whispering about morning drills and how they just did one with Naruto during the tackle fight. Sasuke stared at her incredulously and just shook his head in disbelief. But he didn't shake her away.

Kakashi sighed at that. "Team, the client is still here. You shouldn't walk forward without him!"

Sara looked back and gave him a lopsided grin. "But sensei, Me and Sasuke will be guarding the front! Naruto will be in the middle, looking sideways! You can be at the very back to guard Tazuna san from behind!"

Kakashi raised his brows. "You are tasking Naruto to guard the sides?"

Sara nodded quickly and glanced at Naruto with an expression of complete trust. Naruto blinked at her, his eyes widening.

"You are definitely up for that, right?" Sara asked, her tone suggesting that she wasn't really asking because she already knew the answer. Naruto puffed his chest out and gave her a thumbs up.

"Of course Sara chan! Leave it to me!" He stated proudly, his smile shining blindingly.

Kakashi just regarded them with amusement. It wasn't the best formation. He was pretty sure that Sara just wanted to bug Sasuke in front and Naruto would more likely be focused on excitedly surveying the surroundings like a tourist. But it was a low rank mission and they were still pretty scattered strategically when it came down to it, so Kakashi let it go and allowed the children their fun.

Tazuna shot him a look. "Aren't you the jounin? Did you just let that little girl arrange this mess of a line?"

It does look like a mess doesn't it? Kakashi chuckled inwardly. But Kakashi just imparted a confident nod at their client. "Those kids are very smart. They know what they're doing."

Sara looked back at Tazuna and pouted her small lips. "Aw Tazuna san, don't be like that! You're in the middle of team 7's loving and harmonious circle! You'll be fine!"

Sasuke scoffed at that, now trying to tug away from Sara, who held on tightly to his shirt anyway with a mischievous smile. Naruto laughed happily in the middle, spinning around as he looked at the woods beside the road. Kakashi just smiled and kept walking behind Tazuna in a carefree stroll. Tazuna envisioned his impending death with a far-away look.

As they left the gates, a menacing pair of chakra flashed at the edges.

Sara forced herself not to react to that, even as she saw Kakashi glance towards the area from the corner of his eye. They're here. Sara thought, arranging her features to continue bickering with Sasuke innocently. They started to follow us.

She pulled back from leaning towards Sasuke and subtly took a deep breath. Then she started whistling. She whistled to the tune of Fiona's song from Shrek 1. Sasuke glanced at her, probably because of another unfamiliar tune she came up with again. She just really liked her old world's music better. Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet to her whistling. Tazuna just stared at her curiously while Kakashi continued walking without a care in the world. Sara bet that he would have pulled out his pervy orange book if he was sure that it won't freak the client out.

Step 1, infiltrate the senses. She thought to herself, working on mixing the right amount of chakra, converting it to its exact proper type and mixing it with her voice. Too much and the air would be suffocating, they'd notice it. Too little and it won't deliver the desired effect. Her primary goal was to cast a heavy genjutsu later on. But she didn't want anyone to know that she casted it through her whistling. So whistling now was merely to infiltrate the senses so the whistling later would be completely invisible. They'd be in the genjutsu before they even know it.

Currently, they should still be able to hear the whistling. The step 1 was about convincing the system that her chakra induced voice was merely a harmless lullaby. The goal of this was to infiltrate the network of those who can hear the whistle with the subject's voluntary willingness to let her. In short, she would infiltrate their senses and they would let her because they thought they were just listening to her lovely whistling.

But to do that, her lullaby must not only be soothing to the ears, the chakra she mixed with it should also come with the right amount of sweetness and taste, so as to be welcomed with open doors inside the subject's system.

It wasn't a well-known tactic, if it even existed in this world as of the moment. So she could get away with it as long as noone realized this particular skill. This was why she needed to infiltrate the senses in the first place. She could always just whistle away in the middle of a battle and cast the genjutsu on site. But then everyone would know that it was through her whistle that she managed to do that. And if they know how she did it, they would know that next time, all they needed to was cover their ears when facing her.

So the strategy was to trick the target into not wanting to cover his ears, or at least make him feel like he didn't have to. Disguise it as a harmless song and he would never know the better.

She even lulled everyone in her team into trusting her melodies. She conditioned them into thinking that she just liked singing and whistling. So now when she sang, nobody minded. This genjutsu would be her greatest magic trick when she started saving lives. In the future, she would even need to fool both Kakashi and Sasuke with it. So it was essential that they don't find out how she's casting her genjutsu.

She still needed to develop it though. And that's why she was risking its use in this mission. She needed practical application.

For now, she was hoping to run a test on it against the Demon Brothers.

She whistled innocently along the path, her braid swaying from her ponytail.

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They walked for a few hours quite leisurely. Naruto was still grinning widely as he replaced Sara's spot beside Sasuke so he could be the one that bothers Sasuke next. Sasuke looked at them exasperatedly, realizing that the two of them was set on irritating him today, while Sara and Naruto winked at each other.

Sara skipped to the middle to replace Naruto's position and chatted with Tazuna and Kakashi. Like in canon, Kakashi ended up explaining about the 5 hidden villages and their Kages. Sara knew that in the anime, Kakashi had to do this to explain the Narutoverse to the watchers. Now that she was here, it was a little weird that this wasn't taught in the Academy. The history of Konoha was a full subject in a semester, so was the geography of the elemental nations. But this kind of power structure should really be explained to students as well. Maybe the students were supposed to learn about this as they go to missions. Practical learning and all that.

"...Country of Fire's hidden village of Konoha (Leaf)." Kakashi was saying. "Country of Water's hidden village of Mist. Country of Lightning's hidden village of Cloud. Country of Wind's hidden village of Sand. Country of Earth's hidden village of Rock. Those are the 5 great hidden nations. Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name of 'Kage'. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage, otherwise known as the five kages, are the ninjas that reign over the tens of thousands of ninjas that exist in the countries throughout the world."

Sara ooohed at that. "Wow, Yay to Hokage Sama! Ne ne, Naruto, when you become Hokage, I'll be your Anbu captain!" She paused, throwing a thoughtful look at Sasuke. "Hmmm or you can make me Jounin commander instead. Sasuke can be Anbu captain."

It wasn't true of course. Naruto will be Hokage and Sasuke would be some kind of special ninja assigned to an extremely long-term mission. Of course, she was hoping that she could get Sasuke to stay after she saved Itachi. But for now, she smiled at her teammates, reveling on a lovely vision of their future.

Naruto looked teary eyed as he regarded Sara with wide eyes and trembling lips. Sasuke found his chance to push Naruto away from him, but he had a small smirk on his face before he turned away and focused on the road again.

"R-really Sara chan? You think I'll be Hokage?" Naruto asked her in a small voice.

Sara raised her brows. "Of course! I can't imagine a future where you didn't become Hokage." And it was true. That would mean that Sara totally effed up the timeline if Naruto didn't become Hokage. She felt frightened as the unlikely scenario flooded her mind.

But maybe it was because she said this, or because she said when and not if when she talked about Naruto being Hokage, or maybe because she arranged her own dream to include Naruto's dream, but Naruto pounced on her and wrapped her in a bone crushing hug.

"Yes, I will totally become Hokage then I'll make you the Anbu captain and the Jounin commander if you want to!" Naruto loudly exclaimed, spinning Sara around in his hug.

Sara laughed, patting Naruto's shoulder. "I can't be both of them you know! Leave something for Sasuke. It would be awesome if all three of us become great."

Naruto shrugged, throwing Sasuke a haughty look. "Only if he accepts that I'll be Hokage!"

"Hn." Sasuke replied dismissively. "Sure, why not? A country where Ramen becomes the national food." Sara knew that Sasuke meant it sarcastically. But there was no real malice in his voice. So Naruto beamed up at him and hopped back to his side.

"Oh alright then. If you insist. You could be Anbu captain."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Kakashi smiled down at them. Their team really had interesting dynamics. Naruto and Sasuke had an obvious rivalry. Although that was already strange since Naruto was obviously not on Sasuke's league yet. The fact that Sasuke responded to Naruto's challenges and even encouraged the rivalry was definitely a sight to see. There was Sara too. She was the most skilled out of the three. And this was just considering the things she willingly showed. Kakashi was sure she also had some secret arsenal up her sleeves. But none of the boys picked a fight with her the way they do with each other.

In fact, they followed her around. They listened to her. And they get influenced by her subtle quirks.

Whatever it was, Kakashi was glad. He always knew that he would get a weird team the moment the 2 boys were assigned to him. But with these developments, he was really hoping that he'll finally be in one that wouldn't be so destructive.

Soon, the team finally came across a wooden bridge. Sara forced herself not to tense up. She kept her braid swaying behind her and she widened her eyes as she looked around theatrically. They crossed the bridge without incident, with Naruto and Sasuke's bickering filling what could have been a heavy silence. Or at least it would have been heavy for her, because she knew what was coming.

She adapted an amused expression as she stared up ahead. Sara wasn't sure what to feel about this. She knew that she didn't really need to do anything. But she oh-so-wanted to.

She trained hard all her life here because she wanted to do these kinds of adventures. She was sickly in the past, so she never exerted more than a little jog. She was very excited to finally, finally, put all her training to the test. This was live combat. Yeah, it was simple and she knew Kakashi would intervene in the end, but she wanted to be in the fight.

This was why being in team 7 really left a bitter taste in her mouth the first time it was announced. She would need to step back a lot just for some essential things to happen.

Like in this first combat with the Demon Brothers by the puddle, Naruto would develop his nindo, his promise to never go back on his words. He would be pushed to do that because Sasuke would totally show him up. He'd freeze while Sasuke moved without breaking a sweat. Which means that Sara needed to step back and let Sasuke be awesome before she could do anything. Later on when Zabuza arrives, Naruto would finally be pushed to be brave, and he would create a great strategy on his own to get Kakashi out of some water prison. Sara had to let this happen too because Naruto needed to know that he was capable of that kind of thinking. This would push him to use his head in the future. Sasuke needed to rely on Naruto more too, and by witnessing how Naruto created this idea on his own, he would be forced to acknowledge it. Sasuke and Naruto would also work together and they would learn that working together had its merits.

Sara, therefore, needed to go around these events. Which was a total hassle because she just wanted to go all out.

She grumbled inwardly as she thought about what she needed to do. Being in team 7 really was a hassle. But as she stared at Naruto's goofy grin and Sasuke's cross expression between a smirk and a scowl as he punched Naruto's arm away, then looking back and seeing Kakashi's peaceful demeanor, Sara knew that the hassle was worth it.

She imagined the framed picture of team 7 that was on her bedside back home. She had one arm around Naruto's waist, squeezing him to her, while her other arm was on Sasuke's shoulders. She was leaning her back on Kakashi, so the Jounin was essentially supporting all their weight because she pulled her teammates back with her. She was in mid laugh, her face frozen in a small giggle. Naruto was laughing beside her. Sasuke was looking blankly at the camera, but he didn't look like he was protesting against Sara's hold on him or Kakashi supporting their weights from behind. Kakashi looked like he was sighing, although he had a small smile on his face.

Sara knew that this team would totally explode after Chuunin exams. But for now, she loved this team dearly. She didn't regret being here now, even if it meant being smart with her actions all the time so as not to cause a drastic change that would lead to everyone dying.

Finally, they passed by the puddle.

Sara refrained from taking a deep breath, and just settled on her usual innocent I'm-totally-not-significant smile.

She was ready. And she was so going to kick ass.