On the evening after their meeting with the Daimyo, the skies darkened and rain fell in a downpour over the Land of Fire. Many residents in lower lands found themselves throwing sandbags against their door-frames to stem the rush of water as it pooled on the surface, water falling too quickly onto sun-baked earth to be absorbed into the soil.
In the village of Konoha, while most residents were fortunate enough to live on raised foundations, many shops found themselves continually sweeping water out their doors. They laughed with the customers who had braved the downpour, who had apologised for dripping on already soaked floors.
By and large, however, most residents avoided going outdoors for longer than minimally required. Though it was mid-spring and temperate, the rain had an icy, sharp feeling as it landed on the pedestrians below.
On the outskirts of the town, in Training Ground 3, there were two young men who would not have stayed inside even if there had been a typhoon.
It would have been a curious sight to most onlookers. Not only were the boys braving the elements, but they were standing ramrod straight on a stream that roiled with the influx of rain, the water an opaque brown from disquieted sediment.
Much more curious was that if anyone had looked closely they would note that, despite being drenched, there was no water rolling off the boy's faces. It was as though they had been caught in the rain previously, before standing under an invisible umbrella.
They did, in fact, have an onlooker. However, rather than confusion, or even chill from the rain, Kakashi Hatake quietly left the trees with a feeling of warmth rising in his chest.
The boys never saw him.
And neither they nor Kakashi noticed the other onlooker.
After many hours balancing on the stream, Sasuke's legs started to shake. He had been careful not to lock his knees while he kept position, so it was a clear sign of chakra exhaustion.
"Enough," he said quietly, the first word either had spoken since they had stepped upon the water.
Naruto nodded, and they both picked their way across the roiling stream. Walking came surprisingly easy compared to the effort needed to keep still against the current. Much more difficult to hold was the shell of chakra they'd had to maintain over themselves. The book they'd originally seen the technique described in had stated that a perfect Air Pocket was a thin film of chakra that completely covered the body while filtering clean air into it. So far, all either boy could accomplish was a dense shell over their heads, much like a reversed fishbowl. It blocked the worst of the rain while still providing adequate air.
The boys shivered as they squelched their way out of the field toward town; each too exhausted to even attempt to apply the Silent Foot technique as they normally might. Without a word being spoken between them, their feet carried them through the streets to a ramen stand.
Somehow, despite not speaking or even indicating with gesture, they both automatically left the seat between them open. Their shivers eased as they made their way through several bowls of hot food.
The seat remained empty through their meal.
A woman sat at her daughter's bedside in a hospital room. The girl's sleep had been more fitful today. She would frequently wake in starts, speaking of shapes and figures that were not there. Her muttering would grow increasingly incomprehensible, before finally falling back into an uneasy slumber.
Mebuki was not dismayed. Anxiety and fear could come after the danger had passed, when there was room for worry. For now, she was patient and stroked her daughter's hair. For now, she was yet needed.
She was a citizen of Konoha and a mother.
Two days after the meeting, in the early hours of the morning, the rain stopped.
"Eh? What the hell were you kids doing?" Jiraiya asked, taking in the bedraggled forms of the two genin that had joined them.
"Training, obviously!" Naruto retorted, wiping sweat from his face.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted. At first glance, he seemed to be crossing his arms, but upon closer inspection, he was cradling an elbow like it was made of spun glass.
"… Training?" Jiraiya squinted at them. "Just what kind of mission do you think this is? If you were going to train in preparation, you should have been working on your stealth, infiltration, information gathering, that kinda thing..."
Both boys looked away. Neither replied.
Jiraiya sighed. "Well, Kakashi, your kids work hard at least, I'll give them that. As for working smart..."
Kakashi shrugged. "I tried my best, Jiraiya-sama."
Naruto snorted quietly and Sasuke twitched.
"Well. If you're all packed and ready to go, let's be on our way." He eyed them critically. "But next time, try not to exhaust yourselves before a serious mission. Eh, kids?"
Soon after they were out of the village gates. Both of the genin were eager to reach their destination, but to their surprise, the jounin lead them forward in something akin to a light jog.
"Hey! Why are we going so slow?" Naruto complained.
"While we have plenty of time to prepare, this is just as good a time as any to begin," Jiraiya said. "Now first: when we arrive, we'll check into a hotel at the heart of town. Soon after, we have a meeting scheduled with the Mayor. He's going to have some maps for us, information on the different events, a list of informants to keep contact with, that kinda thing. There should be upward of thirty informants to be our eyes and ears where we can't be ourselves. We're not going to be working in the dark, here."
Kakashi nodded. "The first step toward a solid plan is to know what tools you'll have in hand."
"Whoa," Naruto said. "That's a whole lot of people helping out!"
Sasuke frowned. "Why are so many people invested in the plan? I can understand the Lady Fire… but why is the Mayor going so far to help? Why not just stop at planning the festival?"
"Hah!" Jiraiya cackled. "Because the Lady's finding herself a healer to help all of Fire Country, and he just so happens to govern a part of it!"
"Wait, I'm still kinda confused," Naruto said. "I feel like we're forgetting something."
Sasuke connected the dots of Naruto's incomplete thought. "… Why are you helping, Jiraiya-san?"
"What?" Jiraiya asked, tone heavy with incredulity. "Is it so hard to believe I'd like to help out a dear old friend while catching up with another in the process?"
Sasuke frowned. "… If Sakura ever ran away from Konoha..."
"Hey!" Naruto hollered. "Sakura would never do anything like that!"
"If she ran off," Sasuke continued, "Naruto, how would you feel about going to get her?"
Naruto scoffed. "What a dumb question! Of course I'd go find her. I wouldn't hesitate, not for a second! And neither would you!"
"Exactly." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "So what's changed, Jiraiya?"
Both boys noticeably slowed in their run to stare at the sannin. The adults carried their speed for a few paces before likewise slowing, until the whole party was at a halt.
"Well, see, how can I put this..." Jiraiya huffed, putting his chin in one hand. "Ah, yes. For one, you should know that I have another nickname, The Hermit Sage. I spend much of my time travelling the land, seeking knowledge, and generally keeping to myself. So it would be unfair to try to restrict her freedom as well, you see?"
They nodded slowly.
When he hesitated to continue, Naruto prodded, "That was 'for one'. What's the other thing?"
Jiraiya furrowed his brow. "Well… how can I say this delicately? She's a little, uh, assertive when she gets mad."
There was a pause that lasted the exact length of time it took two boys to run through a mental scenario involving a certain pink-haired teammate. And fists.
"Heh, heh..." Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "But she must totally miss you, right? You're teammates! She won't be mad just because you ask her for help!"
"And you didn't answer our question." Sasuke's gaze sharpened. "What changed?"
Jiraiya boomed out a laugh and gave a thumbs up. "Well, I haven't asked her out in a while, so I figured I'd get her mad all at once instead of spreading it out! Anyway, enough dallying, kids!"
With two mortified genin in tow, the jounin finally led them onward at a full run. The rest of the journey continued on more casual topics; Jiraiya and Kakashi filled them in on the history of the city, the castle in the centre that claimed the attention of many tourists, and the frequent festivals that were held. They were only half an hour from the city when they came across a problem.
"That's not good." Kakashi scratched his head.
The path they'd been running ended abruptly ahead of them, obscured for several hundred metres in floodwater. The current was rapid and the water ran deep, splashing up against the sides of the trees up to the underside of the first branches.
"The flooding must have been caused by the run-off of rain; this is a low-lying path. We'll need to circle around to find an alternate route or bridge. The water here is too deep to ford, and we don't want to lose any brats along the way..." Jiraiya said.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance.
Wordlessly, before either of the men could react, they walked forward onto the surface of the rushing water… and continued onward.
Jiraiya stood on the bank as though carved from stone.
"Hey, slowpokes, hurry it up! We don't wanna lose any brats!" Naruto had twisted around to stick out his tongue, nearly faltering into the water before Sasuke caught him and hauled him back onto the surface.
"Watch what you're doing. Idiot."
Jiraiya let out a whistle, and the two men followed the genin onto the water. "Hatake, your kids are good. They've only been out of the academy a few weeks, and they're already Water Walking like shinobi with years of experience."
Naruto grinned at the praise. "We just had a really good teacher!"
Kakashi scratched the back of his neck. "Maa, you kids..."
"He means Sakura," Sasuke said.
Naruto, for all his energy, was the first to collapse onto his futon when they entered their rooms. "So boring..." he whined piteously. "So many maps… so many lists of names..."
Sasuke kicked him idly and sat upon the futon next to his. "Don't fall asleep yet. We still need to plan." He folded his fingers together, staring off into the distance. "And we need this to work the first time. We won't get another chance like this."
Naruto scoffed. "What's there to plan? We look around, see if we find her, or wait for one of the people to tell us on the radio that they found her." He groaned. "I can't believe it took that guy four hours to just explain that..."
Kakashi sighed. "Even with the pictures Jiraiya gave them, we can't rely on them. They're not shinobi; they haven't received specific training in facial recognition."
"She has a big diamond on her forehead!" Naruto shouted. "What's so hard about that?"
Jiraiya chuckled. "You've never been to a festival, have you?" He shook his head. "Or even held a deck of cards."
"Cards? What's that got to do with it?"
Sasuke put his head in his hands. "… I didn't think of that."
"Think of what?" Naruto prompted.
"The four suits of a card deck," Kakashi replied. "Spades, Clubs, Hearts… Diamonds."
"Even the children are going to be covered in face paint," Sasuke said. "The informants won't be able to go ten feet without finding twenty people covered in diamonds."
"Oh..." Naruto scowled. "Well, it doesn't matter!" He jumped up to his feet. "We don't need help! We'll find her on our own, even if we have to talk to every single person in the crowd! You can believe it!"
"I'm glad you're taking this seriously, Naruto," Kakashi said. He removed an oversized scroll from his back, and in one swift motion, unrolled it over the floor. The map was the very same as the one the Mayor had shown them; it was covered in many different coloured dots and lines. "So please sit down and we'll come up with a plan."
Naruto conceded, drooping.
The following days came and went in a blur of activity. Tanzaku Gai was more than ideal for their mission. It was a walled city set in the heart of a forest, with only one point of entry and exit for the main population- all other doors were restricted solely to the Tanzaku Guard. Their target would have no reason not to use the main entrance, and with five of their informants stationed there as guards, and one of their team members hidden in a watchtower, sighting her would be guaranteed.
"I'll take the gate watchtower," Jiraiya said. "I will recognise her the most easily, and I'll be able to radio you with her direction of travel."
"Remember to keep a calm head," Kakashi said. "We won't act immediately. The best course would be to find what hotel she stays in so we can track her movements."
Sasuke frowned. "It would probably be best to face her in the evening, somewhere in public..."
Jiraiya nodded. "She's a heavy drinker, so catching her in a bar will be easy. And with enough witnesses, she'll probably be willing to at least hear you kids out without causing a scene… And I like to think your story might just be enough to convince her."
"And if it isn't?" Sasuke asked.
Jiraiya grinned. "Well, if your way doesn't work first, we can try it my way. And let's just say I've been keeping an ace up my sleeve."
He and Kakashi exchanged a meaningful look that went unnoticed by either genin.
"Alright! Tomorrow is the first day! I'm ready, you can believe it!" Naruto said, punching a fist into his hand. "… Hang on, what's this lady's name, anyway?"
Extra Special Blather Etc.: Hey, kids… between Ao3 and Ffnet, there are 80 reviews (not including my replies). I know that's not much compared to many stories, but I only started posting this twelve days ago. To me, this is incredible. Thank you so much for the feedback; I cherish it. And thank you to the readers- I didn't expect to get so many this quickly. (As of writing this, 1650 independent visits on ffnet and 2432 on Ao3… wow!)
I was climbing out of a dark place when I started this. Sakarin may not be a self-insert, but I gave her some of my problems, some of her own... I wanted to write a story about hope. I do not know if I would have kept this motivation alone. Thank you, again. (And sorry for the long note! But this felt important.)