The God of Wind:
The Humming Mist Arc:
Chapter 9: At your own pace
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– Three Days Earlier, Bandit Camp –
Everything had been going fine for Sakura. She'd even handled her first kill well. After casting the genjutsu, Kakashi and her had crept into the camp, and he directed her to the first bandit they came across. A short, stocky man with greasy brown hair tied in a topknot, minding a cooking fire. He wore a threadbare sleeveless kimono that fell to his thighs. The top was covered in amateur patches. Her nose wrinkled at the stench of urine and stale beer surrounding the man.
Kakashi placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and whispered into Sakura's ear. "Approach from behind and be decisive. One clean slice. And whatever you do, don't look in his eyes."
Sakura nodded faintly. She padded forward silently, a shaky hand held her kunai at the ready. To kill her nerves, she began to recite the shinobi code. 'Rule #1, a shinobi must set their emotions aside for the mission. Rule #2 a shinobi must be willing to kill for the village.' The code was a mantra, one she had painstakingly memorized.
Despite the sick feeling in her stomach, the one that tightened her throat and made her want to throw up her lunch, Sakura struck. With hands atremble, she wrenched a hand over the bandits mouth, and dragged her kunai across his throat. His blood sprayed across the ground, it made the cooking fire hiss and spit. She let the bandit collapse, gurgling desperately, she froze momentarily.
She'd actually killed someone. It wasn't like killing the mice they were given. To end a human life so easily felt so … wrong.
Sakura shoved down her shock and disgust, and together she continued forward with Kakashi. After that, dealing with the next few they came across was easy. Then someone had screamed, shattering her concentration and she had released the genjutsu.
There was no time to consider how anyone escaped, they were too busy fighting of the sudden hornet's nest that the bandit camp had become.
Weaving in and out, she dispatched any she came across. The foggy air mixed with smoke to create a choking haze that stung her eyes. She gagged at the heavy scent of copper and roasting flesh that hung in the air, as she drove her kunai into the heart of another bandit.
Kakashi-sensei guarded her back. He was everywhere, cutting down any bandit that escaped her notice with startling ease. As she cut through yet another bandit, her earpiece crackled. Naruto's voice came through, filled with exasperation. "This is Naruto, Sasuke's going after a couple bandits that tried running towards the North edge of camp, I'm backing him up."
The silver-haired put a hand to his neck, as he blocked a chipped and dulled katana from another bandit. "Acknowledged, keep an eye out." Kakashi sighed, shoving aside the bandit's kunai, and cutting his throat. "Let's try and finish up here, Sakura." He told her.
Sakura nodded shakily, peering around with watery eyes. Only a few of the two dozen tents were still standing. Even fewer bandits could say the same. An eerie quiet had settled over the camp, filled only with the quiet crackle of smoldering fires, and the pained groans of the few men that were dying from grievous injuries. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and her nostrils seared painfully from a smell of burnt chlorine.
Zzzt … Zzzt … Zzzt!
The world spun, and she was thirty feet away, cradled in Kakashi's arm as a lightning bolt blasted a crater where she'd just been standing. Bloody mud and dust flew into the air.
"Man, almost had pinkie!" Someone said with a childish laugh.
Amidst the haze, two boys landed on the ground, one slightly taller with short white hair, the other leaner, with medium length black hair. Aside from the hair, they were nearly identical, wearing olive kimono tops and pinstriped grey pants taped at the ankles. Slung across the white-haired ones back was a nodachi, while the black-haired boy wore a wakizashi on either hip. They didn't look much older than Sakura herself.
Kakashi shoved Sakura behind his body, reaching for his headband to pull it up. The black haired one grinned, showing a pair of shark-like teeth.
"Oh ho, the Sharingan already, what an honor copy ninja!"
"You two don't look like bandits." Kakashi commented dryly.
Sakura glanced between her sensei, and the two older boys. 'Sharingan, what's he talking about, that's the Uchiha bloodline?'
There was no time to contemplate it, because the black-haired boy grinned, then struck. In a flash of steel, he shot forward, spinning like a top as azure lightning wreathed his blades. He headed straight for her. Kakashi cursed, drawing a pair of kunai. Sakura watched in morbid horror, as the silver blades drew closer. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the blow that never came. Instead she heard a terrible metal screech, and felt a tingling, numb feeling in her cheek.
She opened her eyes cautiously and flinched back. Kakashi had only just managed to stop the sword three inches from her face, his own kunai were wreathed in lightning. Three inches from death.
The silver-haired man glanced back at her, his left eye glowed red, three lazy tomoe circling a pinprick pupil. "Sakura, stay back. I'll handle this."
The pink-haired girl nodded hesitantly. She couldn't speak, the reality of her near death pressed down on her. Combined with the oppressive tension she felt, like a physical force that held her in place, she could not even think of moving.
With one mighty heave, Kakashi broke the black-haired boy's guard. Just as he moved to strike, suddenly the black-haired boy disappeared and the white-haired one was in his place, Nodachi coming down for a terrible slash. Kakashi raised his kunai, only for one to shatter and force him back.
'The kunai shattered, that's insane strength!' Sakura watched nervously, as Kakashi drew another kunai and tried to engage the whitehaired boy. She let out a scream of terror, as the black-haired boy dashed forward and slashed into Kakashi's side. The jonin erupted into a pillar of smoke, revealing a severed log.
The ground under the enemies' feet crackled, and Kakashi shot out of the earth, trying to gouge the white-haired boy from crotch to throat. He just barely dodged, receiving a shallow cut across his stomach.
The three shinobidanced, that was the only word for it, at a pace she couldn't track, little more than blurs of green and black and olive and grey. The olive and grey kept bouncing around Kakashi, switching places, and changing angles. Her heart hammered fearfully; she prayed her sensei would manage to win. The thought of facing these two was terrifying, they were far out of her league. When the trio finally disengaged, the two boys were covered in shallow cuts, while Kakashi only had a single scratch on his right arm.
The black-haired boy tutted in annoyance. "Looks like he's as good as they say. Oh well, it was worth a shot Nijiro, let's retreat for now. The copy ninja gets to keep his head for today."
"Understood, Ichiro." The white-haired one–Nijiro–replied blandly, his voice was as bland and monotone as his facial expression.
"It's Big Brother Ichiro!" Ichiro shot back petulantly.
Nijiro shook his head, even as the two turned and dashed away. "We are twins, and you are only older by two minutes."
The fight was over just as quickly as it began, and far more bizarrely. Kakashi followed the pair with his eyes, until they'd disappeared to the east. Once they were gone, his shoulders slumped, and he quickly pulled down his headband with a weary sigh. "Too close, that took a good chunk of chakra."
"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on?" Sakura asked, stuttering through the question. The smokey air made her feel light-headed, it was hard to think. Nothing made sense right now. They had faced shinobi, on a simple mission to deal with bandits. Kakashi-sensei had a Sharingan eye. She had almost died. It felt like she was going mad.
Kakashi turned to her, Sakura was expecting him to reassure her with a light-hearted joke, that's what he always did since they'd become a team. Instead, there was a worried look in his visible eye.
"Based on their clothing, I'd guess those were Hidden Mist shinobi, or at least, they were. Probably missing ninja." Kakashi's gaze lost focus, as he sorted his thoughts. "They could have been after my bounty but … something doesn't seem right. Like there's something I'm miss–" His musing halted, Kakashi's gaze sharpened, and snapped northward. "Follow me, now!"
Kakashi turned and took off North. Sakura sprinted, she strained to keep pace with her sensei as he tore across the field and into the foggy forest of pine trees. Something had him spooked, and she had no idea what. Why was he so desperate to go North? Then it hit her. That was the direction Naruto and Sasuke rushed off in. Her stomach lurched, and she almost missed her next step. Recovering, Sakura tapped into a gear she didn't know she had and pushed her protesting muscles even harder, the beginnings of uneasy thoughts stirring in her mind.
The sound of rushing water reached her ears as they shot out of the forest and onto a stretch of riverbank. Nothing, there wasn't anything, save for some scorch marks on the edge that were probably from a cook fire. Had they gone in the wrong direction?
Kakashi slowly stepped forward, his eyes darted about. It was like he was reading a map only he could see, he paused to take in a circular line in the clay bank, and a tiny hole, before traveling to a thin scratch on the bark of a tree they'd just passed, then back again. Hesitantly, he took a few audible whiffs. "Their scent ends here … and there's something else. Blood, ninja wire oil … chestnuts."
Sakura felt a heavy weight settle in her stomach. The way Kakashi was acting was wrong. He seemed uncertain, caught off guard. With every second, she felt a growing panic settle in. Where were Naruto and Sasuke, and why was Kakashi acting weird?
"Sensei … what's going on?"
Her question went ignored, instead, Kakashi took out a kunai and slid his thumb across it, swiping the thumb across his opposite palm as he performed a set of hand seals, before slamming his palm on to the ground. A sealing matrix spread out beneath his palm, erupting into a column of smoke that slowly cleared to reveal … a pug.
The cute dog raised a paw, and said, "Yo."
It talked; the pug talked. She was losing her mind, surely.
"Pakkun, sniff around, I want you to confirm that I'm smelling what I think I am." Kakashi ordered the dog.
The pug tilted its head. "Uh, sure."
Pakkun stuck his nose to the ground, meandering around taking great big sniffs, until his hackles suddenly raised up, and he looked at Kakashi sharply. "That's definitely his scent, Itojiro Kuriare, along with his apprentice. There're also two others."
Kakashi nodded grimly, as if he expected nothing else. He performed the same jutsu he just had, slamming his palm onto the ground, he summoned an entire pack of dogs. They came in a variety of breeds, mostly mixed, but all of them wore blue vests, with Hidden Leaf forehead protectors. At the center of the pack, Pakkun sat on the head of a huge black bulldog wearing a spiked collar.
"Pakkun, those other scents are my students. I'll provide you reference scents later, but for now, find the trail immediately, and get back to me as soon as you can. Sakura and I will be camping nearby."
As the dogs shot off to do Kakashi's bidding, Sakura looked at him in confusion, and fear. "Sensei, where are Naruto and Sasuke? What's going on?" Her voice cracked, tired of being ignored.
Her sensei sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Itojiro Kuriarare, is a former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. He fell off the map after the Hidden Mist Civil War. Based on the evidence here, he fought Naruto and Sasuke, right now, I'm assuming they're held hostage."
Sakura felt a lump form in her throat. "Why would he do that?"
Kakashi scowled, though Sakura didn't feel his anger directed towards her. "I'm not sure, though I'm hoping it's not personal. Right now, the scope of this mission has changed. I need to contact the Leaf to request further orders as well as backup. I'm not risking you too. Naruto was right, I've been lax. From here on out, follow my orders exactly, and remain in my sight for now. Understood?"
She nodded, somewhat reluctantly. Part of her railed at how he treated her, like she was a little girl. 'Cha, I'm a kunoichi dammit!' She shoved that aside, burying the rebellious voice with a boulder. Now wasn't the time for worrying about petty, stupid things like pride.
"Good, now let's go set up camp."
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Under the pine boughs, on the edge of the field, they made their camp. Sakura pitched her tiny, single-person tent and set out her bedroll. It wasn't much, a low-slung half cylinder held up by three rods, the canvas a muted green. She'd wanted red, but her mother had insisted it wasn't practical.
Kakashi had already finished setting up his tent, he had sat down and begun to write into a notebook.
Sakura couldn't find anything to do with herself, so she ended up sitting down on a fallen log, chewing her lip as Kakashi scratched away on the paper. She wasn't sure how long it took, probably far less time than it felt like, but finally, Kakashi ripped the letter out of the notebook and rolled it up, stuffing it in a hard leather tube. He dragged a fingernail across the cut on his thumb, causing blood to well up again, before doing his jutsu again, summoning a dog with light grey fur with a white underside and a black mohawk-like crest on his head.
"Sup Kakashi, watcha need?" The dog growled gruffly.
"I need this note delivered to Lord Hokage asap, and you're the fastest of the pack Shiba. It's beyond vital. Ensure he reads it immediately and bring me his reply." Kakashi said quickly, offering the dog the leather tube. Shiba nodded sharply, gripping the case tightly between his teeth.
Shiba nodded at his master, then turned and dashed away. His paws flew above the ground, barely touching. Before Sakura had a chance to blink, the dog was out of sight. Kakashi hadn't been kidding about his speed.
With a weary sigh, Kakashi sat back on his log. Sakura opened her mouth to speak but hesitated. She wanted to ask for reassurance, that things would be okay. But she couldn't, too afraid of the answer. After a few minutes of sitting, Kakashi stood back up and stretched his back.
"I'm going to go look for any remaining clues, and deal with the bandits. You stay here with my clone for now, in case we hear back. Though I doubt we will until tomorrow."
Sakura nodded blankly, and her Kakashi made a plus shaped seal with his fingers, creating a solid clone in a puff of smoke. The clone wordlessly leapt into the trees. Kakashi gave her one last look, before he took off into the woods towards the river.
She was left alone, in an uncomfortably silent forest, with nothing but the occasional breeze to disturb the silence. Trying to find something to do, she took out a book on medicine to read, but it was pointless. Her mind kept wandering to her missing teammates. She missed their constant bickering; it had become familiar background noise for her. After hours waisted trying to pass the time, and unsuccessfully dodging worrying thoughts, Kakashi still hadn't returned. The sun had already set, and Sakura began to grow tired. She considered eating, but she didn't want to make the effort of making the fire.
She crawled into her tent to lay down and rest her eyes but ended up drifting off. Her dreams were plagued by terrible nightmares. Shadowy figures were carrying away her teammates. She tried stopping them, but her kunai passed right through them, and all her jutsu failed. Then, all the men she killed appeared, they shouted at her, their eyes accusing, and wounds still oozing blood. .
She was far from well rested when a scratching on her tent woke her up. Sun poured through the green fabric and across her face. Groggily, she tossed her sheets off.
Sakura sat on her futon, her mind wandered to her teammates. She couldn't hear anything to suggest Kakashi was back. It'd been over half a day, was he still out looking for them? A pessimistic part of her couldn't help but worry, what exactly had become of them? Were they just captured, or dead. Maybe Kakashi would return with news that he'd found their bodies. Tears welled in her eyes as she imagined it.
'Tch, pull yourself together girl, you're being so weak and helpless!' A voice remarkably like her own, but confident and brash, cut in.
Sakura grimaced. She hated this inner voice sometimes, even though she knew it was her own. The Yamanaka responsible for handling her psych evaluation assured her of that. Still, in this instance, she was right. There was no point wallowing, that couldn't help anything.
"Oi, are you gonna come out sometime today?"
Sakura jumped, turning to the entrance to her tent with her heart pounding a beat against her ribs. A small shadow stood out against the sunlight.
"Who's there?" She asked warily.
"It's Shiba, I've got the reply."
Holding a hand to her chest, Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself. Kakashi wasn't kidding when he said Shiba was fast. To make it to the Leaf and back in less than a day was insane speed. She quickly crawled to the entrance and unzipped her door. She held her hand up, her eyes squinted against the light as she stood up.
At her feet, Shiba sat patiently. The grey dog wore a new harness over his vest, with a leather tube on it.
"Yo, is Kakashi around?"
Sakura shook her head and glanced at the pine trees overhead. She couldn't spot his clone at all. Odd, Kakashi made it sound like he wasn't going to let her out of his sight. For just a second she began to worry. Them she heard the rustle of grass, and a familiar lazy voice.
"I'm right here. Just got finished dealing with the bandits.
Her sensei came padding towards them from the field. Behind him, a large plume of black smoke drifted into the air. Sakura tried not to think about what was burning. The jonin offered the dog a quick scratch behind the ear, before he snapped the clasp on the container, and pulled out the leather tube his original message had been placed in. Pulling off the cap, he tapped the message into his hand, before spreading it out to read. His eyes swept back and forth across the page.
"It seems Lord Hokage knows me too well, we're to immediately try and track down Naruto and Sasuke. He's sent a special team to aid in the search and rescue, they'll catch up with us. Anko is in charge of it, I almost feel bad for Itojiro and his men." He mused, handing the letter to Sakura to read.
Kakashi,
Normally I'd order a Jonin to stay put, but we both know that would be a futile order. Track Naruto and Sasuke as fast as you can. Given the method, it's unlikely they are dead, so we'll operate on the assumption they've been captured. A team is being dispatched led by Anko Mitarashi, she was most eager to oblige. It also includes an Inuzuka. Leave signs for them to follow so they can catch up. Should you discover their location, do not engage the enemy, wait for your backup.
Good Luck,
Hiruzen Sarutobi
P.S. From now on use the harness. I'm not a fan of handling slobbery messages.
Sakura set aside the humorous postscript, and looked up quizzically. "Anko Mitarashi, who's she?" She'd never heard of the woman before, but Kakashi talked as if she was someone that was well known.
"Anko is one of our foremost Special Jonin. She's a member of the Torture and Interrogation Unit, well known for breaking her targets. She's also a former tutor of Naruto's." Kakashi explained.
There was a note of dark amusement in Kakashi's voice. Sakura tried to imagine what Anko must be like. The first thing she thought of was a no-nonsense woman with an eyepatch and gruff voice. Kakashi interrupted her musing by standing up.
"Pack up immediately, we leave in ten minutes."
Sakura nodded immediately. For the first time since the incident, she felt a bit of hope. There was finally a direction, a path forward. She couldn't wait to begin looking for Naruto and Sasuke.
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Tracking was an unfamiliar thing to Sakura. They covered it in the academy, but it was more of a specialized skill, more of an elective than requirement. Sure, she could look for footprints and trampled foliage, but most skilled shinobi didn't leave those.
She was mostly following as her sensei and his Ninja Hounds as they tracked the scent of Itojiro and his men. They'd first managed to track them to a spot on the opposite bank, where Naruto and Sasuke's scents picked up again. It's where they'd gotten the first hint the boys were alive. Pressed into the muddy bank, was a scrap of dark blue cloth. Kakashi had held it up to his nose, taking in the scent.
"This belongs to Ryuuji. It has his scent, along with Naruto's. He must've torn it off." He'd declared.
After that they moved swiftly, barely pausing to eat or drink, and only sleeping for a few hours at a time. She'd never felt so tired, pushing herself past the point of exhaustion. Still, she knew she was holding Kakashi-sensei back. It didn't help that, several times, they'd lose the scent and spend hours searching for any trace.
On the third day after Naruto and Sasuke were taken, a day and a half after they'd left Moya, they finally lost it for good. They'd just crossed the border to the Land of Fog, and come to a roaring river, the waters swirling with rapids that sprayed white foam. A frigid fog hung in the air, it seeped into your skin and chilled to the bone. As hard as they tried to find any trace, but it had vanished. With little other option, they actually made camp. They set up their tents in a sheltered hollow in the mossy forest of mighty oaks away from the river, enough to be away from the chill it gave off.
A brace of rabbits roasted on a spit over a bed of white-hot coals. Huddled close to the fire to warm her fingers, Sakura's mouth watered, she smelled the rich aroma as their flesh turned golden brown and crispy. Her stomach growled fiercely; any thoughts of a diet were shoved to the back of her mind. Given the opportunity, she'd eat an entire rabbit herself, along with a two bowls of rice.
Kakashi glanced up, his gaze briefly flickered into the mist between the trees. He busied himself turning the spit.
"You might as well come out, instead of skulking, Anko."
Sakura's head snapped up, just as she heard an annoyed sigh. The Leaves in one of the oak trees rustled, and suddenly a woman in a tan trench coat dropped down. Anko wasn't at all like Sakura had imagined her. She was young, maybe in her late teens, her violet hair bound into a fanned ponytail. And she was dressed so scandalously. Aside from her trench coat, the woman only wore a mesh-armor bodysuit that went to her thighs, with an orange-mini skirt that switched about from her cocksure gait. Still, the metal shin guards reminded her that this was a deadly kunoichi.
"Dammit Kakashi, did ya have to ruin my entrance? I was gonna crash in and impress the newbie!"
Behind the odd woman, four men and a grey wolfdog suddenly appeared in a swirl of leaves. They cut menacing figures with their expressionless porcelain animal masks, and black clothing under grey flak jackets. Anbu. Sakura stared at the men, in awe. The Anbu were the elite members of the Hidden Leaf forces, responsible for the most dangerous missions, as well as protecting the Hokage. She'd never seen one in person; they didn't interact with regular citizens. Well, not on duty. All their identities were a closely guarded secret save for a few exceptions.
Anko ignored their appearance, she sauntered forward, and plucked off a hind quarter from one of the roasting rabbits. She juggled the piping hot leg between her fingers, and blew on it hastily, before she sank her teeth into the juicy leg.
"Man, 'ats good." She mumbled around the meat.
Sakura gaped in disbelief, though quick that melted into a glare. She was stealing her rabbit meat! She quickly looked away once she fang-like pendant that hung between her breasts on a rope, and realizing that, yes, Anko was naked –or at least mostly so–under her bodysuit.
It took a moment to cool her annoyance, taking a deep breath, and shoving it down. If this woman could help find Sasuke and Naruto she'd put up with her oddness. The woman wasn't at all as she'd imagined her. She was brash, and acted a bit like an idiot, just like Naruto. That probably meant she wasn't quite what she seemed as well. 'She definitely taught him. Can someone like this really be such a scary interrogator?'
Anko polished off her food by shoving the drumstick in her mouth, before she pulled the bone out completely picked clean of flesh. With a casual toss, she threw the bone into the fire, then licked her fingers clean of the grease. When she was done, Anko looked directly at Sakura, the older woman sized her up.
"So, you're one of the brats' teammates? Nice to meet'cha."
"Um, nice to meet you." Sakura replied, unsure about how to proceed.
The strange woman nodded, then turned to Kakashi. "So, what's the situation?"
Kakashi explained the past few days to them, picking up the trail, the piece of cloth they'd found. And most notably, how the trail had run cold. He even summoned one of his hounds, Bisuke, to help discuss it.
One of the Anbu stepped forward. A man with wild brown hair, he wore a wolf mask, with red markings around the mouth and eyes. Tanned skin rippled with muscle under the black turtleneck tank top and grey flak jacket all Anbu wore, his shoulders bare, with a swirling tattoo like an abstract flame on his right shoulder. The grey wolfdog stepped up next to him.
"So, the Senju kid managed to get us a sample for tracking? That's good instincts. Since the people's scents are gone, lets see if we can't find any odd scents on the cloth to at least narrow things down."
Anko rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "We should also start thinking about the obvious questions, like why there were four shinobi pretending to be bandits. They'd way of knowing it would be your team that took the mission, so it's not some sort of targeted kidnapping."
Two of the Anbu, one with a turtle mask with green marking, his head completely bald, and a boar with yellow markings, with grey hair swept back like plummage, began to mutter back and forth. "There was that report …" The turtle said.
Bird nodded. "True. At the time it was only rumors, but there might be some validity to it."
"If you've got something to share with the class, spit it out." Anko turned to the pair with a narrow-eyed glare that screamed 'speak or else.'
Turtle nodded sharply. "Over the past few years, there was an uptick in the amount of Missing-Nin that disappeared. Though unusual, most people would just chalk it up to being in a dangerous line of work. Then about a year ago one of our people returned with reports of rumors of a underground competition with shinobi in the Land of Fog. The guy suspected it might be connected, nobody really took it seriously."
Anko and Kakashi exchanged dark glances with the Anbu. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows "Am I missing something?"
"What he's suggesting, is that somebody is capturing shinobi and making them fight for sport. Hence why they disappear. If he's right, it means they're not content with missing-nin anymore, and this entire mission was a trap to get some new blood." Anko explained. The purple-haired woman shook her head. "Anyways, let's get to planning."
The senior shinobi quickly began to bounce ideas off each other, some in favor of tracking, others in favor of splitting up and trying to find information in major population centers. Sakura stood back and watched, too timid to offer any suggestions. After all, amidst so many high-ranking shinobi, what could she suggest that would be of any use.
Eventually it was decided that Kakashi's hounds would continue searching for the scent, and in the meantime a pair of the Anbu would begin to poke around for any clues as to where Naruto and Sasuke might have been taken. Kakashi produced the scrap of cloth for the Inuzuka Anbu and his companion to examine. The wolfdog sniffed at the fabric carefully, growling at the Wolf Anbu almost as if he was talking to him. The Anbu nodded. It reminded her of how Kiba and Akamaru communicated. 'He must be an Inuzuka.'
"Aside from the scent of people, there's sulfur, and also Wisteria. Wherever he stays must be full of them."
"Not helpful right now, but it could be useful if we get any leads." Kakashi replied.
The two Anbu going to look for intel, Bird and Turtle, quickly left, followed by the Wolf Anbu and his partner. After they left, Anko stretched her arms above her head and gave a weary yawn.
"Well, I'm beat to heck. I'm gonna go set up a bath and try and get some rest."
Sakura watched the woman leave, unsure what to make of her. Was she serious about setting up a bath, here, in the middle of nowhere? She would come to find out that yes, that was exactly what Anko intended to do.
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'Ninjutsu is amazing.' Sakura sighed in bliss; reclined peacefully as she soaked in a hot spring. Well, an artificial one. Anko hadn't done it justice when she said she was making a bath. The bath was the centerpiece, a smooth stone pool with benches for lounging in the hot water. It was inside an open-air building, with four walls of smooth grey
Wrapped in a towel for modesty, Sakura let out a relieved sigh as her head tilted back to look at the steam escaping into the foggy tree tops above her. To be able to get completely clean and refreshed in the field was a luxury she hadn't expected, and much needed after three days of hard travel. It had been a day since the backup arrived. The Anbu and Jonin were coming and going at all hours, reporting bits and pieces that they found. So far, there was no news.
Despite the hot water soothing her aching muscles, there was a tension in her stomach and chest that refused to leave. That sense of looming danger. It was made all the worse by the fact she always felt she was under everyone's feet.
"Maybe Naruto was right about the training, I thought I was getting stronger, but I couldn't do anything when we fought those bandits. And I was just a weight dragging Kakashi-sensei down when it comes to tracking. Now I'm glorified lawn am I even here? I'm useless." Alone, in the quietness of the bath, she gave voice to what was nagging her.
Ever since she'd left the village, what had she done? When they were travelling, she'd slowed them down. When they finally got to the mission, Kakashi had basically babysat her and her main contribution, the genjutsu, failed. Now she was little more than ornamentation while the jonin tried to find her missing teammates.
"Ya' know, this place is for soaking, not sulking."
Sakura jumped violently, she let out a startled yelp, as Anko revealed herself. The purple haired jonin padded across the floor, a towel tied around her chest. With a casual flick, she let the towel drop. Sakura glimpse her exposed chest, before she quickly looked away. Anko chuckled as she slid into the water with a noise of contentment.
"Jeez Pinkie, you act like you've never seen another girl naked." Sakura's cheeks burned, as she glanced over. Thankfully, Anko was mostly covered. "So, what's this about being useless?"
The blunt, serious tone in Anko's voice caught Sakura flatfooted. It was like a switch being flipped. One second, she was brash and joking, the other, Anko had gotten serious for the first time since Sakura had met her. She had no idea why, but very quickly, she found herself spilling her guts to the special jonin.
Anko was a good audience, paying attention and humming when needed. After she was done, Sakura waited with bated breath for her response.
"Yeah, I see what you mean, ya' kind of have been useless." Anko agreed bluntly. Sakura flinched, as though she'd been struck. "Though that's relative to those two. I can't speak for the Uchiha, but the Brat is freakishly strong for your age. Measuring yourself against them isn't the best idea. Everyone get's stronger at their own pace. Still, couldn't hurt to put more effort in for training from now on."
"That … makes sense." Sakura conceded.
Anko let out a laugh and slapped her across the back. "You're damn right it does! Besides, that Brat's tough, and so is the Uchiha. So don't worry, we'll find em. Then I'm gonna give the brat crap for getting captured!"
Sakura couldn't help but giggle a little. "I suppose you're right." She leaned back, and let the hot water sooth her tension. "Man, this artificial hot spring is amazing. How did you even make it?"
"It was the Brat who made it after I complained about not bathing on missions. Some kind of seal that maintains the temperature. He claimed it was simple but fuck if I can make heads or tails of it."
She silently agreed with Anko. Sakura had tried her hand at seals in one of their elective classes, and she couldn't figure them out at all.
They settled into a peaceful silence. Eventually, once her fingers were pruney and she began to overheat, they decided to get out. After toweling off and getting dressed–she steadfastly avoided looking at Anko as they did–the two exited the temporary bath, only to run into one of the Anbu, a bald man, wearing a boar mask.
"Woah, you weren't trying to peep on us, were ya?" Anko asked jokingly.
Somehow, despite the mask, the Anbu's posture reflected a severe lack of amusement. "We just got word from Bisuke. Turtle found a lead on the underground tournament in Katsuwara, one of the big cities in the Land of Fog. Kakashi wants to leave asap."
Anko rose her eyebrows, and nudged Sakura playfully. "How about that, what'd I tell you. We'll find those punks in no time. Now get packed up while I break down the bath."
Sakura nodded, slightly numb. As she left to break down her tent, it finally sunk in, and her stomach fluttered. For the first time in days, it was a good nervousness. They finally had a lead. With any luck, soon they could find Naruto and Sasuke.
'Hang in there guys.'
x-x-x-x-x-x- TGOW -x-x-x-x-x-x
What did you think? The team are closing in on Naruto and Sasuke's whereabouts, but how are the two holding up? We'll find out in the next chapter of the story.
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