Title: Are You Ready?
Chapter: 17 – Wreck My Plans
Author: Killaurey
Rating: T
Word Count: 4,053
Summary: AU. Sakura gives up on Kakashi as a teacher after Team 7 falls apart. Too bad fate, enemy ninja, and sheer bad luck have other plans.
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. Part 17 of ? Unbeta'd.
Ino wakes abruptly and just listens in the darkness of the room. Not far from her, a dark shadow in the night, is Sakura's sleeping form. She can hear Sakura's soft breathing-a comforting, known sound.
It's not what woke her.
She doesn't move, keeping her own breath as steady as she can, trying to throttle the way her heart races for no reason she can immediately spot.
It's cool in the room but their sleeping bags keep her from being cold (she's actually quite cozy) and since they've cleaned, she smells mostly lemon and that harder, harsher taint of what Ino mostly just thinks of as clean. She doesn't know the names of the chemicals used, other than bleach. And lye.
Under that, though, she can still smell dust and mould.
The bulk of the compound is still disgusting and her noses is well aware of that, even while they're hidden in their little sanitized pocket.
Her eyes pick out Sakura, the shape of the door, and not much else. No light sources, since they've turned the lantern off. Nothing seems out of place.
But something woke her up.
Her heart still races, adrenaline pumping like she should be deciding between fight or flight, and Ino can't figure out why.
She'd blame it on her dreams, barely half-remembered already, but that wouldn't leave her feeling like she was on metaphorical pins and needles. She'd blame it on the silence of only two minds close enough to touch but that's never scared her though it has discomfited on previous missions.
So what is it?
Ino bites her bottom lip thoughtfully before she decides to hesitantly do a sweep with her mind.
Sakura is there, solid and comforting, a weirdly split mind that is well known and beloved. One day she will unravel the mysteries of how Sakura's mind works but tonight she just draws comfort from the fact that it is exactly as it usually is. Blessedly normal in its abnormality.
As she reaches out further, beyond the confines of their room, Ino is not surprised that Hatake-sensei isn't in the room they had tidied for him. She's not sure how much sleep he's gotten since they entered his childhood home but she suspects it's not a lot.
As she'd told Sakura, though, it's better not to nag about something like this.
She finds him brooding on the roof, ostensibly keeping watch.
Ino finds nothing else, but she's awake now and anxious against all reason.
Hatake-sensei? she thinks carefully, wanting to keep her voice, even her mind's voice as quiet as she can.
She can feel his surprise, carefully marshalled to keep from showing, even in the gloom of an abandoned home.
You should be sleeping.
As far as rebukes go, it's a mild one, and Ino ignores it. She had been sleeping. She would love to still be sleeping. She's tired.
He should be sleeping too. He hadn't even come in for supper.
Something woke me up, she explains, pushing the weird, nameless sensation at him and her subsequent jolt of adrenaline and, yes, fear. But I can't locate anything other than you and Sakura.
She can feel the way his interest sharpens, clawing back his gloom and distraction, even though he doesn't move a muscle up on the roof. There's none of the fogginess that accompanies feelings caused by dreams.
They're as sharp as kunai and completely inexplicable.
Is Sakura awake?
No.
Wake her up and bring her up to speed. Stay where you are. I'm going to investigate. If anything happens, tell me immediately.
Yes, Hatake-sensei.
Ino feels his wordless approval and then does as she was ordered to. Luckily, she knows how to wake Sakura quietly, without seeming to do so.
She, careful to maintain her illusion of sleeping, rolls onto Sakura, still in her sleeping bag. Given that this happens nearly every night...
"Ino, get off!"
It comes right on cue. Ino clings tighter, like she would if she was actually sleeping, and enjoys the way Sakura grumbles.
Sorry, Forehead, Ino says, once Sakura has given up her struggle for freedom and decided just to cope with it. Hatake-sensei told me to wake you. Don't give us away.
Sakura gives a sleepy, protesting noise. Her mind is kicking into high gear, though, and Ino waits until Sakura has worked her way through what it means that she's been woken up, by Ino, on orders from their sensei.
What's going on?
Don't know, Ino admits. I got woken up by... something. I can't find any other minds, but Hatake-sensei is looking into it.
You told him first? And Sakura probably doesn't mean to share how tangled up her emotions are about that but she does.
Ino doesn't apologize. She's not sorry.
Standard procedure, remember? And if there is something going on then he's the one most likely to be able to handle it. Three Genin are theoretically equal to one Jounin but we're only two Genin in an unfamiliar place.
Sakura wrestles with her feelings, silently, and Ino patiently waits it out. Sakura's logic kicks in shortly and Ino can feel the moment Sakura decides she's forgiven.
Should we get up? Barricade the door? Sakura wonders, though she's careful not to move yet. Are we actually in any danger? What could attack us if there's no mind behind it?
He didn't say anything about getting up and moving. Hatake-sensei just wanted me to make sure you were awake and brought up to speed while he investigates. I don't know if we're in any real danger but can't you feel it in the air? Something is weird. Almost like... something wants to happen.
Sakura is quiet then, stilling even her thoughts as she focuses on just sensing their surroundings rather than on reacting to something they can't see.
It's almost like the air right before a really big thunderstorm, you know? Only I can still hear the rain outside and yet the anticipation of another storm coming is still... there. Almost like if we reach out, we'd be able to touch it? And... I don't think it's friendly?
Yes! That's exactly it!
Ino rests her head against Sakura, which is easy to do when they're already tangled in sleeping bags and together.
What should we do? Sakura asks, after a few minutes of them just listening and trying to hear or feel anything more than the odd ominous anticipation in the air. Should we check with Hatake-sensei? Or just fake waking up and seeing if that does anything?
Ino considers these options carefully. If she'd been in Team 10 still then she would have woken Shikamaru and Chouji and one of them, probably Chouji, would have woken Asuma-sensei while she and Shikamaru had decided what they were going to do.
It had worked for Team 10.
But she's not on Team 10 anymore and new days mean new ways and while Sakura follows her lead, and she's as brilliant in her own way as Shikamaru, Ino knows that Sakura isn't as comfortable just acting without input from their sensei.
Of course, getting input from Asuma-sensei had always turned into 'what do you three think we should do' anyway. Interesting to talk about but frustrating when a decision needed to be made. Not every decision could or should be turned into a lesson-especially not out in the field.
Hatake-sensei teaches but he also leads.
I'll check with Hatake-sensei.
Sakura's relief is a warm, delicate thing. Ino is careful with Sakura because Sakura is careful with her.
If Ino had decided they had to act without their sensei, Sakura would have gone along with it.
And that might still happen at some point. It might have to happen. Missions go wrong all the time. Sakura knows this too, so Ino doesn't say anything, just loops Sakura into her questions as she reaches out to Hatake-sensei with them.
He's startled-Ino feels it and, with a bubbling hiccup of a giggle aborted down the line from Sakura, she knows Sakura can too-but, he's all business in the here and now, not letting surprise sway him.
Ino presents their questions silently, since putting it all into words would take longer and, in the space of a few heartbeats, he reviews them and makes up his mind.
Barricade the door, but leave the windows. If something tries to get in, get out and we'll withdraw to first base and determine our next course. If anything does attempt to enter your room, alert me immediately.
Their assent is swiftly given and then Ino disengages their minds, being careful to do so thoroughly but without undue haste.
When she opens her eyes, Sakura has already sat up, brushed and tied her hair back, and is gravely considering their supplies.
Fashionable even at a time like this? Ino teases, wriggling out of her sleeping bag and reaching for the hairbrush herself.
Sakura rolls her eyes, amused. We might not get a chance later. And it took thirty seconds, tops.
Since this is true, and it doesn't take Ino any longer to put her hair up into a tidy bun, she just grins back at Sakura, completely unrepentant.
Have you decided how we're going to deal with the doors?
Sakura grimaces. We're going to have to move the shelves.
Ino makes a face right back. I'm wishing right now that we hadn't cleaned so well.
Me too, Sakura says ruefully, getting to her feet and carefully and silently padding over to the corner where they had stuck lantern. Do you think we should light it?
Ino hesitates, then shakes her head, tying off her bun, giving it a pat, and standing up. It gives her time to consider the question.
It gives her time to wonder if Sakura's old team ever actually paid attention to her, that she feels the need to ask questions like this, without venturing her own opinions as well.
It's so frustrating.
Probably better for us to wait until we get the shelves moved first. That way, even if someone notices they won't be able to get in as easily and we'll have relative safety to let our eyes adjust. Hatake-sensei might not want us to turn it on anyway, in case we have to bolt.
Sakura sighs, just a little, because that wasn't the answer she had hoped for. Ino is sorry about that, she really is, and maybe Hatake-sensei wouldn't mind at all, but Ino has never shied away from giving her opinion-and even less so when actually asked.
"Left shelf first?" Ino suggests, eyeballing the waist-high shelving. She keeps her voice low but, well, if they're moving furniture around then they'll be making some noise anyway. "It's closer to the door."
"But then we'd have to lift the other one and carry it further," Sakura says, and Ino can feel the frown Sakura is giving the whole situation. "Let's push the right and lift the left."
Since there's plenty of sense in what Sakura suggested, that's what they decide to do. Besides, it kind of makes up for having to be the one to initiate contact with their sensei. Makes it seem a little more fair, even though that might not make logical sense.
The right shelf is heavier than it looks but they're kunoichi of Konoha and it would be embarrassing if they couldn't move a shelf. It moves. Not easily or quietly, and it takes both of them to do it-the thing is solid wood and deceptively light-looking.
Once the door is blocked with the right shelf, they both eye the door, with twin expressions of speculation.
"That's not good enough," Ino says, though they're both wishing it was. "You know it. I know it. Hatake-sensei is going to know we know it."
"I know," Sakura says mournfully. "I was just wishing we were still asleep. It's cold in here when we're not in our sleeping bags."
It is a bit chilly. Ino refuses to dwell upon it, because otherwise it's all she'll think about. Instead, Ino smiles faintly, despite herself. "Then moving furniture will warm us up."
They both turn and eye the other shelf, knowing just how heavy it is going to be to move. The only good thing is that it is empty. It's a small consolation.
"How about we shove it over as far as we can first?" Sakura suggests. "Then lift it only when it's beside the other one? That would minimize the effort, I think."
"We might as well," Ino agrees. "It's better than carrying it the whole way and if we take too long and Hatake-sensei shows up… it's going to be embarrassing if we haven't completed the thing we asked if we could do."
Sakura shudders.
"Somehow," she says, as she goes to put her shoulder against the shelf. Ino gets ready to pull it while Sakura pushes. "Somehow embarrassing Hatake-sensei sounds a lot worse than embarrassing Kakashi-sensei ever did, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," Ino says, shaking her hands out and then taking a firm hold of the shelf. "I know exactly what you mean. I think it's because he takes us seriously, so we want to take his expectations seriously too."
Between their efforts, they move the shelf over a half foot, then a foot, then another. Then it's bumping up against the other shelf and Ino dramatically drapes herself over it, just for a moment, before she pushes herself away.
"Okay," Ino says, with a certain grim sort of satisfaction. "Now we've just got to lift it."
Sakura is staring at her.
"What?"
"Ino," Sakura says slowly, like she doesn't want to say anything to startle either of them but that whatever it is needs to be said anyway: "your breath is visible."
Ino blinks. Then she blows out a breath. It hovers there, a white cloud, before dissipating. Hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "It's not supposed to be this cold," she says, as if stating that fact will change anything.
It doesn't.
Ino is bitterly disappointed.
Sakura sighs and her own breath comes out in a white cloud too. Ino shivers, more from unease than from the cold. They've been doing so much physical movement that they don't feel particularly cold.
Should we contact Hatake-sensei first or move the shelf?
Ino doesn't complain when Sakura goes back to sub-vocal communication. The cold, the breath, the way it's not supposed to be like this is… creepy.
The shelf first, Ino decides, since that really just makes the best sense. Nothing is overtly attacking them yet and, once they've moved the shelf they can wrap their sleeping bags around each other and huddle for warmth as she reaches out for Hatake-sensei's advice. Come on, quickly.
There's no more dawdling or griping now. They just get to work, channeling chakra into their limbs, giving them an extra boost in strength and silently coordinate the best way to pick the thing up—it's heavy, even with them working in tandem, being solid wood, as wide across as one of them can reach, and tall enough to come up to their chests—and then, with more effort, they manage to hoist it up into the air, scraping the side of it against the other shelf.
They get one corner, then one side on top of the other shelf, and then it gets easier. The hardest part now keeping it balanced as they slide it over. The noise is awful but, once they have the shelf settled, once it's in place, they just stand there, breathing heavily.
Leaving puffs of white with each breath, even though they're not cold at all.
That's just an illusion, she knows, because of the effort they put in.
"There," Ino says. "The door is blocked."
Sakura takes another deep breath and sighs, looking a little more relaxed, as she turns away from the door. "Okay," she says. "Now do you think we'll be safe or-?"
Ino thinks about that before answering, as they both go back to their tangled sleeping bags and shake them out, unzipping them and then draping them over their shoulders because they both know it's not safe enough to crawl back into their sleeping bags right now. Not until the 'all clear' is given.
Maybe not until the temperature goes back to normal.
"I'll check with Hatake-sensei," Ino says. "I think that's the only thing we can really do right now."
"Do you think we should pack up?" Sakura asks, frowning. Ino feels the frown more than she sees it. There's not much light in the room, though their eyes are as adjusted as it is possible for them to get. "Just in case we need to evacuate?"
Ino hesitates a moment, then nods. "I think that's a good idea," she says. "Maybe we won't need to, but if we do then it'll be better if we don't have to leave our things behind."
"I'll do that then," Sakura says, sounding glad of having something to do. "Let me know what Hatake-sensei says."
Ino nods, absently, her mind reaching out to look for their sensei. He's not where he'd been but, then, while she'd started her search there, Ino hadn't expected him to stay put. She begins a careful sweep of the Main House, alert for any minds, but other than Sakura's and hers…
Ino finds nothing.
Her blood runs cold.
She looks for their sensei again, fighting back fear and reassuring herself that if he'd died, she'd have felt that.
He wasn't allowed to be dead.
Sakura, Ino says, her mind's voice barely a whisper.
I've got everything packed! Sakura says back. If we need to go, everything's ready. Ino—what's wrong?
Sakura, I can't find Hatake-sensei.
What?!
We're getting out of here, Ino decides, over-riding Sakura's surprise with a decision, her mind racing. This is the part of planning she's good at. The part that Shikamaru left to her because, in the moment, she is good at making choices.
He has to think. So does Sakura.
Ino just has to act.
Back to first base, the guest house, then we'll fortify and wait until morning. We can't leave the compound without Hatake-sensei. He's got control of the wards.
Are you sure he's not-
He's not dead. Ino clings to that certainty. That knowledge that she's been raised in. In this place of so few minds, of ones that she cares for, she would notice if one of them died. It's violent, in a way that being knocked out or falling asleep isn't.
She would notice.
She's got generations of knowledge drilled into her by her Clan that say she would. She must believe that.
Come on, hurry! We'll go out the windows! The one on the far right opens.
They silently, and quickly, strap on their packs, rolling their sleeping bags up and tying them tight.
Something scrabbles at the door, like a million legs or hands grasping for purchase. Then the door starts to slide open, something long and thin groping through the opening and finding the shelves. Ino is so very grateful to the shelves.
Hatake-sensei, Ino calls carefully, hoping that nothing else can hear her. We're retreating to first base. Something is trying to enter our room.
Maybe he won't hear them. Maybe he will.
Either way, Ino feels better for having alerted him that they're following his orders and getting out.
They tip-toe over to the window and, now, Ino is grateful for the way Sakura had insisted they scrub the windows until they gleamed earlier. The window opens silently, quieter than the beating of her heart and the shaking of the shelves behind them.
As team leader while Hatake-sensei is missing (and Sakura hasn't challenged her for it) Ino gestures for Sakura to go first, helping her up, and then hoists herself up and out of the Main House. She lands quietly on grass and dirt, the ground springy with good health.
It's not super hot outside, she knows this, but the air hits her like a warm slap to the face after the cold inside. To disguise the exact method of their flight, Ino turns and shuts the window behind them, careful to keep it quiet, rather than slamming it.
She takes a step back and stumbles, abruptly a little dizzy. A headache rolls through her head like a thunderstorm. Unexpected and heavy, leaving her nearly blind.
Sakura grabs her arm, stabilizing her, and then dragging her away from the window.
"Ino," Sakura says, barely breathing the word. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Ino says, just as quiet, leaning against her. She closes her eyes. "Headache."
Sakura rummages around in her pack and, shortly, forces a couple of pain killers on her. Ino dry swallows them, reminding herself that the awful, chalky taste just means that they'll work shortly. In the meantime, they stay hidden in the compound, nothing more than over-grown grasses and the shadows of the buildings to cover them.
It's probably good to wait anyway, Sakura says, her mind's voice apologetic, anxious about making the headache worse, but Ino understands. They can't talk too much aloud until they know better what they're up against. Whatever it is will expect us to make for first base immediately. We're safer this way.
Should we even go back to first base? Ino wonders, thinking about that now. Sure, she'd said so, even told Hatake-sensei that they would—though she has no idea if he heard her or not—but it's a good point that Sakura has raised. It's the only place we're familiar with. It's also the only place the shows signs of having been inhabited by us.
If Hatake-sensei manages to escape, he'll look for us there, Sakura points out, though there's no argument in her tone. Just the facts.
Ino thinks about it. It's hard to think around her headache, though she can feel the pain killers working now, slicing off bits of pain and numbing them away from her.
Let's wait half an hour, she suggests. Then we'll go and investigate our rendezvous point. If he's not there, we'll go and hide in the training field until morning.
Sakura is quiet.
Ino waits a few minutes, concentrating on paying attention to her senses and not the pain in her head. Had she over-stretched? Pushed herself too hard? It's possible, she supposes, since she's never really conducted conversations at a distance as much as she's done tonight. It would also explain why her head doesn't get worse when she's just talking to Sakura, less than a foot away.
Sakura? Everything okay?
Everything is not okay, Sakura says immediately, which amuses Ino despite the truth of it. We're outside, in the damp grass, there's something weird in the Main House, you're in a lot of pain, and we're missing our sensei.
Okay, okay, but I was asking about our plan? What were you thinking about?
Sakura is quiet for a few moments longer.
It's a good plan. Let's do it.
But what's your problem? Ino persisted.
I was just thinking of how different Team 7 used to be, Sakura says. It's nothing. How's your head?
Getting better every moment.
Okay. Sakura nods, the movement just barely visible in the darkness. Then get further into the shadows and we'll wait a bit. Then we'll hit up first base and see… and we'll see what there is to see.
There's really nothing else Ino can do or say. She could pry further into Sakura's mind but Sakura trusts her not to do that. Ino would rather have Sakura's trust than have the answers to her questions—at least, when it comes to something like this.
She wouldn't like it if Sakura pried into her thoughts about Team 10 after all. Some things aren't meant to be shared. Some things hurt too much.
Instead, once they've wriggled their way through the tall grass until they're hidden in the shadow of a cherry tree. The Main House and the window they left through is nothing but a long, tall darkness.
Ino hugs Sakura, tightly, and hopes that says all the things neither of them will say out loud.
Then they wait.