"Sakura? Could you help me get to the river and bathe, please?"
At Tomomi's words Sakura tears her gaze away from the boar currently roasting over an open fire in the village square, surrounded by celebrating villagers. Tomomi, sitting leaned against the wall of a nearby house, looks sweaty and dirty, much like how Sakura herself feels. Unlike Sakura, Tomomi is visibly in pain, her hand resting just above the bandage on her calf.
"Of course." Feeling stupid for having lost herself in thoughts Sakura mentally shakes her head and steps up to the older woman. "Can you walk, or-?"
"I'll walk. Just let me support myself on you."
"I'll come too!" Aimi says, hurrying up to them, helping Sakura pull Tomomi to her feet. "I can keep guard while you two wash."
She glances at Sakura as she says the last part, and Sakura feels her cheeks starting to burn. Hajime had insisted that since the boar was Sakura's kill she should also get the honour of carrying it back to the village, which ended with Sakura covered in blood and dirt from carrying the ridiculously heavy boar across her shoulders.
Very unladylike, a part of her thinks.
But she'd done it.
Somehow.
And the villagers had cheered when they saw her with the dead boar, and now they are celebrating and roasting it over the fire for the whole village to enjoy. Some of them have brought out instruments, one of the men currently playing a biwa while telling an exciting boar-hunting story, accompanied by the clapping of children's den-den daiko and Hajime's occasional exclamation that "that's nothing! You should've seen-"
Leaving the hustle and bustle of the village square behind, Aimi and Sakura support Tomomi as they slowly make their way towards the river. With Tomomi being much taller than both Sakura and Aimi it's a slow, awkward walk, but eventually they find themselves a good spot downstream from the village, protected from sight by trees and bushes.
With a sigh Tomomi sits down on a rock, her face pale.
"I've got some pain killers in my medicinal kit," Sakura offers, worried.
"I've already taken some. I just need to clean the wound out properly."
With those words Tomomi starts to undress, pulling her shoes and shirt off without a hint of shame.
"I'll go stand over here, keeping watch," Aimi says, hurrying away into the bushes.
Sakura respectfully turns away from Tomomi. Despite her recent experience with the communal showers of the Genin Corps she still isn't quite used to the nudity of others, even if Tomomi seems the opposite of shy.
"Sakura?" Tomomi's voice is amused.
"Yeah?"
"I'll need help to get into the river, y'know. And you should take the chance to wash off as well. Don't be shy."
Still turned away from Tomomi, Sakura slowly begins to undress, feeling terribly exposed and vulnerable yet eager to wash herself.
"Now help me get into the water," Tomomi orders once Sakura is down to her underwear.
Trying not to look too closely Sakura does as asked, unable not to notice the multitude of scars; old cuts and scrapes, ranging in size from barely there spots to a large one reaching from one shoulder and to the opposite hip on Tomomi's back. The sight makes a small, vain part of her shudder. Is that how she'll look too, one day?
With a hiss at the cold water Tomomi sits down, starting to wash herself. Sakura steps aside, doing the same, scrubbing herself with sand until her skin feels sore and dunking her head under the water until her mind is spinning from the lack of oxygen.
The scene with the boar keeps repeating to her inner eye, over and over again.
She'd killed it. On accident, almost as easy as nothing.
It's not that she's terribly sorry for killing the boar itself. She's utilitarian enough to see the need for the boar to die and how its meat will now feed the whole village. What bothers her is the realisation of how easy it'd been to kill it. She'd just wanted to slow it down until Hajime could catch up and do something - and she's not really sure what that something should have been anyway.
The boar hadn't been small either. He'd been a big brute, bulky and robust and weighing more than twice Sakura's weight - which she knows more than well, from carrying it all the way back to the village.
She's going to pay Hajime back for that, she decides. Somehow. Scrubbing intently at her blood-caked hair she plots her revenge.
"Care to share your thoughts?" Tomomi asks, interrupting Sakura's reverie.
At first Sakura just shrugs, not really eager to share her thoughts. Tomomi doesn't pressure her, just giving Sakura a reassuring smile, and soon enough the silence seems to grow overwhelming.
"I've never really killed anything before," she admits, playing with her hands in the water. "Unless you count fish or vermin. It just … got me thinking, I guess."
"Ah. I see."
"It's not really the boar that bothers me," she hurriedly explains, suddenly anxious of how she must sound. "It's just … I realised that next time it might not be an animal."
"Do you want some advice?"
Again Sakura shrugs, but then she nods. She trusts Tomomi and has come to value her input, even though they haven't really known each other for more than a week. Besides, Tomomi's an experienced kunoichi.
"Don't worry about killing until you have to. Your first kill may be tomorrow or it may not be for another year, or it might not even come at all. Konoha's been at peace for a long time now."
Sakura ponders that as they get out of the water, drying off and getting dressed again. Tomomi dresses her wound properly, applying an antibacterial salve to prevent infection.
Tomomi has a point. It has been over twelve year since Konoha was last at war, and as far as Sakura knows there hasn't been any real threats to that peace. Sure, there's been the mysterious attack by the Nine Tails before she was even born and then later the Uchiha massacre, but those are more like individual incidents.
Of course, if Sakura were to climb the ranks things would be different. As a genin she might spend her life doing D- and C-ranked missions, fighting bandits and never actually have to kill anything bigger than a boar, but higher ranked shinobi do more dangerous missions.
Missions where they might face other shinobi.
Missions where there is a very real chance that she might die, if she doesn't kill her enemy first.
Sakura shakes her head to interrupt that train of thought, trying to focus on drying her hair instead. It's tangled and messy, but at least it's clean again.
"What was your first C-rank mission?" she asks Tomomi, looking for a distraction and a lighter topic of conversation. "If you don't mind me asking?"
"Not at all. It was a courier run." Tomomi gets a faraway look in her eyes, her earlier smile faltering. "Of course, those were different times. Kids were pulled out of the Academy pretty much as soon as you could tell which part of a kunai to hold and which to stab your enemies with."
Sakura swallows around the sudden lump in her throat.
"My team and I - your father included - were ambushed. Our third teammate was killed, but Kizashi and I were able to escape with some injuries and successfully deliver our message."
"You-you lost a teammate on your first C-rank?" Sakura stutters, horrified at the thought. She thinks of Aimi or Takeshi - or Naruto or Sasuke-kun - dying during their first C-ranked mission together and suddenly feels sick to her stomach.
"Like I said, times were different back then. War is war. Doesn't care about your age or rank or whatever. If you're old enough to fight you're old enough to die."
Sakura grimaces at that, which draws laughter from Tomomi.
"Don't worry about it kid. Times are different now. Enjoy it while it lasts." Tomomi reaches out to ruffle her hair, and Sakura lets her even though she easily could've pulled away. What does some tangled hair matter in the grand scheme of things anyway?
Or a dead boar for that matter?
A bit less dirty they join Aimi and make their way back to the village, where the villagers are still celebrating and Hajime is halfway through a bottle of sake.
As she watches the dancing children and the musicians playing, Sakura thinks that she must've been insane to choose life as a shinobi over that of a lady. After all, who would voluntarily choose to risk life and limb every day, being covered in sweat and blood and dirt with muscles aching from training or running - above becoming a lady? Above a life of leisure, married to some civilian noble or business man?
There is definitely something wrong with her, yet she can't really bring herself to regret her choice.
Aimi pulls at Sakura's hand and they join the dancing village-children - their dancing terribly unchoreographed and uncoordinated, something that aunt Kasumi would've scoffed at had she been here - laughing at Hajime's slurred exclamations and the children's antics as they play pretend-boar hunter.
At least there is one saving grace to Sakura's questionable life-choices: considering the gap in skill between her and the likes of Naruto and Sasuke-kun, she doesn't have to worry about climbing the ranks and having to take on more dangerous missions. And if all of Sakura's missions are like this one - if she gets to spend the next few decades with Hajime, Tomomi, Aimi and Takeshi, doing missions and having fun like this - then Sakura doesn't think she minds.
In fact, it might just make her happy.
"Out!"
"But I need to -"
"OUT! I'm not letting you near the patient again! Seriously, first a concussion and now this?!"
"It wasn't really my fault. You see -"
"I don't care! Out!"
The nurse does a shoo-ing motion with her hands and Kakashi reluctantly obeys. What has the world come to when a nurse has to shoo him out of a hospital because he doesn't want to leave?
Outside the sun is shining. Kakashi looks up at the sky, trying to decide what his next step should be. Sasuke's curse mark has been sealed but he's still unconscious, still vulnerable and exposed.
Courtesy of the Hokage there is extra security at the hospital, surrounding Sasuke, but hardly enough to deter someone like Orochimaru. Kakashi doesn't trust said security one bit. Orochimaru has already proven himself capable of infiltrating the ANBU - the deaths of Boar and Fox certainly proves that much.
Nodding to himself, mind made up, Kakashi makes a decision to do something he has never done before. Sneak into the hospital.
Which proves to be easier than anticipated, with the help of some creative use of the transformation jutsu, and the sharingan to help him figure out which room the nurses have moved Sasuke to. They must be more used to patients like him, trying to sneak out of the hospital, than they are to people trying to sneak in.
Kakashi only has to make one detour, spotting his cousin and discretely turning into a side-corridor to avoid her. Even under a transformation jutsu it's best to avoid family. Hatake have a keen sense of smell, after all, and nurses are scary. A troublesome combination when one is doing something untowards, in Kakashi's limited experience.
He finds the door to Sasuke's room ajar, which is quite unusual for the meticulous nurses, especially for patients that are supposed to be under special ANBU-guard. Coming to a halt in the corridor he takes a moment to consider the situation. Is there someone else in there with Sasuke? Is it friend or foe? The former seems more likely, but Kakashi will assume the worst until proven otherwise.
Thus he sneaks closer, carefully peeking into the room.
Sasuke's hospital bed occupies most of the room, and a silver haired youngster that looks vaguely familiar stands next to it. A Konoha shinobi and a medic, unless Kakashi is mistaken.
A friend then?
A glimpse of steel is all Kakashi needs to prove his assumption that all medics are evil, regardless of affiliation. Swiftly he unarms the shinobi using a chakra-coil, finding the weapon to be a scalpel.
Stepping into the room he notes that the ANBU-guards placed to watch over Sasuke have been taken out and are now sprawled across the floor. All three of them. Standards must be slacking, if ANBU-agents are now being taken down like the women in the Icha Icha series.
Grimly he turns to focus on the other shinobi, whom he now recognises as one of the participants in the Chunin Exams. Though he's certainly no ordinary genin, or even chunin for that matter, if he's taken out three ANBU-guards.
"What do you want with Sasuke?" he asks, discretely flaring his chakra in a silent call for backup. It looks like he might need the help. In the meantime, he'll have to stall. "I might have to capture and interrogate you, depending on your answer."
Still turned away from Kakashi, the younger shinobi's lips turn upwards in amusement. "Is someone as lowly as you capable of that?"
Slowly he turns around and Kakashi finally gets a good look at his face. He's young, definitely no older than 20, but with the cocky smile of someone much older - and Kakashi knows all too well that age is not necessarily an indicator of capability.
"You were the son of Konoha's medical squad leader, Yakushi Nono, right?" Kakashi asks, still stalling. Backup should be arriving any moment now.
The kunoichi disappeared under mysterious circumstances a couple of years ago, and shortly thereafter her adopted son became known to the public. Kakashi'd never paid it much attention at the time, due to his habit of avoiding hospitals and medics in general. And with Konoha being a Hidden Village, shinobi disappeared under mysterious circumstances semi-regularly. It was just unusual that they'd have conveniently recently adopted kids.
"Your name is Yakushi Kabuto. And you are connected to Orochimaru, somehow, aren't you?"
He looks the younger man up and down. Shorter than him and lacking the kind of pale skin and slitted pupils Orochimaru's body had, at least according to Kakashi's clone-memories of the recent fight. Not Orochimaru himself then, he decides. A henchman then. Possibly the one disguised as Fox earlier.
"If you do capture me you might be able to prove a connection between Orochimaru and me," Kabuto mockingly replies, still smiling that off-smile of his.
"Just answer my question." Help must be coming soon. It has been over a minute.
"And if I say no?"
"I'm the one asking questions here. Just answer."
Kabuto's smile broadens, becoming almost flirtatious. "If you let me go you'll find out eventually. So can you let me go this time?"
Deep in his throat Kakashi feels a growl growing. Kabuto threatened his protégé with a scalpel and conspired with Orochimaru to have Sasuke marked with a curse mark that damn near killed him, and now he dare smile at him like that.
"You sure are a selfish kid. Don't screw around with adults!" He raises a kunai warningly, itching to put an end to this. But they need the kid alive, and engaging him alone when backup is surely due any second now is foolish.
"Don't act so bossy," Kabuto replies, still smiling excitedly as he raises his own knife, a strangely curved one that is most certainly not the standard kunai. "I have the upper hand now."
And he places the knife over Sasuke's motionless body, smiling victoriously.
Unwilling to risk Sasuke's life, Kakashi hesitates.
They're at a stalemate.
He can't leave Sasuke at the mercy of Kabuto, yet he cannot put Sasuke at further risk. His head feels fuzzy, his mind slow. Wordlessly he flares his chakra in a sealless genjutsu reversal.
A drop of sweat falls down Kabuto's face as they stare off in silent challenge.
Where is that damn backup?!
Then Kabuto shifts minutely. Kakashi can't afford to hesitate, and so he throws himself forward. Kabuto moves to stab Sasuke, but Kakashi is faster, managing to kich the knife out of Kabuto's hand. Using the momentum of the movement he grabs Kabuto, swinging him around and down onto the floor.
The takedown is swift and easy, and Kakashi lands on top with one knee on Kabuto's back, quickly forcing the arms backwards.
Kabuto doesn't fight him. At all.
Realising that he's been tricked again, Kakashi flares his chakra to break the genjutsu.
One of the downed ANBU-guards suddenly gets up, running for the door. Kakashi throws himself after them, only for a second guard to leap through the window.
The first guard collapses lifelessly as soon as Kakashi reaches them.
By the time Kakashi reaches the window Kabuto is already out of sight. Which doesn't necessarily mean that he's out of reach for a tracker like Kakashi, if not for the fact that he would have to leave Sasuke alone and vulnerable in a hospital room with three dead bodies in order to pursue Kabuto.
Where the fuck is that backup?!
The next morning they take farewell to the village elder and his family, starting the long trek back to Konoha. Tomomi is walking on her own, limping but supported by a crutch, and Hajime is still sluggish and red-nosed from yesterday's drinking, so their pace is much slower than before.
Sakura doesn't really mind the slower pace. Her body is a lot less sore today than it was yesterday, but the memory of the run to the village is still very fresh in her mind. Judging by Aimi's and Takeshi's silence, their line of reasoning is similar to hers.
Sakura finds that she likes having teammates that she actually feels on equal ground with.
Around mid-morning they stop by a stream to drink and rest. Tomomi sighs gratefully as they sit down.
They sit in mostly comfortable silence, enjoying the rest and a snack-bar each. Just as they are about to pack up and start going again they hear shouting in the distance.
All five of them look up, surprised and confused.
The shouting comes closer.
"Shinobi-san! Hold on please, shinobi-san!"
A boy appears from the same direction they came, running but panting heavily. When he spots them he speeds up. All but Tomomi stand up as he comes closer and eventually collapses before them.
"Thank heavens! Shinobi-san! You need to come back! All of you!"
"What happened?" Hajime asks, offering the boy a bottle of water.
Drinking greedily the boy doesn't answer for a few moments. When he does his voice is a bit more steady though no less desperate for it.
"Bandits attacked the village soon after you left. They stole our things and kidnapped some of the children!"
Tomomi and Hajime exchange looks, and Sakura feels her stomach dropping. This isn't their mission. Their mission was to hunt and kill the boar. Bandits attacking the village and kidnapping kids is an entirely different matter and might easily grow out of their hands. It should probably be handled by chunin, and they're already down one person due to Tomomi's injury.
Still …
"Hajime, Sakura, Aimi," Tomomi says, taking charge of the situation. "Go! The longer we wait the more difficult it will be to find them, and the more danger to those kids! Takeshi and I'll catch up with you later!"
They hesitate for another moment before Hajime nods decisively.
"Right. You two stay here and make your way back to the village. Be careful though! Aimi, Sakura and I'll do what we can."
Relieved and worried at once, Sakura easily follows Hajime as he jumps to the trees. Aimi is slower, still struggling to run through the treetops.
Sakura gives a quick look over her shoulder at Tomomi, Takeshi and the village boy before hastily moving to catch Aimi as she stumbles. Aimi says a quick "thanks" before they continue, grim expressions on all of their faces.
In order for Aimi not to fall behind they have to keep their pace relatively slow. It's faster than running on the ground, but both Hajime and Sakura could've run a lot faster. Having Aimi with them will be worth it though, Sakura thinks, if and when they catch up to those bandits.
Sakura clenches her fists. Innocent children, kidnapped by bandits for gods' know what purpose. She can't let them down.
Aimi continues to struggle and eventually Sakura takes to physically carrying the girl on her back instead. Aimi blushes in embarrassment but does not object, and they are able to pick up the pace a bit more after that.
Though not nearly as heavy as the boar, Aimi's weight on her back soon starts to become bothersome. Sakura clenches her jaw and struggles on, focusing on circulating chakra through her body to keep herself going. Time is of the essence right now. The bandits might already have a head start of several hours and they need to catch up with them and save those children!
In what seems both no time at all and far too long they're finally back in the village, which now seems a far cry from the happy place it was just yesterday. Wounded lay on the ground, cared for by women and children. The dead have been placed at the opposite side of the village square. Sakura recognises one of the musicians among them.
The village elder, leaned against a house with a bandage over his head, sits up straighter as he sees them.
"Thank heavens!" he says. "You're here! You've got to help us, they took some of the children! My granddaughter!"
A woman quickly hurries over and tries to convince the man to sit back down again.
"Where did they go?" Hajime asks. "How many were they?"
The village elder points to the road leading towards the mountains. "They had horses," he tells them. "Probably ten men and horses."
Sakura briefly closes her eyes. Even if the bandits are weighed down with the children and whatever they may have looted from the village they'll still have a serious advantage with the horses. She gives Hajime and Aimi a look, unsure if they'll actually be able to help after all.
"Send people to the surrounding villages for help," Hajime orders the elder. "We'll go after the bandits but we might need help."
"Already done. Please hurry!"
"Sakura! Aimi! Let's go!"
Expecting Aimi to climb onto her back again Sakura hesitates, only for Aimi to look around the village with a torn expression.
"I'll stay here," she says at last. "Help care for the wounded, organise the back up and stuff."
She looks first at Sakura, then Hajime.
"It's not like I can keep up with you two. I'll slow you down, and you might be too late because of it. I couldn't live with that."
Hajime does not look happy at the declaration but nods his agreement anyway.
Then Sakura and him are running again, heading in the direction the village elder indicated. By silent agreement they push themselves to run faster and faster, until the trees become a blur and Sakura's muscles are screaming at her to slow down.
Thankfully the road is straight, with no paths leading away from the main road. The trail of horses' hooves are clear and easy enough to follow, even at their speed, but as soon as the road splits or reaches a more well-trafficked area they'll have to slow down or risk losing the trail.
"What if we can't catch up to them?" Sakura asks Hajime. "They've got horses, and probably two or three hours on us."
"We have to try," Hajime says, his words short and tense.
"I know, but -"
"Don't ask questions. If you're talking you're not running fast enough."
Clenching her jaw, Sakura pushes more chakra through her legs.
A day after Kabuto's mysterious appearance and disappearance Sasuke wakes up again. Kakashi sits by his bedside, stoically enduring the nurses' and medics' glares as they fuss over their patient. They don't ask him to leave, but they clearly aren't happy with his presence either. Kakashi still isn't happy about having to be in the hospital, so he thinks it's only fair that they are unhappy too.
Predictably, Sasuke isn't too happy about their fussing either. Now that the immediate danger of the cursed seal is over he's quickly getting better again. It's a matter of hours before he climbs out the window to escape the medics, of which Kakashi thoroughly approves.
"Before we head back to the training ground, there is one more stop we have to make," Kakashi says conversationally, falling into step next to Sasuke.
Sasuke makes a vaguely agreeing grunt and follows as Kakashi steers them through the busy streets. Anticipation builds somewhere in Kakashi's stomach. He's breaking all of his old rules lately. First actively trying to get into the hospital, and now this.
"No," Sasuke says, abruptly coming to a halt when he realises where they're going.
"Yes."
With a gentle hand on Sasuke's shoulder, which seems ridiculously small in Kakashi's calloused hand, he pushes the boy forward. Sasuke digs his feet in, refusing to move.
"No," he repeats, firmer this time.
"I'm afraid this is not up for discussion," Kakashi sighs.
"Why?"
"Because you almost died during your first C-ranked mission-"
"That was ages ago!"
"- you reacted badly to failing out of the Chunin Exams and have been having serious issues with your teamwork since-"
"It's not my fault that-"
"- and now you were attacked by an S-ranked criminal and almost died again. Twice."
"I'm fine!"
"You attacked me. Not to mention that we do not know what kind of effect that seal has on you, despite the Evil Suppressor Seal."
Sasuke glowers at him. It might almost be frightening, if not for the fact that Sasuke's literally three decimeters shorter than him, just over half of his weight and still a genin.
"No!" Sasuke says, repeating himself.
"It's either this, or you won't be cleared for missions nor training."
Kakashi meets the fuming gaze, perfectly unfazed. As much as he might try, Sasuke is not frightening to Kakashi personally.
Now, the Yamanaka Mind Clinic, however …
They run at what is, for Sakura at least, close to top speed for over an hour before she has to stop to breathe. Hajime too is breathing heavily, which is a small comfort as even a small break is almost physically painful to them both at the moment.
"I'm sorry I'm not in better shape," she says once she has somewhat regained her breath.
"Don't worry about it. It'll come." His voice is comforting but tense.
Even so she makes a silent vow to herself to start her own conditioning training once she is back in Konoha. Sweat, dirt, unladylike behaviour and ugly muscles be damned, she cannot let herself be the weakness that might lead to innocent kids being stuck with bandits forever! Not now and not in the future!
They each eat an energy bar while they rest, since it is about lunchtime anyway. The things don't taste great to begin with but this one tastes particularly much like cardboard. She has to force herself to eat. Only the knowledge that she will be even more of a burden if she is weakened by hunger enables her to swallow bite after bite until it is all gone. Oddly enough it is Kakashi-sensei's voice that seems to ring through her mind, reminding her of the importance of nutrition.
As they get going again the sky darkens above them, threatening rain. Sakura shivers with unease. Not only is rain uncomfortable weather to continue their search in but it might also wash away the tracks they are following. She exchanges a look with Hajime and by silent agreement they push themselves a little bit harder.
She has grown used to working on teams of three or more, she realises as she's running. Knowing that it is just her and Hajime now - with Tomomi injured and neither Takeshi nor Aimi able to keep up with them - feels strange and makes her queasy. At this point she'll even welcome Naruto's and Sasuke-kun's help, even if they do hate her and continue to bicker in between each other. Never mind Kakashi and his skills as a jounin. She's not sure if he's a good tracker or not, but she imagines he's somewhat of a jack of all trades. He's probably decent at least.
Between the stormy clouds above and the speed they're going they almost miss when the tracks leave the main road. They both catch their mistake at about the same time and they only have to go back a few paces before they see where they went wrong. The road is more trafficked around here, and so they'd missed the tracks turning into a dirt path to the left of the road.
"You take the trees," Hajime orders her. "Keep an eye out for traps or an ambush. I'll make sure we don't lose the track."
The dirt path they're following now is a lot more narrow, the trees reaching far closer and making it easier for a potential enemy to hide. Sakura nods her understanding and takes to the trees, keeping one eye on Hajime and one eye ahead of them for any potential dangers.
At least the bandits would have been forced to slow down when turning onto this path, she thinks to herself. The narrowness of the path and the looming trees would have forced them to travel in a single file, and since the path itself is uneven they would have had to be careful or risk the horses stumbling or slipping over roots or stones. Even without the loot and kidnapped children, it would've been a treacherous path.
They are far into the mountains now and while the main road was well travelled this path of theirs seems to be mostly used by wildlife. She sees birds and squirrels hurrying away from them, even an occasional deer sprinting in the opposite direction. Luckily this means that Hajime has no issues finding their track, since the impressions of the horses' hooves stand out clearly against that of the regular wildlife.
It's late afternoon again when they stop for a break. Hajime joins her in the trees and they share a bottle of water and two ration bars.
"They'll have to stop soon for the night," Hajime says, his voice quiet in between bites. "We'll continue until nightfall and get an hour or so of rest before we continue in the moonlight."
"We should be catching up to them soon, right?" Sakura asks, keeping her voice as quiet as his. "I mean, even with horses they can't go at top speed all day or they would have worn them out completely."
"Exactly. And we've been going pretty quickly all day. Which is why we have to wait for the moon to come up once night falls. Flashlights might warn them we're here, and we want to take them by surprise if at all possible."
Nodding she takes another bite of her ration bar, frowning as she thinks of their situation.
"What about when we do find them? The elder said there were ten of them. We're outnumbered."
"If we're lucky we might be able to take them by surprise or sneak the children out of there without them noticing."
He doesn't look convinced that it will be so easy and she isn't either. Even so it does feel like the most important thing right now is to actually find them, and then they'll be able to figure something out. Hopefully.
"I'm not a very good fighter," she tells him. "I only really know the Academy katas and the three jutsu."
The admission stings with the truth of it but she has to say it. She can't allow Hajime to lead them into this with the impression that she's going to be more help than she realistically will be. They'll both end up dead that way, and of no help to the children.
"Me neither." Hajime's voice is even more quiet this time and she looks at him in surprise. He shrugs a little awkwardly. "You don't remain a genin for the fun of it. Most of us keep in decent shape and stuff, pick up skills here and there, but we're genin for a reason."
Once more she's reminded that although both Hajime and Tomomi easily take charge neither of them is Kakashi-sensei. They're genin, like her, and although they're far more experienced than her they're still the lowest rank of shinobi. Technically her equal. It is in many ways mind boggling to her, to think that someone who worked with her father might not be that far ahead of her skills wise.
"Oh," she says, unable to come up with anything else.
They switch places; Sakura on the ground, following their trail, while Hajime keeps watch in the trees. The path twists and turns and regularly divides itself or crosses with others. The ground is dry but there's still a clear trail to follow.
The rain finally starts falling, gently at first but soon growing more and more heavy. The path grows wet and muddy, making her slip more than once until she starts using chakra to stick her feet to the mud. It's somewhat of a mix between walking on water and climbing trees, but it works nonetheless.
"We'll have to take cover and hope for some moonlight," Hajime says a bit later, landing behind her.
"But the rain will wash away the trail!"
"I know. But it's getting darker and we might lose the trail anyway if we're not careful."
Reluctantly she joins him in the trees, huddled close to the trunk where they're somewhat protected from the rain by the branches.
"Try to get some rest," he advises her.
Which is easier said than done, balancing in a tree and terrified of falling down. As long as she continues to channel her chakra she's pretty much safe but she won't be able to continue doing that forever either. If nothing else she'll eventually run out of chakra. Just channelling chakra through her body does not seem to cost her much more than a little bit of focus, but continually using it to stick to the tree will actually cost her chakra. Not to mention that she's been using chakra all day when they've been running.
After half an hour of failure to even somewhat relax she sighs in annoyance and pulls out a ninja wire, running it around the branch she's sitting on and around her own legs, to bind her in place.
"That's dangerous if you have to get away quickly," Hajime points out.
"It's dangerous if I fall out of the tree too, and I really do have to try to get some sleep or I'll run out of chakra soon," she bites back.
He doesn't reply but the silence feels different between them. She's exhausted, cold and wet from the rain and will no doubt be aching all over in a couple of hours. They've been driving themselves hard physically all day, and her mind is still spinning with worry over the children and what they'll do when they find them. If they find them. But none of that is Hajime's fault, she reminds herself.
"I'm sorry," she says after a few minutes. "I didn't mean to snap at you."
"No worries, kiddo. Just be careful."
Calmed by his evidently forgiving nature she leans back a little more against the trunk, trying to find a somewhat comfortable position.
It is probably the most restless sleep she has ever had but somehow she manages to nod off. She's not sure for how long, but for some time her awareness comes and goes. By the time Hajime gently touches her shoulders the rain has calmed down and the moon is up and actually providing some light. Her chakra reserves are somewhat restored but her body is stiff and sore. Grimacing, she does some stretching to get the blood flowing. Hajime does the same.
"Ground or trees?" he asks her once they're ready to go again.
Hesitantly she looks between the muddy path and the trees. Trudge through mud or run through the trees with only the moonlight to guide her?
"Ground, if you don't mind the trees?" she says with a grimace. If nothing else her body doesn't want her to subject it to more of the longer strides necessary for tree running.
"Sure."
Using chakra to steady her steps she jumps down to the ground and starts searching for any remains of the trail. The rain has washed most of it away but as long as it's only the one path they're following they can at least be reasonably confident that they're going in the right direction.
Then the trail splits into two and it becomes virtually impossible to tell which way the bandits have gone. She wants to scream in frustration but forces herself to keep looking, searching the first few metres of each trail for any signs. There is a small piece of fabric on a bush, as if it's been ripped off by the thorns. She's not sure if it belongs to the bandits or if it's older than that, but that's the path she chooses.
Above her Hajime keeps a careful lookout, a shadow against the moon and the crowns of the trees. He's silent and she catches herself glancing upwards to reassure herself that he's still there.
The path splits again. No convenient piece of fabric this time. However one of the paths looks a little wider than the other and is probably more easily trafficked by horses, so she takes a chance on that one.
In the distance she can hear a river, which is probably bad news. If the bandits have used the river to cover their tracks there is little to no chance of her finding where they got out of it.
"Wait here," Hajime whispers to her before running ahead.
Alone in the dark she looks around nervously. Every shadow becomes an enemy, every sound someone sneaking up on her. She forces herself to breathe evenly and crouches down to make herself less visible.
Hajime returns after what is probably minutes but feels like hours.
"Found them," he whispers, landing next to her. "They've set camp in a cave by the river. They've got a guard by the entrance to the cave and I saw their horses."
Her breath catches in her throat.
"What do we do now?"
They move off of the trail, hiding in the underbrush where they are less visible and vulnerable than out in the open. In the moonlight Hajime grimly meets her eyes.
"I'll stay and keep an eye on them," he says. "You should return to the village for reinforcements."
She blinks at him. What?
"That'll take too much time!" she objects, careful to keep her voice quiet.
"We don't have a choice! We're outnumbered as it is, we need the help!"
Mentally she tries to calculate how long it will take for her to get back to the village. It has taken them a day to catch up to the bandits. Even if she doesn't have to search for their trail this time around it will still take her most of the night to get back, assuming she doesn't get lost herself. Then with the villagers in tow it will most likely take at least another day for them to get back, possibly more depending on whether they have managed to gather horses or what shape the men are in. And even that is assuming that she does not collapse herself from sheer exhaustion before that.
"I won't be back until tomorrow night, at the earliest!" she hisses back. "Even if the villagers have followed the trail themselves we won't get back here tonight! It'll be sometime tomorrow, and by then they could very well be moving again."
"I'll leave a trail for you to follow. You won't have to struggle to find me and them again."
"Even so, there's no saying that I'll be able to catch up with the villagers in tow!"
"We don't have much of a choice. It's too dangerous to engage them with just the two of us!"
They glare at each other, both angry that there is no better solution at hand. But Sakura cannot stand the thought of leaving those children behind, now that they have finally caught up to them, even as she also understands that her and Hajime alone will be far outnumbered. Hopefully the bandits are simple civilians, but it's not impossible for there to be missing nin among them as well. Besides, even weapons wielded by civilians can kill.
"I'm not a peer that you can argue with," Hajime says, his voice as hard as she has ever heard it before. "We may be the same rank but I am your senior and my word goes, same as any other superior. So go!"
And Sakura is twelve years old, less than four months fresh out of the Academy and has absolutely no business challenging Hajime's judgement like this, especially not in the field. Obeying a superior is one of the first shinobi rules.
She looks away. Taking a deep breath she bites her jaws tightly together and tries to think logically.
"You're not my superior," she whispers back.
Hajime looks angry enough to fight her right then and there, if not for the fact that the noise might alert the bandits. Every instinct she has is screaming at her that she's in the wrong, that she shouldn't be challenging him like this - he's an adult and she's a child, if nothing else!
But there has to be a better way for them to solve this problem!
"You'll die if we engage them alone," he tells her harsly. "You'll wind up sacrificing yourself for nothing! This is not what Kizashi would have wanted of you!"
She physically reels back from the words, staring at him. The logical part of her realises that he's using such an underhanded blow because he's stressed over the situation they're in, but a much larger part of her wants to cry at his words. Instead she forces herself to breathe deeply and think calming thoughts. Steady as stone, her aunt used to tell her. Think of a lake, all still and blank.
When she trusts herself enough to speak again she says:
"Show me their camp. Maybe we can figure something out."
Hajime does not look happy at her request.
"If you were my kid I'd spank you until you couldn't sit down for weeks!"
"Good thing I'm not then."
Despite the harsh words and the look he gives her he reluctantly stands. They take to the trees, careful not to make any noise as they near the camp. Once they're within sight they stop, hunching low to avoid being seen.
Like Hajime explained, they're camped out in a cave just by the riverside. A small fire is burning at the mouth of the cave and a lone bandit stands guard. The horses stand tied to trees nearby.
"See?" Hajime's voice is barely more than a breath as he leans in to whisper in her ear. "Happy now?"
She listens with half an ear, her mind already spinning recounting her Academy lessons on strategy. All of her teachers would probably agree that getting help would be their best option, or insist that helping these children isn't even their mission to begin with.
The guard straightens a little as another bandit comes to the mouth of the cave. They exchange a few words before the man exits the cave to relieve himself against a few bushes. His gait is uneven and jerky.
Once the man has returned to the cave she takes a last look at their camp before signalling to Hajime that they should retreat. He looks relieved and they quietly make their way well out of sight and hearing range of the camp.
"What did I tell you?" Hajime says once it is safe for them to talk, though he still keeps his voice quiet. "Now can you go get help?"
"Can you ride?" she asks, instead of answering his question.
Her completely ignoring his question stumps him and he stares confused at her for a moment.
"What?"
"Horse riding?" she clarifies. "Have you done it before?"
"A couple of times. Why?"
She rolls her eyes but resists the temptation to say something teasing. "We should take their horses. That way they won't be able to move as quickly and you'll be able to get help a lot quicker."
He pales as the ramifications of her plan hit him. "No! You're the one who'll go get help! I'll stay and keep an eye on them."
"I've never been on horseback in my entire life."
"We're not taking their horses! It's too dangerous!"
Exasperated, she leans back to look at him. He meets her eyes with determination and she frowns. Hajime is usually easy to work with, why is he suddenly acting so strange?
"They only have one guard, and he's stationed at the mouth of the cave," she explains. "It doesn't seem like they're worried about getting attacked, but rather making sure that their hostages don't escape.
He opens his mouth to object, anger clear on his face, but she holds up a hand to signal for him to stay quiet. To her surprise he does so. She hurries to explain the rest of her reasoning.
"Because he's stationed so close to the fire he won't be able to see much in the darkness that is outside the light of the fire, which makes it easier for us to sneak closer to the horses. The noise from the river will even cover any noises we might make."
"It's still too dangerous!"
Though he objects she can tell that the logic behind her reasoning is getting to him. They're in a bad situation but this is probably their best course of action. It might be safer for them to wait for reinforcements, but that will also mean more danger to the hostages.
"If you can get on a horse you'll reach the villagers much faster," she adds. "If you're able to take another few horses with you it will get you and them back that much faster as well. And even if we only manage to take one horse it will still slow them down."
"But they'll know that we're here. We'll lose the element of surprise."
"To some degree, yeah. But if we get the help of the villagers we might not even be outnumbered anymore."
He takes a deep breath, visibly struggling to consider her plan seriously. She lets him think, suspecting that stressing him on it will just make him refuse on principle.
This is why most teams usually have a captain of some sort. As long as the mission is babysitting or painting a fence or something similar it might not matter too much who's in charge, but in situations like these hesitation can cost lives. As long as she's on a genin team with her jounin sensei the hierarchy is clear, but on a team with only fellow genin? Not so much. Though Hajime is right that as her senior his word ought to carry more weight than hers.
"Fine," he agrees at last. "I still think you should be the one to get help."
"Why?"
"Because staying here all alone is too dangerous! And you're too young!"
Just like he considered her plan of action she now considers his objection, forcing herself to see it from his perspective. To some degree she can understand where he's coming from. She is much younger than him, and his relationship to her dead father probably affects him too.
But Hajime is also wrong.
"I became an adult when I graduated from the Academy. I know that you are far more experienced and normally I would respect that, but my age can't be a factor in this. You know how to ride, so you'll do far better with the horses."
"I don't like it."
"You don't have to. I'm right, and you know it."
He nods reluctantly and she gives him a small smile in return.
"If it makes you feel any better I plan on hiding in the trees and never let them see me," she tells him.
"Good. Now how do you propose we do this?"
Hunched closely together they make a rough plan. She allows Hajime to take charge again, seeing as he has accepted her plan and she will be all alone soon enough. If it makes him feel better to repeatedly caution her about the dangers of the plan then she won't stop him.
With the outlines of a plan in place they once more make their way towards the bandits' camp, quiet and tense. They find a good spot, where they can see the camp but won't be easily spotted themselves, and settle down to wait.
The guard is already slouching on his post. They watch him struggle to stay awake. He straightens up and takes a few steps back and forth. Place some more wood on the fire. Heads down to the river to get himself some water and checks on the horses on the way back.
"I think that's my cue," Hajime whispers in her ear. "Be careful while I'm gone."
"Good luck."
He heads for the ground, quickly disappearing amongst the shadows. Sakura stares after him for a few moments before focusing on her own role. Careful to be quiet and keep very close to the trunk of the trees she makes her own way closer to the camp, climbing higher in the trees so that her view is even better.
The guard is slouching again, leaning his head against the wall of the cave and lazily staring into the fire. Perfekt. If he does look up he won't see anything outside the immediate proximity of fire.
A horse neighs. The guard looks up, frowning at the darkness. Sakura slowly lets her hand rest on her weapon's pouch, ready to pull out a kunai if she has to. He stands, taking a few steps towards the horses before he stops again. The horses have settled down again and when no new sounds are forthcoming the guard relaxes and returns to his earlier spot.
She breathes a sigh in relief.
Mentally she counts the seconds.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
Has something gone wrong after all? What is taking Hajime so much time?
The guard yawns and stretches but remains sitting. Sakura is almost trembling in anticipation.
A roar pierces the silent night; like something from a nightmare, a war cry of demons and devils. The guard startles, shooting to his feet. Sakura startles too. The biggest reaction, however, is that of the horses. They neigh loudly in fright, one rears up on its hind legs and then they're running.
She counted ten horses before. All ten of them are running now, heading for the forest and away from whatever startled them. From her vantage point Sakura can see five of them sticking closely together, one of those five carrying a Hajime-shaped shadow on its back. He holds the reins of the horse he's riding in one hand and the reins of the other four in his other hand. She wants to cheer but turn instead to look towards the cave, where the other bandits have awakened to find their horses running away.
Now she just has to wait and keep an eye on them. For the moment, she withdraws to a safer lookout point.