Chapter 4

The Mission

It was a grey day.

The sky was a blank slate, overrun with pale clouds. The sun lay somewhere behind them, but its shape was completely hidden; light did not shine so much as leak into the world.

Naruto looked down at the lake; the water was dim and grey, the same color as the sky, and it was almost impossible to see anything that was more than a couple feet down. The flash of pink he was hoping to see refused to appear. He suppressed a shiver. The water dripping off him wasn't cold, but the occasional gust of wind made it seem so.

"Uh, Sasuke," he asked uncertainly. Sitting besides him, Naruto's friend glanced towards him. His dark hair had been made even darker by the water, and it damply hung down around his face, nearly obscuring it. "Is she still down there?"

Sasuke shrugged, leaning forward and activating his Sharingan for a moment. He peered into the water, narrowing his eyes.

"She is," he confirmed, leaning back. "It looks like she's sitting on the bottom."

"What?!" Naruto asked, starting to pace. "Should we go get her? She really needs to come up. It's been nearly-"

Sakura burst from the water with a great gasp, her hair wetly flapping about. She took another hasty breath, and then turned back towards the shore.

"You guys are already out?" she asked, confusion flitting across her face. She started to swim back. Naruto gaped at her, and she frowned. "What?" The Namikaze refused to answer, so she turned to her other teammate. "Hey, Sasuke, how did I do?"

A different voice interrupted.

"Nearly four minutes." As he often did, Obito seemed to appear out of nowhere, wearing a large grin. Sakura stared at him in disbelief, and Team Seven's sensei smiled back. "Very impressive, Sakura." He turned to Naruto and Sasuke; Naruto stopped pacing, shooting a grin back, while Sasuke remained lounging on the ground, acknowledging Obito with a nod.

"That's an interesting exercise, you two," Obito said to the boys. "When did you come up with it?"

"A while back," Naruto said cheerfully, shooting Sakura another impressed glance. "My mom told us that doing the oxygen… thing…" he waved his hands vaguely towards his chest, "with our lungs would help our chakra control." He turned to Sakura. "But we've never managed for more than three minutes!" he practically shouted in enthusiasm. "That was awesome, Sakura!"

The girl blushed. "Thanks, Naruto."

"Looks like Sakura really does have some impressive chakra control," Obito noted out loud. "Even better than yours, Sasuke."

The younger Uchiha shrugged, his eyes wandering back to Sakura for a moment, and Naruto puffed up. "Hey, what about me?"

Obito grinned. "Ah, you've got the worst control on the team, Naruto." The blond squawked a protest, and his sensei laughed. "Maybe you should ask Sakura for some pointers, hmm? Little cooperation?"

Naruto turned to do just that, but Obito cut him off before he could. "You'll have to wait till later, though. We've got a mission."

"A mission?" Sasuke asked, perking up.

"What is it?" Sakura said.

"Are we rescuing someone?" Naruto practically pleaded.

Obito's grin widened.

"Something like that."

"A bridge!" Naruto shouted indignantly for what had to be the fourth or fifth time. Sakura had lost count. Her teammate hammered another plank of wood into place, nearly crushing his own thumb. "We're never gonna get to do something interesting!"

Team Seven was working about ten feet above one of the several canals running through Konoha. They'd been hired to help put together a connecting bridge; it wasn't much more than putting down a wooden foundation. The job was simple enough, but not the most exciting.

Hence, Naruto's shouting.

"I did tell you it was something like rescuing someone. Think of all the time you'll be saving people. You're such a fatalist, Naruto," Obito said from the canal below. He was standing on the water, uncaring of the current rushing under his feet. Sakura stole a glance at her sensei every once and awhile. Seeing someone so casually walk on water was still unusual for her to see; she supposed she'd get used to it eventually, but right now it just showed how far ahead their teacher was.

"I don't know what that means, but it's too long! Just like all these D-Ranks! It's been a month!" Naruto yelled back, finally finishing one stretch of walkway. The civilian overseeing the construction, a nice man with a balding head who'd introduced himself as Soma, gave the work a cursory inspection and then gifted Naruto with a sober thumbs-up. Naruto returned the motion with a brilliant smile, and then turned to shout at his teacher some more. "No, almost two!" he huffed. "Are you even gonna let us leave the village?"

Sakura kept her head down and worked as she listened to her loud teammate. Sasuke was being rather quiet; he went like a machine, laying planks and hammering them down with quick, efficient movements. To Sakura, it didn't seem like he cared about the monotonous work. His face was completely blank, though he did glance at their sensei occasionally.

"Of course I'll let you leave the village," Obito answered. He considered it, one hand cupping his chin. "Eventually." Sakura suppressed a giggle at Naruto's frustrated groan.

Suddenly, Obito stiffened, looking back over his shoulder. Sakura, still holding back her small laugh, followed his gaze. He was looking back at one of the other bridges, farther along the canal. There was a gaggle of chunin crossing it, talking amongst themselves; one of them was noticeably limping, but didn't seem to care. They were followed by a frustrated looking woman with long, straight brown hair and two purple markings on her cheeks. She looked like a Inuzuka or maybe an Akimichi, but was too clean looking for the former and far too lean for the latter.

Obito's eyes lit up at the sight of her, and without a word he bounded off over the water, leaving his team behind. He was nearly a hundred meters away a moment later, leaping up onto the bridge and following the woman and chunin out of sight. Sakura blinked and looked back to her team, confused by their sensei's sudden departure.

Naruto sniggered, and Sasuke gave a faint smile.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"It's ~Rin," Naruto said in a singsong voice. Sasuke bounced a nail off the blond's head, and Naruto flinched. "Hey!"

"You know what he'll do if he hears you saying it like that," Sasuke said with quiet amusement. "We'll be lucky if we get stuck cleaning out the sewer system." He considered. "With our bare hands. Sakura would probably be okay though."

"Well that's… good?" Sakura asked, and Sasuke nodded. She smiled. "But who's Rin?"

"One of Obito's old teammates," Sasuke answered.

"The only one who's left," Naruto said, unusually sober, and Sasuke bounced another nail off his head. "Hey! She is!"

"You can't mean…" Sakura whispered, imagining. She felt like she was getting into something private; shared between the rest of the team, but not her. A transgression. But Naruto didn't seem to notice, or care.

"The other one died, back in the war," he explained, continuing his work. "His name was Kakashi; he was one of my dad's students, actually! Everyone thought he was going to be this big prodigy, but apparently he got really unlucky." He shook his head, answering Sakura's unspoken question. "I don't know what happened. They've never told me."

Unlucky. Shinobi did get unlucky; they were just human, after all. Still, something about how casually Naruto said it sent a solitary chill racing down Sakura's spine. Prodigies sometimes got unlucky. What happened to people who didn't even have that?

"So Rin's sensei's old teammate, huh?" Sakura asked, mostly talking to herself, trying to forget the cold. The sun was finally starting to come out, after all. "He ran off so quickly; I guess if it was an old friend-"

Sasuke snorted.

"What?"

Naruto grinned mischievously. "She's really nice, but they've got something going on."

"Ooh." Sakura couldn't help herself. There was something undeniably romantic about two of the Hokage's old students being involved. "How long-?"

"Nah, it's not like that," Naruto said. "But my mom says they've been 'dancing around each other since they got out of diapers.'" He sniffed. "Kinda gross, but she always says stuff like that."

"Oh," Sakura said, turning that over in her head. So, an old teammate and a romantic interest… that their sensei wouldn't pursue.

Playing matchmaking between two jonin- wait.

"Is she a jonin too?" Sakura asked, before the silence could set in too much. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "She works at the hospital, but she goes out on missions every once and awhile." He gave an envious grin. "My dad says they're usually pretty high level."

Sakura smiled back, the gears in her head turning. Playing matchmaker between two jonin was probably, no, definitely was an incredibly stupid idea, but there was a part of her that was giggling and rubbing its hands together at the thought of it anyway. If Ino were here she'd probably be doing the same thing.

Still…

"Hey!" Her sensei's voice broke Sakura's thought process, and she almost guiltily snapped her head back towards him. He'd appeared at the end of the bridge, where they'd started. His hair was ruffled, but he was smiling happily. "Sorry about that, had to run. You guys look like you're having fun."

"They're nearly done for the day." Soma's gravelly voice cut in, drawing the shinobi's attention. The man was leaning against a half complete railing, a half-grin twitching his lips up. "You can all leave now, if you want; I really appreciate the help."

Team Seven looked at each other, and then at their teacher. The decision was unspoken and unanimous. About five minutes later, after the tools were put away the payments rendered, they said their goodbyes cheerfully and wandered into the streets of Konoha, their sensei in tow. The vibrant roads and colorful markets soon swallowed them. Sakura was enjoying the sound of coins in her pocket. She could buy something. A new outfit, maybe, or more kunai. The problem of her sensei and his teammate was pushed to the back of her mind.

"A month and a half of D-Ranks," Sasuke finally spoke up, and Sakura instinctively looked at him, stopping in the middle of the road. Obito did too, and Naruto, who had been happily chattering to their teacher, hushed up. "Naruto might be right, you know," Sasuke continued. "We are ready, Obito. It's time to send us on a C-Rank mission."

"That's Obito-Sensei to you, little guy," Obito said lightheartedly, and Sasuke snorted. "Though…"

Naruto rushed into the gap. "That's two of us! What, you think we can't handle one?"

"Hmm." Obito paused again. "I wonder-"

Sakura knew what she had to say.

"I think we're ready." It was quick, but sincere. Her sensei's eyes flickered over her in momentary surprise.

'I think I'm ready,' is what she knew everyone else was hearing. That's why they'd been waiting, after all. Sakura had no illusions. Sasuke and Naruto were already far ahead of her; one of them had the Sharingan, and the other was the Hokage's son. She'd started behind, and was barely keeping up as it was. The four minutes at the bottom of the lake seemed years ago, instead of hardly an hour.

"See? Sakura says so too!" Naruto said with a wide smile.

Obito scratched the back of his head, regarding his team with warm eyes. But he was calculating something. Sakura could see it as clear as day, and she knew that if she could then her teammates certainly could as well. His other hand unconsciously brushed over the hilt of the short sword he always had strapped to his back.

"What the hell," he said. "We had to turn in this mission anyway."

Naruto whooped, Sasuke smiled, and Sakura tried to do the same, ignoring the prickling in her gut.

"A C-rank, huh?"

The man at the desk today was their old teacher Iruka, as luck would have it. Sakura was very familiar with this room by now; it was where genin were assigned their peacetime missions. The room was spacious and open, with plentiful windows and hardwood floors. There wasn't much here besides desks and paperwork, and it was constantly bustling with shinobi doing their day's duties. Iruka leaned back in his uncomfortable looking chair, crossing his arms. He gazed steadily at Sakura's sensei, his face set in a neutral expression. "We actually just got one, less than an hour ago. By carrier-bird, even."

"Oh?" Obito asked. "What was it?"

"There's a town, out near the border of Suna," Iruka shrugged. "Well, closer to the border than it is to Konoha, at least. It's called…" He shuffled through one of the stacks of paper, extracting a particular ruffled one, and squinted at it. His scar crumpled slightly. "Ah, 'Kami no Sota.'"

"Paper Hill?" Naruto scrunched his face up, and Iruka nodded.

"Yeah. It produces a ton of printing presses, amongst other exports," the chunin said in a business-like manner. "A lot of their merchants, along with their shipments, have been going missing. Usually when they head east, towards Konohagakure. They think it's a bandit group, probably not too large, but definitely hidden in the forest."

"Hmm." Obito tapped his foot. "Anything else?"

"Nothing that you'd like," Iruka said.

"C'mon, some bandits?" Naruto said. "That sounds perfect!"

Sasuke agreed monosyllabically, and Obito glanced at Sakura. She tried to look unconcerned, and nodded. Bandits, she could easily handle. A full grown man without chakra training wasn't much threat to a genin. And besides, Obito-sensei would be there. It sounded like the perfect mission.

She'd even get to leave the village!

That thought brought a bit of an excited flush to her face, and Obito turned back to Iruka with a grin.

"Alright," he said, extending his hand to accept the mission scroll. Iruka handed it over with a slight, professional smile. "We'll take it."

"Have fun." Iruka's more sardonic side poked through for a moment, but Obito didn't seem to care. He spun back to his charges.

"Alright, it's not quite noon yet!" he said with the unmistakable air of command, and his genin snapped to attention. Sakura in particular paid very close attention; Obito almost never talked like this. "Kami no Sota is about a day away from here; we'll be leaving the village at one'o'clock. I want to see you all at the West Gate then; bring enough material for two days, and whatever other supplies you'll need." Naruto was practically jumping up and down in joy, while Sasuke stoically absorbed their sensei's words.

Obito grinned. "It'll be like a camping trip. Except there'll probably be horrible-smelling men trying to stab us. Keep that in mind." He tapped two fingers to his hitai-ate. "See you in an hour and some!"

And then, he vanished.

###

It took Sakura about twenty minutes to make her way back to her house. When she got there, marched up the stairs to the door, and pushed it open, she found her father tinkering with something at the kitchen table.

"Hey honey!" he called out as she closed the door, not looking up. He was rubbing something that looked like oil into the hinge of the scissor sword he carried into the field with him; he must have recently returned from a mission. He held the weapon up and the blade extended, folding out and adding another half-meter of steel to the sword. Sakura's father nodded with satisfaction, flipping the sword back into its unfolded state, and turned to look at her with a grin that his daughter had always deemed 'goofy.' "You're home early."

"I have a mission!" Sakura said, trying and failing not to sound too excited.

"Oh yeah? That's great honey," her father said distractedly, washing his hands in the sink. "Another D-Rank, I bet?"

"Nope!" Sakura said as her father shut the tap off. "A C-Rank! We get to leave the village and everything."

"Huh!" her father said, turning to meet her. He was still grinning, but it was somehow wider. "That's fantastic! Where are you headed?"

"Some little town to the west," Sakura said, walking through the kitchen to reach the stairs going up to her room. "Paper Hill. They've had some merchants go missing."

"Oh yeah?" her father said as her foot came down on the first step. "That should be exciting. Your first time out of the village and everything."

"Uh-huh," Sakura said, not really paying attention, and her father chuckled.

"Well hey, poke me before you leave, kay?" he said, stretching. "I'm pooped. Tokubestu Anko's a harsh captain."

Sakura blinked, just reaching the top of the stairs. She called back down them as she got to her room.

"You were on a mission, right?"

Her father grunted affirmatively. She heard him settle down on the couch and groan, the familiar sound of straining springs warning her that the short green thing was growing closer and closer to its expiration date every day. "We were cleaning up some rogue mercenaries. Ever since that dwarf Gato's organization went down, there've been ass-" He caught himself, and Sakura giggled. "There've been guys who think they're tough wandering up north. They make trouble; we get hired to come and persuade them to not."

"Doesn't sound so bad," Sakura said loudly, opening her door. "I'll be down in a bit to say goodbye!" Her father's exaggerated snore answered her, and she closed the door behind her.

"Now," she muttered to herself, looking around her pristine room, with the exception of one desk where all the messes seemed to end up. "What to take."

It took her about fifteen minutes to get everything together into a small backpack. Two changes of clothes, a knife-sharpener, a bedroll, about forty kunai, fifteen explosive tags, four ration packs, a medical kit, some tape, and five feet of coiled steel wire. She also managed to shove in a canteen; just in case. She packed it all like a shinobi should, and tested it by throwing the bag three feet straight up several times. Nothing rattled or sloshed, and the fourth time she caught it she nodded with satisfaction.

She slung it over her back. Not too heavy either. Perfect.

Sakura sighed, feeling the weight on her back, and made her way back downstairs. She closed the door quietly, and made her way down the stairs without a sound; if her father was napping, she didn't want to disturb him, even if he'd wanted to say goodbye. He deserved some rest.

Kizashi wasn't napping on the couch though. He was lying there with his eyes closed, but Sakura could tell her father was completely awake. He had his hands folded over a small metal tin on his stomach.

"Hey." He heard her coming and opened his eyes, despite her having made no noise. Sakura smiled at him, and he grinned back. "I made something for you." He lifted the tin. "Just something to munch on, and a little besides. I figure you might need it."

"Thanks dad," Sakura said, taking the tin respectfully. She secured it in one of the pack's side-pockets, and gave her father a peck on the forehead. He closed his eyes again.

"Have a good time, okay?" he said sleepily. "And stay safe. It's a wide world out there."

"I promise, dad," Sakura smiled. "I'll have Obito-sensei with me, anyway."

Her father grunted. "Oh yeah." He chuckled. "You'll be fine."

"Love you."

"Love you more."

It was nearly dark by the time Team Seven made it to Kami no Sota. They'd met out in front of Konoha's gate and set off, Naruto and Sasuke chattering loudly, and Obito walking with Sakura as she remained mostly silent. The forests around Konoha were beautiful, and the paths through them easy enough to follow. It wasn't a very exciting trip, but Sakura luxuriated in the sounds of birds and other animals all around her, and her teammates antics.

Naruto and Sasuke were funny to watch. Their conversations pinballed between practical considerations and ridiculous fantasies about overly complicated jutsus with too-long names. Over the course of the trip, Naruto produced two water balloons, and held them in his hand as he walked. The first, he broke on accident when he dropped it after gesticulated wildly towards Sasuke. The second, he eventually lay his other hand over, a concentrated frown falling over his face. Sakura didn't know what he was doing, but it looked like some kind of chakra exercise. When she'd asked Obito, he'd just given her a vague grin and told her it was one of the Yondaime's jutsu.

The idea that Naruto was working on one of the Hokage's jutsu was both impressive, and slightly depressing. Sakura had stayed a bit quiet after that, even though Obito had done his best to tease conversation out of her about her family, or her shinobi skills.

When they reached the town, Sakura's first impression was that it was rather small. She'd lived in Konoha her whole life; buildings stretching as far as the eye could see was the norm for her. This little place, barely more than three dozen buildings and a central river, would barely qualify as a neighborhood in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun was almost done setting behind them, and it threw harsh shadows and vibrant red and orange light over the town. The settlement was not, as Sakura had supposed, on top of a hill.

"This is it," her sensei stated, rather obviously.

"I never would have guessed," Sasuke muttered, and Naruto laughed.

"Alright, let's head down," their sensei said. "We're supposed to meet with a man called Kurasen. He'll give us a roof for the night, and point us in the right direction."

"Sweet. Race you there, Sasuke!" Naruto took off with a yell, rushing down the road. Sasuke hesitated for hardly a second before he sprinted after him. Obito watched them go for a moment before snorting.

"They don't even know where they're going," Sakura said, shifting her backpack. "How can they be so confident?"

"They're very sure of themselves," her teacher responded, glancing at her. The coming night made his dark eyes little more than shadows in his face. "It's good for some things, but not so much for others." He sighed. "For example, the whole town will probably know we're here now."

"Is that bad?" Sakura asked.

"No, not bad. Well," Obito amended. "It could be bad. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Hmm," Sakura murmured. She set off after a second, and then realized her teacher wasn't following. She turned to look back at him, and found him considering her thoughtfully. She blinked.

"What?" She tried not to sound worried, but couldn't help just a little leaking out. It felt like she'd done something wrong. She could distantly hear Naruto and Sasuke yelling. Something about cake.

"You know, Sakura," Obito said, "You really remind me of myself sometimes, back when I was a genin."

Sakura paled. Why was her sensei bringing this up now? "R-really?"

"Yeah." Obito sounded almost wistful. "I was a hell of lot louder than you, though; you hardly talked on the way here." Sakura blushed as her teacher continued. "But both my teammates were geniuses at what they did. Compared to them, I didn't have much." Sakura frowned. "I felt like a loser."

The Haruno lowered her head, her gut rolling. "But… your Sharingan…"

Obito snorted. "Pfffft. These thing?" he said, tapping his temple. "They've given me a lot more trouble than you'd think, trust me."

"But… if I'm like you…" Sakura lowered her head even further, feeling sick. She could feel the blood rushing through her head. "I don't have anything like that. I don't have a bloodline. My dad isn't Hokage. I'm just..."

"You think any of that matters?" Obito said kindly. Sakura nodded, just the slight tilt of her head. Her sensei took her step forward and dropped down to one of his knees, bringing his head level with hers. She looked up, meeting his eyes, and Obito smiled. "Let me tell you something, Sakura. Naruto's family, or the Sharingan… in regards to being a shinobi, they're just tools. They don't make you intrinsically better than anyone else."

"But-"

"No." Obito's words were harsh, even if his face was not. "Everyone has something they're talented at. Those two have just been lucky enough to figure out while they were young. And in a way, it's limited them: Sasuke has focused so much on Uchiha tradition that he's failed to consider what will happen when he fights someone who knows that stuff… like me. And Naruto…" he shrugged. "His knowledge of Seals and Jutsu-Shiki is good for his age. He's got loads of natural talent, and help from his parents. But he's never going to be as good as they are. He just doesn't have the kind of patience for that. His real calling lies somewhere else: I'm sure he'll figure out soon enough."

Obito smiled.

"We'll find your tool, Sakura. I don't know what it is, yet. You've got great chakra control. Maybe you'll be a master of genjutsu, or a world-class medic. You could be a fantastic infiltrator, or you'll work on your ninjutsu and become an efficient powerhouse."

Sakura's sensei put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing just slightly.

"You don't know yet. And that's okay. You're still young, there's no war on; you have plenty of time."

Obito stood back up, and Sakura watched him speechlessly.

"Now come on," he said with a genuine grin. "Let's go catch up to those two before they do something stupid."

Then he turned, and strode off. Sakura watched his retreating back, stunned. After a moment, she shook her head and went after him. Her head was swimming.

"Ummm..!" she said, not really knowing what she was supposed to say to something like that. "Sensei?"

Obito glanced back at her.

"I…" Sakura choked. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Obito said. "Now c'mon. I wasn't kidding. I don't want them catching anything on fire."

Genin and jonin made their way into Kami no Sota, and behind them the sun finally set.

AN: What better way to celebrate the imminent holiday than bringing a story back to life?

After consideration, it turns out I lied about chapter structure. We're staying in the present; much easier to pace.
Hope you enjoyed it.