Here is the next chapter! Enjoy.
When Sakura saw Kakashi-sensei show up at the training ground with a large eye smile she knew to be wary. What sort of necessary torture was he going to inflict on them now? After a quick glance at Naruto and Sasuke she saw they had similar reactions, so it didn't seem it was just her who picked up on something.
"Go pack your bags my students, we have a mission."
A mission? If they had to pack then it had to be a C-rank right?
"The mission or a mission?" Naruto asked, eyes narrowed in distrust. Sakura couldn't fault him for that, Sensei had been misdirecting them ever since they got back from Wave.
Sensei chuckled before continuing.
"We will be out of the village for a while, so make sure to pack accordingly, meet at the gates in thirty minutes."
He was gone before Sakura could open her mouth.
The three genin shared one last look before bolting to their respective homes to gather supplies for the trip.
When Sakura arrived at the gates Kakashi-sensei was already there with processed papers. She went and stood next to him, waiting for the rest of her team to arrive. Sensei patted her head and returned to his book while her mind wandered.
When they found Tsunade-sama, how was she going to approach the situation?
'Inner, do you know anything about Tsunade-sama's background?'
'Not much, just that she lost people in the past. I will try to find more before we get there.'
'Try to find out the relationship she had to them, I have a feeling it will come in handy.'
'Just remember I won't be around, you will have to handle whatever comes up on your own.'
Sakura watched her other two teammates arrive.
'I won't be alone.'
Inner was silent before she responded.
'You've grown, Sakura.'
Team Seven left the village and assembled in their new formation. She effortlessly slid into her position at the front, the action already ingrained into her body from the countless drills Sensei pounded into her since they got back, not at all worried about what was behind her.
'Maybe I have Inner.'
'I'm proud of you.'
Sakura shrugged her shoulders. She still felt weird around Inner, knowing that she knew so much about her, yet wasn't her. She lost count of how many times she stayed up late talking with Inner about her uncertainty with her sickness, her brother, all of the incidents.
But one thing remains clear, Inner could read her like a book and Sakura barely knew anything about her.
She didn't even know Inner's name.
'You have information to find Inner.'
'...I promise we'll talk when I return. I'll be back soon.'
'I hope it's worth it.'
'It will be.'
Sakura blinked back the stinging in her eyes.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei, what exactly is our mission anyway?" She looked back at Naruto who asked the question, curious herself at what the cover was.
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked Naruto. The Hatake clan desperately requires special alcohol for some clan rituals that have been neglected, so our job is to go to different villages throughout the land of Fire to acquire some."
Naruto snapped his fingers.
"And while we are 'visiting' the different villages we will look for that person."
Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything and from the look of Naruto's smug face it meant he took it as approval, but Sakura herself wasn't so sure that was all.
She didn't think it was just a cover like Naruto thought, it would be a mission to complete, nested missions. She could handle it of course, but it was something to be aware of. It also didn't escape her notice that Sensei said 'acquire' instead of 'buy'.
Who knows where this special alcohol would actually be, and whether or not Sensei would leave them on their own to get it.
Knowing Kakashi-sensei it was better to treat this C-rank seriously.
Sensei gave a sign to halt and the team stopped.
"Well my cute genin, since I know you can follow basic instructions we are going to switch up the formation a bit. Sakura-chan will be on the left, Naruto move to the back. I will be in front from now on."
Team Seven wordlessly shifted positions and headed off.
They hadn't been traveling for more than twenty minutes when Sakura noticed something mildly disturbing.
Every time they got into a groove Sensei would minutely increase his pace. The genin were outright sprinting and Sakura couldn't see any signs of Sensei slowing down.
"Ah, I forgot to mention one thing." Sakura saw him look back with a smile.
"Do keep up." He increased his pace.
Sakura was starting to think she might hate this C-rank more than the last one.
.
"You want us to do what?"
Sakura looked at her Sensei like he was crazy. If he told them to steal from a nobleman from a different country she wouldn't have batted an eye, but stealing from a Land of Fire noble? That just seemed like a headache in the making.
Kakashi-sensei's eyes never strayed from his book as he addressed his students.
"I want you three to go into the castle, find the wine cellar, and bring back wine from," Sensei paused scratching his chin as if remembering something, " at least seventy years ago. I know what you're worried about Sakura-chan, but the Daimyo will ignore it since this nobleman switched factions."
"We got this Sakura-chan, I will provide the greatest distraction in the world that no one could ignore, believe it!"
Naruto wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her to face the imposing brick structure.
"Just look at it Sakura-chan, it's beautiful."
Sakura sighed, though inwardly she agreed with Naruto. The white brick and black tiled roof was a beautiful combination for the sprawling fortress.
"Just try not to have lasting damage this time, ok Naruto?"
Team Seven had already retrieved a few bottles of alcohol, and each time Naruto caused a distraction something always ended up broken.
"No distractions this time my cute genin. You must get this bottle using stealth." Sensei wagged a finger back and forth at his team.
"Thank the Sage." Sasuke muttered, and Sakura nodded in agreement.
Naruto removed his arm and walked to a tree, leaning against it.
"You guys just don't understand my vision, but I guess stealth could be fun too."
"Stealth will only work if someone keeps their mouth shut." Sasuke went and stood next to Sakura, bumping shoulders, staring pointedly at Naruto.
Naruto held his hands to his chest with an aghast expression.
"Me? If anyone talks a lot now its you Teme! In fact you talk so much that Sakura-chan is now the dark and brooding teammate."
Sakura wasn't sure if she should feel insulted by that comment.
"Ha, I only speak because I can't handle your blabbering anymore, Dobe. Someone has to talk over you."
"At least I contribute to the conversations, unlike someone who only judges and puts down my plans like an old granny! Be more like Sakura-chan, at least she gives constructive feedback. "
"Then you should be more like Sakura and have plans that actually work."
"Boys."
Naruto and Sasuke looked away from each other at Sensei's tone.
Sakura, though inwardly agreeing with her teammates that she was in fact the best, tried to change the topic.
"Sensei, what about our other mission?"
"Only need to wait for a couple more days Sakura-chan, but for now, this mission is priority. It will happen tonight, so the three of you head back to the hotel and prepare. I will be along shortly."
Sensei closed his book and ambled off in the opposite direction of the hotel. Sakura felt herself seep into planning mode, she wouldn't accept anything less than perfection. Grabbing a hold of Naruto and Sasuke, who were still ignoring each other, she dragged them down the street back to the hotel.
They had some wine to liberate.
.
"Are you sure we are in the right place Sakura-chan?"
Naruto sat next to her on the tallest tree outside the castle walls, staring at the smallest building in the western courtyard. Vines were growing on the sides of the walls, crisscrossing in various patterns over the weathered stone. The number of them so great they popped out a few of the glass panels of the lone window.
In short, the building was a complete mess.
Compared to the rest of the castle, the worn down nature of the structure was out of place, an obvious sign that they were trying to make it unimposing as if to hide something. If Sakura was in charge she wouldn't have made such a simple mistake like that.
How unfortunate for them.
"That's what I read in the architecture book at the library, this castle layout may be slightly off compared to the centuries old example, but not by much. " The person who designed the castle was an idiot as far as Sakura was concerned.
She continued.
"The cellar entrance is in that building. Regardless, the plan isn't changing. Are your clones ready?"
Naruto held up a pair of orange chopsticks and gave them a single twirl.
"Transformed and ready Sakura-chan!"
Perfect.
"Sasuke."
A figure jumped up next to her from the branch below, a crow perched on his shoulder. The black creature held a glistening red marble in its beak, the color an uncanny match to the eyes of it's owner.
"We're ready, payment has been given." The crow fluttered its wings in agreement.
Sakura pulled out a pocket watch from her pack and glanced at the clock face.
It was time.
"Alright, load'em up. Your clone has ten minutes Naruto, otherwise I will go in there myself."
Naruto handed off the chopsticks to Sasuke, who placed the orange utensils in the talons of the crow and sent it off.
Naruto reassured her with pat on the back.
"Trust me Sakura-chan, this will be easy with my amazing skill set."
Sasuke coughed.
Before the two could start, Sakura placed her hands on the back of their shoulders, diffusing the situation.
Five minutes had past since the clones entered the building and Sakura could see Naruto start to fidget.
"Sakura-chan, your plan is great and all, but it's boring. We are just sitting here, doing nothing while the clones do all the fun stuff."
Sakura rolled her eyes.
"It's a show of strength when you can get things done without having to move Naruto, plus its safer this way."
"Still boring."
"Oh shut up Dobe, the last thing I want to do is hear you whining." Sasuke interjected, his red eyes firmly on the decrepit building.
She sighed.
"Just think of how you can rub it in Kakashi-sensei's face, when we come back successful."
Naruto chuckled.
"Oh Sakura-chan, I can imagine it now." He jumped up to an upper branch and started to pick leaves.
As for why Sakura wasn't sure, but she had a feeling she didn't want to know.
Exactly two minutes later an orange blur popped up onto the branch, bottle in hand. Sakura took it and examined the date, seeing the century difference on the faded label made her smile.
Her planned worked, as expected. Her boys were lucky to have her on the team, they should really thank her more often.
With a hand sign Sakura led her team back to the hotel. Slipping in through the window the genin saw their Sensei lounging on one of the beds, book and tea cup in hand.
Now that the mission was over, Naruto celebrated.
"Success! Team Seven is the best! Take that Kakashi-sensei! I knew we could do it."
Naruto took out a handful of leaves from his pocket and blew them at Sensei, who just watched as they floated down onto his person. Sensei picked one up off of his jacket and flicked it at her blonde teammate using chakra, causing him to yelp as it cut through his clothes.
Sasuke snorted which got a leaf flicked at him too.
Sakura walked past her teammates and handed Sensei the bottle, who confirmed the contents before securing it away in a storage scroll.
"Yes, yes. I am oh so proud of you. Great job, didn't doubt you for a moment."
Naruto looked happy but Sasuke leaned towards her and whispered.
"He's insulting us, isn't he?"
Sakura whispered back.
"Us? You and Naruto maybe, but not me."
Sasuke elbowed her with a glare and Sakura nudged him back.
Sensei cleared his throat.
"Well, since that mission is done now, we will be preparing for the next one. Sakura, please open the closet."
Sakura gave him an inquisitive look but approached it anyways, taking one of the doors and sliding it open.
Upon seeing what was hanging inside her eyes widened in surprise. She turned back to look at him.
"Sensei... you didn't go through my things at home, did you?"
Sakura faced the closet once more and stared at the white circle embroidered on the back of the burgundy qipao. Not just any qipao, but her formal qipao that she would wear to contract signings whenever she assisted her parents with work.
Why was it here?
Kakashi-sensei gave a dramatic sigh and slumped into the pillows.
"So little faith in your Sensei Sakura-chan, I had your mother get it for me. Where we are going to retrieve the next bottle is for merchants only, so that means you." Kakashi said pointing a finger at her.
Sakura racked her brain on what that could possibly be, and only came up with a few options.
"Trade deal, conference, or auction. Considering the nature of our mission, the most reasonable explanation would be the auction, yes?"
"Correct, my brightest student!"
The two ignored the grumblings from the side.
"Sakura will be attending as the guest, and from what I heard our target will be attending as well."
"Really?"
Sensei nodded.
"I thought this was for merchants only? How can she get in." Sakura questioned.
"Oh Sakura-chan, I would love to see any civilian deny the Senju Princess, and if they did she'll still get in, one way or another.
She nodded her head, that she could understand. Senju Tsunade wasn't part of the Sanin for nothing.
"Wait Kakashi-sensei... if Sakura-chan is attending, what are Sasuke-teme and I doing?"
"Why, protecting her of course! We can't have our attendee be without body guards can we?"
Sakura felt a stir in her gut at the smile on Naruto's face.
She knew it wouldn't end well.
With the lack of Sakura in the last chapter I felt that we needed extra, so here is a full chapter of Team Seven being Team Seven.
I always wanted to do an auction arc, though it may be a mini one when its finished, I can now say I have done it, which makes me happy.
Anyways, next chapter will be out September 24th.