WhIP

by footfungus

nederlands verhalen over mijn otp

162. Chapter 162

SATOKO

quantumghosts

Summary:

Being a ninja isn't as cool as one might think. It generally involves a lot of horrified screaming and praying for your life to a bunch of gods you've never even heard of. I mean, it kinda makes up for itself if you can shoot lightning from your finger tips and spit lava from your mouth, but you don't get any of that cool shit when you get to replace the ostracized and totally hated main character who can do exactly neither of those things and more.

I'm really looking forward to this. Not.

((Or: SI replaces Naruto and proceeds to try and solve her problems with explosions, fire, and glitter. Is largely motivated by the prospect of not dying.))

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes and other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: Uzumaki Satoko

Summary:

Now, this is the story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the protag with blue eyes and blond hair...

Notes:

Last editted: June 25, 2015

Chapter Text

It was a day like any other. My alarm woke me up, I turned off my alarm, fell back asleep, and then slept through my exam review because apparently getting up before noon is impossible for me. I spent the rest of the day sitting in front of my computer, drawing sketches of my OCs instead of preparing for finals and surviving off chips and soda, because it was cold outside and I didn't want to take the one-block trip to the grocery store.

At 1AM, I realized I hadn't even started my philosophy essay yet. Hell, I hadn't even done all my readings. So, of course I decided that the best thing to do with my time was to absently scroll down my infinite dashboard with cute animal videos and art that's too good to be true.

During said endless scrolling, one of those writing prompts came up.

Imagine that you show up in your favorite series' universe, only for the main character to be missing. You ask the other characters about it, but they have never even heard of the main character. You soon realize that you're supposed to play their role in the story/series…

I can't remember exactly who posted it or what the exact words were, but that was the gist of it, and I thought the idea was pretty cool.

Until it actually happened.

When I realized I was running, I didn't think much of it at first. I had a lot of dreams where I was running to or from something. Except normally when I run in dreams, it feels like I'm wading through water. This time, however, it actually felt like I was running. My feet pushed off the ground instead of gliding across like a three-frame animation and my lungs were starting to burn for air.

I thought that maybe, finally, I was lucid dreaming, which got me excited! But then I remembered that one of the things about lucid dreaming is that if you might wake up if you get too excited, so I immediately diverted my attention to the spectacularly plain, dirt road that I was currently running on. From there, I began to take in my surroundings and the more I saw, the more I realized that maybe this wasn't a lucid dream after all.

The buildings were mostly made of wood and metal – hardly any concrete, or none that I could tell. There were no cars or paved roads, or anything else that made this place look remotely like the downtown area of a big city. What stood out the most, however, was the giant carvings in the side of the mountain that loomed over the entire place.

Oh, no.

My focus went from the giant heads to the tinier ones – ones that were actually attached to bodies – that were chasing me down the dirt road. Headbands glistened in the sunlight, which only further confirmed the dreaded truth that I was facing.

The realization fell upon me like a barrel of fish, leaving me feeling horribly repulsed and mortified.

Please don't tell me I just landed my sorry ass into a shounen manga.

"Stop!"

And to make matters worse…

I decided to let myself grasp at the microscopic sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't completely right about my current predicament.

"You're not going to get away with this anymore!"

I can't believe this actually happens.

At that point, I realized just how fast I was running. All the adrenaline from thinking this was a lucid dream, to realizing where I was, to realizing that I was being chased – it almost made me forget how pathetically unfit I was. Once I remembered, though, it wasn't long before my body responded by appropriately collapsing into heaving fits. It was a good thing I had a strong stomach, or I might have thrown up just then.

"What do you think you're doing during class?!"

The familiar voice of one Umino Iruka rang in my ears, which really didn't help with the whole Look-I-Just-Ran-What-Felt-Like-A-Marathon-Can-You-Please-Just-Chill thing. It also tore away any hope I had of all this not being my absolute worst nightmare-that-was-actually-my-current-reality.

I guess that's that, then. I really am-

"Satoko!"

…Okay, not the name I was going for, but I guess that sounds enough like… like…

It's been a long time since I've felt true terror.

Shit.

Whatever the chuunin was yelling about, it was going in one ear and right out the other, because whatever the name of the actual main character of this series was… I couldn't remember it.

And I've written fanfiction about these ninjas, too.

"I'm taking you back to class right now!"

I couldn't reply, mostly because I was too busy internally screaming at the fact that I was now the main character of some huge manga franchise about ninjas, but also because I'm a terrible runner and I will never ever catch my breath again, ever.

Geez, I'm not even gonna last until tomorrow at this rate. Worst. Protagonist. Ever.

"Oi, Satoko! You'd better be listening!" Iruka yelled, and I glanced up just enough to acknowledge his presence.

Satoko… Satoko… Where've I heard that- oh, right. Isn't that the chick from Higurashi?

"Don't think you won't get punished for this!"

After recovering enough to straighten up, I finally managed to say something, albeit between deep breaths because shit I am so unfit for this job.

"I wanna go home."

Iruka fell silent, but I could feel the rage boiling within him, and damn, those crazy manga-anime effects were not exaggerating when it came to his anger.

"What makes you think I'll let you go home after this?! I'm not letting you off that easy today!"

Dear Original Main Character: heck you for being the most annoying little shit ever.

I don't know why I thought being unfit was going to be the worst of my problems.

I was in a world full of ninjas. And you know what's in a world of ninjas?

Chakra.

And you know what ninjas use?

Chakra.

And you know what I had no fracking clue how to use?

CHAKRA .

"Time for a review test on the Transformation Technique!" Iruka shouted as the entire class protested at once. "Transform perfectly into me!"

I was officially fucked in more ways than you can cook a potato.

As the students lined up at the front of the class, I did my best to ignore the scowls coming my way. Honestly, of all the protagonists I had to be, it was that one orphaned kid that was hated by the entire village.

Well, at least I'm not attacking titans, I guess.

If that were the case, I would actually literally die the first day on the job.

"Uzumaki Satoko!" Iruka yelled, and I held my breath.

"This is all your fault," the student behind me muttered, but I was too busy trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to get myself through the situation to acknowledge them.

Alrighty, here we go – what did Sakura say during the tree-climbing exercise about chakra? Something about physical and spiritual energy or something…

Honestly, all I could remember was that damned abridged series and the damned abridged explanation of the whole deal, which wasn't helping me at all.

"Sa-to-ko!" Iruka shouted again. "We don't have all day!"

"Y…Yes, sir." I sighed and dragged myself forward.

I took a moment to remember what the hand seal looked like and at least tried to look like I knew what I was doing when I brought my hands together.

Oh my god.

The sheer ridiculousness and obscurity of this entire situation sunk in completely right at that moment.

I can't believe I'm seriously making a hand seal in a totally serious attempt at freaking ninjutsu.

I haven't even gotten around to contemplating what the hell was going to happen now that I was here and not there. You know, in the real world. Where I belonged.

"Satoko…" Iruka's voice was a low growl this time and the rage was slowly beginning to return.

"Right!" I answered quickly and widen my stance. "Right. Transformation Technique. No problem."

I took a deep breath and cleared my head of all distracting thoughts. Contemplating what lies ahead can wait until later, I decided. At that moment, I made myself focus on the chuunin's appearance and what I really hope was chakra and not nervous gas. That wasn't supposed to happen until the Chuunin Exams.

A few moments of silence passed. Other than the feeling of every pair of eyes focused on me, I felt nothing.

"What an idiot," a student whispered, "she can't even perform such a basic technique!"

I couldn't stay true to the level of athleticism that the original main character (who, from this point on, shall be referred to as Protagonist) had, but at least I was staying true to his idiocy, even if it wasn't exactly intentional. Actually, it might be even worse.

"Satoko!" Iruka bellowed. I was starting to get tired of hearing that name. "Even you should be able to perform this technique by now! I've seen you do it before!"

"Well, it's been a long day…" I answered meekly.

The chuunin fumed silently, but this time, he swallowed his rage and sighed deeply.

"Forget it, I'll deal with you later." He said and addressed the rest of the class. "That's it for today, class dismissed!"

Even if I knew how to get home, I wouldn't have been able to leave because once the students were scurrying to grab their things and leave, Iruka grabbed my shoulder. To be honest, I wasn't surprised.

"Not you, though!"

I was really tired, though, and I needed some proper time to take in this new reality, so I really just wanted to get away from any of the actual cast for a while.

"C'mon, Iruka-sensei." I groaned, hoping to play into the sympathetic side of his character. "I promise I'll train once I get home!"

If there was one thing about me that might help me survive this world, it was that I was a pretty fast learner. Being a hobbyist dancer and a musician, muscle memory was one of the few things I could take pride in.

"I'm sure you will," he smiled, and I was naïve enough to let myself get tricked by the brief warmth he displayed before his glowering returned, "but not until you clean up the Hokage Monument!"

Ah, shit. I forgot about that.

As tedious as it was, at least washing off the graffiti gave me some time to think. There was so much to think about, though, it was hard to figure out where to start. I decided that going over the basics was probably the best way to go about this whole thing.

Okay. So, I'm in the Protagonist-verse, and I've appeared to have replaced Protagonist, which is probably why I can't remember his name anymore.

I could remember everything else about him, though – his backstory, his role, his personality, and his end game – everything but his name, which I suppose made sense. If I was the main character, and this world was actually a franchise, then it would probably be known as Satoko in the real world.

Since I'm the main character now, I can't back out that easily, either… Besides, maybe if I stick around long enough, I can find a way back to my world. Until then, though, I'll have to take on Protagonist's role. I scowled to myself, though Iruka probably thought it was because I was upset about having to clean up the mess. Stupid prompt.

Which led me to my next train of thought.

If I'm supposed to play the role of the main character, does that mean I have to be as obnoxious and as big of a moron as Protagonist was? I supposed that was the best way to make sure the story played out as it should, but… I don't really wanna end up being stabbed by dozens of needles…or fight Gaara…or lose an arm…

I frowned and nearly shuddered at the thought.

Being a main character is way too much work, and I don't think I have the energy or the pain tolerance –especially the pain tolerance, oh god – to live up to proper Main Character standards.

Despite that, my best bet was probably to act close enough to how Protagonist was. It was trickling in little by little, but small snippets of his memories were becoming my own. It was helping me understand the way he acted and what his reasons were for acting that way, but it wasn't like my own personality was going to make a sudden one-eighty.

Besides, keeping up Protagonist's energetic character was going to be hard to maintain. It would be easier to slowly shift his character to my own personality. Maybe if I just made the same decisions as him, but with a little less yelling, it would be okay. Itt was mostly about getting through to people while using my backstory as a weapon of empathy, anyway. I usually didn't agree with this mindset, but in this case, it was all about the ends.

At least I have the Power of Friendship on my side. Now it's just a matter of being able to use it. I frowned. Yeah, okay, that's probably doable. I've made fun of its redundancy enough to know how it goes.

Too bad it never worked on Sasuke. Which reminded me of another cruel fact.

I'm the one who has to deal with that motherfucker.

Don't get me wrong, though. By the end of the series, I could've written an entire essay about why Sasuke ended up being one of my favourite characters. It's all about looking underneath the underneath (hah), but it still doesn't change the fact that throughout the entire series, he was always trying to kill somebody, and I wrote that one crack-fic about Kakashi being fed up with dealing with Sasuke's (and everybody else's) shit because I could only imagine how tiring it was to actually be involved.

Well, I won't have to imagine for much longer.

For anybody out there who thinks it would be super cool to be a main character – you're wrong, you've always been wrong, and you'll always be wrong.

After spending way too much time contemplating all the future agony I would probably have to endure and miraculously survive, I tried to focus on the bright side of things, like getting to meet my favourite characters.

Even though a lot of them are the ones who are gonna try to kill me…

Damn it. That's not the only pro, though. Everybody dreams of being able to change the storyline as they see fit, right?

I wondered how much I had to stay true to the canon universe. One thing I liked to do while writing fanfiction was being able to give more credit and attention to the characters who I thought never got enough. The idea of making a few changes was appealing, like making Sakura even just a tad bit less of a shrieking fangirl in the first part. Hell, maybe I could even befriend her somehow.

With a female lead, say goodbye to the obligatory love triangle.

Well, actually, that's not completely true, but I wasn't worried about getting a crush on the twelve-year-old Sakura. I could wait the two-and-a-half years before possibly falling head over heels for her flawless glory.

And I guess there could still be a love triangle if Sasuke ended up crushing on me…

I stopped cleaning the monument and coughed – loudly – to cover my snort.

Oh, man, I really hope me being here instead of Protagonist didn't mess up the universe that bad.

On the topic of relationships, though…

…What about Hinata?

My brow furrowed at the realization that Hinata's entire motivation was basically gone now that Protagonist was replaced by a girl. Unless Hinata wasn't a heterosexual, or unless I could still somehow manage to get her to admire me by giving it my all, or whatever it was Protagonist did to catch her attention.

Shit, now the pressure's really on.

I liked Hinata's character, and I didn't wanna end up messing it up… along with literally everything else that pertains to the canon storyline.

"I won't let you go home until you clean all of it." Iruka said, pulling me away from my thoughts.

Whatever expression I was wearing, it probably made him interpret is as annoyance, which technically wouldn't make him wrong.

What was it that Protagonist said that got him free food?

After all the internal panic I was experiencing, I didn't realize how hungry I was until now.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like I have anyone to go home to," I muttered, because I was pretty sure it was something along those lines.

I scoffed and went back to scrubbing, too hungry to feel bad about taking advantage of his character.

"Satoko…" He started, and I silently basked in victory.

"What now?" I grumbled.

"Well, uh, if you clean all this up, I'll buy you some ramen for dinner."

Even though I already knew what was coming, it didn't make my happiness from the promise of free food any less genuine. I flashed a bright smile and nodded enthusiastically.

"Awesome!" I cheered. "I'll be done in no time!"

Seeing how I basically had to teach myself to use chakra overnight if I wanted even a chance at passing the graduation test (which actually didn't sound all-too different from what already I do for finals), unlike Protagonist, instant noodles wasn't going to be enough to keep me at it. So, despite my usually small appetite, I made sure to stuff myself as much as I could in order to last me the night.

"Why were you doing that to the monument?" Iruka asked as I reminded myself to eat slowly, despite how starving I was. "Don't you know who the Hokage are?"

"Of course." I said after swallowing. "Whoever's Hokage is basically the strongest shinobi in the village, and the Fourth Hokage was the one who saved the village from the fox demon."

Which is now sealed inside me, but I don't think I'm supposed to know that, yet.

"Then why?" The chuunin asked.

I took this as my first chance to subtly change Protagonist's ambitions to fit my own style.

"One day, I'll become a Hokage way better than any Hokage that's ever come before me!" I said firmly, because even if I was going to give my words less volume, the surreal optimism had to be the same. "I can't stand the villagers treating me the way they do, so if I become the greatest Hokage, they'll have no choice but to respect me."

Iruka quirked his head, seemingly intrigued by my answer. Shortly afterwards, however, his borderline-doubtful look became a confident smile.

"Then you'd better keep your promise to train extra hard! I've never heard of a Hokage who can't even use the Transformation Technique."

"I was just having an off-day today, is all," I lied while nibbling on one of those weird, spirally fish paste things that came in ramen sometimes. "Just wait until tomorrow. I'll show you what I'm made of, then!"

Even though it was completely because I didn't actually have the choice to do otherwise.

"Well then, good luck, Satoko." He smiled warmly.

It was a genuine smile, and thinking back on the cruel memories of villagers legitimately throwing things at Protagonist – at me – because they didn't want me around… Well, now I really understood why Protagonist loved this character so much.

"Thanks, Iruka—" I grinned before very quickly adding "—sensei."

Honourifics were going to take some getting used to.

Chapter 2: How Could This Happen to Me

Summary:

Satoko can't do shit so until she upgrades her ninjutsu arsenal, she'll have to improvise her way through Protagonist's life.

Chapter Text

Thankfully, Iruka was kind enough to offer to walk me home, which saved me from asking or from wandering around aimlessly until morning. The second I got inside, I got myself into the shower, because everybody knows that's the best place to do some real thinking.

"Okay, first thing's first – learn how to use chakra," I said out loud, because at times like these (not that I've ever been transported to a fictional world and taken the role of the protagonist before), talking to myself made it easier to get my thoughts organized.

As I began to scrub my body down, I registered for the first time that it wasn't actually my body. I should have figured that my appearance would change now that I'd taken this role, but it just didn't really have time to sink in until now.

There were scars here and there – some that I had before coming here, and some new ones that were presumably from Protagonist's past, which was now my past. I eyed a particularly noticeable scar at the base of my right palm and frowned when the memory of how I got it surfaced.

"Get out of this shop!"

The words were accompanied by an image of some shitty geezer shoving me out into the street. I stumbled and ended up crashing into a vase on the way out. It hit the ground before I did, and when I landed, one of the shards lodged itself deep into my hand.

"Tch, look at this mess! I knew it; you're nothing but a curse to this village!"

What an asshole.

"It's a damn good thing I know it gets better from here on out, or I might have ended up just as obnoxious and attention-seeking as Protagonist was." That was, of course, assuming that I could get up to the necessary level that was required to do everything that he did in the first place.

It was surreal, remembering things that simultaneously did and didn't happen to me.

"Heh. Schrodinger's memories."

Granted, if I was taking Protagonist's role, it made sense to take his memories and whatever skills he had, as well. At least I wasn't recalling everything all at once, or else I might have ended up with a painful migraine and an emotional breakdown.

I shook my head clear and went back to scrubbing.

My skin was more tanned and my hands were rough from handling weapons. I felt just as out of shape as I was before when I was running, but now that I was examining my new body, it was a lot more toned than how I felt earlier that day.

"I guess it takes time for the body to adjust," I murmured while flexing my arms and abs. "Oh, yeah. I have a seal here."

I patted my belly as if it was going to do anything, but no fancy markings appeared.

"Ouch, this is also where Orochimaru jams his fingers during the Chuunin Exams." I winced, making a mental note to try avoiding that when the time came around. "…Augh, why do all the antagonists have to be so strong?"

If my body really was going to start adjusting itself to the years of regular exercise Protagonist had, I really hoped it wasn't an agonizingly slow process.

"At least he has regenerative abilities," I reminded myself, recalling the pros to being the Kyuubi's container. "Let's hope his stamina kicks in soon, too. There's no way I'll be able to bring it up to par by the time teams are announced, and then I might actually throw up from Kakashi's test. Speaking of which…"

Unlike Protagonist, I knew exactly what that jounin was planning, which meant that maybe, if I played my cards right, I could make Team Seven grow up just a little bit faster than they originally did.

"Yeah, sure, if I can convince the Great Uchiha Prodigy to team up with the Great Uzumaki Moron," I scowled, not wanting to think about how I was going to get Sakura on my side, either. "Knowledge of the future is useless when you can't even use it to change the present."

Then again, I've read a whole bunch of time-travel stories, and most of those managed to come up with reasons for the genin to start working together. As long as I played into their priorities, I should be able to talk them into it.

"Finally, a use for all those years of character analysis!" Now it was a matter of whether or not I was right about their characters. No pressure, though.

As I brainstormed on how I should go about establishing my relationship with my soon-to-be-teammates, I started washing my new, blond hair. Of all the things to be happy about, this was it, because do you have any idea how hard it is to dye dark brown hair?

"I wonder if they even have hair dye in this world, though." My burst of happiness instantly fizzled to a sulk.

Unless I dyed my hair red with the blood of my enemies.

"Oh, shit," I whispered, nearly getting shampoo in my eye in the process. "I have to kill people."

Okay, well, that wasn't necessarily true, because from what I could remember, Protagonist didn't exactly go around assassinating people left and right, but it might have a lot to do with the series being targeted for a younger audience, so maybe it wasn't all that great for the role model of the series to murder his way to success as opposed to using his Power of Friendship.

It also didn't change the fact that, when fighting enemies, I was pretty much aiming to kill, anyway.

"Geez… I mean, I've always wondered how I would react to killing somebody, but…" Until then, I just relied on the fact that I would never be in a situation where I got the chance to find out.

Such were the dangers of thinking in the shower. Shit always got too real.

I took a deep breath and decided to focus on my priority, which was ultimately getting the hang of ninjutsu.

However, once I was washed up and dry, that priority was nearly bumped out of the way when I started looking for sleepwear.

"I almost forgot how terrible Protagonist's outfit was." I cringed at the orange jumpsuit I had stripped off earlier. That, too, left unregistered, which was probably for the better. I would have spent the entire day thinking about how ridiculous I felt wearing that thing in public instead of reasonably freaking out. "Okay, next priority after learning ninjutsu: get some new clothes."

For now, I settled with the sleepwear I saw Protagonist wearing – a loose, collared pajama shirt, the pants to match, and his funky sleeping cap.

"Okay, not gonna lie, I've always wanted this thing," I said, pulling it over my head. "Granted, I have no idea who would wear a hat to sleep, and why."

Once I was dressed again, I began to search the rest of Protagonist's apartment, which first started with me cleaning up the entire thing. Memories of where he put everything would have been handy dandy at that point, but apparently they liked to go from beginning to end, and right then, the memories I was getting were from around the time of the Uchiha massacre.

Aw, little Sasuke's such a cutie, I thought while gathering a bunch of old ramen packets into a smelly pile. "Really, Protagonist? You can't even take out the trash? Come on, even I can do better than that, and I'm a university student without a roommate."

Who was now twelve years old again, I realized.

Which meant I got to go through puberty all over again.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

The reminder of being a first-year undergrad made another worry swell up within me.

"…Shit, what's gonna happen to my GPA?" I burst into laughter, nearly knocking over a bowl of leftover instant ramen. "Who am I kidding? That was a lost cause since day one."

Once the table was cleared, I picked up some stray clothes and threw them onto a chair to wash later. I made a separate pile for clothes I didn't plan on wearing because as the (new?) main character, I vowed to wear better clothes than Protagonist did, and also the only articles of clothing that changed to accommodate for my smaller physique was the underwear.

"Alright, now that I'm sure there's no mold growing anywhere, let's get started on some self-teaching."

The last thing left to organize where the dozens of scrolls and books that were strewn across the room. I piled them onto the low table and began skimming through them.

Thankfully, even if he missed a lot of class and failed the test three times, Protagonist still had a few notes from the Academy. They were mostly the basics, but the basics were all I needed right now.

Chakra is the form of life energy that all living things produce to some degree and need to survive. It is produced within the chakra coils that primarily surround and connect to each organ that produces chakra.

"…But which organs do that?" Leave it to Protagonist's notes to not tell me, but it probably didn't matter much. The point was, living beings produce chakra. Awesome. Maybe answered the long-debated question on whether or not plants have chakra, too.

The energy circulates throughout the body in a network called the Chakra Pathway System. Shinobi are capable of generating more chakra and releasing it through pressure points known as tenketsu. This enables them to perform jutsu.

Most of it was introductory jabber, so I flipped through the pages until I found something more related to actually moulding chakra to do things.

Chakra is created when physical energy and spiritual energy are moulded together. Collectively, these two types of energy constituteone's stamina. Physical energy is collected from every cell in the body. It can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise.

"I really need Protagonist's stamina if I'm gonna do that exercising thing."

Spiritual energy comes from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience.

"...I really need self-discipline if I'm gonna do that studying thing." Granted, this was a lot more interesting than some of the things I was studying in university, and now my survival depended on it, so I hoped that would be enough to make me more studious.

The more powerful these two energies become, the more powerful one's chakra becomes. Thus, practicing the same technique repeatedly will build up experience, which will increase spiritual energy. This will create more chakra and finally, enable one to perform that technique with more power. The same process applies to physical energy, except the shinobi needs to increase their endurance, instead.

The next few paragraphs talked about how everybody has their own chakra signature, so I skipped ahead to the bold lettering that read CHAKRA CONTROL.

"See, this is what I needed from the beginning." I folded the corner of the page and continued reading.

Chakra takes time to build up, so the key is not having chakra, but the ability to control and conserve it.

In order to mould chakra, one must extract physical energy from the body's cells and spiritual energy from the mind's consciousness, which are then mixed together within the body. It is possible to create too much or too little chakra for a technique.

"Oh, this is that stuff Sakura says while tree-climbing." It was reassuring to know that even something as foreign as chakra had some familiarity to it, even if that familiarity came from re-watching and re-reading chapters for the sake of fanfiction accuracy. "Okay, so, mind and body, stir until mixed, and don't use too little or too much or I'll mess it up."

I dug through the notes again until I found information about actual techniques. Since I knew the genin test was going to be on the Clone Technique, I decided to focus on that one, first. I at least had to be able to make a shitty potato-sack clone like Protagonist did.

"Ram, snake, tiger." I repeated the three hand seals required for the technique and pulled up a chart of the seals because despite following the series for over half of my life, it's not like I conveniently had them all memorized.

As I practiced making the seals, I read a little bit about what hand seals actually did in the first place.

Hand seals manipulate the amount of chakra necessary to perform a technique. Every technique has its own sequence of hand seals that needs to be memorized. While techniques may require several hand seals to work, a skilled shinobi can use less or even one hand seal to perform the same technique.

"Is this like math, but with chakra?" I thought to myself with a furrowed brow. "A different combination of hand seals will manipulate a different amount of chakra, so… depending on which specific hand seals I use, I'll draw out more or less chakra for the technique."

I wondered if there was a chart that indicated how much chakra was manipulated with each hand seal, but found no such thing. Figures, though I wasn't even sure if I was understanding it right. As long as the sequence was given, though, it wasn't much of a problem. Right now, it was a matter of getting used to the feeling of manipulating chakra in the first place.

My new memories now had a few instances where I was actually learning how to use chakra, which helped me get a feel for what it felt like to mould it. There was nothing that helped me understand the Clone Technique in particular, however, but at least it was a start.

"Okay, so that one is the standard sequence," I mumbled while making the three hand seals again, "but the alternative is tiger, boar, ox, dog, which probably makes it easier to do. Might as well start with the standard and see how that goes."

I took a few deep breaths sand stood up, ready to give it a shot.

"I'm so happy I'm alone right now," I sighed before making the hand seals.

The feeling of manipulating chakra was both familiar and foreign at the same time, which was the most bizarre sensation I had ever felt in my life. If performing a technique was like firing a gun, making the hand seals was loading the gun, moulding the chakra was pulling the trigger, and the result would be the bullet being fired.

"Clone Technique!" I said, because maybe saying the name would help, too.

The bullet was not fired.

I stared at the empty space next to me and groaned.

"Protagonist has the most useless memories ever. I'd be better off learning from a dead cat."

Seriously, why couldn't I have replaced Sakura, or hell, even Sasuke? At least their memories would give me a better idea of how to use chakra, and if I were Sasuke, I could just sit my ass down and not leave the village in the first place instead of spending the next three years of my life losing an arm – hah – and leg over trying to bring him back.

"Well, I've got all night to practice. At least I'm no stranger to pulling all-nighters."

With a heavy sigh, I cleared my head as much as I could, and tried again.

When morning came, I was worn out enough to warrant another shower, so that's what I did. It also helped wake me up, which was nice. After almost a day of being in this world, I had recalled just about all the memories there were to recall about Protagonist's childhood, and wow, did I wanna go punch every single civilian in the face right then.

"Props to Protagonist for not doing that," I sighed while reluctantly putting on the orange jump suit.

Admittedly, it was really comfortable, and I was probably going to keep it just so I could wear it at home, but not only was it tacky, I didn't want to work up a sweat in long sleeves and pants. How Protagonist didn't die of heatstroke in that thing, I may never know.

Now with a mental map of Konoha – at least, the places I would need to know the locations of – I got myself to the Academy right on time. That was a first, seeing as I hadn't woken up before noon in a while, but it seemed like Protagonist's stamina was finally starting to kick in. For once, I didn't feel like I was on the verge of death.

It also helped keep practicing the Clone Technique all night, and it was like the notes said – more experience led to better results, and man, was I so ready to show off my results.

"Now, for the graduation exam, you will do the Transformation Technique."

I could have sworn the entire world just stopped.

"When you are called, come to the next room."

And yet, it continued without me.

My heart pounded loudly as panic began to settle in. This was not how it was supposed to go. The test was on the Clone Technique – the one that I practiced the entire night! I even managed to make an actual clone! Granted, it still looked a little wonky, but it was standing, and I was so ready to get that stupid headband, but—

"This is so unfair!"

It wasn't until I lifted my head off the desk to see everybody staring at me that I realized I said that out loud.

"Is there something wrong, Satoko?" Iruka asked, mildly irritated. "I hope you practiced like you said you would."

I took a deep breath and shoved my hands into my pockets in order to prevent myself from lashing out on the table. Whether I was more panicked or worried at that point was hard to say.

"…I did," I bit out through clenched teeth.

But not the right one because—because—AGH. What the hell did I just do? Did I already screw up the universe forever?! Am I too good for you, Universe? Is that it?! IS THAT IT?!

Apparently, Protagonist was destined to fail that test no matter what happened.

When my name was called, I walked in with as much confidence as I could muster, which was harder than it sounded, because now I was worried about anything I did possibly causing the course of this universe to change. For all I knew, Iruka could have already been replaced by Anko, and Mizuki would be the new older-brother figure.

I entered the classroom and was relieved to find that Anko wasn't there and Mizuki still had the face of an undercover asshole.

"Whenever you're ready." Iruka smiled.

So, never.

I scrunched up my face in distaste and sucked in a deep breath in hopes of calming my nerves.

I can do this. I studied the theories and I skimmed the notes on this technique. I can probably do it this time. Besides, Protagonist has memories of successfully performing the technique, which is basically the same thing as me doing them.

"Alright, here I go." I made the tiger hand seal and closed my eyes.

I began to do that whole energy-mixing thing with much more assurance than before. Some of the technique was just what I recently practiced, and the rest was from my new memories that almost made it instinctive.

Small shout out to Protagonist for not having completely useless memories after all.

I felt my chakra gather and mould within my core. By then, it was a sensation I had felt several times over, and it was one that meant that it was working.

"Transformation Technique!" There was a puff of smoke, and I almost stopped emitting my chakra out of excitement. When it cleared, I looked up at the two chuunin and grinned widely. "How 'bout that, Iruka-sensei? Not bad, I bet!"

The two chuunin stared back at me in silence for a moment, eyes wide and mouths parted. When neither one of them spoke for a few moments, however, I started to get nervous.

"Uh…" I started, but was unsure of what to say.

"Satoko." Iruka said in an unsettling low voice. "Please explain yourself."

He gestured for me to approach the desk.

"I don't…" I murmured nervously, but inched my way over nevertheless.

Finally, Iruka slowly reached for a headband. He held it up to my eye level and frowned heavily.

"Who is this, and why does he look so familiar?"

When I looked at my reflection, my visibly flinched from what I saw.

Shit, I transformed into Protagonist! Retracting previous shout out, this is bad!

"U-Um, you see…" I stammered, my mind churning to come up with an excuse.

Did I just rip through the fabric of space and time itself? Oh, man, I can't believe Iruka recognizes him! This seriously wasn't how things were supposed to go down!

"I see that you didn't practice at all!" he suddenly shouted, slamming the headband on the table. "You've barely even transformed!"

"W-Wha—?"

"Iruka-sensei," Mizuki said with a gentle smile, "this is her third time, and she did technically transform. We could let her pass."

"No way, Mizuki-sensei. Everybody else transformed into someone completely different, but all Satoko did was change her physique and shorten her hair! Anybody could tell that it's actually her." Even though he gave me a sympathetic glance, he refused to change his mind. "I can't let her pass."

I knew I was supposed to pretend to be upset, but at that point, I was way too relieved that they didn't actually recognize Protagonist for who he was.

Talk about a heart attack. And now that I've failed…

"Satoko," a voice stopped me on my way home.

…I can get Mizuki to find me for that stupid plan of his.

"Mizuki-sensei!" I greeted, feigning surprise.

I contemplated trying to get myself out of this situation. It ends with Iruka literally getting stabbed in the back, and I end up giving another reason for everybody in the village to hate me, but it did end with Protagonist learning the Shadow Clone Technique. As annoying as it was that it was one of the two moves he ever used, it was damn useful, and like hell I was going to skip over the chance to at least try learning it.

"Iruka-sensei is a serious person," Mizuki said once we were seated on a perch on the side of a building. "His parents were killed when he was young and he's had to do everything himself."

I slouched and pouted my lips, annoyed. "Doesn't mean he gets to pick on me."

"He probably sees himself in you," he smiled gently. "He's probably thinking he wants you to become strong the real way. Try to understand Iruka's feelings, since you also have no parents."

Ouch, touchy subject much, asshole.

"…I still wish I graduated."

Mizuki seemed to contemplate something for a brief moment before saying, "Well then, I'll tell you a special secret."

Ten points to me for picking the right dialogue options. I knew playing visual novels would help me someday.

Memories of Protagonist practicing the Sexy Transformation Technique lingered at the back of my mind, but I wasn't good enough to use it – nor did I want to use it – so I had to come up with another way to K.O. the Hokage if he caught me in action.

Which he did, because let's face it – an academy student wasn't going to conceal themselves from the greatest shinobi in the village. Especially when that academy student technically just learned how to use chakra.

"What are you doing in my house at this hour?" His old geezer voice came from behind.

My original plan was to temporarily blind the old man by flashing a light in his face, but then I remembered the lack of technology in this universe, which never made sense. They had crappy computers and could hold a low-budget conference call, but still no flashlights.

My second plan was to find the light switch and turn them on and off really quickly for the same effect. I would have closed my eyes so I wouldn't have been blinded as well, except once I actually snuck in, I couldn't find the light switches in the first place. The dim moonlight wasn't enough for me to locate them.

Thankfully, I came prepared, just in case something like this happened. Except, well, Plan C was a little bit… extreme.

"I really wish you didn't catch me, Gramps," I murmured while reaching into my pouch.

"Hm? What do you have there, Satoko?" The Hokage frowned. "You weren't trying to prank me again, were you?"

You and me are both gonna wish that were the case real soon, old man. Trust me.

I pulled out a bottle, struck a match with my teeth (thank you pointless skill #5 for finally being useful), lit the oil-soaked rag that was sticking out of it, and waited two mortified seconds before smashing it between us.

"I'M SO SORRY FOR THIS OLD MAN—" I shrieked, sprinting away as fast as I could because I just threw a freaking Molotov inside the ninja equivalent of the White House in front of the ninja equivalent of the fucking president because what else are you supposed to do when you come face to face with the most powerful shinobi in the village and you can't use ninjutsu for shit?

YOU THROW A FUCKING MOLOTOV AT HIM.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my godohmygodohmygod—"

Whatever was happening behind me, I didn't dare turn around, because I was in no rush to get a preview of my afterlife.

I take it back; Sexy Transformation Technique would have been sO MUCH BETTER FUCK-

Chapter 3: Umino Iruka Protection Squad

Summary:

Satoko does some actual ninja things that doesn't involve breaking and entering and setting shit on fire that really shouldn't be on fire (though really there aren't a lot of things around that should be on fire). Also she decides that Iruka is a precious cinnamon roll too pure for this world.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Even with my stamina gradually building up to Protagonist's level on its own, I was still gasping for air and on the verge of collapsing by the time I escaped into the woods. Screeching like a banshee after almost setting the Hokage on fire was probably not the best way to start out as a main character, but in my defense, I did weigh my options. Besides, it was a calculated risk. He was the Hokage. He'd live.

Hopefully.

He's also really old, so… I frowned. Shit, what if I kill the Hokage prematurely via heart attack?

The only thing that kept me reassured that I didn't just accidentally murder the village leader was that no ANBU had been dispatched to hunt me down. Deciding I was still in the clear, I set the over-sized scroll on the ground and took a moment to catch my breath.

Whether or not I become a genin rides on me learning this stupid technique, so that better have been worth it.

I had around half a day until Iruka found me. It was several hours' worth of time, but a time limit nonetheless. With my adrenaline rush fading fast, I got straight to work.

The Multiple Shadow Clone technique utilizes the Yin Release aspect of creating form out of nothingness, as well as the aspect of breathing life into form, such as is provided by the Yang Release. These are the aspects that make this technique based on Yin-Yang Release.

Diagrams depicting the use of Yin and Yang Release were drawn next to it for clarification. I soon realized that they were basically what Protagonist's own notes were referring to as spiritual and physical energy. Suddenly, moulding chakra made a lot more sense.

If Yin Release was based on spiritual energy, and Yang Release was based on physical energy, and manipulating chakra required both spiritual and physical energy, then there was probably some sort of ratio between the two that determined whether the technique was Yin Release or Yang Release.

On top of moulding the right amount of chakra with the help of hand seals, I figured I also had to find that balance between spiritual and physical energy. Now that I thought about it, that might have been part of my inability to perform the Clone Technique properly.

Maybe I'll actually do it properly this time.

With a confident grin, I went on to read about the technique itself.

A substantial number of clones that is capable of reaching the hundreds is the result of this technique. It can, however, be harmful to the user, for equal amounts of chakra that originate directly from the user are given to every one of the clones. As such, it is due to the large amount of chakra that the technique consumes that puts the user at risk of death by chakra depletion.

More diagrams matched the words, as well as a drawing of the hand seal used to perform the technique. With the only drawback being countered with my large chakra pool – courtesy of Kurama – I stood up and got ready to start my training.

At least thirty minutes and absolutely nothing.

I groaned when what had to be my hundredth attempt still produced no results. Not even a low-budget render of myself!

"What the hell am I doing wrong?!" I cried while kneeling in front of the scroll. "I'm doing everything I'm supposed to! I'm channeling my energy, I'm definitely moulding chakra, and I'm doing the stupid hand seal—"

When I looked at the drawing of the hand seal just then, my heart nearly stopped.

"Oh. My. God." I groaned and buried my head into my arms. "I'm such a freaking moron!"

The drawing was of the left hand being held horizontally, behind the right hand, which was held vertically so that the index and middle fingers of both hands would form a cross. But of course I'd be an absolute idiot and decide to mirror the image instead of actually reading it properly.

After letting out another exasperated cry, I slumped back onto my feet and sighed.

"Okay. Now this has to work." I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and brought my hands together. Correctly this time. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

A puff of smoke startled me, and once it cleared, I was staring at an exact copy of myself.

"…Damn it."

Well, almost.

She looked similar to all the other regular clones I managed to make up until now, but at least this one was standing. Her eyes were slanted and she kind of look liked she came right out of a washing machine, but I could tell that the clone was supposed to be me. At this point, that was plenty.

"Alright! A little more chakra should fix you right up."

"Ybrrgh!" she garbled.

I winced. "…Yeah, sure." I dispelled the jutsu and got ready to try again.

From then on, I only got better and better. Reading about how Yin and Yang Release played into the technique – and any technique, really – helped me get the hang of moulding chakra in the first place, and then making sure I was using just the right amount for the technique. I found relief in knowing that I just had to keep building up the amount of chakra I was putting into the technique, as opposed to having to use less. It felt easier that way.

Gradually, my clones looked more like proper copies of myself. Eventually, they even managed to form coherent words, despite still looking a little wonky.

"Really? This is the best you could do?" The clone frowned, looking at her disproportionate hand.

"I can sass myself just fine, thank you."

"I'm just saying."

"Yeah, and I'm just dispelling you now."

It wasn't until the moon started to set that I finally made a successful clone.

"Holy shit, yes!"

And then I accidentally dispelled it from over-excitement.

"FUCK."

Thankfully, it wasn't that hard to do it again, but I had still only made one. I had to nail the "multiple" part of the technique, too, and I was running out of time. It was a damn good thing I already knew the trade secret of shadow clones. That is, gaining all the experience that they gain once the technique is dispelled.

"You ready for this, me?" I asked my clone.

"Way ahead of ya." She grinned. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

A third copy of me appeared in the field, and we all promptly high-fived, because that was exactly the sort of thing I'd do with myself after my plan successfully works.

"I'm gonna take a quick break, but you guys keep at it," I said while sitting down.

"What a lazy shit," both clones muttered simultaneously, but started making more clones anyway.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help grinning at my success.

To have my clones practice the technique themselves was part of my plan from the beginning, but I wasn't sure if it would work or not. I vaguely remembered Protagonist using his clones to transform into his teammates during the Forest of Death, however, and they could also use the Rasengan, so I saw no reason that they couldn't use the Shadow Clone Technique, either.

At this rate, I'd only get exponentially better, which meant I actually had a chance at mastering the technique before time was up.

Maybe I can do this whole ninja thing after all.

The sun was just starting to rise by the time Iruka appeared.

"I've found you…!" he said through clenched teeth.

I was significantly worn out and sitting on my ass, which was just as well, because I had that Multiple Shadow Clone Technique mastered and was so ready to sic it on Mizuki's sorry ass.

"Hehe, so you have," I said, not too tired to grin sheepishly.

"Don't act so relaxed, Satoko! Do you have any idea how serious the damages are?" he hissed, but presumably kept his voice down so nobody else would come before he had his own chat with me. "Where did you even come up with the idea to set the building on fire?!"

There really wasn't anything for me to say to that. I mean, I could have said something Protagonist-esque, but really, I was still just as speechless about the whole ordeal and the fact that I came up with idea at all. Instead, I gave a Protagonist-esque laugh and glanced away. Thankfully, Iruka didn't seem keen on pushing it and his more protective nature came through and changed the subject.

"Forget it, we'll deal with that later," he sighed, shaking his head. "You're all beaten up. What were you doing?"

"Don't worry about it. Instead, check out what I can do now!" I was just about to get ready to show him the technique until he interrupted.

"Satoko," Iruka said, now looking at the scroll on my back, "where did you get that scroll?"

Sorry, Sensei. You're about to get back-stabbed, and unfortunately, I mean that literally.

"Oh, this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it, and about this place, too. He said that if I show you this move, you'll let me graduate, so just gimme a sec and—agh!"

I knew it was coming, but I was still clueless about sensing presences, so when Iruka pushed me out of the way, it knocked me onto my back. A blur of kunai rained down on Iruka, followed by thunks and squelches of the weapons hitting the wooden shack and Iruka's body.

Oh my god. Ow. Shit, how the hell am I supposed to deal with getting stabbed myself?

"Nice job finding her," Mizuki said from above.

"I see… So that's what's going on." Iruka winced.

"Give me the scroll, Satoko!"

Like hell, bastard!

"Satoko!" Iruka shouted while pulling the kunai out of him. "Don't give him the scroll, even if it costs you your life! That's a dangerous scroll that has forbidden ninjutsu sealed within it. Mizuki used you in order to get his hands on it!"

Are you telling me a chuunin wasn't good enough to steal it himself? Then again, he probably wanted to use me, the focus of the village's hatred and fear, as an unfortunate scapegoat. What an asshole, geez.

I got onto my feet, ready to make a break for it once the time was right.

"Satoko…" Mizuki wore a dark grin as he looked down at me. "There's no point in you having it. You'll never be accepted, no matter how many techniques you learn from that scroll! I'll tell you the truth."

"N…No, don't!" Iruka shouted, but as if Mizuki was going to play nice.

It's a good thing I already know about the Kyuubi, or else I'd actually have to go through the emotional damage like Protagonist did. Granted, it didn't mess him up forever, but still.

"You know about the Demon Fox being sealed twelve years ago, right? Since that incident, a new rule was created for this village, but… Satoko, that rule was never meant to be told to you."

Guess I have to play along.

"Not to me…?" I echoed, feigning confusion. "Why not? What's this rule?"

Mizuki laughed maliciously, and I got ready to put on the best No-That-Can't-Be-True-This-Isn't-Real-I-Am-So-Genuinely-Distraught-Right-Now face.

"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the Demon Fox."

"What...?" Pause for dramatic effect. "What do you mean?!" I exclaimed with the aforementioned face, and I'm pretty sure I nailed it, too.

"Stop it!" Iruka shouted so loud I could hear strain in his voice.

"It means that you," Mizuki continued, "are the Nine-Tail Demon that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire, and—"

"—STOP IT—!"

"—you have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it strange how everybody hated you?" Mizuki unstrapped one of his over-sized shuriken and got ready to hurl it right at me. "Iruka is the same! He wants you gone!"

I braced myself for the attack, despite knowing what Iruka was about to do. I contemplated using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique right then and there, but I needed to give Iruka the chance to tell me his backstory so I'd have that much more of a reason to love his precious self, even if it was gonna hurt like a bitch.

It's okay, Iruka; you'll live.

Not that that would make it any less painful, but hey, it's the thought that counts.

"Nobody will ever accept you! That scroll was used to seal you up!"

The weapon flew from Mizuki's hand, and even though I knew this was going to happen, in what world would having a giant-ass metal ninja star flung right your face not scare the ever-loving shit out of you?

Another loud squelch sounded and I flinched. When I opened my eyes, Iruka was curled over me. Blood dripped from his mouth and onto my face, which was a little gross, but mostly I just want to give the poor man a hug.

"Why…?" I asked softly.

On one hand, I was following the script. On the other, I was genuinely wondering why he would protect that little brat who'd giving him nothing but trouble to both him and the entire village, and really was the vessel of the Demon Fox that killed his parents and tore up the village.

I'd always liked Iruka, and to experience his care first-hand made him that much more of an incredible, genuinely caring person that was, without a doubt, an invaluable person in Protagonist's, and now my, life.

"My…" the chuunin started, despite the searing pain that was surely not easy to ignore, "my parents… After they died, there was nobody to compliment me or acknowledge me. I was so sad…"

Hearing his voice strained and shaky almost made me wanna tell him that I already knew all of this, but I had already altered the universe once by acting based on previous knowledge, and I wasn't about to risk messing something up again.

"Since I wasn't able to do things well, like school, I always acted like an idiot to get people's attention. It was better than being nothing, so I kept acting like an idiot. It was so lonely…" He sniffled, and oh god he was crying do not falter, Satoko. For the love all dolphins do not– "You must have been lonely, too, Satoko."

You're killing me here, man.

"I'm sorry, Satoko… If I had been more aware, you wouldn't have had to feel that way."

Protect Umino Iruka at all costs.

It really was a shame that Protagonist ran off at this point, because I really wanted to stay and reassure the poor chuunin that I'm fine, honest. But alas, a script was a script, and until I decided how I wanted to go about trying to change things for the better, it was best to just stick with it.

"Satoko," he suddenly whispered far too quietly for Mizuki to hear, just as I was about to haul ass. "I'll buy you some time, so please, run to safety."

Oh.

"Iruka-" I started, but clammed up at his unexpectedly stern gaze. Instead, I gulped and nodded.

This makes so much more sense than Protagonist just running off without explanation, actually.

"Go!

With a bit of hesitance, I gritted my teeth, frowned at the idea of running, and then did it anyway.

"Satoko!" I heard Iruka shout as I disappeared into the forest, and Mizuki's muffled taunts immediately followed.

Just you wait, Iruka – I'll beat the shit outta that bastard soon enough!

I didn't run for very long until I hear the commotion of Iruka, who transformed into me, attacking Mizuki, who had transformed into Iruka. I stopped and hid behind a nearby tree like Protagonist did, and with the scroll clutched tightly against my chest, I eavesdropped on the conversation.

"There's no way that Demon Fox wouldn't use that power," Mizuki said.

"Yeah…the Demon Fox would do that…" Iruka replied weakly and spoke between pained gasps. "But Satoko is different. I've acknowledged her as…one of my excellent students."

I repeat: protect Umino Iruka at all costs.

"She may not be the hardest worker… and she's clumsy so nobody accepts her. She already knows what it is to feel pain in your heart." Despite his ragged breaths, his voice was firm and knowing. "She isn't the Demon Fox anymore…"

AT.

"She is a member of the Hidden Leaf Village."

ALL.

"She's… She's Uzumaki Satoko!"

COSTS.

Without even waiting for Mizuki to announce his plan to kill Iruka first, I dashed out from behind the tree and put all of my weight into slamming my body into his. A loud crack rang in my ears as my shoulder collided with his jaw before he was knocked back onto the ground. My momentum carried me forward, but thankfully not enough to end up face-planting myself.

It might have seemed out of place to attack Mizuki before he showed any signs of attacking Iruka, but I didn't want to risk trying to charge in at the last minute, only to be a second too late and end up with a dead chuunin on my hands. Plus, I doubted there would be any repercussions for ambushing the traitor.

"You shouldn't have done that," Mizuki snarled while getting back up.

"And you shouldn't have been such a bastard," I said just as bitterly. "Try and lay a finger on Iruka-sensei and I promise that you won't have any fingers left!"

"You idiot!" Iruka coughed, body slumped against the base of a tree. "Why did you come out?! Run away!"

"I could kill a punk like you in one shot!" Mizuki laughed.

"You won't even get the chance," I retorted while making the clone seal. "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

With an overwhelming sensation of both chakra and adrenaline, clouds of smoke puffed up in the trees, filling them with dozens upon dozens of clones.

"Wha—?! W-What's going on?!" Mizuki gasped.

"Guess you're all bark and no bite." I grinned patronizingly. "Here we go!"

The muscle memory that should have come with Protagonist's memories of training unfortunately was not a thing, or at least not yet, but with over a thousand copies of myself, it didn't matter whether or not I actually knew how to fight. After getting the experience through my clones hundreds of times, though, I had a pretty good idea of how to literally kick a guy while he was down.

So I did.

"Bet you wish you picked some other impressionable brat to do your dirty work, now, huh?!" I yelled before swinging my foot into his face one last time.

"HRK—!" was the last sound that came from Mizuki before he passed out.

On one hand, I felt kind of bad, because he was plenty beaten by the time my clones disappeared. On the other hand, I'd be lying if I said I'd never wanted to try hitting someone with full force. Admittedly, it was pretty good for relieving stress, which was something I had a lot of at that point.

I guess that's one plus side to being in this world.

Mizuki was sprawled on the ground, bruised and swollen with blood dripping from his nose and mouth. I winced and looked up at Iruka, who seemed rather content, despite the fact that he just witnessed his student pummel a grown man.

"Okay, maybe that last one was a little too far," I said sheepishly.

The chuunin snorted and sat up, wincing as he did so. "Come over here, Satoko. There's something I want to give you."

When asked, I closed my eyes and felt Iruka tie his headband around my forehead. I'd forgotten that Protagonist's headband belonged to the chuunin, and it became so much more than just a symbol of my genin status once I remembered.

"Congratulations," Iruka said as I opened my eyes, "on graduating."

It felt ridiculous, knowing that I was wearing a Konoha headband on my forehead, but it was because of my own memories that I felt that way. With Protagonist's memories, though, there was a whole new meaning to it. It was hard to say whether the ambition to become a genin was truly mine, now that I had Protagonist's memories in the first place, but even so, I knew that the happiness and pride that swelled within me was genuine, and I couldn't help but embrace Iruka out of sheer joy.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." I grinned into his shoulder. "Now please go to the hospital before you bleed out."

Notes:

After credit scene: Satoko puts twigs up Mizuki's bloody nose.

Chapter 4: Satoko's Mysterious Marketplace

Summary:

Satoko does ninja things like beating up the Hokage's grandson and attempting to buy groceries.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I didn't realize how horribly exhausted I was until I got home and was tempted to go straight to sleep, but dirtying the bed sheets with sweat and dirt and blood (I wasn't sure if it was more or less gross that it wasn't my blood) didn't sound appealing. A shower, on the other hand, did.

It also meant more time to think.

"Okay, this is when things start to get tricky. If I'm gonna make changes, I'm gonna have to do some real thinking ahead if I don't wanna screw myself over, and it all starts with my team." I swallowed the urge to wail disdainfully right then. "Team 7 is loaded with problems – Sakura needs more confidence, Sasuke needs more loving, and Kakashi needs…" I frowned, silently scrubbing the same part of my arm in thought, "…Kakashi needs, like, amnesia, or something."

I shook my head and spent the next while exhaling an anguished groan because really, what everybody needed was some therapy. And a hug. At least those, I could give.

"…I guess I just gotta start small and go big," I sighed, pressing my forehead against the shower wall.

It was cool and oddly soothing, so I stayed that way until I remembered that I was pretty sure I had to pay bills and was wasting water. I also had enough reason to believe, however, that the Hokage was using my inheritance from Minato and Kushina to pay for my living expenses, because I didn't seem to have any memories of Protagonist paying the bills himself. The idiot probably couldn't handle it himself, anyway. Actually, I probably couldn't, either.

Good to know that letting an ostracized orphan handle his own living expenses wasn't on the list of Bad Hokage Decisions.

Speaking of Bad Hokage Decisions…

Orochimaru and Danzou had to be dealt with. Somehow.

I sucked in a deep breath and let out an obnoxiously long groan.

"Maybe if I create a legitimately healthy team dynamic, the Cursed Seal won't be too big of a deal," I pondered.

The Cursed Seal was more effective the more Sasuke actually wanted to use it, right? So all I had to do was make him less obsessed about getting his revenge.

"...Way easier said than done."

I went back to groaning.

One step at a time, Satoko. That won't be relevant until later.

By the time I was done cleaning up, there was only about an hour left until I was supposed to go get my Ninja Registration photo taken. That got me thinking about what technology this world had and didn't have (again), which didn't let me sleep until about thirty minutes later (again), so when I had to haul my ass back out of bed to get going, I still felt like I was on the verge of death. Again.

Okay, Protagonist, it would be really great if your stamina would kick in at full force right about now.

It was unusual being up and about so early, but it did help that Protagonist was more used to this kind of routine, so it surprisingly wasn't too hard to stay conscious for the duration of the photo. I would have loved to mimic Protagonist's getup, but I didn't wake up early enough. Maybe the whole 'getting dropped into another universe and realizing that I could die at any moment the second I step outside the village gates' was starting to take its toll on me. Plus, I was never really a fan of makeup, let alone covering my entire face and hands in it, as genuinely impressive as Protagonist's design was.

You'd think they'd catch on to the fact that he has some decent skill for a twelve-year-old and start teaching him how to make sophisticated disguises, but that would mean things would have made sense.

So, I took the boring photo in all its standard glory and went to the Academy to meet the Hokage in some meeting room of some sort. Since the picture should be fine, I had a pretty good idea what he wanted to see me about.

"That was a very dangerous tactic you used, Satoko," the Hokage said, lacing his fingers in front of his mouth. "It caused severe damages that will take time to repair. It's very fortunate that no important documents were lost in the fire," he finished, sounding exasperated and tired. I pretended not to notice the singes at the edge of his hat and sleeves.

"Hehe, yeah…" I winced, glancing nervously at the door Konohamaru was bound to run through at any moment. It probably looked like I really wanted to leave, which wasn't a lie, but mostly I was just dreading having to deal with the kid. "All's well that ends well, right?"

"That's one way to put it," he shook his head, and I could have sworn a little flake of his hat peeled off. "Was it Mizuki who told you to how to make that weapon?"

"Uh…"

I fidgeted in my seat, rubbing my left thumb into the palm of my right hand. It was a nervous habit of sorts, and I was definitely nervous, because I had no idea what the "right" answer was. Would it be better or worse if I said Mizuki taught me how to make the Molotov? I wanted to take the scapegoat offered, but chances were, I'd be making other similar weapons. It might be suspicious if I suddenly knew how to "invent" things without the help of a backstabbing chuunin.

"Satoko?"

"Yes!" I flinched, snapping my head up. The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "I mean, uh no! No, he didn't. I made it myself."

Now both eyebrows were raised.

Should that offend me?

"…I see," he said thoughtfully, taking a puff from his pipe.

…Should that worry me?

"It was very…" the Hokage looked like he was trying to find the right words to describe what we both knew was nothing short of a disaster, "…effective."

Yeah, it has a bit of a flare, doesn't it.

"Heh! Well, somebody as amazing as me will only make amazing things!" I grinned haughtily to mask my nervousness. "You don't have to hide it, Gramps. If you wanna know how I made it, all you need to do is ask!"

"That won't be necessary," he replied with a hint of amusement. "Just don't do it again. Even for you, that's too much for a prank. People could have been hurt."

I kept myself from looking at the singes on his clothes as I nodded. "It wasn't that fun, anyway."

That was a total lie. It was horrifying and I may have peed a little, but it was awesome.

The Hokage nodded doubtfully, but didn't press the matter any further. I had the feeling there was a lot more he wanted to say, but an open room in the Academy wasn't exactly the best place for privacy, which was proven shortly afterwards when Konohamaru stormed into the room, challenging the Hokage to a fight.

"Old man! Fight me!" his little prepubescent voice shouted as he slid into the room, which was promptly followed by a slam when he tripped and hit the ground. "Owww!"

"Who set a trap here?!" The academy student sat up, holding his head with one hand. At least his little head thing seemed to absorb some of the impact.

"Konohamaru-sama! Are you alright?!" the deeper voice of one Ebisu gasped as he entered the room shortly after. "And there isn't a trap anywhere!"

I pretended not to notice the tokujou's glare.

Still sitting in the chair, I stared at the kid with a furrowed brow. "Who the hell are you?"

"I know!" Konohamaru jumped onto his feet and rushed towards me. "You did something!"

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to prove that I'm 'not like the others' by punching him in the head, which for some reason makes him and his friends admire me for some reason. Maybe I can raise my own little personal army…

"You tripped on your own, you moron!" I snapped, grabbing him by the front of his scarf and unexpectedly pulling him a foot off the ground.

Holy shit, either my body's adapting to Protagonist's training or Konohamaru really needs to put on some pounds.

"Hey! Let go of him, Satoko!" Ebisu warned, pointing angrily at me. "That's the Third Hokage-sama's grandson!"

"Oh," I said, looking back at the kid. "Then this is just hitting two birds with one stone!"

And then I dropped my fist onto his nutty little head.

Marx would've been proud. Fuck the bourgeoisie.

"What?!" Ebisu shrieked, clearly appalled by the fact that the Demon Fox Brat had the audacity to hurt the Third Hokage's Grandson, which was amusing, because the Third Hokage himself just looked exasperated.

I was kinda worried about the potential injuries, but somebody had to tell Konohamaru that until he's actually good enough to avoid letting his teammates strangle him, wearing a long scarf was ridiculous shinobi attire, and he clearly wasn't going to listen to any adults. The kid probably has a hard head if he was alright after that fall, anyway.

"Satoko," the Hokage said over the pained whining of his grandson. "We'll continue this conversation later. You're dismissed."

"Sure thing." I let the kid go in an instant. "Later, Gramps!" I nodded to Ebisu, "Shady Gramps," patted Konohamaru's head, "Gramps Spawn," and rushed out.

Oh my god, this poor kid really does suck at camouflage.

I could see Konohamaru hiding by the fence from down the block, holding up a patterned sheet that didn't even match the direction of the fence posts.

Maybe that head trauma really did do something after all…

With a sigh, I mustered up the enthused rage of Protagonist and pointed dramatically.

"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to be?!" I yelled, waving my finger at Konohamaru's terrible 'I'm a fence'disguise. Seriously, it was so bad it was offensive. "You aren't fooling anyone, idiot!"

"Hehe, I'm impressed you saw through this! The rumours about you are true, after all," he said, grinning deviously. "Hey, I'll let you be my boss!

Oh geez, what kind of rumours are spread in a ninja village?

"That's not how it works," I frowned. "You don't get to choose who your boss is. It's the other way around, and I don't wanna be yours."

"Come on!" he whined, and my goodness did he have a shrill pre-pubescent voice. "You gotta teach me how you defeated Gramps! Please, Boss!"

Calling me Boss just makes me feel old.

"As if a little runt like you can learn an advanced technique like that!" I scoffed, putting on an arrogant front. The last thing I was going to do was teach the Hokage's grandson how to make Molotovs. "You've gotta prove yourself, first. How can I trust a brat like you with any secret techniques if you wear a giant scarf like that? You're making it way too easy for your enemies to choke you!"

To make my point, I grabbed the back of Konohamaru's scarf and tugged violently, causing him to lurch back with a yelp and thrash desperately.

"You'd be dead meat," I grumbled, letting him go before I accidentally choked him to death. "If you can prove that you've got even half a brain, maybe then I'll teach you a thing or two!" I declared, resting my hands on my hips.

For a moment, Konohamaru was so quiet I was worried I had actually choked him unconscious.

Maybe I should avoid pulling shit like that. I barely remember how to perform CPR.

"That's a promise!" he suddenly yelled, pointing a tiny finger at me. "I'll make you notice me no matter what! All I have to do is take off this scarf, right?!"

Poor kid nearly choked himself trying to pull it off so quickly.

Trust me kid, senpai ain't gonna notice you that way.

"It's not just that! You need to figure out these simple things yourself, moron!" I yelled, wondering if I was being too intuitive for my reputation as the village's #1 Knucklehead Idiot.

"What about you? Your orange clothes aren't stealthy at all!"

"That's different!" I snapped, knowing full well that they really weren't. I had plans for the outfit, though, and changing the colour scheme came later. "Unlike you, I'm good enough to take my enemies by surprise, even when I'm dressed like this." I internally patted myself on the back for my Protagonist-like idiotic boasting.

"Fine! I'll show you that I'm a great ninja, and then you'll have to teach me your techniques!" he shouted.

"We'll see about that," I said, shoving him aside as I walked by him. "Now leave me alone. I'm busy thinking of super cool techniques that you'll never get to learn!"

Before Konohamaru could complain any more, I spun around and stuck my tongue out at him before sprinting off as fast as I could, which was gradually nearing up to standard academy student speed. That exit felt childish enough to make up for any suspiciously uncharacteristic insight on actually being a good shinobi, and hopefully it was.

With any luck, that'll start him on a path less moronic and more productive.

By the time I was done eating my last pack of instant ramen, it was a little past noon. I had the rest of the day off, so I decided it was time I got myself caught up on how the world worked. If I wanted to make it seem like I grew up here, I needed the appropriate knowledge of the culture, the roads, the food – everything. Protagonist's memories were giving me an idea, but if I was going to meet my team in the next day or two, I had to speed things up a little. Fortunately, I knew just the way to do it. Unfortunately, I was still missing a necessary precaution.

"Alright team, listen up!" I faced five copies of myself, each one standing at attention and saluting like soldiers at boot camp. "If I'm going to act like I grew up here, I'm going to need the knowledge to back it up. Before I send you out to gather intel, though, we need to figure out how the Transformation Technique works. People will get suspicious if they see the Village Idiot running around actually trying to educate herself. I haven't convinced anybody that I'm capable of having that much common sense yet, so this is our priority."

"The technique seems simple enough. We just have to picture the person we wanna transform into and then poof, right?" one of my clones asked.

"Let's hope it's that easy," I sighed. "If we got this cloning jutsu working, though, I'm sure we can figure everything else out in time. Anyway, I'll leave you guys to it. I need buy groceries before my stomach eats itself."

Finding a place to buy groceries in the first place was a chore in itself. Apparently Protagonist didn't make enough grocery runs for it to really stick in his memories, which said a lot about how bad his diet really was.

Seriously, should I get my blood pressure checked?

I figured it was Kurama's regenerative power that kept Protagonist, and now me, from getting heart attacks at age twelve, but one could never be too careful. There would be enough things trying to kill me in the future, and I didn't need my own body being one of those things.

Once I did find the market, the next chore was to actually find anybody willing to sell things to me.

"You here to set my store on fire, too?" one of them snarled as I approached the entrance. "Get away; I don't need you causing trouble for my customers!"

"I just need a few things," I mumbled, not wanting to attract any more attention than the shopkeep already was. So much for that, though, considering anybody within twenty feet of us was looking over now.

"Then find it somewhere else! You're a shinobi, aren't you? Go hunt some animals in the forest; just don't burn it down while you're in there!"

I glowered and bit the inside of my cheeks to keep myself from yelling back at them. And then I realized that yelling was exactly what Protagonist would do.

"Fine!" I snapped, taking a step forward. It probably didn't help my reputation as the Demon Child, but it sure was satisfying to see the shopkeeper jump back. "I don't need your stupid food, anyway! I bet it's all rotten and makes people sick!"

I made fierce eye contact with the shopkeeper before storming off, ignoring everybody's stares burning into my back.

Maybe this is why Protagonist never came here.

Hateful villagers or not, I needed to get food somehow. I'd trashed all of Protagonist's perishable foods (most of them had already gone bad and if I left it any longer, they probably would have eaten me instead). At that point, I was really starting to considering what the shopkeeper had said and find a place to hunt. Too bad I had no idea how to do that.

"Satoko?"

I lit up when I saw who it was.

This could work, too.

"Iruka-sensei!" I exclaimed, rushing up to him. "Are you busy? Can you help me with something? Wait, no, you should be in the hospital! What are you doing out already? Holy crap, did you break out?!"

"One thing at a time, Satoko," he laughed, patting my shoulder. "I just got discharged."

"Already? But I thought you were gonna die! Let me see." In hyperactive concerned Protagonist fashion, I ran around Iruka and insistently tried to lift his shirt to check the wound. "I bet they were just trying to kick you out to make room for some stupid jounin or something." A jounin named Kakashi, maybe.

"Hold on—Satoko!" the chuunin cried, spinning around and grabbing my wrists. "I'm fine! It was a deep wound, but it didn't hit any vitals. I appreciate your concern, but I'm okay." He set my arms down and smiled gently. "Promise."

Despite knowing that he really was all right, I squinted at him suspiciously for a moment.

"…Yeah, I guess you are built to last," I nodded thoughtfully. It'd be pretty pathetic if every other shinobi went down after one back stab.

"Exactly. Us chuunin are pretty tough," he grinned. "So, what do you need help with?"

"Oh! Uh." Now that I thought about it, asking him to buy my groceries for me sounded kind of lame, but then again, so was just about everything else I had to say or do lately. "Can you...buy some stuff for me? Well, not for me; I have a list and I'll give you some money, but I need you to physically buy the stuff."

Now it was Iruka's turn to look at me suspiciously, though he didn't need to ask for an explanation to get one.

"…Nobody'll let me buy stuff from them. I mean, at least now I know why, but it still sucks!"

Iruka looked at me with a mix of surprise and sympathy.

"Yes, of course, I'd be happy to help you," he said with a soft smile.

"Thanks!" I held out my shopping list and some money.

He took the list and patted my head. "Wait here, alright?"

I could have sworn he was giving off killing intent as he marched towards the first stall.

"You know, I'm surprised you didn't have any ramen on that list. I thought you hated vegetables," Iruka said as we walked to his home. He said it was his job to walk me home, but after watching him scold every shop owner he bought from, the least I could do was insist on letting me make sure he got back all right.

"I do!" I lied. Vegetables are awesome, but too bad Protagonist didn't agree, so I already thought of an excuse that was bound to be a recurring one. "But I'm a genin now, so I need to get stronger in every way possible, even if it means eating stuff I hate."

"Oh? That's unexpectedly mature of you, Satoko," the chuunin grinned.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing, nothing!" he laughed. "You really are growing up, huh."

"Of course I am! Next time I steal something, it'll be me who's protecting you!"

"You won't be stealing anything," Iruka scolded, flicking my head. "…But if I ever do need protecting, I'll be counting on you."

"Heh, you got it!"

It was a little crowded when I got home.

"It's been, what, two hours?" I asked, putting the groceries away. "Still no progress?"

"We're getting there," answered the clone lazing about on the bed. "…I'm taking a break."

"And how long have you been doing that," I frowned, but didn't press. "We've gotta at least be a little better than transforming into Protagonist."

"We've made some progress," another clone said. "You know how that one Ditto couldn't transform completely and every Pokémon it turned into still had a Ditto face? That's basically how it is for us. Except, y'know, with our face."

"…That's better than nothing, I guess." Picturing it was a little horrifying, though. "Well, it's time for dinner, so thanks for your work up 'till now."

"You got it, Boss," a third clone said on their behalf before I dispelled them.

Feels kinda wrong to just use 'em like that, I thought warily as I heated up the stove. I just hope they don't revolt.

Then again, if they ever did, I could just dispel them.

Wow. Talk about expendable.

Ninja morals were going to take some getting used to.

Notes:

After credit scene: Satoko gets bored and draws the Ditto face on a bunch of her stuff. Forgets about it the next morning and nearly pees herself when she finds that all her kitchenware is looking at her funny.

Chapter 5: My Only Friend is Full Of Shit

Summary:

Satoko learns about Konoha's stance on sexuality and greets Kakashi in only the most appropriate manner: with a bang.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Wearing a headband was uncomfortable, to say the least. I knew it was standard to wear it around one's forehead, but it was itchy and sweaty and way too tight. I had no idea how the other shinobi did it, but I certainly was in no mood to get a headache from having something tied around my head all day. It didn't help that even though my hair was short, settling above my shoulders, loose strands still managed to get caught in the knot.

I eventually tied it around my right thigh so the metal plate faced outwards and set off for the Academy.

All around me are familiar faces…

Most of the Rookie 9 gang was scattered throughout the class. Hinata was sitting diligently at the front while Shino sat quietly at the back, on the other side of the room. Ino sat in front of him and was glaring at Sakura, who was yet another row in front, enjoying her victory over claiming the seat next to Sasuke.

Instead of picking a fight with Sasuke, I sat in the back row and tried very hard not to look at the few girls hovering by his table. No way was I dealing with that accidental kissing bullshit. I'd read more than enough about Beatlemania to know what fans were capable of, and I had no desire to learn what ninja fans could do.

Keeping my distance was definitely a good call.

With a sigh, I watched in silence as some of the other girls glowered at Sakura for taking the seat next to Sasuke.

…Wait a second.

As I scanned the class, I realized that it wasn't just girls who were giving her the stink-eye.

"Are those…fanboys?" I murmured to myself.

Well, that was certainly an unexpected surprise. A pleasant surprise, but unexpected nevertheless.

"Now here's something I thought I'd never see," a rather arrogant-sounding voice came from beside me. "Oi, Satoko, don't you usually spend your mornings having your love rejected by Sakura? Don't tell me you're intimidated by Sasuke, heh."

Holy crap! It's Akamaru! Puppy! Precious puppy! Dog! Look at him! Look at the puppy! Oh my god this is the best day of my— I only just registered what Kiba had said and quirked my brow. Wait, I still obsess over Sakura? But I'm not even…

Huh. Well, then.

Before I could respond with a sarcastic remark, images of Kiba and Protagonist getting in trouble and playing in forests flashed through my memories. Despite the many blanks, it seemed like they got scolded a lot together while they were growing up.

What the fuck, Protagonist. Sasuke is by no means your only friend.

Honestly. He clearly had at least a handful of academy students to play with, even if I couldn't place a name or face in the memories just yet. Sure, he and Sasuke shared a special understanding or something, but that didn't mean Sasuke was his Only Friend. Talk about melodramatic.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Kiba grinned, taking the seat next to me.

"As if!" I snapped, realizing that I still hadn't responded. "I just don't wanna embarrass him in front of everybody when I beat him!" Which wasn't particularly wrong, either. The whole kissing thing wasn't exactly Sasuke's most graceful moment.

Since I was already talking to Kiba, I figured I might as well take the opportunity to confirm something about the village, and maybe the rest of the countries in general. "Besides, why would I want to confess to Sakura-chan? She's a girl!"

Akamaru whined and Kiba looked at me really, really weird. Then he sniffed me.

I don't know how I feel about that.

"Not an imposter…" he murmured. "You feeling okay?"

…Interesting.

I decided to push it a little further. Any uncharacteristic behavior I displayed with this experiment wouldn't be so severe that it would make Kiba suspect me forever. Probably.

"I'm fine! I just don't get why you think I'd confess to her. We're both girls, y'know."

Kiba squinted at me.

"…So?"

Akamaru barked.

Veeeeery interesting.

I continued the act to get information. "A girl liking another girl is just weird," I muttered, sinking onto the table.

"Since when?" Kiba asked, getting more and more confused and surprisingly irritated. "You sound a lot like a civilian right now. You haven't been eavesdropping on their gossip, have you? Oi, Shikamaru, are you hearing this?"

What the- was he always there?

Shikamaru barely even glanced at Kiba as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Don't drag me into this."

Another wave of memories came back to me, this time focusing on a younger Shikamaru. A lot of them filled in some blanks with my memories of Kiba, most of which involved running from academy teachers and getting held after class for being brats.

Heh, good times, apparently.

"Things like who you love don't matter," Chouji answered in Shikamaru's place. "It has nothing to do with being a good shinobi, after all."

The few remaining blanks around my memories of Shikamaru and Kiba were filled once I looked over to Chouji.

Seriously though, no friends my ass.

And when I thought about it, it made sense that of all the academy students, the kids who happened to spend time with Protagonist were made up of those three.

They were clan children, after all. Even if the civilians wanted nothing to do with the Demon Child, the clans would have a different opinion, since they weren't ignorant and thus fearful. For all I knew, Tsume, Shikaku, and Chouza encouraged their kids to befriend Protagonist, or at least didn't discourage them, even if half of what they did involved getting in trouble together.

"…Yeah, I guess civilians say some pretty stupid things," I finally answered now that I was through with confirming the whole sexuality thing.

I wasn't sure if the whole ordeal really was a civilian issue or not, but it was good to know that homophobia at least wasn't an issue within the shinobi ranks, and it did actually make sense. So long as the village's shinobi could carry out their missions, nobody had any reason to get all nosy about who they might be developing whatever sort of relationship with, intimate or otherwise.

Whether society was okay with it or not, though, that didn't mean I wanted to pretend I had a thing for Sakura, so I tried to talk my way out of it.

"But I still don't want her to like me; not that way! I just want her to take me seriously. She's super smart and always learns techniques the fastest. Why wouldn't I admire that? She's so cool!"

I say while thinking about Shippuden Sakura, because while the current Sakura may be a fast learner, she is definitely not cool.

"You expect me to believe that the past, what, five years of telling Sakura how great she is at everything and how pretty she is and how you greet her practically every morning with your annoying Sakura-cha~an was just because of some admiration?" Kiba asked skeptically, grossly imitating my voice as he did so.

Wow, uh… Guess denying that doesn't really fit at all with Protagonist's past behaviour, huh.

Nevertheless, I pursed my lips and nodded slowly. "…Yes."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say," Kiba grinned, as if he knew something about me that I didn't. All things considered, he probably did.

If the Inuzuka had anything else to say, it would have had to wait, because Iruka walked in at that moment. The class quieted, eyes fixed on the papers in his hand.

"Good morning, everybody," he greeted with a smile. "Starting today, you're all real ninjas, but you're still just genin. The hard part has only just begun. Soon, you'll be assigned missions by the village."

Some genin started whispering excitedly amongst themselves at the mention of missions. I tried to look piqued as well, despite already knowing that the missions Iruka was talking about were just hard labour.

"Which is why today we'll be putting you into teams of three, each one led by a jounin sensei. You'll follow your new sensei's instructions as you complete these missions."

Still, when he put it that way, it was no wonder the genin were getting all excited. Surely the mention of any higher-ranked shinobi got a kid's blood running.

"I'm going to read out your teams, so listen carefully! Team One..."

The reactions were mixed as Iruka read out the teams - a combination of curious whispering, annoyed muttering, and excited grinning. I breathed deeply as I prepared myself to be characteristically obnoxious once Team Seven was called.

"Next, Team Seven," the chuunin read nonchalantly. "Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Satoko-"

"Yes!" I stood up and threw my arm into the air, ignoring Kiba's annoyingly smug You're-So-Totally-In-Love-With-Sakura grin.

"-and Uchiha Sasuke."

"What?!" I cried in unison with Sakura's cheer. "Iruka-sensei! Why does a super great ninja like me have to be teamed up with that limp noodle?!"

The chuunin sighed heavily and frowned at me. "Sasuke passed with top scores out of the twenty-seven graduates, while you were dead last! We have to do this to balance the teams, understand?"

I scowled as bitterly as I could before plopping back into my seat, ignoring the snickering around me as Iruka finished listing all the teams.

"We'll introduce the jounin sensei this afternoon," Iruka said once he was done. "Take a break until then."

Instead of trying to ambush Sasuke and using his face to try and kiss Sakura (though unlike Protagonist, I would have succeeded since I actually cleaned out the fridge and got rid of that bad milk), I decided to take a walk around the Academy and the surrounding area.

The building itself was pretty standard. Classrooms were lined down most of the halls, and the more I wandered, the more memories of the building's layout came back to me.

I guess experiencing things first hand speeds up the memory process. It would explain why a rush of memories about Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji came back when I saw them respectively.

After a couple of turns guided by vague, resurfacing memories, I found the open-walled training area where Rock Lee and Sasuke duked it out. There were three target posts set up on one side of the room and the sun cast long shadows into the room, making it seem far bigger and spacious than it really was.

"Nice place," I murmured. According to his memories, though, Protagonist didn't spend much time training here. "...I wonder if I should..."

I glanced around a little before walking up to the posts. There were scratches and holes all over the them, but otherwise they seemed to be in relatively good shape, probably because they got replaced so much.

"...I wonder if I should give it a shot."

It took a couple of days to get used to leaving the house with several very sharp weapons, let alone getting used to holding and throwing them. I forgot it was something I should really know how to do until I saw the posts.

After looking around to make sure nobody was nearby one more time, I carefully pulled out a shuriken and stared at it intently.

How does this even... Is it like darts? Frisbee, maybe?

Some vague memories of Protagonist throwing them were starting to resurface, but he never really had the best aim, per se. I swallowed and figured that if I was already Dead Last, it wouldn't really matter if somebody saw me mess up.

"Well, it can't hurt to try," I said, taking a few steps back.

I was wrong.

"OW- motherfucker-!"

Not only did the shuriken wobble through the air like a deadbeat sugar glider and hit the base of the post with a depressing thunk and clang, but it also thought it'd go ahead and try taking off my entire index finger.

I continued to swear under my breath as I clenched my hand against my stomach, watching as blood stained my jacket and dripped all over the polished hardwood.

"Ow- shit- ow!" The gash went from my knuckle and between my index and middle finger, which made it sting every time I moved my fingers even a little bit. "Okay, so that's definitely enough of that."

I thought Protagonist was supposed to be a fast healer, so heal, damn it!

The wound showed no signs of closing anytime soon, however, so I held my hand close to my stomach, pocketed the bloodied shuriken, and rushed back to the classroom in search of Iruka.

So much for a break; I didn't even get a chance to eat.

"Satoko!" Iruka gasped and rushed the moment he saw my bloodstained shirt. "What happened?!"

"I, uh, tried to throw a shuriken," I laughed sheepishly.

He stared at me as though he was waiting for me to say more, but I just glanced away, still holding my wounded hand with the other.

"That's all?" he eventually asked, heading back to his desk to get a first aid kit. "You don't normally make simple mistakes like this. You're usually fine with the Transformation Technique, too. Are you feeling okay lately, Satoko?"

Between waking up in what I know as a fictional world and trying to accept that death could be around any corner? No, not really, but I don't think I can tell you that.

"I'm as great as ever!" I lied. "No need to worry about me, Iruka-sensei. Every great ninja has an off day; I've just had a few of them in a row, is all."

"If you say so," he smiled, thankfully not pressing any further. "Now show me your hand."

I obediently stuck it out and winced as he gently parted my fingers to examine it.

"Why were you practising, anyway? That isn't much like you, either."

Wow. Protagonist really set some low expectations, huh.

"I thought I might train a little during the break. Y'know, warm up a little in case I gotta impress my jounin sens-OW!" I immediately tensed up as he dabbed the wound with rubbing alcohol and fought the urge to pull my hand back. "You could've warned me, Iruka-sensei!"

"You're a genin now; a little sting should be nothing for you," he scolded, showing no mercy in cleaning the wound. "There! You still have some time until the jounin arrive, so go home and change quickly. You don't want to be late to meet them, after all."

I resisted the urge to laugh and instead nodded while rubbing my bandaged finger.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei. I'll be back before you know it!"

Not.

The first thing I did was head home and scrub as much blood out before letting the stain soak hot water. Nothing else was stained and the weather was nice, so I did one last bloodstain check on my dark blue T-shirt and signature bright orange pants before grabbing a pork bun on my way out.

My next stop was a store where Protagonist would normally get his paint for Defacing Hokage Monument purposes. The store owner was a very laidback young woman named Takumi who seemed to be wildly amused by his antics, so she was fortunately okay with selling him things despite knowing what kind of things they'd probably be used for.

Good to know there are people other than Ramen Guy Teuchi who don't hate on Protagonist.

"Welcome back, Sato-oooh, you got your headband!" She leaned over the counter excitedly, causing a strand of hair to fall between her eyes. "That means you're a genin now, huh!"

"Yeah, I'm a real ninja now!" I grinned proudly, twisting my hips to point the headband at her.

"Oho ~ Too bad I don't give shinobi discounts. Anyway, it's little soon for another prank, don'tcha think? They're still fixing up the Palace from the fire."

"Hey! That was-" I cut myself off, not quite sure how to explain myself. It wasn't exactly an accident per se, but… I pressed my lips into a firm line and shook my head. "I'm not planning on setting anything on fire this time, if that's what you mean."

"Haha, that's good to know! You sure liven things up in this village, Sato-chan, but I can't really afford to have this place shut down if anything destructive traces back to here. I don't have a license to sell that kinda stuff."

"Don't worry, Neechan," I answered as I browsed the aisles. "I'm just looking for- this!"

I jogged up to the counter and dug up enough change for exact payment.

"Oh ~ Looks like you're up to something fun. A celebration, maybe?"

"Kinda, yeah! I'm meeting my jounin sensei today," I grinned proudly as she rang up the items.

Takumi paused for a moment before she quirked her brow.

"Oooh~ A little welcoming gift, huh?"

More like raising Protagonist's pranking standards for my own sake so Kakashi has even the slightest reason to have even an iota of hope in me.

"Well, here you go, Sato-chan." She gave my purchase to me in a small bag and grinned, flashing the hole where her upper right canine should be. "Tell me how it goes!"

"You'll be the first to know!" I waved goodbye and took the scenic route back to the academy.

The very long scenic route.

When I showed up at the Academy two hours later, only Sasuke and Sakura were left in the room.

"Satoko!" Sakura looked understandably disappointed when she realized I was the one at the door. "Where were you?"

Eh… I guess I should at least phase out Protagonist's crush on Sakura instead of just pretending it never happened.

"Huh? You don't normally ask that kinda stuff of me-" I paused and fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, grinning. "Could… Could it be that you were worried about me, Sakura-ch-"

"As if!" She whacked me upside the head. "I just don't want our new sensei to get a bad impression because you were doing something stupid again!"

"Ow!" I rubbed my head as I took a seat at the table closest to the door. "That's just mean."

Yeesh, how the hell does Protagonist not get a concussion after getting hit all the time? Especially by Shippuden Sakura. They oughta call me Konoha's #1 Hardheaded Ninja instead.

There was a brief moment of silence as I emptied my bag of purchases on the desk. Sakura did a doubletake when she glanced over, immediately zeroing in on the bottles of-

"Glitter?" What's that for?" she asked skeptically. "You'd better not be trying to pull another stupid prank; you'll get us all in trouble!"

Despite her words, I could totally see the glint in her eyes that told me Inner Sakura was so into this kinda thing.

"It's not a prank," I retorted as I folded up some paper into little packets. "I just wanna test 'em a little bit. Y'know, see what jounin are made of!"

"They're elite ninja; they won't fall for a stupid prank," Sasuke scoffed, finally joining in on the conversation.

Well, duh, I wanted to say, but instead focused on my folding. It did feel incredibly childish to go through with a prank despite knowing how unimpressed Kakashi would be, but if he was going to let himself get pranked on purpose, I sure as hell wasn't going to skip out on it.

"That's right!" Sakura quickly agreed, clearly enjoying the fact that he was agreeing with her, more or less.

I continued to ignore their objections as I emptied the glitter into a total of eight packets. "You'll thank me for this later," I grinned, taping them shut.

The last step was taping them between the sliding door and the doorframe, which I did as quickly as I could so I could take a seat and enjoy the show.

"What's that supposed to be, anyway?" Sakura frowned, but before I could answer, the door opened.

All eight packets were torn apart.

Glitter exploded everywhere.

I lost my shit.

"SATOKO!" Sakura immediately scolded despite the fact that she was clearly enjoying this as much as I was. She bowed her head at the jounin and held her hands up to her face. "I'm so sorry, Sensei! I tried to stop her, but…"

Sasuke appeared to be just as speechless, though I wasn't sure whether it was because Kakashi had fallen for the prank (or at least pretended to, as far as I knew) or because of the prank itself. Either way, he stared at the door with widened eyes and parted lips, unsure of how to react.

The glitter eventually settled.

In the doorway stood a glistening, shiny Kakashi.

There was a long silence, save for my really poor attempt at stifling my laughter.

He didn't move. All he did was blink. Glitter sprinkled from his eyelashes.

Finally, he spoke.

"Hm… Genin standards are much lower than I remember."

There was a trail of glitter sparkling behind Kakashi, leading up to where he was seated on the railing. I had mostly calmed down by then, but it was really hard to not burst into laughter when one of Konoha's elite jounin was sitting right there covered in glitter.

The only way I'm topping this is if the next person I glitter bomb is Madara.

Now that would be one hell of a sight.

"Ok, let's begin with some introductions," Kakashi said, interrupting my daydreams of sparkling Uchihas.

"Sensei, shouldn't you, uh," Sakura trailed off, eyes fixated on the glitter. When Kakashi simply looked at her, expecting her to finish her thought, she cleared her throat and switched topics. "I mean, what do you want to know?" she asked nervously, clearly having a hard time making eye contact.

The jounin hummed in thought. "How about… your likes, your dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies; stuff like that."

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself, first?" I asked, squinting my eyes at him. "We already know each other."

Kakashi eyed me for a brief moment; a slight pause before he decided to comply.

"Oh, me? My name is Hatake Kakashi."

"Pfft, more like Kirakashi," I snorted under my breath.

"Shut up!" Sakura hissed.

"I don't really feel like telling you about my likes or dislikes," he drawled, looking very bored and very unimpressed in true Kakashi-like fashion. "Dreams for the future...? Haven't really thought about that. I have lots of hobbies…"

Us three genin side-eyed each other skeptically.

"So, all we learned…" Sakura whispered, "...was his name?"

"Now it's your turn. Let's start from the right," Kakashi said, shifting his one-eyed gaze to me.

I pretended that glitter wasn't sprinkling from every part of him every time he moved.

"That's me!" I grinned widely. "My name's Uzumaki Satoko! I like sweets and desserts. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei buys me food! I don't like having to cook myself."

I could have gone with Protagonist's original ramen glorification speech, but I really wasn't that big of a fan of ramen. At least, I probably wouldn't be able to force myself through a dozen bowls like he always did.

"My dream," I continued, leaning forward excitedly, "is to become a ninja so great that the village will have to accept me as their Hokage; one that surpasses all the past Hokage!"

I always thought Protagonist had his dream in the wrong order. After all, a shinobi has to be acknowledged before they can be considered as a Hokage candidate.

Kakashi kept his gaze on me for a moment, probably reading my expression and body language for whatever cues a jounin looks for in a potential student who is also his late sensei's daughter and a jinchuuriki and also made glitter explode in his face.

There was so much goddamn glitter. How was I supposed to ignore it?

"I see…" the jounin eventually murmured, scratching his head. "Next."

I shifted awkwardly as I glanced over to Sasuke, suddenly very aware of his presence, which I could have sworn just became twice as dark and brooding.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike, and I don't really like anything. I can't really call it a dream, but… I have an ambition; the resurrection of my clan, and…" He paused for just a second, though whether it was because he was getting angry over the thought of Itachi or hesitating to share, I couldn't tell. "...To kill a certain man."

The air was heavy. Sakura was looking away, staring at her feet as a faint blush swept across her cheeks. Kakashi's eye was slightly narrowed, likely thinking about how that was expected of Sasuke.

"...Dude," I said, breaking the silence. It was time take my first step in my Get Sasuke To Calm His Shit plan. I had to choose my words wisely. "You gotta chill."

Nailed it.

I was unsurprised to see both Sasuke and Sakura glaring at me, though it figures that only the latter spoke up.

"Hey! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!"

I almost told Sakura to chill, but she was definitely the kind of person to get even more riled up if told to calm down, so instead I said, "But I'm not wrong!"

"Ok," Kakashi said in a voice just a tad louder than usual, "lastly, you on the left."

Sakura immediately turned her attention back to the jounin and straightened up. "Oh! My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is… Well, the person I like is..." her blush came back and she began to fidget while very obviously glancing at Sasuke, "and, uhm, my dream for the future…?"

Oh my god, somebody make her stop.

Saying that Sakura was the easiest to beat some sense into didn't mean much after hearing her infamous introduction in person. Not only was she tearing away at my massive pet peeve of unfinished sentences fucking hell, her squealing was driving me up the wall.

I'm so sorry Kishimoto made you this way.

"What I dislike… is Satoko," she said with a disgusted face.

"What?!"

Kakashi sighed, looking as bored and unimpressed as-

Wait, that's not it.

Well, he did look unimpressed, but his gazed lingered on her just like it did after mine and Sasuke's introductions - slightly narrowed, with a hint of curiosity and concern.

I guess any jounin would be worried if their new student was more interested in a boy than being a shinobi.

Something told me that there was more to it, but… Well, I was in no position to even try reading the one-eyed expression of an elite jounin.

"That's all for today," Kakashi said, resting his chin on his hand. "Tomorrow, we'll start our duties as shinobi."

Ah, yes; survival training.

I leaned back on my hands as he explained what it was, saying that he would be our opponent and all that jazz. Having heard and read all of that several times before, I tuned it out until he got to the part where only 9 of the 27 graduates would actually become genin.

"What?!" I shouted, shuffling forward in my seat. "Then what was the point of graduating?!"

And how the hell do they sustain the shinobi forces with only nine new genin at a time?

"Oh, that? That was just to select those who have a chance to become genin," Kakashi smiled and shifted back against the railing, causing more glitter to bounce off him. "Anyway, you have to show your real skills on the training ground tomorrow, so bring all the shinobi tools you have."

Should I… Should I make more Molotovs…?

"Oh, and skip breakfast. You might throw up." He conjured up three sheets of paper seemingly out of nowhere as he walked towards us. "The details are on this paper. Don't be late tomorrow."

"You're one to talk," I grumbled, taking one of the sheets and cracking a smile when I noticed it was now decorated in glitter.

Oh man, he'll be so much easier to track if he can't wash it off by tomorrow.

Until then, it was time grab a few things on my way home and cook some shit up.

Notes:

After credit scene: It's been three hours. The water has long-since gone cold, but Kakashi continues to shower. The glitter won't come out. He fears that it will never come out.

Chapter 6: Plan in the Ass

Summary:

Satoko temporarily claims the role of Mom Friend and also the bell test happens.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

With foreknowledge of what was to come, I spent all evening making preparations for the Bell Test. It was a busy evening, but I got a decent five hours of sleep that night before my alarm scared me awake. Despite knowing that Kakashi would be hours late yet again, I arrive at the training field relatively on time to see that Sasuke and Sakura were already there. I had some business with them, first.

"Good morning…" I drawled, slumping down by their feet.

"You changed your outfit," Sakura noted as she stood over me.

I immediately perked up and grinned. "D'you like it? It's pretty nice, right?" I held out my arms, showing off my new fingerless gloves.

I wore them over long wristbands that went up to my elbows. The material was kind of like chainmail, except instead of individual metal rings, it was more like reinforced mesh made of some kind of synthetic alloy. In any case, the stuff was so common it could even be found in civilian clothing shops, and it came in practically every style of clothing for any shinobi's light armour needs.

"Anything is better than an orange jumpsuit," she said critically, looking me up and down. "Almost."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. "This outfit is great!"

The jacket itself was still mostly orange. It didn't feel right to cut out Protagonist's signature colour altogether, even if it wasn't the stealthiest colour around. Besides, orange actually looked good with my new hair and darker skin tone, so I didn't mind wearing it as much as before.

I settled for a sleeveless jacket to wear over my new mesh tank top. The jacket's edges were highlighted in blue. The pockets matched, and there were two diagonal blue lines cutting from my shoulder down to the middle of the jacket that would form a V shape if I zipped it up.

"Why did you change, anyway? You always complained when Iruka-sensei told you to find something more appropriate."

"I'm glad you asked!" I jumped onto my feet and proudly set my hands on my hips. "Now that I'm a genin, it only makes sense to change it up a little. I'm a whole new person, after all. If I'm going to be a ninja, I oughta dress more like one!"

Sakura blinked. "Huh… That's unexpectedly reasonable of you, Satoko."

Why does everybody keep saying stuff like that?

I decided not to comment on that and gave her a once-over. "Speaking of dressing like a ninja, shouldn't you reconsider going around in a qipao? It's pretty, but those don't give a lot of breathing room, and your arms and legs are a little bare, dontcha think?"

"What?!" she hissed. "My clothes are fine! Right, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked like he was debating whether or not he should bother answering. Eventually, he did.

"All you're doing is making it easier for your opponents to injure you," he said flatly. "A proper shinobi doesn't prioritize appearance over practicality."

Sakura immediately looked dejected and I bit my bottom lip. Whether it was a proper critique or not, it probably hurt to hear it from her crush.

"Somebody as amazing as Sakura-chan could definitely manage both!" I declared, glaring at Sasuke. "Right, Sakura-chan? I can help you find a new outfit!"

"I can manage on my own!" she retorted. "Unless… Since you know more about this stuff, Sasuke-kun, maybe you'd like to help me instead…?"

The Uchiha furrowed his brow and turned away. "You shouldn't need help with something so simple."

Somehow, Sakura managed to look even more dejected than before.

Oh, man, we really need to do something about her self-esteem. It doesn't help that a lot of it depends on this asshole.

Maybe it was time to take matters into my own hands.

"Hey, you don't have to be so rude about it!" I snapped, taking a step towards him.

"You were the one who brought it up," he bit out, annoyed.

"You're the one who made her feel bad!"

"You criticized her, first!" Now he was facing me, arms crossed and jaw clenched.

"Constructive criticism! At least I'm offering to help!"

"Unlike you, I don't have time to waste on stupid things like that!"

"H-Hey, cut it out!" Sakura stammered in a weak attempt to break us up.

Before either of us could say anything more, a loud growl interrupted our quarreling, and Sakura and I shifted our gaze down to Sasuke's stomach.

He clicked his tongue and turned away quickly, despite the fact that I already noticed the slight flush on his cheeks.

"...Did you not eat breakfast?" I asked, straightening up.

"That's none of your business," he muttered.

"Kakashi-sensei told us not to," Sakura said, her hand idly rubbing at her own empty stomach.

I made a face at both of them and dropped my bag on the ground. "Doesn't mean you're supposed to listen! What kind of idiot shinobi doesn't eat before training?!" I yelled, hastily unzipping my bag.

Granted, I knew this was coming, but keeping up with the theatrics was necessary and also kind of fun.

"But he said we'd throw up!" Sakura reminded.

"Oh, boohoo! You think it's any better to starve all morning, instead? Even if you do throw up, all you gotta do is drink some water and get right back to it." I pulled out two bento boxes I spent the evening preparing and held one out to each of them. "I thought Kakashi-sensei might be super late again and I didn't wanna get hungry while waiting, so I brought a second breakfast with me. You're lucky I thought to pack extra, just in case!"

Sakura stared at the bento box. Her hands twitched and it looked like she was about to take hers until she saw Sasuke jerk his head away again.

"I'm fine."

"M-Me too!" Sakura stammered, crossing her arms. "I wouldn't want to eat anything you cooked! I'm on a diet, anyway."

I huffed impatiently and shoved the bento boxes at them again. "You remember what Kakashi-sensei said, right? He's gonna be our opponent! Sasuke, don't you wanna be at full strength when fighting against a jounin? And Sakura, you won't be impressing anybody today either if you're too busy starving yourself to death."

Is unhealthy dieting also from civilian influence? I find it hard to believe any sensei with even half a brain would let that continue if they knew about it.

The two of them look at the bento boxes again, and I had to wonder just how poorly they thought of Protagonist to still give it a second thought after hearing what I thought were some pretty valid points.

"...Hn," Sasuke eventually grunted and took the box.

Sakura followed shortly afterwards and refused to make eye-contact when she said, "Thanks."

I grinned, proudly setting my hands on my hips. "What're teammates for?"

She huffed and pressed her lips together. "This better not be a prank."

The three of us took a seat and unwrapped the boxes to reveal the rice, eggs, and mixed vegetables packed inside. It was simple, because that was pretty much as far as my cooking went, but it was better than nothing.

"Itadakimasu," my teammates said quietly, which I quickly repeated under my breath after being reminded of the change in cultural etiquette.

"Oh? This is pretty good," Sakura said after a bite of rice, clearly surprised that the food was even edible.

"The vegetables are a surprise," Sasuke murmured.

"Aw, c'mon, have a little faith in me," I whined, flicking a grain of rice at him.

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance as the grain stuck to his face, but I was certain I wasn't imagining his little smirk as he picked it off.

That's what I'm talkin' about. Social Link, go!

The sun was well up in the sky by the time Kakashi finally showed up. Sasuke had stubbornly insisted on standing alert once he was done eating, though Sakura and I had long since dozed off, leaning against his legs and each other so we didn't fall over.

I vaguely registered Kakashi's footsteps as he approached and groaned, yawning loudly as I slumped forward to look up at him.

Alertness quickly settled in and Sakura and I jumped to our feet.

"You're late!"

"Sorry, sorry! I got lost on the road of life."

Oh god, it's even more lame when you hear it in person.

Kakashi dropped his bag next to the centre training post and placed the alarm clock on top of it.

"Okay, it's set for noon," he said as he set it with a light tap.

He then pulled out the legendary two bells and jingled them in front of us. I furrowed my brows, mimicking the confusion that Sasuke and Sakura displayed, but really I was more focused on the sparkles in his hair that were catching light every now and then.

"Your task is to take these two bells from me before time's up. I was going to say that whoever doesn't get a bell by noon won't get lunch, but…" His half-lidded eye gazed towards the empty bento boxes piled next to our bags. "...Well, it seems like you three already failed to follow my instructions."

It was impossible to tell what he was thinking - whether he truly was annoyed or if he was just putting on an act - but it made Sakura fidget nervously and it twisted my stomach into a knot.

Yeesh, I'm pretty sure that should get us some teamwork points, but his expression is telling me… yep; nothing. Go figure.

"Maa, I guess that doesn't really matter. What's important is that you only have to get one bell. The third person who doesn't get a bell will fail, so at least one of you will be sent back to the academy." His expression was dark and his hitai-ate cast a shadow over his eye, but it quickly lighted again as he continued his instruction. "If you want, you can use shuriken and kunai. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"But you'll be in danger!" Sakura exclaimed, and I quickly realized what I'd probably have to do next.

Augh… I don't wanna embarrass myself, but I'll need Sasuke and Sakura to take him seriously if I wanna get us to work as a team.

"Yeah! You're so clueless, you couldn't even avoid my trap!" I gloated, sticking my hands in my pockets. "We'd take you down in five seconds flat!"

Kakashi stared at me with his half-lidded, unimpress look and sighed. "You know, it's usually those with no talent who bark the loudest. Well… Ignore the deadlast and start when I say-"

I gritted my teeth and shifted my foot back, ready to lunge. The technique wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be, but after a couple of hours of training with some clones last night, I at least managed to whip out a kunai without dropping it or cutting myself and darted towards the jounin.

What happened next was so instantaneous, I barely had time to process that Kakashi had my kunai pointed at the back of my head, even though I knew it would happen.

H...Holy shit…!

I knew that Kakashi's speed was supposed to shock them, and I knew he wasn't actually going to hurt me, but there was a huge difference between seeing it in panels or a clip of animation and experiencing it first hand.

Every muscle in my body tensed under Kakashi's grip on my head and wrist. My heart pounded in my ears and I sucked in a deep breath when I realized I had stopped breathing.

Fuck... This right here is how easy it is for me to die. For any of us to die.

"Calm down," he murmured with a hint of amusement in his voice. "I haven't said start yet."

I glanced back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura, thankful that my antics at least got them to realize that Kakashi was the real deal.

"It seems like you're finally prepared to come at me seriously. So, you've finally acknowledged me?"

I scoffed. My airy laugh came out borderline hysterical.

Haa… what the fuck did I get caught up in?

Kakashi chuckled quietly, his voice dropping in tone. "It seems like I'm beginning to like you guys."

My breaths came out slow and ragged as Kakashi slowly loosened his grip, but didn't let go.

"Begin!"

I lurched forward to make a break for the woods. I expected to just sprint like normal, but instead nearly tripped over myself from my unexpected speed and leg power.

What the-?!

I stumbled forward and darted into the trees, pressing my back against the first one I saw to conceal myself from the jounin.

Did Protagonist's athleticism finally catch up with me?

I breathed deeply and clasped my hands together in attempt to stop the trembling that came with the adrenaline rush. That, on top of having a knife pointed right at my head… It was certainly a lot to take in at once, to say the least.

"The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide yourself," I heard Kakashi say from the middle of the field.

The most important thing is for me to find the others and get them to cooperate. I closed my eyes and furrowed my brow. Somehow.

Challenging Kakashi alone was probably my best bet. If I was going to even try convincing the others to cooperate, all of us first needed to realize that it's impossible to get a bell alone. At least that way, I'd get some leverage for my idea of teaming up.

When I looked over my shoulder to scan the field, though, there wasn't anywhere close enough where I could get the jump on him. Even if I sent clones, Kakashi would definitely hear them running towards him before they even took two steps. Overwhelming him with numbers was a given, but there had to be some way I could show him and my teammates that I wasn't completely full of dumb ideas.

I sighed and made the Shadow Clone handsign.

Well... no harm, no foul. Let's do this shit.

The first clone appeared with a small burst of chakra and I handed her my weapon pouch loaded with a dozen kunai. We exchanged a silent glance before she ran off just as I whipped the first kunai at Kakashi.

"Uh… you'll need better aim than that," he said when the weapon missed him by several feet.

Tell me something I don't know.

I wasn't quite as focused on aiming as I was on the source of the kunai, though. A second after Kakashi spoke, another kunai flew towards him, this time from a few feet to my right. The pattern continued at a rapid pace, with each kunai coming from a location further and further away from me every other second until Kakashi's back was facing me.

The twelfth kunai flew right at him, but this time, a smoke bomb accompanied it.

"Oh? So you've finally come out of hiding," Kakashi murmured as the smoke expanded towards him. "Ninja Fighting Lesson #1: Taijutsu. I'll teach you about it."

Considering how little time I spent practicing taijutsu (that is to say, absolutely none at all - the only experience I had with taijutsu so far was beating the crap out of Mizuki), it was of no surprise when Kakashi wasted no time countering my clone.

What did come as a surprise was how quickly I managed to cut across the field right as my clone disappeared, surprising the jounin from behind.

"Clones?" he gasped, spinning around to block a sloppy punch.

"Betcha didn't see that one coming, huh!" I grinned, driving my knee towards his gut.

The smoke engulfed us both, giving the perfect opportunity for eleven of my clones to come out of hiding and attack Kakashi from every possible direction.

It would have been much more effective if we didn't all immediately start coughing our guts out.

"Holy shit, bad idea," I rasped between dry coughs, desperately fanning the smoke away from my face. I dispelled my clones and broke out of the smoke, hacking violently until my lungs and throat were clear again. "Ow, okay, wow, that could've gone better."

"I know you were at the bottom of your class, but…" Kakashi's voice drawled from over my shoulder, "forgetting to hold your breath when using a smoke bomb is a little much, don't you think?"

I had only just registered where his voice was coming from when he said, "A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind."

I knew this was coming, you creepy bastard!

Which is why the twelfth clone didn't come out until just now and tackled Kakashi into the ground.

"Eat dirt, ya sicko!" she shouted, tumbling across the field from the momentum and promptly getting dispelled.

"HELL YEAH." I spun around just as the last of the smoke faded, expecting to see a surprised Kakashi on the ground. I really shouldn't have been surprised to find a log, instead. "Aw, hell naw."

I quickly checked my surrounding area to make sure he wouldn't try to poke my ass again or pull me underground, sighing when it didn't seem like he was coming back.

My ass is safe and that's all that matters. Time for phase two.

I was just getting the hang of jumping from tree to tree when Sakura's scream echoed across the field. My eyes immediately rounded and my whole body tensed, as was my usual soundless reaction to getting the shit scared out of me.

"Splendid," I muttered, heading towards the scream.

It wasn't long before the trees thinned and I found Sakura unconscious on the ground. I carefully dropped down from the tree and rushed over to shake her awake.

"Nnh…" Her eyes fluttered, but immediately snapped open when she saw me. "S-Satoko! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Hey, what's the deal?!" I jumped back in case she tried hitting me again. "I was just waking you up! You screamed and sounded like you were in trouble!"

Seriously, how much do you hate me? Geez.

"...Oh, " Sakura said a little guiltily before jerking into a sitting position. "Sasuke-kun! I need to go find him, he was hurt!"

"Are you sure? I saw him on my way over. He looked perfectly fine to me," I lied.

C'mon, Sakura, get your shit together. I swear, anything involving Sasuke cuts your brain power down by at least half.

"Yes! I saw him just now, right after Kakashi-sensei-" She cut herself off and furrowed her brow, as if just realizing that something wasn't quite right. "...It was genjutsu," she gasped, wide-eyed.

There we go.

"A genjutsu, huh," I repeated, tilting my head to the side. "Then that means he's fine and we don't have to look for him! Let's go find Kakashi-sensei ourselves, Sakura-chan!"

"Why would I wanna team up with you?" she snapped, pulling a disgusted face at me. "I need to make sure Sasuke-kun is okay! It was a genjutsu this time, but that doesn't mean Kakashi-sensei won't actually hurt him for real."

Now if only you'd show that level of concern towards me, too.

"Hrngh… I don't really care about Sasuke, but…" I muttered, crossing my arms in deep thought, "I'm coming, too!"

"Get it through your thick skull already, Satoko! I don't need you getting in my way!"

"But what if you get caught in another genjutsu?" I retorted. "It could be even worse than last time!"

Sakura frowned, but actually considered what I said like the rational person she usually wasn't when anything involved our third teammate.

"...Fine," she finally said, "but I'm not helping you if you get caught!"

Great teamwork there, Sakura.

I let her lead, knowing that she'd unknowingly take us straight to Sasuke, and now that she knew the injured Sasuke she was was actually just a genjutsu, she didn't pass out this time.

That didn't stop her from shrieking her guts out, though.

"O-Oh, wait, this is just a genjutsu," she sighed, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Wh...what?" Sasuke squinted at her, and Sakura froze.

"I-It talks…!"

"Nah, I don't think this one's a genjutsu," I said, kneeling in front of Sasuke's head. "He's all grumpy and stupid-looking, just like the real Sasuke!"

I pretended not to notice the two glares directed at me.

"If you're not going to help him, then I will!" Sakura huffed, shoving me aside.

"Hold on!" I cried, hastily reaching over to grab her wrist. "We'll get him out after I tell you guys about my plan. Bastard would never listen otherwise."

"Plan?" my teammates repeated in unison.

"Yeah, my plan for us to pass the test!" I grinned.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms. "He only has two bells, which means only two of us can pass. Weren't you listening at all?"

I took a seat next to Sasuke's head and furrowed my brows. "I dunno… Something he said yesterday's been bugging me ever since. Don't you think it's kinda weird how he said that only nine genin can pass, but then he makes a test where at least one of us is guaranteed to fail?"

"That's true…" Sakura hummed, taking a seat so two of us were facing Sasuke's head. "If all the tests are designed like this, it would hard to guarantee that there would be exactly nine genin who pass."

"Pitting the graduates against one-another is inefficient," Sasuke added, which I interpreted as his way of reluctantly agreeing. "There's no real way to predict who passes and who fails."

"It makes way more sense to pass full teams, which are already made up of three genin who are matched based on strengths and weaknesses," Sakura agreed.

Huh. Guess a little nudge in the right direction really goes a long way.

"Yeah, exactly! My bet is on this," I said, leaning forward. "Kakashi-sensei isn't testing us individually - he's testing us as a team."

I glanced between them, hoping to get some hint of cooperation or acknowledgement that I wasn't completely full of shit on this one.

"What makes you think I'd want to work with you?" Sasuke muttered, killing the mood as always. "You'll just get in my way."

"Yeah, are you sure about that," I rolled my eyes, sprinkling a handful of uprooted grass onto his head. "Jerk."

"Cut it out!" Sakura slapped my hand away and picked the grass out of his hair as she spoke. "Even if we work together, how would we all pass? He still only has two bells."

Despite all the conclusions they came to themselves already, apparently it was a bit much to expect that they would also figure out that the bells were irrelevant. Then again, it's not like I had any idea when I was first reading the arc, either.

"Forget about how many bells there are. What matters is getting any at all, and the only way we'd even have a chance at getting even one is if we work together, as a team." I stood up with my hands on my hips and grinned. "That's what we are now, after all; Konoha's Team 7!"

Sakura looked hesitant to say anything and instead looked towards Sasuke, who was glaring at the dirt three inches from his face as if it would give him advice.

"Why should I bother?" Sasuke finally said.

"Whaddya mean?" I frowned, not liking where this was going.

"You graduated at the bottom of our class, and Sakura, you don't have any notable techniques in the field. I'm better off trying again without your help. I already touched one."

I bit my lip, cursing his refusal to be a cooperative, less condescending person even once in a blue moon. Honestly, Sakura looked like she was on the verge of tears. Itachi really fucked with Sasuke's ability to make any sort of relationship with people - as anything other than the Internationally Wanted S-Ranked Criminal, that is.

Think, Satoko, think… What kinda motivation gets through to this idiot? Taunting? Bribery? A good punch in the face? ...Actually that sounds about right.

I thought back on our apparent rivalry that took root during our younger years and fought back a grin.

"Well, you're not Mr. Perfect either, y'know!" I accused, making a face at Sasuke. "Just know that in three years time when I'm a jounin and you're still trying to fit your ego out the Academy doors, it's all because you didn't wanna work with us this one time 'cause you think that brute strength is all you need to be a good shinobi!"

There was a pause.

Then, to my surprise, he nodded.

It was more like a twitch, actually, and he clicked his tongue as he did so, but all things considered, it was probably the best I was gonna get from him.

"Then it's settled," I said victoriously, finally deciding it was safe to help the poor guy out. "What about you, Sakura-chan? You in?"

"...Fine," Sakura said quickly, rushing over to pull Sasuke out of the ground as well, "but it better be a good plan, and you're going to have to tell us quick," she urged. "We're running out of time, and we still have to track him all over again!"

"Don't worry, the plan is simple. All it takes is a few clones and a bit of creativity. As for tracking him..." I swept my hand over the grass and opened my palm to her. Tiny sparkles glittered in the sunlight and I grinned. "That won't be a problem."

When I found Kakashi again, he was back in the field we started out in. The alarm was bound to go off soon, but not falling for the same traps as Protagonist saved enough time for us to execute the plan.

"I've got you this time!" I shouted, charging towards him from within a horde of clones.

"You know, screaming out like that ruins the purpose of an ambush," he sighed, easily countering one clone and knocking another to the side, causing both to disappear.

"I don't need an ambush to take you down!"

We all attacked relentlessly, pressuring him from every angle. The wind deafened my ears and I could barely feel my feet hit the ground every time I landed and bounced back toward him. Surely it was nothing compared to a jounin's speed, but compared to how I was just days before, I might as well have been flying.

I caught the slight narrowing of his eye when I didn't disappear after being hit.

"Clones are pointless once you know who the real one is," Kakashi drawled.

I clicked my tongue and pulled back, mixing myself into the remaining clones as I watched him destroy one clone after another. It quickly became a dull rhythm, a pattern of hitting and dispelling, until he caught one by the wrist and threw her into another. There were two puffs of smoke and he quickly turned back to continue defending himself; too quickly to realize that only one clone had disappeared.

So when she got back up and attacked him from behind, I like to think that he really didn't see it coming.

"What?" he gasped, his hands too occupied with blocking my attacks to properly turn around.

"SHANNARO!"

A pink blur slammed into Kakashi and sent him stumbling right into me. I used the opportunity to make a grab at the bells, but he spun around and fell into his momentum, backflipping out of our range.

I immediately chased after him with my clones, who ignored any technical strategy in favour of just throwing themselves onto him. Kakashi was quick to shake them off, dropping low to the ground and sweeping his legs around to kick off as many clones as possible.

His eye narrowed the same way as when he struck a clone that didn't disappear, except taking caution and getting distance between them wasn't going to help.

"You're-!" Kakashi's eye rounded, but it was already too late.

I grinned, watching as the supposed clone sucked in a deep breath and exhaled a powerful blast of flames.

"Fire Style; Great Fireball Technique!"

A wave of heat slammed into me as Sakura and I rushed towards him, closing in on both sides as Kakashi jumped away from the fire.

With no where left to run but back, Sakura and I kept up the pressure as Sasuke charged through the black smoke of his fire. He jumped and slammed his leg at Kakashi, who immediately had to deflect a punch after blocking.

I almost gave in to the temptation to give a verbal cue to Sakura, but knew that the second I opened my mouth, Kakashi would know how to dodge. Instead, I took advantage of the opening and dove for the bells myself.

The sensation of the cool metal disappeared just as quickly as I'd felt it, and the next thing I knew, I was sliding across the ground.

"Ow!" I hissed, skidding to a stop.

"Sasuke-kun!"

I looked up and saw that Sasuke had been knocked aside as well, and Sakura had predictably rushed to his side.

"Hey, get off me!" he snapped, pushing her away as she tried to help him up. "Tch, I should've known you guys would be useless after all."

I clenched my teeth and hastily got back up. "It's not over yet-!"

The obnoxious blaring of the alarm clock interrupted me, and I immediately cursed under my breath.

"Well," Kakashi said rather boredly, "it is now."

"Does this mean…" Sakura started, too scared to finished her question.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and turned away. Away from the jounin, but towards me. He was glaring.

Wait for it… I wanted to say, but kept silent and stiff.

"Those were some pretty unique strategies," Kakashi admitted, hands in his pockets. "Maybe you guys aren't so hopeless after all."

"Then, all three of us..!" I started, but trailed off when I sensed the dark aura about him.

"That's right," he said with a smile that did not reach his eye. "You all fail."

Silence fell upon us, and suddenly, I found myself struggling to breathe.

...What?

Notes:

"Haha fuck you" - the Universe Satoko

S/O to Tozette for giving me an extra pair of eyes on this chapter!

Chapter 7: None Client With Left Weed

Summary:

Satoko just really wants her team to start getting along already.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

A breeze rolled across the field. It was as if time had stopped, and came rushing back to me at once.

"T-That's impossible!" I stammered, breaking the silence like a nail on glass. "The key was teamwork, wasn't it? We attacked you as a team!"

Please don't tell me I just ruined their chances of becoming genin forever… My eyes flickered towards Sasuke and Sakura, who remained silent and motionless. Oh man, they'd literally kill me in my sleep.

"No, you didn't." Kakashi said, back stiff and hands in his pockets. "You had me fooled, there; you really did. I almost let myself believe that you three truly understood the point of this test, but those final moments made it clear as day. In the end, I was right to doubt you brats; all three of you should quit being shinobi!"

"What?!" Sakura gasped, finally getting over her initial shock to form an audible response. "But we saw through the test - there's no point in making us compete with each other over the bells! That's why we worked together!"

"So what? That means nothing when it's the three of you," Kakashi scoffed, shaking his head. He then stared right at Sakura with a gaze so fierce, she visibly pulled back. "Sakura, all you want is to graduate with Sasuke - you don't care about Satoko at all. You so readily disregard anybody you aren't personally interested in. What if you get attacked during a mission? Is that how you'll judge whether or not you'll protect your teammates? You don't get to decide who is and isn't worth saving."

"I...I wouldn't…!"

He continued without pause, disregarding Sakura's feeble attempt at defending herself.

"Sasuke, you only cooperated with them out of personal interest; not because you had your teammates' interests at heart. It's clear to me that you don't see any value in them - to you, they're nothing but a burden. What does that mean for the future? That kind of mentality just tells me that you're willing to sacrifice your teammates for your own personal gain."

Just like your brother. Those words were left unspoken, but I couldn't help but think that they were lingering at the tip of Kakashi's tongue.

Sasuke dismissed the criticism with a grunt, but I caught the way his eyes were fixed on the ground as the words sunk in, which was probably for the better. No matter how much he hated working with others, I'd hope he hated being accused of such a thing even more.

Finally, Kakashi turned to me. It took everything I had not to look away.

"Satoko, you kept yourself at a safe distance and let your teammates do all the work. You waited until there was an opening and then tried to get the bells for yourself. Is this how you plan to become Hokage? Will you make others do all the work and then take credit for it? Then again, I shouldn't be surprised if we're talking about a punk like you - all you care about is recognition."

I glanced away and swallowed.

Ouch. Definitely not what I was going for.

I looked down, rubbing my thumb into my palm once again. I wanted to argue, but honestly, Kakashi wasn't even wrong. I couldn't blame him, all things considered, but as much as I tried to reassure myself that he was just making hasty accusations without really getting to know us…

...Well, Sakura ended her friendship with Ino over a guy who had never even blinked at her, Sasuke abandoned and then tried to kill everybody on Team 7 at least once each, and Protagonist resorted to being a giant pain in the ass to the entire village in order to be acknowledged. Not that he knew it, but Kakashi was pretty spot on.

I nearly jumped when he spoke again.

"...Come with me." His voice was lower this time, but just as heavy. "I want to show you guys something."

Wordlessly, the three of us walked after him. I slumped behind, looking away as Sakura shot me a glare that demanded an explanation.

I don't know, man. I just don't fucking know, I wanted to say, but instead kept my mouth shut and dragged my feet behind them.

Sasuke didn't even bother with me and went straight to glaring daggers at Kakashi's back.

"Look at this," he said once we arrived at our new destination. "All these names carved into this stone are the names of ninja recognized as heroes of the village. But…they aren't just normal heroes. They are all heroes who died on duty."

There was a pause as he gently set one hand on the stone.

"This is a memorial," Kakashi continued solemnly. "My best friend's name is also carved here."

The atmosphere somehow managed to become even heavier. Sakura hung her head and Sasuke clenched his jaw, unwilling to utter a sound. I stared at the polished stone and blinked slowly, wondering how long I would have to search until I found Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin.

"Teamwork doesn't come from a temporary truce. It comes from the desire for the team's survival. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash," he said, facing us, "but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. If this is what it takes to get you three to work together, you're guaranteed to fail. Nothing gets you killed faster than selfishness."

I spared a glance at Sasuke and Sakura. They were both staring at the KIA stone with heavy eyes. Not that I expected anything else - from the way things were going, that was our reality. One of us could very well end up in Kakashi's position, talking to a group of genin about how our teammates died in battle because we let our pride or favouritism or incompetence get in the way of saving them.

Assuming I completely fail one year down the line and Sasuke ends up leaving anyway and I'm not fast enough to save him from killing Sakura three years after that, and then the whole world gets destroyed because I wasn't good enough to replace Protagonist.

I pressed my lips together and frowned.

Despite many, many odds being against me, I was determined to change all that. I had to at least try to stop everything from going to shit, and it all started with that very moment.

But just as I was about to speak, somebody beat me to it.

And of all people, it was Sasuke.

"Hn. Only someone weak would have to leave their teammates to die," he scoffed with all the cockiness that made him the giant dick he was. "If we really are as selfish as you say, we wouldn't have gone along with Satoko's plan in the first place."

I blinked.

What is happening.

"Oh?" Kakashi cocked his brow as he looked me over. "I'm surprised to hear that you were the one behind all this, dead last."

"She was the one who fed us this morning!" Sakura blurted, her face quickly flushing red as she sat back on her feet. "There's nothing selfish about that, either!"

I blinked again.

...WHAT IS HAPPENING.

Kakashi hummed in thought and idly suck his hands in his pockets.

"So what you're both saying," he drawled, "is that Satoko is the only one who should pass?"

They both fell silent, realizing a little too late that that was pretty much what they just implied. Well, I definitely couldn't have that happening - especially not after what just happened.

I bit my bottom lip and took a slow breath.

Let's bring it home!

"You're wrong!" I pointed at him so hard I nearly pulled a muscle. "It's true that Sakura-chan told me I'd just be in the way, and Sasuke said that he was better off without our help, but they were the ones who really figured out what was weird about the test, and they listened to what I had to say even though they could've easily ignored me and went on their separate ways. Neither of them are as selfish as you think! That has to count for something, right?!"

My declaration rang throughout the field. A few moments of absolute silence passed, and I didn't even dare to look at Sasuke or Sakura to see what their reactions were.

"...Is that all?" Kakashi finally said, looking just as unimpressed as ever.

I felt my heart jump into my throat and I dropped my arm.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind but... Well, I guess we have to start somewhere." He gave us all another once-over before finally, his eye crinkled with a smile. "You all pass."

There was a beat of silence, and then-

"SHANNARO!"

"Hn."

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU-!"

Before I knew it, I had closed the distance between me and Kakashi and threw myself at him.

Mission Hug starts now, you traumatized dillhole!

"Whoa- hey- careful-!" He stumbled and spun around from the momentum before carefully setting me down. "Don't get too excited - passing the test isn't even the hard part. Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will start its duties."

"You hear that?!" I exclaimed, this time rushing towards Sasuke and Sakura.

"Oi, I said don't get-"

"We're gonna do missions!" I shouted over Kakashi, blatantly ignoring him. "Admit it; the three of us make a pretty good team! We're gonna kick so much ass!"

"Shut up already!" Sakura scolded despite failing miserably at hiding her smile. "Geez, you're so embarrassing."

"You'll make the worst ninja ever if you're always this loud," Sasuke huffed, shaking his head.

"Normally I'd get annoyed by your talking, but not this time-!" I threw one arm over each of their shoulders and grinned, pulling them into an awkward hug full of resistance and struggling. "-'Cause from today onward, we're Konoha's Team 7! Right, Sensei?"

I looked up at him, pretending that the Get off me!sand Satoko, I'll kill you!s were falling on deaf ears.

Kakashi, despite looking mildly concerned and very tired, smiled gently.

"Yeah, that's right."

A couple of weeks of menial D-Rank missions was a lot more mind-numbing than I expected. We didn't even do any training, yet - just strenuous chores like painting fences, weeding gardens, and fixing furniture. Other than the few dog-walking missions we got, it was excruciatingly boring.

Until finally, the day came where we had to find Tora.

"What's the distance to the target?" Kakashi said through the earpiece, sounding as bored as ever.

"Five meters," I answered. "I'm ready anytime."

"So am I," Sakura confirmed.

"Me too."

"Okay." There was a beat of silence before Kakashi gave the order. "Go!"

Sasuke and Sakura dashed forward. Meanwhile, I stepped out of the tree and slammed a homemade bomb into the ground. Bits and pieces of cut up leaves exploded into the air, raining down on my teammates and the surrounding area.

"What the- Satoko, what the hell are you doing?!" Sakura cried, spitting out the bits that got in her mouth. "Ew, what is this?"

"Catnip." I frowned when all I got in return were confused stares. "Our mission is to capture a cat and I'm seriously the only one who brought catnip?"

"Making it into a bomb is a little… excessive, don't you think?" Kakashi sighed.

"Well, it worked!" I crouched next to Tora and poked her drooling face. The cat responded by rolling onto her back, her eyes wide like she was looking into the very fabric of spacetime. "See?"

"She looks dead," Sasuke commented.

"Hm…" I lifted Tora's paw and watched as it flopped back onto the ground. "...That's perfectly normal."

"Satoko, please don't tell me you killed the cat," Kakashi said in a voice that sounded a lot less concerned than it probably should've been.

"She's breathing!" I snapped. "...Just super faded."

Kakashi sighed again. "Right… Well, in any case, Lost Pet "Tora" Search mission, complete."

When we brought Tora back to Madam Shijimi, it was evident that she didn't seem to care that her cat was half-baked.

"Ooh, my cute little Tora-chan! I was so worried!" she cooed, smothering the cat with her face. "You shouldn't run out like that all the time! Look how tired you are!"

Everybody in the mission room shot me a knowing look just as I turned away. I briefly considered giving Madam Shijimi a smaller pouch of catnip, but decided it was probably best for Tora to not get spoiled with it.

"Now…" the Hokage started, drawing our attention back to him, "Team 7, your next mission is… Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighbouring village, or help with the potato harvest."

At that moment, I remembered something very, very important.

The Wave Arc.

I swallowed and crossed my arms in attempt to stop myself from fidgeting in any way. I knew this was coming, but I was so busy worrying over whether or not we'd pass the Bell Test and then getting exhausted from the daily physical labour that it had completely slipped my mind.

Which gave me about five seconds to make a decision.

"Satoko?"

I immediately tensed and looked up at the Hokage. "W...What's up, Gramps?"

Shit, I need to buy some time to think!

"You look like you have something to say."

"Huh? N-No, not really!" I laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Just that, uh…" I blinked, realizing that I could use this to my advantage. "Well, these missions feel more like chores. Isn't there anything else?"

"You're just a rookie," Iruka said in a much calmer manner compared to the manga, probably because I wasn't yelling in his face. "Everyone starts with simple missions and works their way up."

"Man… But we're kinda getting like, the lowest of the low!"

"Be quiet, you," Kakashi scolded, knocking the side of my head.

The Hokage grunted and blew out a whiff of smoke. "It seems like I have to explain to you how missions work."

Nice. Exposition should give me enough time to think things through a little.

As I pretended to listen to the Hokage's explanation, I crossed my arms and furrowed my brow in deep thought. The Wave Arc was no light matter - it was when Sasuke and Protagonist got some pretty good teamwork going on against Zabuza. Plus, it was also the first time Protagonist taps into Kurama's power, and Sasuke awakens the Sharingan.

Too bad Sakura doesn't get to do anything, though.

Well, besides showing that she has really good chakra control, but there'd be loads of opportunities for that to come up. The Sharingan and Kurama were entirely different things. Namely, things that are likely to happen when we almost die.

I'd like to avoid that as much as possible, thanks.

Even if it all turned out fine in canon, I couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to do the same - especially if I hesitated at times where Protagonist didn't. The biggest con was the delay in mine and Sasuke's additional powers (and maybe getting an entire bridge named after me), but otherwise, it wasn't like Wave Country would get destroyed or anything if we didn't go. The Hokage would just send a more experienced team, which was probably for the better.

When I thought about it, the choice really just boiled down to either walking myself into a life or death situation or walking more dogs and playing with them.

Yep. Sure is a hard decision when you put it that way.

"You guys just recently became genin," the Hokage was saying when I tuned him in again. "D-rank missions are perfect for you."

"Ugh…" I groaned, sulking heavily. "...Fine! A shinobi's gotta do what a shinobi's gotta do, I guess."

"Oh? I'm surprised you're not insisting," the Hokage laughed.

"Yeah, I thought you'd get all loud like you always do and demand better missions," Sakura agreed, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Hey, I can if you want!" I huffed, stuffing my hands in my pockets. "The missions aren't that bad. 'Sides, it's kinda nice to see the look on people's faces when they realize I'm the one helping them. If I keep doing missions for them, they'll start acknowledging me in no time!"

Both Iruka and the Hokage seemed rather taken aback, though their expressions quickly softened.

"Is that so?" the Hokage smiled, holding up the scroll of C-Rank missions.

...Wait.

WHY IS HE HOLDING UP THE C-RANK MISSIONS.

"Then maybe you're ready for a harder mission after all-"

"HOLD IT," I yelled in a way that would surely make Phoenix Wright proud. "You were just saying how D-Rank missions were perfect for us! Why the sudden change of heart?!"

SERIOUSLY, WHY THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART. DON'T YOU FUCKING DO THIS TO ME OLD MAN.

"I was just thinking how you've really grown, Satoko, so maybe you and your team can handle a harder mission after all. It's still just an escort mission, though..."

"An escort mission?" I repeated anxiously. "Like, outside the village?"

"Hn. Don't tell me you're scared," Sasuke mocked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not scared - I'm just very passionate about staying alive!" I snapped. "Anything can go wrong during a mission, so I'm thinking that maybe we're better off learning new techniques and getting stronger and working on that whole teamwork thing instead of dying miles away from the village because we were never properly trained to defend ourselves against enemies who are actually trying to kill us and aren't just fellow students that we're sparring against in a match that's being judged by a chuunin sensei because that's literally the only combat training we have."

Sasuke tightened his jaw in a brief moment of silence. I thought he was just gonna leave it at that, but then, "Don't put me on the same level as you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you too good to walk adorable puppies who just wanna love you and would much rather walk to your painful, agonizing death?"

He made a face at me. "It's not my fault if you can't keep up."

"You-!"

Kakashi slapped his hand on both our shoulders before things escalated and smiled down at Sasuke. "Satoko has a point. It's only been a few weeks since you started your missions. You'll have plenty of opportunities to accept harder ones later on, when you're all stronger and more likely to succeed."

Whether Kakashi openly admitted it or not, he had to be even just a little scared of something going terribly wrong and all of us dying on our first mission, especially knowing his whole backstory. It made me wonder how scared he was to be stuck in that Water Prison, and how desperately he wanted the genin to run away.

Not that you'd know it, but you just helped yourself get out an extra serving of emotional trauma, buddy.

"Are you sure that's alright, Kakashi?" the Hokage, slightly amused.

"I believe it's for the better, Hokage-sama," he answered weakly.

"In that case," the Hokage smiled, pulling up the D-Rank missions once again, "Team 7, your next missions are…"

I sighed in relief.

Crises averted.

The rest of the day was spent doing more tedious missions, much to Sasuke and Sakura's displeasure. I casually spent my time strategically getting out of their way whenever possible and avoiding eye-contact.

They'll thank me later.

"Ohoho~ I'm so lucky to have such a handsome young man delivering my groceries for me!" a middle-aged woman cooed, pinching Sasuke's cheek. He scowled.

...Probably.

Well, at least on the bright side, we weren't sent on a terrible C-Rank escort mission that was destined to go awry.

"What the- Tora escaped again?! Dammit- I'm all out of catnip, too."

On the down side, we didn't get any more dog-walking missions.

Which I made sure to complain about once we turned in our last mission report of the day.

"All I'm saying is, the only downside to walking dogs is picking up after them, and after dealing with the cows, it's really no big deal," I said tiredly as we exited the room. "Right, Sakura-chan? I bet even Sasuke likes dogs!"

"Really? Is that true, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

"Of course," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "What about you, Sensei?"

"Maa… They can be cute, I suppose," he murmured. "So long as they don't talk back…"

I stifled a laugh, unsure of whether or not he meant for us to hear that.

"Anyway," Kakashi said, pulling out his infamous book, "you guys did well today. Good work."

"Alright!" I cheered, throwing my arms into the air. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! We never properly celebrated becoming a team, so... Let's get ramen together, Sakura-chan!"

"Ew, I don't wanna go with you!" As always, Sakura's body language did a complete one-eighty once she addressed Sasuke. "B...But if Sasuke-kun wants to go, then…"

"Don't drag me into this," Sasuke huffed. "I'm going home."

And, as always, Sakura immediately sulked.

"You guys are lame," I whined.

"A little celebration might not be so bad…" Kakashi hummed thoughtfully as he looked up from his book, then smiled. "It's very nice of you to treat the team, Satoko."

"Yes-! Wait, what?!"

"In that case, I might just reconsider!" Sakura grinned.

As it turns out, Sasuke and Sakura were much more willing to tag along at the notion of free food. Not that I could blame them, though I was that close to pinning the bill on the jounin.

Well, whatever gets us to have team bonding times, I guess.

Besides, I could always just leave Kakashi with the next bill.

Notes:

After credit scene: Satoko washing the dishes at Ichiraku's because she forget her wallet. Reconsiders desire for team friendship bonding times.

Chapter 8: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

Summary:

Satoko did not account for all the consequences of skipping the Wave Arc. She regrets nothing, probably.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Ew, my fingers are all pruny…

I rubbed my hands idly together as I walked up to my apartment. With a soft click and a steady creak, I opened the door, coming face to face to face to face to face to face with five of my clones. Each one had a kitchen utensil in hand, their bodies frozen in various mid-strike poses. One clone was in the middle of beating another with a wooden spoon. Another was blocking a wok with a whisk.

I blinked.

"…Sup," they greeted in unison.

"Sup," I echoed, kicking the door shut.

Ever since I figured out how to make clones, I'd been leaving a few clones back home in order to continue working on basic Academy skills like the Transformation Technique and the Substitution Technique.

"I think we're good on the basics," said the clone holding a spatula. "We're ready for Phase Two."

"Yeah?" I cocked my brow.

They grinned. "Hell yeah."

"Sick. Thanks for the hard work, guys," I said before dispelling them.

Despite having done it several times already, it was still a weird feeling to suddenly know how to do something I couldn't do before. The experience of practicing various E-Rank techniques sat at the back of my mind like any other skill I practiced myself – things like playing piano or dancing – but just to make sure, I made the tiger hand seal and focused my chakra outward.

"Transformation Technique!"

There was a puff of smoke, and when I looked at my reflection, I saw Iruka looking back.

"Whoa," I murmured, dispelling the jutsu. "…That's kinda creepy."

My body didn't feel very different, but the proportions threw me off as I tried walking around the flat. I almost knocked over a cup when I went to pick it up, and as I went back to the mirror, stubbed my toe against the chair, causing my transformation to disappear with another cloud of smoke.

"Should probably work on not doing that," I winced, shaking my foot off.

As the throbbing in my toe faded, I gathered chakra for five clones and stepped back as the latest versions appeared, updated with E-Ranked ninjutsu and all. Since this was almost a daily occurrence, I had gotten into the habit of simply referring to them by numbers.

"Ow, you couldn't wait until it stopped hurting?" Four hissed, curling her toes.

"It'll pass," I said, waving my hand. "Well, no time to waste. Go out there and gather me some intel!"

"About time," One sighed. "Sooner or later we're gonna get asked a question we really oughta know the answer to but genuinely won't, and then they'll get suspicious and think we're imposters and T&I will get involved and we all know how creepy T&I can get, and –"

"Hey," Three interrupted. "Shut up. We're all already on the same page, y'know."

"Not sure what subjects to hit first, though," I said, taking a seat. "History, clans, culture..."

"Makes sense to split up, I think," Four said. "Let's say… two at the library and three to scout the village - figure out where everything is."

"Yeah, most of the important things have already caught up with me through Protagonist's memories, but a lot of the finer detail are still missing," I agreed.

"What's the priority for research?" asked Five. "I'd say geography. We've avoided it for now, but we're gonna get a mission outside the village sooner or later, and it'd be pretty dumb if we got killed off by the land instead of an antagonist."

"How about we just… oh, I dunno, not get killed at all," I frowned. "International relations are pretty important, too. We should get an idea of who has the biggest beef with Konoha."

"We probably won't need that for a while, though," Three said. "It won't be a while until we start meeting people from outside the village."

"True…" It was kinda weird to hear my train of thought come from copies of myself, but it sure made brainstorming a lot easier to keep track of. It helped to hear everything like a conversation instead of a jumble of disorganized thoughts. "Let's start with internal affairs, then. Find stuff about Konoha's festivals, anything notable about the culture, and so on."

"Kiba definitely smelled something fishy back then. No need for anybody else to start getting suspicious," Five noted. "I'd say start with that, then delve into Konoha's history. It wouldn't be weird for us to not know as much about that, all things considered."

"Yeah, our priority should be acting like we were actually socialized in this place," Two nodded. "Everything else is just to help us figure out this damn world."

"Too bad we don't have the wiki," I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "What about locations? I already know where the landmarks are, so I wanna start with finding stores and restaurants."

"Not the clan areas?" Three asked. "Those seem pretty important."

"As far as I know, Protagonist doesn't have any real business knowing exactly where each clan is concentrated, so we can leave that for later, " Five said. "It's better to find a good place for restocking weapons, new outfits, and so on – we'll definitely be needing something less… orange, for missions."

"Find some good places to eat, too. Cafes, dim sum, grills… anywhere the manager doesn't hate our guts, really," Two added with a short laugh.

"I think the missions've been helping with my reputation," I said. "I managed to buy my own groceries the other day, at least."

"Yeah, all the missions leave no time to pull pranks, and it's not like we're screwing up like Protagonist did, either. It helps that the competition with Sasuke isn't getting in the way."

"He's still a prick, though," One muttered, and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, so that's that." I stretched out my arms and nodded towards the door. "Don't forget to transform. Even if the villagers think better of us now, no doubt they'll think I'm up to something if they see five of me running around."

"What if we get dispelled?"

"Uh…" I pressed my lips together and frowned. "…Be very, very careful not to."

They stared back at me with the same expression. "…Awesome."

We nodded at each other, and after five puffs of smoke, they were out the door.

"Now then," I sighed, closing the door behind them. "Better get ready for tomorrow."

Despite already knowing that Kakashi was going to be late, the three of us showed up at the training field at the designated time. I greeted Sasuke and Sakura with a smile and wave when I arrived, once again ready to kill the few hours we had until our sensei finally showed up.

"Sakura-chan! We're gonna go buy you a new outfit today!"

"What?" She took a step back, shooting me a distasteful look. "I told you already, I don't need your help for something like that!"

"But it's been almost a month and you're still wearing the same thing," I frowned. "Are you sure that's comfortable to train in?"

Sakura looked down at herself before crossing her arms. "It's fine," she insisted.

"You leave me no choice, then." I furrowed my brow and took a deep breath. "Sas'kaaaay, tell Sakura-chan her clothes aren't practical-uh!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. "Stop that."

"But Sas'kay," I whined with even more obnoxious gusto, inching closer to him, "she cares about what you think! She'll actually listen to you!"

"That's none of my business!" he snapped, pushing my face away.

"Yes it is!" I said just as quickly. "Did you already forget the entire point of the Bell Test? Now that we're a team, we have to look out for each other, and that includes making sure our clothes are suitable for combat!"

Sasuke looked like he was about to say something, but then firmly pressed his lips together and glared. Whether or not that meant he was about to say something useful was beyond me because Sakura decided then that the conversation was over.

"Cut it out, Satoko; you're being annoying!" Sakura scolded, punching my shoulder. "I can't believe I actually thought you were getting more mature."

Not like you're any better, you stubborn jerk, I wanted to say, but was smart enough to keep my mouth shut. It was no wonder the canon Team 7 barely got along - they were all immovable forces constantly pushing against each other.

"I'm mature," I muttered as I plopped onto the ground, an action which, all in all, was very not mature.

Since my Teamwork Bonding Friendship Fun Time was ruined, the quiet hours of waiting for Kakashi to show up began.

I closed my eyes and sprawled out on the grass, wondering how my clones were doing with their own tasks. Every so often, one would go home and dispel itself, which would feed information back to me. They went little by little so I wouldn't get overwhelmed, but it also meant that progress was slow.

Slow and steady, I suppose.

I cracked open my eyes and glanced between my teammates, thinking hard on how I could get them to be more cooperative. Clearly not all my attempts would go through. Part of me wondered if canon plot events had anything to do with the probability of my intentions following through - a lot would have changed if we failed the Bell Test, after all. Then again, I succeeded in avoiding the Wave Arc, which brought me back to square one.

Augh, I need the hitchhiker's guide to the universe.

I was deeply contemplating the success rate of sleepover parties when Kakashi finally arrived with his book in hand.

"Sorry I'm late! I saw a black cat, so I had to take the long route."

"Liar!" Sakura and I instinctively shouted, though we addressed his terrible excuse no further.

I figured the habit of being late came from mimicking Obito in some kind of mildly disturbing way of repenting, but the porn came outta left wing. Knowing how he used to be and how serious he can get, it was really hard to believe that he was reading the books just because he liked them and not for some other underlying reason.

Maybe Obito used to read porn all the time and we just didn't know it?

...Probably for the best that I didn't follow that train of thought.

"Hm… Warm up with fifty laps around the field," Kakashi said without even looking up from his book.

"Fifty?" I choked.

"What, did you expect more?"

"More?"

"What's the big deal?" Sakura huffed, hands on her hips. "It's the same as always!"

"AS ALWAYS?"

She smacked my arm and I winced. "Did you hit your head last night or what? We ran fifty laps at the Academy nearly every day! This should be nothing for you."

"Hn, figures you can't keep up," Sasuke scoffed.

"Hey! It's just been a while, that's all!" I snapped, tossing my jacket aside. "You'd better keep your mouth shut, bastard, or you'll be eating my dust!"

I said that mostly as a means to keep up bits and pieces of Protagonist's obnoxiously competitive nature, but I wasn't gasping for air after the first ten seconds like I normally did because of my god awful stamina.

So this is what it feels like to be fit.

Even after ten laps, I felt perfectly fine. It was only after I hit the last dozen or so laps that my chest was feeling tight with every breath. Still not so much that I had to stop, but it felt surreal. Then again, shinobi have to run between villages all the time, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary (Sakura's impatience with my previous shock clearly said as much).

"Ah~ That felt great!" I exclaimed, stretching my arms behind my head as I caught my breath.

"How come you're barely even tired?!" Sakura huffed between deep breaths. "You were the one complaining about running in the first place!"

"I, uh…" I furrowed my brow. I wasn't sure if it was alright to mention Kurama, so I came up with some other excuse. "People chase me a lot."

In fact, it was the very first thing that was happening when I first showed up here.

I raised an eyebrow and pulled a smug smile when I noticed Sasuke was noticeably more out of breath than I was.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bastard - remind me again who can't keep up?" I asked mockingly, waggling my eyebrows at him.

"Shut up, Dobe," he hissed, shoving me away.

"Hey, no time to waste," Kakashi called idly from the branch he was sitting on. "Now do five sets of twenty pushups, and remember to stretch so you don't pull anything. Taking you to the hospital would be a pain."

I squinted at him distastefully, but said nothing.

The three of us did what we were told, and about ten minutes into the workout, I realized that while my stamina was way better than my teammates, Sasuke's physical strength was better than mine and Sakura's, probably because Sakura was Sakura and between freaking out about my new environment and working on ninjutsu, I wasn't exactly keeping up with those kinds of workouts.

…My bad.

"Okay!" I exclaimed once I was done, punching the air. "What's next, Sensei?"

"Hm… go through some kata."

"Which ones?" Sakura asked.

"Uh… All of them."

I squinted at him again, this time suspiciously.

I can't shake the feeling that he's… Hm…

Despite my growing doubt, I kept my mouth shut and diligently went through whatever kata I remembered through Protagonist's memories, copying Sasuke and Sakura when it came to the details in stance that Protagonist never quite learned properly.

The rest of the day was spent doing other warm ups that were just as mind-numbingly redundant, and the next day was just as tedious. I wanted to give Kakashi the benefit of the doubt, that maybe he was taking a "wax on wax off" approach to training in which it was all secretly for our own good, but when our third day of training started off with – honest to God – meditation, I couldn't help but call him out on it.

"Alright, Sensei, enough's enough!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms defiantly. "No more boring workouts and exercises. We just keeping doing the same boring stuff over and over again – it's no different than the Academy!"

"Repetition is how you get stronger," Kakashi answered flatly, eyes glued to his book.

"But I wanna learn something new, like spewing lava from my mouth or shooting lightning from my fingertips!"

"Cut it out, Satoko!" Sakura hissed, but I knew she had her own doubts, and surely Sasuke did, too.

"You guys aren't ready for that kind of stuff. That's why you're starting with the basics, so you can create a strong foundation to—"

"That's bullshit and you know it!"

Finally, Kakashi looked up from his book and gave me a half-lidded stare. Sakura's mouth fell open like I just declared war on the five countries, and Sasuke looked just about as animate as road kill. Figures.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me how to do my job?"

"Yes, because you apparently don't even know what it is."

I'm pretty sure Sakura almost fainted just then. Admittedly, I probably would've been shitting myself, too, if not for the fact that Kakashi looked more intrigued than he did pissed.

"Oh?" He closed his book. "Then why don't you tell me."

"You're our sensei; you should be teaching us, dammit! Yeah, maybe we did get a little stronger, and I'm sure meditation is helpful if you do it right, but you're not even watching us or giving us pointers or anything! All you do is pull exercises outta your ass and read porn. You haven't been taking us seriously at all!"

Which I now realized was also a very important thing that happened during the Wave Arc. The situation demanded that he actually cared about us getting stronger, but with no threat around, he wasn't going to get personally invested in actually training us on his own.

Being attacked by an S-Ranked nukenin and almost dying, like, three times better not be the only way for him to take us seriously.

"Satoko's right," Sasuke chimed in, arms crossed. "I can do these exercises on my own. If this is all you have to offer, then you're wasting my time."

Finally, Sakura found her voice again and hastily agreed. "That's right! We aren't in the Academy anymore. We're proper shinobi, so you should treat us as such!"

Kakashi closed his eye and tilted his head thoughtfully. "Maa…" he sighed, putting his book away, "I don't know if I'd say proper, but… I suppose you all have a point."

For once, he actually looked at us properly, with acknowledgement in his eye and everything.

"Alright then – no more work outs. Today, we'll do something new."

Huh. He sure thought of an alternative pretty quickly. I fought the urge to make a face. Don't tell me he already had actual training planned all along.

I decided to pass up that line of accusation – I really didn't need another reason to doubt him – and went back to being overly excited. "Awesome! Is it gonna be super cool, like—like breathing out a tornado?!"

"Uh… You could consider this training the first step to achieving that," he said half-heartedly, then smiled. "This exercise is to improve your chakra control."

…Oh.

"You're going to do tree-climbing."

I blinked.

Shoulda seen that one coming.

I quirked my brow, feigning suspicion. "Is it like… extreme tree climbing, or something?"

"Improving chakra control through tree-climbing…?" Sakura mumbled to herself before suddenly perking up. "Ah! Are we going to walk up trees by focusing chakra at our feet?"

"That's right."

"Wait, what? How'd you know that?" I asked before I realized what I had said. You aren't supposed to know that, I wanted to say, but slammed my mouth shut before I let it slip.

"Don't tell me you've never seen a shinobi running up the side of a building before," Sakura sighed. "The sensei back at the Academy would do it all the time when the younger students got balls stuck on the roof."

"Oh. Uh, right."

It made a lot more sense than Sakura being completely clueless, actually. Sasuke must have had the same idea, what with growing up in a ninja clan, even though he said nothing of it.

As if he would.

"But," Sakura continued, "how is that going to help us with chakra control? It seems easy enough."

"It's harder than it looks, especially for rookies like you," Kakashi said pointedly. "There are two things to take away from this exercise. Firstly, it takes very little chakra, but the amount must be exact; you'll fall if you don't use enough chakra, but if you use too much, you'll push yourself off. This will help you with all other jutsu. Take cloning for example – you won't make a proper clone if you don't use enough chakra, but you'll waste chakra and run out of stamina more quickly if you use too much. Basically, if you can master this skill, you should be able to master any jutsu… theoretically."

Sakura held her chin thoughtfully. "So then, this will teach us to be more efficient with our chakra."

"Exactly," he smiled. "Secondly… well, I wasn't kidding about needing to create a strong foundation." I made a face, even though he wasn't looking my way. "You need to develop the stamina needed to control chakra properly, which can be hard, depending on the jutsu. Ninja will usually be gathering their chakra during battle while constantly moving. These types of situations make controlling chakra even more difficult."

"Hmph… I guess that does sound pretty important, huh," I muttered, crossing my arms.

"That's right," he smiled. "Well then, me talking all day won't accomplish anything; this is something you have to learn by doing." We all flinched when three kunai were whipped at our feet. "Use those to mark your progress and aim to surpass it with each try. You won't be good enough to walk up the first time, so get some momentum and try running up the tree. Begin!"

Alright, time to see what this training is all about.

I yanked the kunai from the ground, made the tiger hand seal to help me focus my chakra, and within the minute, I was sprinting towards the tree along Sasuke and Sakura.

The next, I was falling from at least eight feet off the ground.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit-!"

I scrambled to catch myself by stabbing the kunai into the tree, but it wasn't enough to catch my weight. Instead, I left a messy scratch in the tree and landed flat on my feet.

There was a split second where the pain hadn't sunk in yet, and then—

"FFFFHNNNGAAAAAAAAA—"

It was like thousands of needles were stabbing my shins all at once, and I immediately fell on my ass, clutching them in pain. Meanwhile, there was a loud crunch, and Sasuke gracefully landed in front of his tree.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, glaring at the damaged bark.

"This is pretty easy!" Sakura chirped over my decreasing wails.

"It looks like the best at chakra control right now is Sakura," Kakashi said from his tree.

With the pain in my legs steadily easing away – was Kurama's chakra helping? Because it really seemed like I should have fractured something – I wobbled back onto my feet and looked up at the kunoichi.

"That's awesome, Sakura-chan!" I wasn't even putting on an act, either – she was like, twenty feet high.

"Wow~ Not only does she know about chakra, but her control and stamina are quite good. As of now, Sakura's the closest to being Hokage, unlike a certain someone…" Kakashi said nonchalantly with his one eye curved. "I guess the Uchiha clan isn't worth much, either."

I know you're trying to motivate us here, but getting Sasuke all pissy is so not the way to go about it, jerk.

Despite the odds being against me, I tried to get him to approach it in a way that was less guaranteed to make him irritated. "C'mon, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei's right – we gotta step it up!"

"Hn, you're one to talk. You hardly even made it off the ground," he scoffed.

"Alright, fine! Let's see who makes it to the top first! You too, Sakura-chan!"

"What?! Don't drag me into this! Besides, I've already got the hang of it!"

"Maa… Nobody's getting to the top if you all keep talking."

I made a face.

Better wish I don't or I'll kick you outta that tree.

Notes:

After Credit Scene: Satoko spending a solid fifteen minutes pulling splinters out of her hands. Copious amounts of swearing ensues.

Chapter 9: Speech Impediment

Summary:

Satoko's plans go to shit. Sakura's done with her shit. Sasuke talks shit.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Okay.

So.

The thing about running up a tree is that the act itself isn't as hard as I thought it'd be. As a kinetic learner, I almost always passed my last mark by at least a few inches. However, I had a really bad mentality when it came to potentially dangerous things.

Whenever I snowboarded, the only thing going through my mind when I started to speed up was how much it would hurt if I fell. Climbing trees was a lot like that, except this time I was at risk of cracking my ass open and shattering every single bone in my legs. Not the best imagery to have when you're attempting the very thing that can end in such disasters.

On the bright side, I was getting pretty good at landing after a twenty-foot drop, which was, in and of itself, a whole other pattern of practically shitting myself and bracing myself for any potential sprains, fractures, shattered bones, and what else.

I could use my clones, but… that'd probably just antagonize Sasuke even more.

When I landed with staggering grace and plopped onto my ass for the umpteenth time, Sakura walked off the tree without even breaking a sweat, going from horizontal back to vertical in a single step. Sure, she didn't have as much stamina as me and Sasuke, but that didn't stop her from making it look easy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," I called, shuffling over. "D'you think you can gimme some tips?"

"Huh?" she repeated, crossing her arms. "You seem to be getting along just fine, though."

We both looked up at my tree, blinking at the scratches that overlapped each other only somewhat. Sasuke's tree, on the other hand, had marks further up than mine, but the increments were much smaller. His overall height was better, but his progress was slow.

"I guess, but I'm not getting very high up." I didn't mention that it was largely because of my situational fear of heights. "Pleeeeease?"

"Geez, fine," she huffed, plopping onto the ground herself. "Listen, chakra uses spiritual energy, so you can't get too excited. You have to relax and focus on the tree."

"Sounds simple enough," I said, rocking back onto my feet. "Okay, let's give it a shot!"

"You seriously never run out of energy. I need a break," she sighed, slowly pushing herself back onto her feet. "This is getting kinda boring, anyway…"

"Why don't you ask Kakashi-sensei for something else to do? Not like he's doing anything," I frowned, glowering at the jounin across the field. "Might as well use your time learning something new instead of practising something you've already mastered."

"W-Why would I wanna do that?! Sasuke-kun already hates me!" she hissed.

I made a face, biting my tongue to keep from going on a rant about everything that was wrong with that single statement.

Chill, Satoko. She's only twelve. Take it easy and teach her independence one step at a time.

"I think you're misunderstanding him," I said carefully. "It's more like he's frustrated at himself. Y'know, for not getting the hang of it right away."

"How would you know?" she sneered.

"Well, y'know… I was friends with him, when we were younger… kinda…"

Considering the memories I had of our seven-year-old selves, it was pretty damn annoying that the only thing that came out of it was a childish rivalry.

I guess I can blame Protagonist for that one.

...I could blame Protagonist for a lot of things, actually.

"In any case, stopping yourself from being stronger won't make him like you either! Remember what he said during the Bell Test? He was all annoyed and grumpy 'cause he thought we were useless, and that we'd just get in the way. I know you don't want him to hate you, but which d'you think's more likely to annoy him - being better than him at something, or making him believe that you're just a deadweight?"

Sakura's gaze was glued to her feet. She was really contemplating this, that much I could tell. Suddenly, her eyes locked with mine.

"Learn to mind your own business!" she snapped. I flinched. "All you do is tell people what to do - even Kakashi-sensei! Quit acting like you know everything; it's annoying!"

I bit my cheek and said nothing more as she turned with a huff and stalked back to her tree.

"...Damn," I whispered, scratching the back of my neck.

Well, to be fair, I kinda do know everything…

I sighed, dropping onto the ground again.

Figures it wouldn't be that easy.

What Sakura said stuck with me to the next day.

It probably was pretty condescending and uncalled for to be on the receiving end of a motivational speech delivered by the village idiot. When I weighed Sakura's anger against the canon Team 7, though, it was a small price to pay in order to avoid utter catastrophe and chaos.

It's hard to balance giving unwanted life lessons and letting us spiral down into a dark endless void of tragedy and despair.

I sighed again, hanging my head in defeat. As things were, Sakura's crush was so huge, she couldn't even use it as a motivation to get stronger. Not that I was a supporter of the whole 'change who you are so a boy will maybe like you' mindset but damn, if she's gonna do it, you'd think she'd at least get it fucking right.

Sasuke likes more than just long hair- and not even! That was just a rumour from like, five years ago, damn it! Bet they didn't even fact check.

It didn't help that Sakura hasn't had any way to see how useless she is in battle, either, seeing as I skipped it.

Maybe avoiding the Wave mission wasn't such a good idea after all.

I swallowed the urge to groan. She was definitely still pissed at me and made a point of it by changing locations, leaving almost a dozen trees between us. And of course she was doing the same training, though I wondered if now it was about blowing off some steam.

Yeah… Probably best I give her some space.

I needed to figure out what the hell my next plan of action was, anyway.

I glared at the tree in front of me, absently taking note of the dozens of lines that cut across the width of the trunk. My gaze shifted over to Impossibly Stubborn Teammate #2, who would go at it again and again before he could even catch his breath.

Stupid jerk… Why the fuck d'you have to have an inferiority and superiority complex at the same time? How does that even work?!

Once again I contemplated using Shadow Clones to speed up the process, except this time it was with the intention of antagonizing Sasuke. Maybe if I reminded Sasuke who his rival was supposed to be, things would proceed the way they did in canon and eventually, Sakura would start pulling her weight once she realized she was falling behind.

Except, who knows what kind of unprecedented terrors we'd face before then? Feeding the childish rivalry was counterproductive if I wanted to make Sasuke less likely to abandon us next year, and I couldn't let Sakura continue to suck until we almost die when I knew she had the potential to get stronger before then.

Augh, but how the hell am I supposed to convince Sakura that getting stronger won't get in the way of their relationship? I bit my cheek. I could list a whole lot of other shit that would, though.

I didn't even need anything drastic - just a small gesture that proved Sasuke wasn't distancing himself more than he already was.

"Oi, you three - it's already half past noon. Don't you think it's time for a break?" Kakashi said, his voice just loud enough to reach us.

I blinked and instinctively looked between my teammates once again. Sakura seemed more than ready to take a lunch break, but when I locked eyes with Sasuke, there was a moment of silence as our aforementioned counterproductive rivalry burned.

Wait a second... I might actually be able to use this! All it takes it some bait.

I looked back at Kakashi and shook my head. "This is nothing! Besides, I can't afford to stop now - I've gotta catch up to Sakura-chan."

"Geez, you'll end up passing out at this rate," Sakura huffed, her expression doing a complete one-eighty as she addressed Sasuke. "Let's go, Sasuke-kun!"

He clicked his tongue and snapped his gaze back towards his tree. "I'm fine."

Hook, line, and sinker.

"But if you don't eat-"

Her concern went unheard, as Sasuke was already running up the tree again.

"Forget about him," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'll get lunch with you, Sakura-chan!"

"You just said you don't need it!" she snapped, immediately storming off towards Kakashi.

"Wait, but that was-!" Sakura flatly ignored me, not even looking back to glare. "Aw, man. Me and my big mouth."

I huffed, pretending that my empty stomach was bothering me way less than it actually was.

Man, the things I gotta do for these guys.

It was about thirty minutes after Kakashi and Sakura left when Sasuke reluctantly approached me.

"Hey, Satoko!" he called like he was trying to pick a fight. Which, let's face it, was far more likely than what I knew he was about to ask.

I caught my breath and squinted at him. "Whaddya want?"

He glanced away with flushed cheeks, and I bit my cheek to avoid snorting. "Wh… What did Sakura tell you yesterday?"

I quirked my brow in confusion. "You mean like, when she was mad at me?"

"No," he snapped, refusing to make eye contact. "...Before that."

"Ooooh, that." I paused briefly to feign a moment of consideration before answering. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" I suggested, putting great care into not sounding condescending or impatient.

For reasons not completely unknown, Sasuke tensed at my response before making an excuse. "Does it look like she's here?"

I refused to back down, but at the same time kept my body language and voice passive. "Then wait until she comes back."

"That'd take too long," he retorted. "Tch, nevermind. I knew talking to you would be a waste of my time," he said, walking back to his tree.

"Hey!" I yelled, not bothering to put any effort into defending myself. "If you really think I'm a waste of time, then that's even more reason to ask Sakura-chan, instead. She'd be way better at explaining it, anyway - even you've gotta admit that she's super smart!"

I bit my lip and hesitated on what I was about to say next.

"Unless Sensei was right, and you really don't see any value in us. We just get in the way, don't we." I swallowed. "We're disposable to you."

His shoulders stiffened, but he didn't say a word.

"What'll it take for you to change your mind, huh?" I pressed, daring to take a step forward. "Is there a checklist of requirements that we gotta meet until you would even consider calling us your teammates? Would you even ask Sensei for help when you need it? He's gotta be strong to be a jounin, y'know!"

"Shut up," he growled, glaring daggers at me. "You get in the way because you're annoying!"

"I'm trying to help!"

"Doesn't seem like it!"

"What's so bad about asking Sakura, anyway? Is it 'cause you can't accept that she's actually better than you at something?!"

"I told you to shut up-!"

"Hey, you two," a bored voice suddenly interrupted, and we both looked up to see Kakashi looming over us. "Can't you two last even ten minutes alone without fighting?"

You were gone for thirty, I corrected silently, and for some reason rather defensively, as if it made things any better.

"Yeah! Quit picking fights, Satoko," Sakura scolded from behind him.

Kakashi nodded. "You've been teammates for over a month, now. Don't you think it's about time you two started getting along?"

"Tch." Apparently Sasuke decided that was enough to end the conversation and turned away.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his neck, obviously disconcerted, but not enough to stop him.

"Ah- Sasuke-kun, wait!" Sakura called, rushing up to him. "I brought you lunch!"

There was a split second where Sasuke looked like he was going to tell her to leave him alone. His jaw tensed and his body jerked, enough so that Sakura even flinched, but then…

Much to everyone's surprise, he paused, sighed, and accepted the wrapped bento box.

"...Thanks."

Sakura jolted. "N-No problem!"

I blinked, tilting my head to the side.

Huh. I guess he does know where to draw the line, after all.

"Hey, Satoko."

Now it was my turned to jolt. I looked up and found myself face to face another bento box.

"Here," was all Sakura said as she held it out to me.

"You… got one for me, too?" I gawked, unsure of what to say.

"Don't read into it!" she snapped, immediately changing the mood. "It's not like I hate you enough to watch an idiot like you starve herself to death!"

Despite the hostile undertone, it was a step in the right direction, so I accepted the lunch with a grin. "Hehe~ Thanks a bunch, Sakura-chan! I'll be sure to eat all of it!"

"Just pay me back next time," she huffed, walking back to her tree.

"Okay~" With a growling stomach and a sprinkle of hope, I plopped myself onto the ground and happily chowed down.

Looks like they're taking Kakashi's scolding to heart.

It wasn't much, but as far as I could tell, we've already got a headstart on this whole teamwork thing. Not that it got any easier from here - the next step was to get Sasuke to acknowledge Sakura's strengths and for Sakura to calm her hormones.

My chewing gradually slowed until it came to a complete stop as I pondered that thought.

I sighed through my nose and swallowed.

It never gets easier, does it?

It got easier.

At least in terms of defying the laws of gravity and running up a tree, it did.

It was so much easier, in fact, that I momentarily forgot about Sasuke's simultaneous superiority and inferiority complex and almost started pulling too far ahead in the game.

Of course the one time being a kinetic learner is disadvantageous would involve Sasuke. Because when is anything about my life advantageous when it comes to him?

It didn't help that we were once again training late into the afternoon, long after Kakashi and Sakura had already gone home, so I was the only person for him to even notice. Apparently two friendless rookie ninjas have a lot of time to kill.

"Man, don't you have anything better to do?" I asked at one point when we landed at the same time. "It's getting close to dinner time, y'know."

"What about you?" he asked, even though his demeanour told me he didn't actually want an answer. "Go home if you're tired. What I do is none of your business."

"Hrrng- but I can't let you get ahead of me!"

"Hn, you make it sound like you have a chance at beating me."

"Is that a challenge?"

He scoffed. "There's no such thing when you're my opponent."

I gaped.

This bitch.

"Oh, you are so on, Bastard!"

The sun was just beginning to set when we both stood tall above the canopy. My chest heaved with every breath, from both the hours of continuous physical exertion and the burning sunset that set the horizon aflame.

"Time for dinner?" Sasuke asked once he caught his breath, looking satisfied with his progress.

I breathed out an airy laugh, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "Yeah!"

I clung onto the tree with one arm and tried to punch the air with the other, but instead ended up wobbling about as my muscles gave out from exhaustion.

"Whoa-!"

Something grabbed my ankle just as I started to fall, and when I craned my neck to look up, Sasuke was glowering down at me.

"Idiot. Don't expect me to carry you home."

"Awh, but you've already started," I grinned, sticking my tongue out.

His glare intensified. "I'll drop you."

My grin widened. "I trust you."

He paused.

Then, with a grunt, he tightened his grip and hauled me up enough to crawl onto a lower branch.

"I'm not waiting for you," he said flatly before beginning his descent.

"Wouldn't want ya to!"

That was a lie. Konoha is a very dark place at night.

Welp. Good thing I'm ninja.

When Kakashi eventually arrived the next morning, I greeted him with an upside down wave.

"Hey Sensei, check it out - no hands!"

"That's how it should be, Satoko."

"Oh. Then how 'bout this - no feet!"

"Wait don't-"

"Hehe, just kidding!" I laughed, sticking one leg out to the side. "One foot!"

Kakashi looked at me with a tired eye and sighed deeply. "...Get down. We're doing something different today."

With newly found grace and agility, I stopped the flow of chakra that glued me to the underside of the branch and landed on my feet without a hitch.

"Oh, oh! Is it new training?" I asked, rushing over to stand next to Sakura.

"Maa, you could say that," Kakashi hummed, not making eye contact.

...He's not gonna make us do something weird, is he?

"But first, why don't you try out some ninjutsu to feel the change for yourselves?"

"Huh. Now that you mention it, all we've been doing lately is just tree-climbing. It feels like I haven't used ninjutsu in ages," I murmured. "Alright then, let's see how much stronger I've become! Shadow Clone Technique!"

In a blink of an eye, flour clones instantly materialized around me. Unlike before, I barely even had to think about it - without even knowing, it had become as natural as breathing.

"Oooh! This is awesome!" I cheered, dispelling my clones. "It feels way easier now!"

"Is it that big a difference?" Sakura asked, making clones herself. "...Oh! You're right!"

Sasuke made a few clones himself, then proceeded to test it out with his Great Fireball Technique, as well.

"You'll last much longer in battle now that you're better at preserving your chakra," Kakashi said with a content smile. "Now then! Since you've all improved, it's time for a new mission. No complaints this time - right, Satoko?"

I swallowed.

The danger of the Wave Arc was avoided, but… well, when I tried to prepare for the Academy graduation test, reality took a different route in order to guarantee my failure. If that's how it was gonna be, there was a good chance this new mission could bring us neck deep in water, too.

On the other hand, we were stronger than before, even if it was just by a little bit. And really, what were the chances of being attacked by another member of the Seven Swordsmen? It wasn't like Zabuza was gonna rematerialize in an entirely different country.

...Right?

...Yeah, no, the universe has to draw the line somewhere.

"No problems here!" I answered.

"There better not be," Sakura huffed. "So, what's the mission?"

"It's an easy C-Rank mission," Kakashi smiled. "We'll be escorting a caravan back to the Fire Country's capital."

I felt a chill run down my spine.

Last I checked, "escort mission" is practically code for "get fucked."

Notes:

After credit scene: Satoko burying her face into her pillow and screaming.

Chapter 10: Fight out of Tune

Summary:

Satoko gets to fight against everything except for the thing she actually wants to fight.

Chapter Text

The night was long, and I kept waking up every couple of hours with a tight chest and sweaty palms.

All I could think about was how I'd never be ready to take on an actual ninja mission with ninja fighting and ninja techniques, and that even if it didn't happen this time, it'd eventually happen some time, and when that some time comes around, there was a good chance I'd die.

It took every ounce of willpower for me to get out of bed that morning.

And it was a good thing that I did, because for the first time since we became Team 7, Kakashi was actually on time.

"Guess even he wouldn't keep a client waiting," I murmured to my teammates as we all leered at the jounin.

"We should really stop showing up for training at the times he gives us," Sakura huffed.

"All set?" a voice said from behind.

Sakura and I jumped and nodded instinctively, only then realizing that he had pulled a disappear-reappear trick on us.

When did he-?! ...Damn ninjas.

"Introduce yourselves to our clients before we go."

Kakashi guided us towards the caravan, which consisted of a two-wagon train and five members. They seemed to be a rather cheerful bunch overall, but their expressions told me they were all experienced in their business. One of them was an older teen while the other four were adults.

"I'm Uzumaki Satoko!" I greeted brightly.

Sakura bowed her head. "Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet you!"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

The members of the caravan returned our introductions with a smile, much to my relief. I was worried we'd end up having to escort a group of bitter old geezers. What caught my attention, however, was that the adults each carried an instrument - a wooden flute, a pipa, an ocarina that was vaguely pear-shaped, and a lute. They introduced themselves in that order.

"I'm Hanjou, the wagon master, and this is our helper, Tsumi-chan," she said, petting the horse tied to the front wagon.

I frowned.

I hate horses.

"Thanks again for accepting our mission." She was very sincere, with tidy hair and straight posture that gave an air of maturity and charisma. It seemed to make up for what she lacked in height.

"Tomi," the chubby woman next to her said with a smile that made it hard to tell if her eyes were open, especially because they were small and monolid. She reminded me of Chouji in both appearance and demeanour, which could only be taken as a good thing.

"And I'm Sadame. It's a pleasure to meet you all," the third woman greeted with a slight bow. She was the tallest of the three women, with a large bun that indicated significantly long hair. I got the impression that she was the complete opposite of Hanjou - tall and lanky with a reserved personality.

The last person to introduce themselves was a man whose age I couldn't discern by simply looking at him.

"My name is Kanjaku. Thank you for helping us," he said with a deep bow. His voice caught me off guard and made him seem much older than he looked. "You have our deepest gratitude."

"Ah, it's no trouble," Kakashi waved his hand in front of his face, seemingly flustered by the excessive appreciation. "And this is…?"

We turned our attention to the smallest and youngest of the group.

"...I'm Takara. Please take care of me."

She seemed distracted, but had a similar air as Hanjou despite only being at most a couple of years older than us genin. Her posture was relaxed, but she still looked refined, like she knew how to handle herself well. I could easily picture her making cunning deals when making a trade.

I looked at each merchant one by one in order to familiarize myself with them, and for some reason, my stomach twisted into a knot.

Geez… Just looking at them makes me feel like I'm gonna get scammed. Is this mission a scam? What if it's a scam? Man, I hope we're not getting scammed.

My mind was heavy with thoughts on how a mission could even be a scam in the first place when Kakashi gave the order to move out.

Everybody settled into their positions naturally. Hanjou took the reigns while Tomi sat by her side. The other three sat in the back of the second wagon with Sadame in the middle and made themselves comfortable by leaning against the piles of baggage. Meanwhile, Kakashi stationed me and Sasuke at the back while he and Sakura watched the front. We exchanged a brief glare before quickly looking away with a huff.

It was silent, save for our footsteps and the creaking of the wagons. We hadn't even been walking for ten minutes, and already the silence was killing me. I thought I'd be able to chat a bit, but Sakura and Kakashi were too far for a comfortable conversation, and Sasuke was… well, he was Sasuke. I wasn't quite desperate enough to make small-talk with the merchants, either, so I accepted my fate and mostly just stared at Kakashi's back.

Man, the silence is practically begging for somebody to jump outta those bushes and kill me.

I made a face and looked straight ahead.

Yeah, see, this is exactly why I need something to distract me from my thoughts.

There were already many times when I agonized over the loss of portable music, but this right here was especially miserable. The best I could do was sing to myself or try my best to imagine the music in my head, but there were limits to that. Sad, lonely, kinda pathetic limits.

Oh... wait, wait a second.

"Hey, Takara-san," I said, shifting a little closer so I didn't have to speak too loudly. "D'you play any instruments, too?"

"Hm?" She looked up from the flower crown she was weaving and blinked, as if taking a moment to process the question.. "...No, but I sing. Sometimes. ...If I know the song."

Her flustered behaviour took me by surprise. She was apparently much more timid than what she first let on.

"Then let's sing something! Otherwise the walk will be super boring and lame. Which it already is. Because we aren't singing."

"Idiot!" Sakura shouted from the front, now walking backwards just to glare at me while she scolded. "Don't be so bothersome! Who'd wanna sing so early in the morning? It's a long walk, so let them rest!"

"You should keep quiet yourself," Sasuke muttered, immediately silencing our teammate.

"Don't be so rude to her- ow!" I snapped, but was quickly interrupted by a knock on my head. "No fair, you should hit Sasuke, too!"

"You're closer," Kakashi replied. "And louder."

I huffed and rubbed my head, then very childishly tried to jump and hit him on the head, too. He easily swatted my hand away and knocked my head again before going back to his position.

"You shouldn't make so much noise during an escort mission, anyway."

"It's nice that everybody's so lively," Sadame laughed gently. "We take this route often and the risks are minimal, so there's no need to worry."

"Yeah, sing all you want!" Tomi said from the front. "We've been doing this most of our lives and the worst we ever get are petty thieves. Not like we can't handle 'em ourselves by now, either, though the extra line of defense is always appreciated."

"I'm sure the time would pass much more quickly if we had something to do," Kanjaku agreed. "Would that be alright with you, Hatake-san?"

"Maa, if that's what you want," Kakashi answered leisurely, but the fact that he still wasn't reading from his book told me that he wasn't completely letting his guard down.

Then again, it's never quite completely down even when he is reading.

"I know which song," Sadame said, perking up at the notion of playing music. "Ne, your name is Sakura, right?"

"Ah- yes, that's right," Sakura answered, somewhat taken aback by the sudden question.

Without another word, Kanjaku pulled out his lute and began to play a traditional melody. Sadame joined in with her ocarina soon after, and Tomi's pipa could be heard coming from the front. Two bars into the instrumental and a realization hit me.

"Oh! I know this one!" I gasped. I couldn't explain why mine and Protagonist's worlds would share the same music, but the sense of familiarity was reassuring nevertheless.

"Who doesn't know this one?" Sakura huffed, but seemed pleased that they were playing such a relevant song.

Takara laughed at our exchange before taking a breath, and out came a voice that left a very unexpected impression.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms
In fields and villages
As far as you can see.

I nearly choked, and the way Sasuke's shoulders reflexively tensed up did not go unnoticed.

Oh my god.

Takara continued, blissfully unaware of the impact her singing had.

Her singing is terrible.

I glanced over to Kakashi, who I could've sworn was slouching more than usual.

She's fucking tone deaf oh my god.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But she looked so happy singing, so who was I to stop her?

The caravan sang song after song, with Sakura eventually warming up to them by joining in as well. We had rotated our positions so she was stationed with me at that back, which meant she got direct musical accompaniment from Sadame and Kanjaku. Too bad the party didn't last very long due to Kakashi being a total buzzkill.

"We're diverging from the main roads soon," he said in a tone that sounded like he was announcing a new law. "It's safer if there's no more singing."

I huffed. "Laaame."

"Would you rather we get attacked?" Sakura retorted as if she wasn't the one singing the loudest two seconds ago.

"Just 'cause it's safe doesn't mean it's not lame!"

"Keeping things safe is our job. If you wanted to have fun, then maybe you should quit being a shinobi," Kakashi said pointedly.

"Fiiiine." I decided to make small-talk with Takara and Sadame instead, since they were on my side of the caravan. "What d'you have in the wagon, anyway?"

"We mostly trade seeds and spices, but this time we've got some wares from Konoha, too," Sadame answered. "Would you like to try some?"

I blinked. "Can I?" I squinted. "...Does it taste good to eat it straight up?"

Sadame reached back to dig through one of the boxes. She pulled out a small jar and handed it to me. "This one's pretty common, so we don't really lose any profit if you try some."

"It's pretty good for when you're craving something but don't have time to eat," Takara added.

Carefully, I shook a tiny amount of spice into my hand and sniffed it, first. It looked kind of like something between black pepper powder and cumin powder in terms of colour, with no discernable scent that could give me an idea of what it might taste like. I gave it a lick and immediately flinched.

It was bitter. And I normally kind of like bitter tastes, but I was expecting something more savoury, so instead it just caught me off guard and I nearly coughed. It looked like it would taste like the seasoning in red pasta sauce, but whatever I just ate definitely didn't taste like that. It didn't really taste like anything, actually.

"It's good," I lied. "I don't think I've ever tried anything like it." That wasn't a lie.

Perfect for when you wanna make the consumer feel like they just ate a piece of a bitter soul.

"Really? It's a local spice. Maybe you have a weak sense of taste," Sadame laughed.

Ah, fuck, she literally just said it was common.

I laughed along to cover my nervousness and reached forward to return the jar, but ended up nearly dropping it during the exchange instead.

"Whoa- sorry, sorry!" I fumbled and managed to get the spice back into Sadame's hands before anything else happened.

"Nothing to worry about," Sadame reassured. "Sakura-chan, would you like to try some?"

"Ah, no, it's alright," she declined politely. "I wouldn't want to take away from your commodities."

I pretended not to see the stare she gave me when she said that and instead asked, "Can I try another one?"

"Satoko!"

"It's fine," Sadame laughed, grabbing another jar.

She was just about to hand it to me when suddenly there was a stifled scream and dust clouded my vision.

"Move!" Kakashi shouted, but his voice suddenly sounded very distant.

Confused and alarmed, I darted my eyes between several sources of movement taking in as much information as I could.

"Get up!"

There was a blur of pink, and I was pretty sure Sakura was pushing someone away from the cart while Sasuke hastily guided the caravan away from the source of the chaos.

"Get up!"

I was in a daze, suddenly unsure of how I was supposed to process what was going on around me.

"Wait, not yet-!"

Are we under attack?

"S-Save me-!"

There was someone wearing a cloth mask over their mouth. I didn't recognize them, but they forcefully pulled Kanjaku away from the wagon and threw him into Sadame. I heard cloth ripping, and shortly afterwards, metal clashing against metal.

"GET UP!"

It finally occurred that the person yelling all this time was Sakura, and only then did I realize that I could see the sky without even looking up.

What the- when did I fall?

"Snap out of it, Satoko!"

I moved without thinking and scrambled to get back onto my feet until somebody helped me up. I was about to thank them until I saw their face and realize that I had no idea who they were.

"Who the fuck arghnmph?!"

A small but strong hand covered my mouth and yanked my head back, forcing my neck to crane out against a cold blade.

Except for some reason, I couldn't quite bring myself to get worried.

I think I just skipped panic and fear and went straight to acceptance.

Once I was immobilized, whoever was grabbing me started giving orders and making demands.

"Nobody move!" Their voice was rather high. I could hear their breath trembling next to my ear. It was rather uncomfortable and kind of annoying, to be honest. "Hand over the wagons and you'll be free to go!"

"Don't worry about these types," Hanjou said in a low voice. "They only know how to bluff."

That'd be a lot more reassuring if I wasn't the one with the knife at her throat.

"Don't test me!" The bandit behind me gave me a violent shake as a form of intimidation.

I tensed instinctively, and my fingers twitched to do something while my brain knew that it was better to do nothing but wait and observe. Oddly enough, it was the first time since the chaos started that I had a chance to assess the situation. I started by analyzing myself.

Despite being held hostage, I noted my heartrate was unusually steady. My arms rested by my side, and my hands were relaxed. My breaths were short, but that was only because the position my neck was in made it hard to breathe. I was starting to fight to keep my eyes open and I wondered if it was due to being short of breath.

"Lower your knife, then we can discuss," Kakashi said with authority. "You'll gain nothing if you hurt her."

I wanted to say something myself, but my mouth felt dry and my tongue felt numb. I got the feeling that even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to pronounce anything coherent.

"We wouldn't lose anything, either," a short-haired bandit said curtly. "Just make it quick and easy and give us what we want."

I scanned the people in my line of sight during their exchange, taking note of everyone's positions, including the five bandits who started the whole thing.

Sakura and Sasuke were to my right. It looked like they were protecting Kanjaku and Sadame from two bandits - one with a ponytail and the other with a bandana tied around their head. Kakashi was by the wagons with Hanjou and Tomi. He was facing three bandits on his own - one with an undercut, one with a mask, and another with an eyepatch. Everybody was currently at a stalemate now that I was a hostage, but despite the tension, I felt at ease.

Maybe it was because the person behind me was feeling nervous?

Wait, how did I even know that?

There was something subconscious about the way I registered the emotions of the person behind me, but when I focused on their presence, I realize that their breaths were shallow and fast, and their grip was shaky and hesitant.

Huh. Maybe I was using Protagonist's instincts.

I didn't have time to think about that at the moment, though, because suddenly the bandits became much more aggressive and pressure was added to the knife on my throat.

"Hurry it up, we don't have all day!"

"Uh, guys," I choked, this time reaching up to grasp at the bandit's arm.

"Kill her if you want. It's a shinobi's job to die for the sake of their village," Kakashi said an empty voice that nearly gave me goosebumps. "I just wonder if it's really worth the trouble."

I locked eyes with Kakashi, silently questioning everything he just said. He stared back with a gaze of certainty, and I suddenly realized that I was hardly in any danger at all.

Oh man, these bandits kinda really suck at what they do.

I realized then that I could break free whenever I wanted, and it wasn't long until both my teammates caught on and added fuel to the fire.

"We'll just take that opening to attack and have you imprisoned for murder instead of attempted theft," Sakura added with an air of nonchalance.

I don't know what they teach at the Academy, but it's definitely a lot more than I ever thought.

"There's no getting off easy for murdering a shinobi. And a child, no less," Sasuke finished with a rather smug expression.

The grip around my neck faltered.

Kakashi's eye flickered to the side.

I yanked the bandit's arm away, and everybody else moved with me.

"Shit-!"

I tightened my grip around the hand with the knife and stomped as hard as I could on the bandit's instep at the same time. They yelped in surprised and pain, but I left no room for them to catch their breath and jabbed their wrist, making them drop the knife. I threw my elbow back into whatever part of their torso I could hit before stumbling away from them.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Get back!"

"Aaagh!"

I could barely register what was going on around me. My focus was entirely on every move and step I made. It all came too naturally, and I was certain that it was because of Protagonist.

I'd hate to think about why self-defence comes so naturally to him.

The knife glistened in the sunlight, and I grabbed the bandit's arm and spun them around before they could even think about picking up the knife again. My body continued to move on its own, and I hit the backs of their knees to force them into the ground and used their jacket to tie their hands behind their back.

I gave the bandit an aggressive shove into the ground before picking up the knife for myself, then took a moment to catch my breath before shaming them.

"Dude, seriously, if you're gonna threaten someone with a knife, at least do it right," I snickered, tapping the blunt edge of the knife against the bandit's head. "Oh man, I can't believe this is how I survived."

I was about to drag the bandit off to the side, but my head pounded and my vision went black for a split second before my legs gave out.

"Oh, whoa, head rush," I groaned, blinking rapidly until the dizziness faded.

"Satoko!" I looked up and vaguely recognized Kanjaku rushing to my side. "Are you alright?"

I nodded slowly and leaned against her for support. "Yeah, just a little tired."

"Oh, would you like to try a bit of one of the spices? They might help wake you up."

I shook my head and stood up. "It's alright, I tried some earlier. I think I just need to take it easy for now."

Kanjaku blinked, but responded with a simple, "Ah, I see."

When I finally looked up, my team was just finishing tying up the other bandits while the others cleaned up anything that spilled during the attack.

"I should go help reload the wagon."

"You go ahead and rest. It's better that we clean up the goods ourselves, anyway," he insisted.

Not feeling the urge to be particularly considerate, I nodded and let him lead me back to the others.

"Poor Tsumi-chan, she's terrified," Sadame cooed, petting the four-legged hellspawn. It whinnied and snorted. I cursed at it in my head.

"Let's take a break to regroup. It's about time for lunch, anyway," Kakashi said, tightening the last knot. "I'll send a message back to Konoha to handle these guys."

He bit his thumb and after a blur of hand seals, slammed his hand onto the ground. There was a puff of smoke and before it even cleared, I already had my arms spread wide open to greet the source of my serotonin rush.

"PUPPIES!"

All seven of them were there, with Pakkun seated on Buru's head as usual. I immediately started shuffling over with the sudden strong desire to befriend them all.

Sakura gasped, startled by their sudden appearance.

"Yo, Kakashi," Pakkun greeted with the voice of an old man.

Sasuke flinched. "It talks."

"Is he a summon?" Sakura asked. "We learned about them in the Academy, but I've never seen one before."

Kakashi nodded. "A number of higher-ranked shinobi have summoning contracts."

"Hey, boy." The pug hopped off and ran over to Sasuke before proudly seating himself at his feet. "I'm not an 'it' - I'm Pakkun."

Sasuke stared at the ninken for a brief moment, looking rather flustered from being confronted by a dog. "Oh. Uh, sorry."

He apologizes to the dog but not his teammates. Of course.

I couldn't be bothered to make fun of him. There were much more pressing matters to attend to, such as petting these puppies and touching their paws.

"I'm Satoko!" I introduced brightly, holding out my hand instinctively.

"Hm? Oh, you three must be Kakashi's pups," Pakkun said, plopping his paw into my hand.

I almost cried.

"D...Dreams do come true…" I sniffed, gently shaking his paw through teary eyes.

Pakkun immediately lit up, and although his expression didn't quite show it, his tail certainly did.

"I like this one," he declared while sniffing my hand. "Hey, you're bleeding."

"What?" I checked my hands and sure enough, there was a long gash across the back of my left hand, not unlike the one Protagonist got during his Wave Mission. "Oh. I didn't realize."

Uncanny.

"It doesn't hurt?" Sakura asked, checking my hand.

I shook my head and wiped away the dripping blood. "Not really. It's not that deep," I said, closely examining the cut.

More like it's already healing. I wonder if being a jinchuuriki increases pain tolerance, too?

"Or you're so scared your entire body's gone numb," Sasuke taunted.

"You wanna go?"

"Stop it! You just barely survived a life or death situation," Sakura scolded fiercely this time, acting more like her usual hot-headed self. Shortly afterwards, however, she sighed, her gaze fixated on the ground. "I wonder if we can handle this sort of mission after all…"

"We were hired to protect them from these types of bandits or gangs, so we'll be continuing the mission," Kakashi said as if he was waiting for the right timing. "Anyway, nice job, you three. Considering it was your first real battle...it could've been worse," he said, giving me a look.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be a hostage," I mumbled, crossing my arms.

"You managed to escape due to their mistake. A shinobi should depend on their skills, not luck."

I slumped my shoulders and nodded.

Hopefully there won't be a next time.

"In any case, let me clean it. Pakkun, I need you to send a message back to Konoha to pick these guys up. Tell the others to watch over them while we're gone," Kakashi said, nodding towards the bandits. "Sasuke, Sakura, help them reload the caravan. Satoko, show me your hand."

On his orders, everybody nodded and dispersed while I held out my hand.

"Let's meet again soon!" I called out to Pakkun as he left and grinned when he barked back. "I want ninken, too."

"You'll have to be better than this if you want to handle a summon," Kakashi murmured, checking my hand.

"It doesn't hurt," I said truthfully. "And it's already healing, anyway."

His eye flickered up at me at those words, and I looked back with the intent to push the subject. I'd been meaning to confront him about the topic for a while now, but it was hard to be alone with him. I wasn't going to miss my chance while I still had it.

"D'you think it's because of the Kyuubi? It's always been like this, but it's not like I have anybody to compare to." I spoke quietly, and Kakashi remained silent. His hand was tense around mine. "You're a jounin, aren't you? Shouldn't you know something about it? Nobody tells me anything."

The look in his eye was grave, and he wordlessly cleaned and wrapped my wound for a moment before eventually deciding on what to say.

"They don't tell us everything," he said in a way that made it sound like an apology. "How did you know about the Kyuubi?"

"Oh, yeah, some chuunin named Mizuki tried to kill me like, a day before I graduated. He spilled the beans about me being the Demon Fox or whatever which, when I thought about it, explains a lot, actually. It's kinda like, at least the people who bugged me kinda had a reason for it, right?" I laughed sheepishly. "Oh, and also he tried to kill Iruka-sensei."

He paused for a moment, seemingly at a loss of words. Then, he said, "I'm sorry that happened."

I like to think that at least part of that was sincere.

"That rule about not telling me's pretty stupid, too," I sighed, flexing my hand once Kakashi was done bandaging it. "It's kinda like, way to keep me in the dark about half of my existence, right? At least then I'd know why strangers kept giving me a hard time."

I was about to mention Minato and Kushina - in passing without names, of course - but decided that maybe I should save that for another time. Although it didn't seem like it to me, I probably just dropped at least a small bomb on Kakashi by suddenly bringing it up.

His gaze was heavy. Then, he gently patted my wounded hand and stood up straight again.

"Sorry I didn't help you earlier. I got you injured. Still, you were surprisingly calm enough to assess the situation yourself." He smiled with his one eye and gave me a thumbs up. "Good work."

I stared at his thumb and blankly returned the gesture while my mind lingered on his words.

I was pretty calm, wasn't I? I dropped my arm, not fully registering that Kakashi had left, but enough so that I wasn't giving a thumbs up to nobody. Maybe I'm better at this ninja stuff than I thought.

"Satoko, hurry up and eat something so we can go," Sakura said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"But I wanna pet the ninken…" I whined, looking towards them as though we were star-crossed lovers. "I don't even know their names!"

"I'll introduce you to them when we have more time," Kakashi said, returning to guide me away from the ninken and towards the wagon. "We're on a schedule."

"That's a promise," I said, holding out my pinky.

I stared at him long and hard with no signs of backing down until he finally sighed and hooked his pinky with mine. I grinned victoriously.

Literally got him wrapped around my finger.

The sun was now disappearing behind the trees, and Kakashi acknowledged it by saying, "Let's look for a place to spend the night."

"I think this area is big enough for the wagons," Kanjaku said once we found a suitable area.

"Haa, my feet are sore." Sakura complained. She sighed in relief as she took a seat by a tree and pulled off her sandals.

"You're pretty free-spirited, huh," Tomi laughed lightheartedly, looking over in her direction.

"Huh?" Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and she tucked her feet in to sit in a more reserved manner. "N-Not really! It's just been a while since I've walked for so long, that's all."

Still not putting the sandals back on, though, I noted silently.

"No kidding," I sighed, plopping down next to her. "I think it'd hurt less to walk on my hands."

"A shinobi shouldn't be complaining about these kinds of things," Kakashi said. I would've called it scolding if not for the fact that he said it with as much motivation as a dead sloth. "Help them feed the horse."

As previously mentioned, with absolute genuine seething hatred and disgust: I hate horses.

So one might guess that I wasn't exactly pleased to be the one approaching the quadrupedal sinner with its bucket of fodder.

"Don't worry, Tsumi-chan here is as gentle as can be," Hanjou reassured.

"It's looking at me funny," I hissed, glaring at its oblong face.

"Her eyes are on the sides of her face. She only looks like she is," Sakura informed from behind me.

"She likes being pet right above the nose," Tomi said. "Give it a try!"

I made a face. "What if it thinks I'm a bandit?"

"It's a useful skill for a shinobi to get along with animals," Kakashi said, gently patting it on its head. "They may turn out to be an invaluable comrade."

Pshaw. I made a face. The day I make a summoning contract with a horse is the day Sasuke forgives his brother.

"I'm sure there're plenty of other animals I can-"

Chomp.

"OW- WHAT THE HELL-"

There was a sudden sharp, tugging pain on my head, and before I could register what was going on, I was pulled off my feet and stumbled back into Satan's fursona.

"WHY ARE YOU BITING ME?!"

"Tsumi-chan, no!" Hanjou scolded, smacking it from behind. "You can't eat that!"

"IT'S RIPPING MY SCALP OFF."

"Satoko, what did you do?" Sakura said, naturally pinning the blame on me.

I was finally released from my captor's merciless grasp and immediately checked my head for any bald spots.

"I didn't do anything! This thing just suddenly decided it wanted to kill me, that's all!"

"She must've thought your hair was food," Tomi tried while failing to hold back her laughter. "Are you alright?"

I didn't mean to ignore Tomi, but my attention was currently drawn towards the suspect of my attempted murder, so I skipped responding to her and went straight to sharply nodding my chin towards the muscular cow.

"You tryin'a pick a fight?!"

Kakashi sighed deeply from the other side of the hairy embodiment of sin. "Satoko."

"You wanna go?!"

"Stop fighting the horse, Satoko."

"Fight me, you minimalist zebra."

"Hey, provoke her like that and she might really do it," Sadame warned. "Tsumi-chan's kicks are no joke!"

"You could say the same about its biting," I grumbled, rubbing my head to ease the throbbing pain that still persisted.

"Maybe if you took better care of it, it'd look less like fodder," Sakura commented rather snootily.

I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from making a very crude insult.

She's a twelve-year-old with self-esteem issues. Twelve-year-old with self-esteem issues. Don't talk shit about the twelve-year-old with self-esteem issues. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Okay. I got this.

"I'll do what I want with my hair," I finally said in the same tone, and the excitement from the whole incident dissipated.

"Shut up and eat," Sasuke ordered and forced a pack of beef jerky into my hands.

Not a huge fan, but who am I to be picky when my only other option is soldier pills?

I took the pack and grinned. "Aw, are you looking out for me?"

"I'm giving you something to keep your mouth busy," he insisted.

I grinned obnoxiously, but decided to end the teasing there, if only because Kakashi started giving out orders to set up camp.

"Satoko, Sasuke, set up the fire pit. Sakura, go get some firewood."

"What about you?" she huffed, pulling her sandals back on.

"I have to keep watch, of course," the jounin said while pulling out his book as if it weren't a blatant contradiction.

Asshole.

I left Sasuke to set up a barrier of rocks to contain the fire while I went to drag some logs over to sit on. I glanced at the other members in passing to see what they were up to and noticed that Kanjaku was focused intensely on the trees.

What's he looking at?

Now that I thought about it, he always seemed to be looking away from the group. It didn't seem like he knew that I'd already tried the spices, either, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to Sadame.

He must've really been fixated on something to miss that entire exchange.

Curious, I scanned my surroundings to see what might be of interest in the trees. It gave me that bizarre feeling of nostalgia despite the fact that everything was still so foreign. Trees I'd never seen before turned up in my new memories, and I could vaguely recall Protagonist learning about using them as landmarks during the early years of the Academy.

"Kanjaku-san," I said, getting his attention. "Shinobi tend to remember certain things to use as landmarks. I was wondering if merchants use the same technique during their travels?"

"Hm?" He had to take to a moment to realize that I was talking to him and looked rather flustered by the sudden question. "Oh, yes, usually to get an approximation on how far into their travels they've gone. Some landmarks are used for meeting clients or other traders halfway, too."

"Ah." I nodded in understanding, then asked my follow-up question. "Is that why you've been so focused on the trees?"

Kanjaku visibly froze. If he wasn't flustered before, he certainly was now.

He broke the faint tension in the air with a laugh and shook his head. "You're sharper than you look, huh."

"Y'know, I get that a lot lately." I grinned innocently. "So, what's the reason?"

"Your guess was right," he admitted. "Merchants use trees as meeting points for making trades en route. Sometimes clients will prefer that over meeting in the village."

Makes sense, I thought and nodded in understanding.

"Satoko, hurry up," Sasuke called, irritated by my lack of contribution to the firepit.

"Don't you have any sort of patience?" I muttered, leaving Kanjaku behind as I dragged a log over. "It's not like we can do much until Sakura-chan gets back with the firewood, anyway."

"I'm back!"

"...Damn it."

Campfires were great, even if they were in the middle of a country that was technically foreign to me and I was mostly accompanied by total strangers. Since we were resting, the caravan played their instruments and sang songs while we made congee with dried meat and some of the spices that weren't for trading. It was simple, but it was comforting and easy on the stomach, which was definitely appreciated after the day we had.

"Here, have some tea with it, too," Kanjaku said, offering the pot. "It'll help calm your nerves."

"Thanks." I blew on it before taking a sip, but immediately paused before I swallowed.

It tastes like the spice Sadame gave me.

There was a knot twisting in my stomach, and although I wasn't exactly sure why, my gut was telling me not to swallow. Silently, I dribbled the tea back into the cup and made sure nobody was watching before dumping it in the grass behind me.

"Are you feeling better?" Takara asked, suddenly taking a seat next to me with a cup of tea of her own. "You looked tired after we got attacked. Cheerful, but tired."

I nodded and grinned to myself, casually arranging my hands to cover the suspiciously empty cup. "Puppies make everything better."

"I agree."

"You guys should consider getting dogs. Dogs are cute and friendly."

"Horses are, too."

I made a face and shook my head. "Nah."

"Tsumi-chan is very gentle.

I made even more of a face. "Do you not remember the time it literally tried to eat me?"

Takara laughed quietly, modestly covering her mouth as she did so. "She was just hungry."

"See, now you're just proving my point," I said, side-eyeing her. "Hey, are you cold? You're shivering."

Either she was hiding it before or I was just really unobservant, but her shoulders were trembling and she was holding her hands between her thighs to keep them warm.

"Not really, I'm alright," she insisted, but I was already taking off the red muffler I kept around my waist so I could give it to her.

"Here, wear this."

"Won't you be cold, then?"

I shook my head and set it on her lap. "I've got thick skin."

And still a Canadian at heart. Night chills can kiss my frosty ass.

Still with a bit of hesitance, Takara accepted the muffler with a smile. "Thanks, I'll return it in the morning."

"It's about t-"

"AH!"

I immediately tensed up while Takara just about nearly fainted. I glanced back and gave Kakashi a disapproving look while shaking my head.

"Y'gotta stop sneaking up on on people, old man."

"...Sorry," he apologized sheepishly as he helped Takara stabilize herself.

"N-No, I apologize, I'm just a bit on edge," she said bowing her head.

"That's understandable." Kakashi gave her a reassuring pat on the back before addressing me. "As I was saying, it's about time we all get some sleep. The three of you will stand guard, first. I'll stay with you guys for the first hour so you get the hang of it."

"Well that's uncharacteristically thoughtful of you."

This time, he was the one giving me a disapproving look. "Let's go. Takara-san, please make yourself comfortable. There'll be someone on guard all night, so there's no need to worry."

Which was true for the first half hour, but when the caravan members started drifting off to sleep, it looked like my teammates were, too.

"Sensei…" Sakura yawned, nodding her head. "I...I'm sorry, but I suddenly feel really tired…"

"I don't…" Sasuke drawled, looking just as tired, "Something...isn't right."

Panic struck like a bolt of lightning, and only then did I remember that I forgot to mention something incredibly important.

"The tea," I whispered, but the realization had come too late.

Just as I was about to warn my teammates, a kunai whizzed past my cheek and nearly took my ear off. It was that exact moment when I knew that whatever the mission was really about, nothing could've prepared me for what was to come.

Chapter 11: The Mediocre Escape 1

Summary:

Satoko experiences her first enemy encounter. She wouldn't recommend partaking in such activities on a regular basis.

Chapter Text

I hadn't even registered the stinging pain from my cut when Kakashi tackled me to the ground. Two more weapons missed us by a hair, and only then did I find the time to breathe.

"Wake them up," he ordered, rolling to the side just in time to block a kunai with his own.

"W-What about Sasuke and Sakura?" I gasped, shuffling back. "T-They're-"

"Now! "

I nodded shakily and got on my feet, only to stumble towards my teammates and the sleeping caravan.

Sasuke and Sakura were struggling to even stand up straight, let alone defend against whoever the hell was attacking us. Even so, they managed to stagger their way towards our clients and urge them to get to safety.

"E-Everybody up!" I finally managed to yell, yanking them up onto their feet without mercy. "Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake uAGH GOD STRANGER DANGER-"

My panicked wake up call was interrupted by a masked figure ruthlessly swinging a kunai at me. I just barely avoided tripping and hastily grabbed my own kunai, except it was kinda my first time ever getting challenged to a fight to the fucking death, so everything else in my weapon pouch spilled out along with it.

My entire inventory clattered onto the ground, but I barely even registered the sound and was instead more focused on the clashing of metal occurring mere inches away from my face. Seeing how I was caught in a life or death situation with very little time to think and react, I only did what came naturally.

I begged for my pathetic mortal life.

"Okay look buddy I have no idea what the fuck you're doing attacking us outta nowhere but I'm pretty sure you can just do whatever you're here to do without trying to kill me like I'm literally twelve what the fuck am I gonna do about it oH GOD WHY-"

Out of nowhere, the person attacking me lunged forward, ready to plunge their very sharp and very dangerous weapon right into my chest. With Protagonist's lack of practical shinobi instincts and my lack of practical shinobi anything, the only thing I could do was slam my eyes shut and brace for whatever agonizing pain came before dying.

There was a scream, metal clattering, a loud crack, and then silence.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and nearly shat myself when I saw my attacker staring right at me, eyes wide and practically bulging out of their head. There was an arm tucked under their chin, and when I realized who it belonged to, my legs nearly gave out in relief.

"Oh my god holy shit I am so not ready for this-"

"Well you're going to have to be," Kakashi said, tossing the corpse aside. I watched it bounce heavily with a dull thud.

No pain or dying on my part, at least.

And at the end of the day, isn't that really all that matters?

"Sasuke and Sakura are in no condition to fight, and this isn't a random attack - they're here to target someone," the jounin continued, paying the corpse no mind at all. "Stay close to me."

"What about-" I started, dozens of questions trying to spill out all at once, but he was already gone. With my mind blank and body numb, I knew nothing but to stumble after him before I was left to fend for myself.

A scream nearly shocked me into stopping in my tracks.

"They're after Takara!" Hanjou shouted while fending off a nukenin with a weird-looking tanto as her only line of defence. Where she got it from, I had no idea, and my mind was too blank to even remember that I was supposed to be part of the line of defence, let alone figure out what was really going on.

How the hell did Protagonist have time for flashbacks during his battles?!

"Get away from her!" I heard Kanjaku shout, and when I turned to look, he was standing between Takara and the enemy.

I only blinked, and in the next instant, he was on the ground with blood all over his face.

"U-Uncle Ka-hn-!" Broken sounds came from Takara as she clutched her chest, body trembling and eyes fixated on the man whose body only became stiller by the second.

There was no time to mourn, however, nor was there time for me to fully register that I had just witnessed a murder for the first time. The nukenin didn't take a moment to rest and would only take more of us out if we didn't do something, fast.

"Distract them while the others get Takara to safety," Kakashi ordered, pulling me behind him. He clearly had a much better grasp of what was going on, so I let myself get moved around because I was really in no position to decide things for myself.

"Distract?" I repeated absently, but he was too busy fending off the two attackers to answer me.

It was too easy to say that I was at a loss. I didn't expect much from my first enemy encounter, but part of me was hoping that Protagonist's instincts would kick in and that maybe I could automatically disarm someone or something. That was far from the case.

My body didn't move and my mind was completely blank.

Now that I thought about it, I didn't even know how many people were attacking, or who they were affiliated with. Were they bandits? Nukenin? Mercenaries? It was too dark and everybody was moving too quickly for me to figure out what was what, and this time, I was anything but calm.

A realization dawned upon me, and my legs nearly gave out.

If there was a target, that meant somebody hired these guys to kill them.

And you know who gets hired to kill people?

Assassins.

Good going, Satoko; CLEARLY THIS IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE WAVE MISSION.

"Satoko!" Kakashi barked, shoving one of the enemies aside. I jerked my head up reflexively. "Stay focused - you know what to do."

I'm pretty sure that was closest thing to encouragement I've ever heard from him since we became Team 7.

"B-But the others-" I stammered, just barely able to register a glimpse of what I saw: Hanjou and Sadame fending off one attacker while Tomi, Sasuke, and Sakura struggled against another. Not good at all.

"They'll be fine," Kakashi said with such certainty that I had no choice but to believe him. "Now focus, and do what you do best."

I swallowed, arms trembling as I tried to figure out what the hell he meant by that.

Did he not see that I was on the verge of collapsing? How could I possibly know what to do in this situation? I only had a little over a month of ninja training under my belt. Literally what could I possibly even be good at, let alone the best at? Not to mention that two of the four shinobi were drugged and one was totally useless because she was too busy shitting herself out of fear. No matter what, our numbers weren't looking too hot.

...Oh.

I wiped my clammy palms against my jacket and shook out my wrists.

I get it now.

"There's really the only thing I can do, I think," I murmured to myself before inhaling deeply.

I did my best to calm down - my chakra had to be steady for me to get anywhere with this. Then, when I deemed myself as ready as I'd ever be, I breathed out.

"Multi Shadow Clone Technique!"

And in an instant, I was everywhere.

"What the-?" one of the enemies cursed, startled by the sudden change in situation.

"GET FUCKED, JERKWADS," I yelled, and my several dozen clones yelled the same.

"I said distract, not provoke," Kakashi said, but was taking advantage of the situation nevertheless.

"This is literally the most distracting thing ever don't lie to me-"

He interrupted by grabbing my wrist and tugging me along, taking just enough time to pluck a clone out of the crowd along the way.

"Transform them into everybody," he ordered when the enemy was out of earshot, dropping my wrist. "We're going to create a diversion."

Starting to get into the groove of this whole fighting thing, I nodded and started to focus my chakra.

"Y'all heard the man!" I shouted before expanding chakra from my core, and my clones became an assortment of Team 7 and the caravan.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" Kakashi yelled from across the clearing while making a short series of hand seals. "Now!"

I looked back just in time to see Sasuke and the caravan each grabbing a Takara, one of which I figured was the real one. The snap from the reins startled the devilspawn into action, and in an instant, my teammates and the caravan forced the enemy to split up by disappearing into different parts of the forest. And when I say disappeared, I mean they literally disappeared.

"Where'd they go?" I gasped, stumbling after Kakashi. Despite the fact that I was still very literally running for my life, it helped that I was with the elite jounin and not, let's say, the two drugged genin or merchants.

"I cast a cloaking genjutsu on all of us. It'll buy us some time and help the others escape. Let's go," Kakashi said while lifting a third Takara!Clone bridal style. "It's only a matter of time before they catch up."

"They're already cleaning up my distraction," I warned while chasing after him with great haste, wincing at every stab and burn that attacked various parts of my body.

It was already a known fact that when I dispelled a clone, I got its memories, but it also included their memories of being killed . Now, it wasn't as traumatizing as I'd thought it'd be, nor did it actually hurt, but it still kinda really seriously freaked me out every time the image of a kunai flying straight towards my face flashed across my mind.

"Two are following us," Kakashi said as we continued to jump through the trees. I'd barely even registered the speed we were going at - it was one of the few instincts I could thank Protagonist for.

"Out of how many?"

He gave me a look that told me he wasn't impressed with my inability to assess the situation, but said nothing of it.

"Four. The fact that there were originally five of them tells me that someone really wants Takara dead, so stay on guard."

I nodded once, and could finally sort my thoughts out enough to ask, "Who's protecting her?"

"The caravan has the real one," Kakashi explained with a solemn look. "Considering how they immediately knew who was being targeted, they knew being attacked was a possibility and already made preparations to escape if necessary."

"They knew?" I whispered, but another worry took priority over figuring out what exactly that meant. I bit my lip. "What about the others?"

"They'll be fine. It'll take some time for the enemy to track them through the genjutsu," Kakashi reassured.

"How are we going to meet them after?"

"I told them to regroup at the capital. Until then, we'll have to trust the caravan to keep Takara alive."

When the hell did he have time for that?

Then again, I had spent most of the encounter pissing myself and just barely paying enough attention to those around me to differentiate between friend and foe.

Just then, I got a flash of images that told me one of my clones got dispelled. They'd been coming in every now and then during our escape, but this one in particular caught my attention.

"Uh, about that-"

He cut me off with a raised hand.

"They're here," he murmured, gesturing for me to stand behind him. "Protect the clone. We need to stall them."

Aight, fine. It can wait, I guess.

The two assassins dropped down in front of us a mere heartbeat after Kakashi set the clone down. The jounin was facing them in an instant, right hand behind his back and already armed with a kunai while his left was firm and by his side in order to center his balance. I held my breath and stood firm with my arms open to defend the clone, determined to put on a good show so the real Takara had time to escape.

"Pretty grand skills coming from a kid like you," one of them said, nodding her head towards me.

"Well, they do seem to be a student of the infamous Copy Nin," the other said.

I just barely noticed Kakashi tense at the use of his nickname, which I imagined was only because I was there. Even so, he naturally wasn't so uncomfortable as to let it get to him and used his status as a threat.

"Then you should know very well what you're up against," Kakashi said, voice low and even.

The air became heavy and dark. It was suddenly getting hard for me to breathe, and I wondered if that was what killing intent felt like. Although their eyes showed no fear, neither assassin dared to even twitch a finger. For the first time since the ambush began, they faced us on equal ground.

Now that I could actually get a good look at them, I noticed how they both wore headbands with a long scratch through Konoha's symbol. As far as I knew about nukenin, that meant it was fairly likely that they were at least chuunin-level adversaries.

Which meant I'd probably die if I tried to fight one.

I swallowed, knuckles white from gripping a kunai despite having no idea how I'd use it if they attacked.

Kakashi said nothing as he used the hand behind his back to signal at me while still gripping the kunai. The part of me that came from an uneventful city in Canada had no idea what it meant, but somewhere in my head, the signal immediately translated to a single command.

Run.

I breathed slow and even, eyes trained on Kakashi's back. There was a split second where I saw his shoulders tense, and somehow I just knew to grab the clone and make a break for it.

Behind me, bodies shifted and weapons clashed.

Oh god oh god oh g od oh god oh god-

There was a dull hit, a grunt, and suddenly, footsteps could be heard rushing after me.

OH MY GOD WHY ARE THESE LEGS SO TINY AND HELPLESS-

Several kunai flew by me one after another until suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from my left calf and I immediately keeled over.

"Fu-!"

Despite all the chaos, the clone had been keeping itself safe and still hadn't been dispelled yet, so at least we still had leverage.

The nukenin loomed over me with a kunai drawn. "My payment doesn't include you, so hand her over and save us both the trouble."

She stared down at me with fierce, dark eyes, and I knew that if I didn't comply soon, she'd kill us both anyway.

My mouth was dry and it felt like my throat was closing up. I always thought that my lack of fight or flight instinct was simply because the situations that triggered it - or triggered the lack thereof - weren't life-threatening enough.

I was wrong.

Turns out I really do have the worst instinctive response when coming face to face with an assassin.

Despite my instinct to freeze and literally just hope for the best, I at least knew enough to shove my hand into my weapon pouch, only to remember that all of them had spilled out back at the campsite, which left me unarmed and completely vulnerable.

My mind was blank, and without thinking, my voice rasped on its own.

"I'm probably not supposed to do that, I think?"

The nukenin grit her teeth, and that was the only warning I got before she lunged at me.

I think I might've screamed, but my heart was beating so fast it was deafening my ears, so I wouldn't know. I could still hear it, though, which meant I was alive. That was good. Being alive is always good.

"Hurry up and do something, idiot!"

I looked up towards the source of the annoyed yelling, and I saw my Takara!Clone struggling to keep the nukenin's arms incapacitated.

...Well. Can't deny the correlation between bravery and expendability, I guess.

Without thinking much, my hands practically moved on their own and formed the hand sign I had already become far too used to. My mouth, on the other hand, wasn't so cooperative.

"M-Multiclone- shit, fuck- jutsu- clones, dammit!"

Turns out saying the name really is just for theatrics.

A dozen clones appeared and immediately rushed the nukenin while I struggled to get onto my feet. Whatever hit me before made it impossible for me to flex my leg without it hurting, so my only option left was to try and drag myself away to buy even a second of time.

The Takara!Clone was dispelled with a strike, and with set of memories that returned to be afterwards, the less time I had until I would be the nukenin's main target again.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I shouted in a panic, not knowing what else to do. Making clones was the only plan of action I had. Well, that and nearly pissing myself, but that technically wasn't part of the plan.

"A fake," the nukenin spat, clearing the last clone. It disappeared with a hollow poof, and through the dissipating smoke, she stared right at me. "Which means one of you knows where the real one is."

Before I could even blink, the nukenin snatched me off the ground and held a kunai to my neck.

"So tell me - where is she?"

A split second later and Kakashi arrived, causing the enemy to spin around and show that she was holding me hostage, and unlike last time, I found it hard to breath or think. There was no time to make any observations, and definitely no mistakes on the nukenin's behalf to get me out of the situation.

"You won't get any information if you harm my student," Kakashi glowered.

"Well, the more time you waste here, the more time my comrades have to chase down the others," the nukenin purred. Her breath was warm against my ear, which I found kind of annoying and gross, despite how equally terrifying she was. "And don't think they won't simply kill them all in order to find the real one."

"Okay, so, you're not gonna believe this, but," I started, swallowing hard, "you might not buy your friends as much time as you thought."

When a lot of clones got dispelled at once, it could take some time to fully register all their memories, which sometimes meant that I wouldn't be aware of the extra card up my sleeve that I'd technically given myself until a while later. This was one of those times.

Kakashi's gaze flickered between me and the nukenin, and just as the sound of footsteps could be heard behind her, she spun around and stabbed my clone with the kunai she once held against my neck.

"OH GOD FREEDOM-" I gasped, immediately shoving the nukenin away and getting myself to safety before I collapsed under the weight of my injured leg.

Kakashi quite literally jumped on the opportunity to attack. During the split second the nukenin was distracted with my clone, there was a dull crack, and her body went limp. The only sound after that was my heavy breathing. My left leg continued to burn and scream for medical attention, but my eyes couldn't tear away from the corpse.

It's been less than 24 hours and I've already been taken hostage twice and witnessed murder thrice. I bet that's not even a record.

Finally, when Kakashi started walking towards me, I slowly looked up at him and flashed him a stiff smile. From the looks of it, he didn't even break a sweat, though his hair somehow managed to look even messier than usual.

"How's that for depending on my skills?" I said while using my hands to bend my left leg into a more comfortable position. Flexing it just made it hurt even more for some reason. "Bet you didn't know my clones could make clones, too."

Heh. Clone-ception.

"You put them to good use," he said in a way that made me feel like it was supposed to be a compliment, but his voice was as dead as usual so it was hard to say. "You know, yelling only gives away your location. What if the enemy showed up instead of me?"

"I had faith in you?" I offered meekly.

The jounin made a sound that was somewhere between a grunt and a scoff before crouching next to me. "Let me see your leg."

Slowly, I extended my left leg and immediately tensed at what I saw.

"Holy fuck," I choked, staring wide-eyed at the shuriken lodged into my calf. Only then did the pain really start to kick in, and my eyes started to water. "Shiiiiiiiiiit- "

Well, shit, no wonder I couldn't stand up.

"Relax, it'll hurt less when I take it out," Kakashi instructed, setting my foot on his knee to stabilize it. "Deep breath."

I squeezed my eyes shut as I exhaled and tried my best to pretend I wasn't getting an inch of metal yanked out of my leg. It didn't really work, and I clenched my jaw in an agonizing attempt to not curse up a storm. I sucked in deep breaths through gritted teeth, knuckles white from gripping the edges of my shirt, then exhaled quick and sharp. Simply saying it hurt was a bit of an understatement, especially when the worst injury I'd ever gotten up until that moment was a sprained ankle.

"It's a pretty shallow wound, so for you, it should heal over night," he said as he wiped the shuriken and added it to his own inventory.

Oh, sure. Just casually loot the weapon that stabbed your student. Why not. At least give it to me, asshole.

I sniffed, watching intently as he bandaged my wound.

"Yeah, I think I can feel it closing already," I mumbled, noting the unexpectedly small amount of blood seeping through the bandages and how the pain had already become mostly tolerable.

After tying off the bandage, Kakashi set my foot back on the ground and helped me up.

"What happened to the other one?" I asked. I rubbed my temples, hoping to stop the headache that was steadily growing from the influx of information from my clones.

"Dead," he said bluntly. "We'll have go back to dispose of this one and the one at the camp."

I pursed my lips and nodded slowly. "I'm sure it'll be a great learning experience."

Now that I was out of immediate danger, I suddenly remembered the memories from a certain clone that I'd gotten before the assassins caught up.

"So, uh, Sensei," I said, pressing my thumb into my hand. "There's, uh… Well, here's a funny story."

Kakashi propped the corpse against a tree and looked up at me skeptically. His expression told me he already knew that whatever I was about to say, it wasn't going to be good.

"What is it, Satoko?" he asked like a father to a child who had just put some god forsaken foreign object in their mouth.

"Y'know how you said the caravan took the real Takara 'cause they had a plan or something?"

Kakashi nodded, and I bit my lip.

"Well, here's the kicker; the memories I got were ones of hiding in the caravan's wagon. As Takara. Which kinda means that Takara got dispelled. So, like… I'm pretty sure the caravan didn't take the real one."

If I had to be specific, I distinctly had memories of something falling against my clone, which is what made it dissipate in the first place, but the details didn't matter.

I smiled awkwardly at the jounin and shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't sure why, but for some reason, I felt like this mixup was my fault. Too many Takara!Clones, maybe.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. Which, to be honest, was the only natural response to realizing that the real Takara was with the drugged up genin.

Chapter 12: The Mediocre Escape: Chain of Disasters

Summary:

Sasuke and Sakura vow to take this chapter to their graves. Takara wants to send them there.

Chapter Text

One moment I was sleeping, the next I was narrowly escaping the clutch of the people coming after my life.

I felt dizzy and lethargic, like I hadn't quite woken up yet despite the chaos. Something didn't feel right, I thought, but I couldn't quite place it, nor could I have done anything about it even if I could. Voices blurred into one and I could barely discern who was saying what, or even who was who. I opted to just avoid anybody who came too close to me and scrambled away from anything that moved.

A figure, blurred by their speed and my lightheadedness, materialized before me. My mind churned out the many ways he could kill me at a million miles per hour, so when I saw his knife reflecting the moonlight, I slammed my eyes shut, covered my ears, and screamed.

It wasn't my proudest moment, but it was also my first time facing death right in the face, so I pardoned myself for the graceless behaviour.

I heard the sound of metal scraping against metal and took a peek only after I realized that I was still alive. I recognized Hanjou-san standing between me and the assassin and sighed a breath of relief.

"They're after Takara!" Hanjou-san shouted as she fought off the assassin with her previously-concealed tanto, then glanced behind her shoulder at me. "Are you alright?"

My voice was caught in my throat, and it took me a moment after to remember that she was too busy saving my life to see me nodding.

"Y-Yes," I finally said, forcing myself to swallow my nerves. "What do I do?"

"Stay close to the wagon, we'll get you out of here," she said after shoving the assassin away to buy me some time to escape. "Go!"

I nodded and tried to sprint away in a state of numb panic, but it was like my legs weren't working. Everything felt lopsided and I could barely run in a straight line. I wanted to convince myself that I'd be safe anyway, but it was hard to when my only line of defense was three children and a man with one eye.

Hanjou-san and the others had warned me that we might get attacked, so I'd been mentally preparing myself in case it ever happened. While they weren't specially trained like shinobi, the caravan members showed me the concealed weapons hidden in their instruments before Team 7 had arrived and told me to get in the wagon if we did get attacked. Anybody being smuggled usually had reason for someone to put a hit on them, she had said rather nonchalantly, which meant that preparing for the possible dangers was part of the job.

Before I could get to relative safety, however, another assassin appeared before me, immediately stopping me in my tracks. I held my breath and braced myself for the worst, but instead, someone else stepped in front of me.

"Get away from her!"

One moment, my uncle was there; the next, he was on the ground with blood spilling from his head.

Everything felt cold, and suddenly it was hard to breathe. Whatever lightheadedness I was feeling before came back twofold, and my heartbeat pounded in my ears like a drum. I felt my body swaying and I stepped back and forth, struggling to keep my balance. It felt like everything I saw was spiralling together like a whirlpool of colours, with him lying in the center of it all.

Dead. A heavy voice rang in my head. I knew it was mine, but it sounded so distant and foreign, as though it were coming from outside, and although I understood its meaning, I felt as though the connection between its meaning and what I saw remained severed.

"U-Uncle Ka-hn-!" I wanted to scream, but no words came out. It didn't matter, though - when I looked back at the assassin, I realized that I would join him soon enough.

At least, that's what I thought, but before the assassin could take another step, a whole crowd of that blonde shinobi - Satoko, if I remembered correctly - showed up out of nowhere.

What the-?

"GET FUCKED, JERKWADS."

I grimaced at the provocation, but found that her voice pulled me out of shock. The few seconds Satoko gave me was apparently all I needed to compose myself. Mostly, anyway. I could hardly tell where I was in relation to the others - I could barely even register if I was moving or not, but my heartbeat had quieted and, although my vision wasn't, my head suddenly felt clearer. I knew that I had to get away no matter what, or else Uncle's sacrifice will have been for naught, so I did what came most naturally at that moment - running for my life.

I started shoving my way through the sea of clones as fast as I could, praying that I wouldn't collapse with every step I took. In the middle of my escape, over half the clones suddenly transformed into anybody that wasn't Satoko, and the crowd was littered with copies of the members of the caravan, the shinobi, and me.

So that's how my hair looks from the back, I noted idly as I tried not to let the situation take me for a ride.

Instead, somebody else did.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" Kakashi-sensei's voice sounded from across the clearing. "Now!"

The next thing I knew, Sasuke grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the crowd. I couldn't help but notice that he was a little...wobbly.

"Wha- hold on!" I stammered, nearly tripping over my feet as he dispelled a clone or two from how aggressively he was forcing his way through them. "I'm supposed to-!"

I tried to tell him that Hanjou-san had told me what to do in case of an attack, but my voice caught in my throat when the threatening figure of another assassin took a swing at me, missing only because a literal horde of clones body-slammed her into the ground at the last second.

"Hurry up," Sasuke demanded, tugging my arm. I grimaced at the sweat lining his palms. "And play your part better."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded, but he didn't answer. I huffed. "Rude boy."

No wonder Satoko's always picking a fight with him.

I was told to be kind towards the shinobi hired to protect me, but it was hard to keep that in mind when my life was in danger and I could barely tell left from right. Not that the kid had ever done anything to deserve my kindness, anyway.

"This way!" A higher voice guided us to a break in the trees, leading us into the forest. "We have to get away before the trees stop us."

"What?" I asked to nobody in particular, casting Sakura a confused expression as we stumbled past her.

Soon, the commotion died down and the only sounds of fighting and chaos was in the background. I keeled over and heaved, arms and legs trembling as I tried to blink my vision back into focus.

Sasuke slumped against a tree, and we were soon joined by his teammate. I noticed the two bags sitting by their feet and thanked them internally for finding the time to grab supplies, despite the chaos. I hadn't been able to retrieve any of my own belongings during the escape, but surely a shinobi's backpack would be more useful than the clothes and whatever else I had in mine.

"We have to keep moving," Sasuke mumbled weakly, looking nowhere near ready to take off again. Which was for the better, because I certainly hadn't caught my breath yet and was still trying to take in the fact that people were actually trying to kill me.

What the hell does anybody have to gain from killing me, anyway? What did I ever do except live a short sixteen years?

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Sakura asked, sounding tired and slow.

What about me? I thought, irritated. It was obvious enough that she had a thing for her teammate, but that didn't mean she had to completely overlook the client she was supposed to protect. Are all Konoha genin this rude?

"Yeah, more or less," Sasuke answered, grabbing the bag off the ground. His expression became perplexed, and when he looked down to examine the bag, he sighed. "Shit, this isn't mine."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"I took Satoko's bag by mistake," he said, opening it to check its contents. He clicked his tongue and dropped his arms while still holding the bag. "Damn it, that idiot only packed ingredients for cooking."

"Surely those can be useful somehow," I nearly pleaded.

I thought a shinobi's belongings was supposed to be more useful than mine!

"Agh, my body feels so heavy…" Sakura groaned, jerking her head up as though she was trying to keep awake. "It was the tea, wasn't it…?"

After a loud sigh, she held her head and took deep breaths, as though it would help clear her mind and fix whatever was wrong with them.

"It tasted weird," she continued, her words gradually getting more sluggish. "I feel...weird."

"It was spiked," Sasuke drawled, eyes looking rather glazed and wandering, then began to wander away from the campsite himself. "Tch, can't believe I didn't notice such a…"

Sakura nodded once with a heavy drop of her head, then followed suit. I would have laughed at how ridiculous they looked if not for the horrible context.

"I also drank the tea, but I think I'm alright. I feel...oddly calm, actually," I said after having finally caught my breath again, now following them deeper into the forest. Actually, now that I thought about it, maybe the tea had something to do with why I hadn't broken down even though he was-

No, stop. Not now.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. It wouldn't do me well to think about him right now. I was still in danger, and so long as I wasn't having a panic attack, I had to use my time wisely to get out of it. It was an odd feeling, being thankful towards the person who drugged me, but I would be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the reduced anxiety.

"Weird…" Sakura interrupted my thoughts with a sigh and dropped her head back, knocking it against the tree. "Ooow. "

"Stop it, you're too loud," Sasuke hissed, looking just as worse for wear. "We need to keep moving while we still can, before the drug really takes effect. Kakashi-sensei made us invisible, so that should buy us some time."

"Invisible?" I repeated, drawn to his odd choice of words.

He nodded and opened his mouth to presumably clarify what he meant, but closed it upon a loss of words. "...Yes, invisible," he simply repeated instead.

"At least one of you is still sensible," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. "Kind of."

After a few minutes of walking, I noticed he was constantly looking at me over his shoulder. I thought it was because he was making sure I was still there until he stopped and looked at me, annoyed.

"Why are you still here?" he said rather pointedly with a heavy nod. For emphasis, I suppose. "You can disappear. You're just taking up space."

My jaw dropped and I looked down at the pipsqueak with wide eyes.

"Excuse me? "

"It's… safer to travel in small numbers. If you're going to stick around, then make yourself useful and stay behind as a distraction." Sasuke took a deep breath, his eyes clearly getting heavy as he fought to stay sober, and maybe even awake. "You're just… putting us in danger like this."

"Noo," Sakura whined, clamping her hand down on my shoulder. Given how much pressure she was putting on me, it seemed to be for her own sake rather than mine. "This is fun! Satoko is fun. Besides, teams are supposed to stick together!"

I furrowed my brow. Something must've been terribly wrong if they were mistaking my likeness for that of an obnoxious little blonde. What irked me more, however, was how Dark and Brooding seemed to genuinely consider what Perky and Pink said.

"You're supposed to protect me!" I hissed, snapping their attentions back to me.

"Clones don't get protected," Sasuke retorted, his words getting more and more sluggish by the sentence.

My jaw went slack as I stared in a brief moment of stunned silence before I finally managed to say, absolutely flabbergasted, "I'm not a clone."

The genin squinted at me, expression blank and eyes glazed as he apparently struggled very hard to process this information. Sakura was too busy stroking a nearby tree to be of any use.

"This feels so weird…" she whispered, squinting her eyes as she slowly dragged her hand across the bark. "Sasuke-kun, come feel it."

I'm going to die.

Thankfully, Sasuke was still sober enough to ignore Sakura's...solicitation.

"That doesn't make any sense," he finally said, his pronunciation slow and careful. "How can you be the real one if the real one is with the caravan?"

Unfortunately, he wasn't sober enough to rationalize. I sucked in a deep breath and brushed my hands through my hair, tugging them all the way down to the ends. As much as I wanted to scream, I had to be patient so I could somehow save my own hide despite being accompanied by two of the shinobi hired to do that very thing. What a waste of money.

"I'm the real one because the one with the caravan is fake. Got it? I'm the real- ow! Did you just pinch me?!"

Sasuke pulled his hand back and looked between his hand and my arm with great intensity before finally saying, "...Okay, I believe you."

Screw patience, I'm going to kill these idiots myself.

I was just about ready to pull him by his stupid spiky hair and shake some sense into his head when Sakura contributed her insightful remark.

"Oooh nooooo," she whispered between giggles. "Somebody messed uuuup! "

"You! You two messed up!" I scowled, finding myself at a loss of what to do with my hands due to being so damn frustrated.

The effect of whatever drug we had ingested was only getting stronger as time passed, which meant the longer we stood around, the less sober we would be. I didn't feel like I was getting any less coherent, but I wasn't willing to take any chances.

"Ooh, that's true, huh. Out of aaall those clones, we picked the real one! What are the odds?" Sakura said, still leaning against the tree. "This is baaaaad..."

Her short laughs told me she felt otherwise, or at least couldn't find it in her to take the situation seriously.

"Whatever, let's just go alrea- OW! STOP PINCHING ME!"

"I'm just...making sure," Sasuke said, holding his hands up defensively. Then, without warning, he shoved me so hard I knew I would get bruises on my shoulders.

"What the hell was that for?!" I demanded, but the presence of two new figures answered me without a word.

"Hand her over and there won't be a problem," one of the assassins demanded, weapons drawn. "We know you're in no shape to fight, so it would save us all the trouble."

"Get away from us!" Sakura screamed, aimlessly whipping kunai towards the enemy.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was digging through Satoko's bag and eventually pulled something out. "This should buy us some time," he said as he threw it at the assassins.

I didn't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't an explosion of light- no, not light. Instead of a blinding light, they were like small droplets raining down on the enemy, flashing in and out of existence every second like magic.

Glitter .

" *✧･ﾟ:* Whatﾟthe･hell?! *ﾟ+.*.｡ " the assassins shouted, covering their eyes and coughing from inhaling the tiny particles.

"Holy crap! " Sakura exclaimed brightly, completely taken in by sight before us.

I couldn't blame her. Maybe it was because of the sheer ridiculousness of it all, but for whatever reason, I couldn't help but stare wide-eyed as a cloud of glitter sparkling under the moonlight despite the fact that death was standing a mere ten feet away from me. It might have helped that death was also sparkling under the moonlight.

"That's not used for cooking," I whispered in awe, but could only stare for so long. The next thing I knew, Sasuke had grabbed my wrist once again and was dragging me away from the two assassins. "What the hell was that?!"

"Satoko's homemade weapon, though not the one I was expecting," he answered flatly. I couldn't tell if he was impressed or annoyed. Probably a mix of both, I thought. Mostly the latter.

"Get on my back. We'll move faster that way," Sasuke demanded. I had no room to object and jumped onto his back.

He immediately sagged a little under my full weight and I braced myself for a hard landing, but he managed to stabilize himself and adjusted me into a more comfortable position before breaking into a full sprint.

"Let's go, Sakura!" he yelled behind him, and his teammate immediately rushed after us.

I sighed in relief and settled my chin on his shoulder, his face close enough for me to hear his rushed and staggered breathing.

"Sakura, stay in front of me," Sasuke ordered, nodding his head towards the front, then held out Satoko's bag to her. "And carry this."

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked with a grin as she ran ahead, slinging a bag over a shoulder each. "We should use another one of those things!"

"Focus," Sasuke hissed. "We need to escape and find shelter for the night."

"I know a place!" the kunoichi exclaimed, bouncing further ahead. "I know a seeecret tunnel."

I had a feeling that Sasuke's reason for putting her in the front was less about her taking the lead and more about making sure she didn't elope with the next tree instead of running away from the two assassins trying to kill us. At least she still seemed rational enough to keep running and not make a pit stop to admire the nearest flower.

After several long minutes of running at full speed, the genin eventually began to slow to a stop just as I felt a drop of water fall on my head, followed by several others.

Sakura gasped and looked up. "Whoaaaaa… The sky is leaking. Somebody should plug it."

I sighed heavily and slumped my head on Sasuke's shoulder in defeat. Great.

"This is good," he said in response to my despondent sighing. "The rain will cover our tracks."

"Oh. I didn't think of that, " I said, then murmured to myself, "It's getting cold, though."

I tugged at the muffler Satoko had given me earlier, pulling it over my mouth and nose. It didn't help much since it was already getting soaked by the rain, but for now, it was better than nothing.

I hope she's okay. I need to return this.

"We'll find shelter eventually, so we can dry off then," Sasuke said.

"That's true! You're so smart, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura swooned, and then literally swooned with the weight of the bags and almost hit her head against a tree. "Whoa-"

I hope for her own sake she doesn't remember this when she's sober.

I couldn't help but notice how much more coherent Sasuke was compared to her, which didn't seem to make sense if they both drank the tea. Granted, he was pretty confused and his vocabulary seemed to have diminished greatly, but thankfully he could still stay on task and most importantly, remembered that we were in danger in the first place. That didn't change the fact that he looked a little worse for wear, though.I would have offered to walk again if my feet weren't so sore from all the walking we had already done.

"The drugs haven't affected you as much as Sakura-chan. Why is that?" I finally asked. The silence was starting to feel a little unnerving, anyway.

Sasuke pondered for a moment before answering flatly, "My parents used to drug me a lot."

I stared blankly at the side of his face, mouth parted and eyes wary. "Uh…"

"They were ninjas," he said, as though it explained everything.

It did not.

I pressed my lips into a line and looked ahead. "Forget it."

I wasn't sure how long we travelled for, but I knew that I must have dozed off a bit because the next thing I knew, the rain had become a faint drizzle. Gradually, I blinked my vision clear and perked up, only then realizing that Sasuke was still carrying me.

A shinobi's stamina sure is something else, I thought, lifting my head off his shoulders.

The moon was now high up in the sky, just barely providing us with enough light through the thinning clouds. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, then set my hands on Sasuke's shoulders.

"How long has it been?" I asked, feeling much less disoriented than before.

"About an hour," Sakura answered, sounding more like herself again. She looked much more alert and no longer had a sway in her steps. "We're almost there, so you can get off Sasuke-kun now."

Why do I feel like she's threatening me?

I had no interest in the boy, though, and I did want to stretch my legs out, so I complied. "I can walk the rest of the way. Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

Sakura's irritated flich did not go unnoticed, and as adorable yet still mildly irritating her crush was, I decided that maybe I shouldn't poke the bear with a stick.

The target of her affections - or perhaps victim was a more accurate title - set me down carefully with great control, which I took as an indication that he was also sober. Knowing that the two shinobi meant to protect me were back to their normal selves was greatly reassuring, especially since I was starting to sober up and was now bracing myself for the wave of stress and anxiety from the events that had transpired that was bound to eventually crash into me.

"So, you both seem like yourselves again," I said conversationally in hopes of getting my mind off the attack. "Sakura-chan, you're very fond of trees, aren't you? And you won't try to pinch me again, will you, Sasuke-san? That really hurt, you know."

The genin immediately became tense and looked away, and I stifled a laugh.

"Let's...not talk about it," Sakura laughed meekly, eyes looking anywhere but here.

"Ever," Sasuke agreed with sunken eyes, then held his hand out to Sakura. "Give me my bag."

"Oh, right!"

Before Sakura could move an inch, however, I gestured for her to stop and glared at the boy. "You could be a little more polite when asking for something, you know."

"Wha- no, no!" Sakura laughed even more nervously than before as she stepped around me to hand over the bag. "Sasuke-kun is just like that, but he doesn't really mean to be rude. Right, Sasuke-kun?"

The dark-haired genin simply grunted and took the bag, but then very quietly said, "...Thanks."

I smiled to myself, then to Sakura, who looked at me and quickly turned away to hide her presumably flushed cheeks. It was hard to tell given how dark it was, but from what I knew about her, her heart was probably on the verge of exploding.

After a few more minutes of walking, Sakura jogged up ahead and pushed a wad of tall grass out of the way, revealing the entrance to a small cave.

"We're here," she said, gesturing for us to enter. "We'll have to crawl through, but we can stand once we're inside. Since the entrance is so small, it's a great place for laying low."

"It's not ideal if we get caught, though," Sasuke said critically, and Sakura's shoulder immediately slumped.

"I...didn't think of that," she said, sounding defeated, then flashed a shaky smile. "But it's better than nothing, right?"

"Hn."

I huffed and wrung out Satoko's muffler before approaching the entrance. "It's much better than sleeping outside. Thank you, Sakura-chan. How did you find this place?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" she said modestly, but looked rather proud despite her tone of voice. "Every genin is expected to know the general geography around Konoha, including natural shelters and safe houses."

"I can't imagine having to memorize all that. That's very impressive," I said, smiling at her before crawling into the cave.

It really was spacious on the inside, and I had plenty of room to stand. There were a few streams of moonlight shining through cracks at the top of the cave, which made it just light enough to see each other's faces. Water had dripped through the cracks, so parts of the ground was damp, but at least the areas by the walls were still dry.

"It's a little cramped," I said, spreading my arms out. I wasn't particularly tall, but even so, my fingertips brushed each end of the cave.

"We're going to take turns standing guard, so it really only needs enough space for two people at a time," Sakura said. "There aren't really any other options, though. Sorry."

"Ah- my apologies, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful. I'm just not used to this sort of thing," I said, lowering my arms. "Speaking of which, how will we bathe?"

"There's no stream around, so we'll use wet cloths to clean ourselves," Sasuke said as he opened his bag. "We need to change into dry clothes, t-"

He paused, eyes fixated on the contents of his bag. I tilted my head curiously as he sighed, brow furrowed in irritation, then cursed quietly under his breath. Sakura seemed to remember something as well and perked up.

"Ah, that's Satoko's bag," she said, only then recalling the explosion of glitter that helped us escape. "...I guess we kinda owe her one, huh. Even if her ideas are stupid."

Sasuke didn't answer and instead dug through Satoko's bag, presumably looking for the clothes.

"What else is in there, anyway?" I asked curiously. If that was one of Satoko's homemade weapons, surely she must have other interesting things.

"More of that homemade weapon, cooking wine, and…" Sasuke held up a spherical pouch covered in stains of white powder and made a face. "...Flour."

With nothing else to say, he put the pouch back and pulled out a dry set of clothes. "Here."

"Thanks," I said, taking what appeared to be a plain, long-sleeved shirt and pants, as well as a dry cloth. They looked a bit small, but they would have to do. Anything was better than staying wet and shivering.

"What about you, Sasuke-kun? I have extra clothes, too, if you-"

"Satoko packed extra," he interrupted, quickly pulling out another shirt and pants.

"Oh, right, of course she did!" Sakura laughed, sounding rather forceful about it. I couldn't help but wonder what that girl was thinking behind every smile. "A-Anyway, make sure you set your clothes somewhere dry, Takara-san."

Shortly after she said that, the two genin got down to business and started stripping. Right there. In the same room. Together. I found myself at a loss of what to do until Sakura started tugging off her sports bra.

"W-W-Wait!" I stammered, immediately rushing over and grabbing her wrists. "H-Hold on! What in the world are you doing in front of Sasuke-san?!"

Confused and startled, Sakura looked at me with wide, green eyes. "Huh? I'm just changing! Is there something wrong?"

"Y-Yes! Sasuke-san is right there!" I proclaimed, gesturing at him. Did this girl have no shame? And to think, she was about to present her upper body completely nude to a boy!

"Hn. Figures that only a civilian like you would worry about something like that. Shinobi don't have time to think about who sees what. We're too busy trying to survive," Sasuke said, casually wringing out his shirt. I quickly looked away when I realized that he was completely topless. "Does it look like this cave comes with segregated change rooms? It's too dark to see much, anyway."

"E-Even so, this is not how I was raised! I would greatly appreciate it if you at least turned away while I changed, Sasuke-san!" I stammered, feeling my cheeks and ears becoming warmer by the second. "Please make sure he remains facing the other way until I'm done changing, Sakura-chan."

"Sasuke-kun isn't like that!" she retorted. "How about we set up traps outside while you change? That way you can change in private. That works, right, Sasuke-kun?"

He scowled and seemed to briefly consider putting his wet shirt back on before tossing it aside. "Yeah. We should scout the perimeters, too. Just don't take too long - we still need to go over what we know."

"Okay, then it's settled! We'll be back soon, Takara-san," Sakura said, then shamelessly clung to Sasuke as she pulled him to cave entrance. "Let's go, Sasuke-kun!"

I sighed and waited until I couldn't hear their footsteps anymore before I even thought about taking even my shoes off.

Now calmer than before, I carefully peeled my wet clothes off and wiped myself down before changing into Satoko's dry clothes. The shirt was a little tight and the pants were a bit short, but at least it was breathable. I had never seen a shirt made from such material - it was very different from the clothes I normally wore.

Shinobi and civilians are different in many more ways than I thought.

Soon after, the genin returned and got changed as well, during which I made a point to look away from Sasuke. Once everybody was clean - or at least, cleaner than before - and most importantly, dry, we sat on the dry areas by the cave walls to discuss the situation.

"Do you know who might be behind this?" Sakura asked, starting us off.

"Those were assassins, so we already know that there's more to this than we thought. Hiding anything from us would only put us all at a greater risk," Sasuke informed, though it sounded much like a warning.

"To be honest, I originally suspected my uncle, but now he's..." I murmured, resting my hands in my lap.

"Your uncle?" Sasuke repeated, seeking clarification.

I nodded once and started gripping tightly at the hem of my shirt. Up until then, I hadn't been able to really reflect on what happened with a sober mind, and when I did, that wave of stress and anxiety I had been anticipating finally crashed down on me.

Everything felt distant, like I was trapped in my own bubble of sorrow. I squeezed my hands together and looked down, and before I knew it, my tears started to well up. My vision blurred and my breath hitched, and every time I exhaled, my body trembled despite the fact that I was no longer cold.

I was thankful towards the genin, who simply sat and waiting patiently until I had calmed down. Only when my breathing had evened out once again did Sakura ask, "By any chance, was your uncle…?"

I nodded and took a deep breath to ensure that I had calmed down before speaking. "Uncle Kanjaku, yes."

"What made you suspect him?" Sasuke asked.

"My mother passed away a month ago and, because she was a rather influential person in the capital, left me a rather large inheritance, whose details only Uncle Kanjaku and I should have known about. That's also the reason I was to be smuggled to the capital rather than transported through more official channels."

"Kanjaku-san must have been worried that others might have caught wind of the inheritance and come after you," Sakura remarked, and I nodded.

"But, because of that inheritance, and because he was the one who had given us the tea, I automatically assumed that he was the one who did this." I clenched my shirt again and grit my teeth. "I'm such a fool. I doubted my own family, and now he's…!"

Sakura placed her hand on my shoulder gently. "What happened isn't your fault. Given what you knew, it only made sense to come to that conclusion. If he wasn't the one who hired those assassins, we just need to find out who did."

"No, we can't rule him out yet," Sasuke said.

"What do you mean? How can he still be a suspect when he's- why would the assassins kill the person who hired them?!" I demanded, feeling my heart starting to beat faster as my anger rose. "My uncle was a good man! He had always been part of Hanjou-san's group, and they would all take care of me during my times in Konoha. He insisted himself that he would personally bring me to the capital to ensure my safety!"

"Sa...Sasuke-kun, don't you think pushing this is going too far, even for you?" Sakura cautioned.

Even so, he didn't let up, and I grit my teeth and resisted the urge to shake him by his collar.

"Just think about it for a minute. He had motive and opportunity, and you said that he's the one who insisted on personally bringing you here. Plus, think about what kind of injury he sustained."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I sneered. "My uncle is dead and yet you still-!"

"Ah!" Sakura gasped, cutting me off. "N...No, Sasuke-kun is right. This is suspicious."

I shot her a dejected look and my shoulders sagged. "Sakura-chan…"

"Kanjaku-san supposedly received a fatal blow to the head, but any shinobi knows that although head wounds bleed a lot, they aren't necessarily that serious. It's...possible that he faked his death in order to separate from the group and return to the capital, first."

"N...No, this is merely conjecture-!"

"I overheard Satoko talking to him before the attack," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "She was questioning him about why he was so fixated on the trees, and he said that merchants use landmarks to designate meeting points between villages."

"He could have used landmarks to tell the assassins how to find us, or followed signs left by assassins in order to guide us straight into their ambush," Sakura concluded, her voice now lower and serious. "That might be why he insisted on transporting you personally. Nobody would find that odd at all because he's your uncle."

"But...why would he fake his death in the first place? That would just make him even more suspicious!"

"Assuming we were still alive after the battle to realize he faked his death," Sasuke said. "It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that five assassins could kill a civilian and a few genin."

I found myself at a loss of words, not because I was offended, but because everything they were saying made sense when I put it all together. I leaned back, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of cold rock against my back, and exhaled slowly.

"Even if this is all true, why would he do such a thing…?" I whispered, mostly to myself. "He wasn't perfect, but he always took care of me when my mother could not. I never would have imagined that he would betray me over money."

"People kill for all sorts of reasons," Sasuke murmured, his voice sounding cold and distant despite the fact that he was sitting right next to me. "You said your mother was influential. Exactly how much power did she have?"

"She owned quite a bit of property and used her wealth and power to fund a program that provided jobs for shinobi who can no longer fight for whatever reason. They also accepted reformed criminals, like petty thieves and the like. She gave them a new life and for many, a reason to live. I was studying in Konoha to become an official so I could help her with the program."

"It sounds like your mother was a kind person," Sakura said, and I immediately scoffed, surprising her. "Did I say something wrong?"

"My mother was hardly the sort. She barely acknowledged my accomplishments. It always felt like succeeding was the only possible option for me, as though it was naturally expected and thus not worth being praised for." I leaned my head back and looked up at the cracks in the cave as memories of my late mother returned to me. "I still remember the time I told her I had been accepted for an apprenticeship at the embassy so vividly. She was going over her own paperwork and didn't even look up at me or crack even the faintest of smiles. Instead, she continued to sign those papers and asked me if I would expect praise for a successful bowel movement."

I couldn't help but laugh a little as I recalled her words, and the hour after that I had spent crying.

"She always equated my success to such primitive actions. She was strict and relentless and pushed to get her way, and I would be lying if I said she was comforting… but even so," I sighed, and couldn't help but smile to myself, "I admired her. I wanted nothing more than to make her proud, and I know that she must have been, otherwise she wouldn't have even acknowledged my existence. It was precisely because I was doing well that she remained unfazed. It was a bit hurtful, yes, but I knew that if she responded in such a way, it meant that I was living up to her expectations."

"She was the sort of person to get the job done," Sasuke said, and I nodded.

"Exactly. I suppose such mental fortitude is necessary to survive in the upper ranks of the capital. Those who didn't know her labelled her as an ice queen, but if only they knew that she was the one who founded and maintained the relocation system for retired shinobi."

"Then, it's not entirely wrong to say that your mother was kind," Sakura smiled.

"And that the inheritance she left for you is definitely big enough to kill for," Sasuke remarked.

I flinched, but nodded. After reminiscing about my mother, I had forgotten why I was even talking about her in the first place.

"I suppose so, yes, but for my uncle to do such a thing to me…" I lowered my gaze and ran my hands through my hair, tugging my fingers through the knots and tangles.

When I weighed all the years I'd known him against the events of the past several hours, it sounded nothing like the Uncle Kanjaku that I knew, but when I thought about how it was a possibility… suddenly, I felt enraged.

There's no way this could be true...could it?

"Let's get some rest for now," Sakura suggested softly, getting up from her spot. "Sasuke-kun, I can stand watch, first. You must be tired after carrying Takara-san all the way here."

"I'm fine," he said, standing up as well. "I'll take first watch. I'll wake you up in a few hours."

Sakura looked like she was about to say something, but the dark-haired genin was already exiting the cave. Defeated, she sighed and instead turned to me with a gentle smile.

"Let's get some sleep, then, and try not to overthink things right now - we'll find out the truth tomorrow," Sakura said reassuringly. "Kakashi-sensei told us to regroup at the capital. I'm sure he knows more about what's going on, so we'll ask him then."

I nodded and mustered up enough energy to give her a smile. Then, after getting as comfortable as I could on the thin cloth Sakura had spread out for us to sleep on, I fell asleep with doubt weighing down on me and exhaustion seeping through my veins.

Chapter 13: The Mediocre Escape 2

Summary:

Damn Satoko, back at it again with your existential crisis and powers of deduction.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

There was a brief moment of silence as Kakashi and I faced the reality of the situation. Namely, that the client we were supposed to protect was currently being guarded by two drugged genin. It...wasn't the best turn of events, to say the least.

"Let's go back to the camp for now," Kakashi finally said, hoisting the corpse of the assassin that attacked me over his shoulder. "Our new goal is to regroup before reaching the capital."

Well, at least he isn't blaming me for this. I bit my lip doubtfully. ...I hope.

Just then, I felt a drop of water fall on my head. We both looked up at the cloudy skies just in time to greet the rain with our faces.

Wow. Neither of us even asked if things could get worse. I made a face at the sky. Not sure that I'm a fan of this preemptive pathetic fallacy.

"We'd better hurry before the rain washes everything away," Kakashi sighed and immediately turned to leave.

"Do you think everybody else got away alright?" I asked, careful not to put too much weight on my injured leg as I followed suit. The pain had lessened to a dull throbbing, but it still stung if I flexed the muscle too hard.

"Despite their condition, my genjutsu and your clones should've given them pretty good odds of escaping." He paused and looked at the bandages on my leg. "Hmm… Let me dispose of this, first, then I'll carry you back to the campsite. We can't waste any time and you have a hard enough time keeping up with me as it is."

I opened my mouth in preparation for a comeback, but decided that it wasn't worth the effort and nodded instead. He disappeared into the forest and reappeared after a few minutes to pull me onto his back. We arrived at the campsite in what felt like seconds.

After all the chaos and close calls, the calm felt almost suffocating. It left too much time to think and really absorb what just happened, especially considering that the caravan knew this was a possibility, which not only means that they blatantly lied when making their mission request, but also that they weren't just merchants.

Probably smugglers of some sort. Makes me wonder who Takara really is if somebody put a hit on her.

"Look for anything that can be salvaged," Kakashi said. "I'll try to figure out where they all went."

I nodded and started with the center of the campsite.

The fire pit was destroyed. Burnt logs and ashes had been kicked aside, leaving black scars in the grass and dirt, which was quickly turning into mud. Jars and miscellaneous wares were scattered about - some dirty but intact, most shattered or cracked. I took each step with caution, not wanting to cut myself on any potential broken shards that were invisible in the night. The clouded moonlight wasn't helping much, and I got the impression that we weren't going to light another fire anytime soon.

After doing a round, I realized that something felt off. Kind of like something was missing, maybe, but I couldn't say what exactly.

I pushed the feeling aside and instead tiptoed around the sleeping area in search for our bags. We had left in such a hurry that we didn't have time to grab them on the way out, and there were a few things I'd packed that might come in handy now that the mission had taken a turn for the worse. When I eventually found one hidden against one of the sitting logs, I soon discovered that it was packed with basic essentials - extra weapons, a change of clothes, soldier pills, and an opened pack of beef jerky.

"It's Sasuke's," I said to myself. "...Where's mine?"

Somebody else must've taken it, because the only other bag I could find was Kakashi's. After setting the two bags by the campfire, I started searching the other side of the clearing. The sound of rain hitting something metallic caught my attention, and I found my weapons scattered across the ground.

"Aw, man, they're all muddy," I sighed, wiping them against my pants one by one before putting them away again. I wasn't really fond of having dirty clothes, but they were already pretty gross, so there wasn't much room for them to get any worse, anyway. Besides, I didn't want Kakashi judging me for using a leaf or something.

It was too dark to see them clearly, so I dragged my feet across the grass in search of more of my weapons and ended up nearly tripping on the corpse of the first assassin that attacked me.

"Augh, shit," I shuddered, suddenly feeling the urge to wash my sandals and feet.

It hadn't really struck me until then, but there was a dead body right in front of me - a body that could've easily been me if it weren't for Kakashi. Now that I had time to think about it, I realized that I almost died like, three times within the past several minutes . And Kakashi saved my ass every time.

Good to know he's not just strong because of plot armour.

Not that I ever really doubted him, but the reassurance was nice.

My focus went back to the body.

I stared at it quietly for a moment and unwillingly imagined myself in its place. Cold, unmoving, breathless - I vaguely registered that my heart rate was increasing, and I started to vividly recall each and every single time a clone was killed.

The morbidity of it all never really had time to sink in until now.

"Oh my god," I whispered, voice choking before I could even try to hold it back.

My throat tightened and I bit my lip.

I almost died.

Slowly, my legs weakened and I sat myself down without much of a sound, not caring about the mud that was surely staining my clothes. I hugged my legs against my chest and rested my chin on my knees as I was forced to finally accept my new reality.

It didn't matter if I originally knew it as a fictional world of ninja magic with neglected characters and a thematically inconsistent plot. What mattered is that they were real now , from the desire to protect my teammates to the pain that came with getting stabbed in the leg, to the fear of dying at a moment's notice. It was the world that I now lived in - the one that I had to survive in.

I suddenly became painfully aware of my mortality. My very fragile, soon-to-be-if-not-already-frequently-endangered mortality.

It was terrifying.

I must've made some sort of pathetic, wimpy sound, because the next thing I knew, Kakashi was standing next to me in all his judgemental glory.

"That doesn't look like the courage of the future Hokage," Kakashi chided softly, though he didn't sound very into it.

"It's the courage of a newbie twelve-year-old genin who only knows like, three jutsu," I mumbled into my knees, which were starting to get rather gross and wet from things other than the mud and rain.

Kakashi seemed to take a moment to plan out his response. I continued to try and stop my shoulders from shaking too hard as I took deep breaths to even out my breathing again.

"Well, you're at least putting two of them to good use," he finally said, patting my head. He couched down to my eye level and even in the dark with only one eye showing, I could tell he was smiling. "You did well."

It's amazing how just three words could make all the difference.

"It's been a long day," he said, standing up again. "Let's find a place to rest for the night. We'll be at the capital by tomorrow afternoon if we leave at dawn."

"What about him?" I sniffed, wiping my eyes with one hand and pointing to the dead assassin who started my whole existential crisis.

"I can deal with him myself," Kakashi said.

"And the other two? Are we still gonna regroup?"

The jounin shook his head. "The enemy covered most of their tracks and the rain took care of the rest. My ninken wouldn't be able to trace their scent, either, but that means the enemy will have a harder time tracking Sasuke, Sakura, and the caravan. We'll have to hope for the best."

I'd be lying if I said that a good part of my being disheartened by the news wasn't from the implication that he wouldn't be summoning his ninken anytime soon.

I could go for some puppy cuddling right about now.

"I hope there's a river nearby," I said as I stood up, shaking as much mud off my sandals as I could.

"There is," Kakashi said, giving me a look that said that was something I should've known. I was getting really good at identifying that look. "We'll leave after I dispose of this body."

I swallowed and nodded before promptly looking away, silently thanking him that he wasn't insisting that I helped. I guess I'd made it obvious enough that I'd faced and accepted enough morbid realities for one night. It was a rare sort of leniency he was willing to give, so I gladly accepted the chance to mind my own business.

As I watched Kakashi dragging the body away, I suddenly realized what was missing.

"Hey, Sensei," I whispered, eyes slowly trailing from him to the lone corpse. "Where's Kanjaku?"

With two bags in tow, neither of them mine, Kakashi and I discussed what we knew about the situation while we headed towards the stream. The moon was just starting to peek above the canopy, but it was enough to light up the way.

"So, it's pretty clear that Kanjaku is the one behind all this, what with the whole faking his death thing and all," I said, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "Not to mention, he tried to drug us."

"Which means he's probably involved in some kind of drug trade," Kakashi added.

Only Sasuke and Sakura actually ingested any, though, since I poured mine out and Kakashi didn't drink any tea to begin with. I wonder if he was berating himself for not checking things thoroughly, but to be fair, nobody would suspect the friendly merchant on the team's first C-Rank mission. Knowing him, though, that probably wouldn't stop him from hating himself more than he already does.

I pushed the thought aside and instead asked, "What kind of drug is he trading, anyway?"

"Well, how did you feel after you ingested it?"

"Calm, mostly. Like, being taken hostage by the bandit didn't actually scare me much. I was a little disoriented at first, though - it took me a while to realize what was going on. It was really bitter, too." I crossed my arms and furrowed my brow as I tried to remember more details. "Oh! I think there was also some euphoria when you summoned your ninken."

"Maa… It's hard to say whether that was due to the drug or if it was just you," Kakashi said meekly.

I was about to object, but then recalled the first time our team got a dog-walking mission and conceded with a nod. "That's true."

"Anyway," Kakashi sighed, leaning his head back, "it sounds like an opiate. Opium, most likely, since that's the most common one in circulation."

"Hm… If Sadame-san gave me the drug, does that mean she's involved in this, too?"

"You said Kanjaku offered you some spices after the attack, and that he didn't seem to know Sadame-san already gave you some," he said thoughtfully, "which either means that she depleted their inventory without consulting him, or simply didn't notice that she took the wrong jar. Since every ounce counts in the drug trade, it was most likely the latter."

Which meant that the rest of the caravan members had no idea Kanjaku had been using their wagon to smuggle drugs into the capital. There must be a lot of trust for them not to have noticed such a thing, which only made it that much more terrible and aggravating that he was using and betraying them.

"Okay, so Kanjaku is selling opium in the capital. I guess we should bring that up to whoever's in charge at the capital. Like, the Daimyou, or something?"

"Maybe not to Daimyou-sama directly, but someone with a high level of authority, yes."

"That doesn't really explain why he'd wanna kill Takara-san, though, or why he'd risk using the caravan if they aren't involved," I said, recieving a nod of confirmation from Kakashi. "Unless...they are? Like, do you think maybe he bought them over already?

"It's unlikely they are. If Kanjaku felt the need to send five assassins after Takara-san, she's either someone very important, or killing her means he gets something substantially beneficial. Both mean Konoha wouldn't trust mercenaries to transport her. It's safe to assume that Hanjou-san and the others are loyal to Konoha."

So I guess I'm supposed to know that sometimes mercenaries do people-smuggling, huh. Konoha sure does have a lot of background shit going on.

"That's reassuring," I sighed, thankful that we didn't have to add three more people to our list of potential enemies. Four, if you counted their pet four-legged monster. Three, again, if you considered the fact that it was already on the list to begin with.

Anyway.

"Why would Kanjaku want to kill Takara-san, anyway? She looks like an ordinary girl to me."

"Like I said, she must be important. The capital is very political, after all."

Just then, I remembered Takara's reaction when Kanjaku appeared to be dead, and before I fully registered the conclusion drawn from my train of thought, I blurted, "Maybe for inheritance?"

Kakashi tilted his head towards me curiously, silently prompting me to elaborate.

"When Kanjaku faked his death, it sounded like Takara-san was calling him her uncle. What if Kanjaku's after an inheritance, or something?"

There was a sparkle in Kakashi's eye that told me he had also remembered something important. "That's probably it. Good work, Satoko."

I grinned, but my moment of pride only lasted a second. "What makes you so sure, though?"

"I heard news about an official who died about a month ago. Apparently she was rather influential, since she founded and lead some sort of employment program in the capital," Kakashi murmured, holding his chin in thought. "Considering the time it takes to locate the next of kin and process mission requests, Takara-san might very well be that official's daughter."

I was about to ask him how he was sure about that timeline, then realized that it probably wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with things like the next of kin of some dead politician and processing missions.

"How can you be so sure that she's the officials daughter?" I asked instead.

"Officials don't die that often, especially when they're only in their forties. Even less often does a young girl being smuggled to the capital shortly after the death of the official get attacked by assassins. It's called putting two and two together, Satoko," he said with a patronizing smile.

I stuck my tongue out at him like the mature twelve-year-old I now was and huffed.

Gonna punch him in his stupid mole face one day I swear to god. Yeah, that's right! I know what you look like, bitch!

Kakashi ignored my mockery and continued. "That being said, Takara must have a large inheritance waiting for her. Such an inheritance would be more than enough to motivate Kanjaku to kill her for it."

Another thought occurred to me just then.

"If Kanjaku's willing to go so far over an inheritance, do you think maybe he had something to do with her mother's death?" I asked, trying desperately to wrap my head around this. "There's just something about all this that bothers me… Like, why is he so sure that he'll get something out of the inheritance after killing Takara-san?"

"If Kanjaku is her mother's brother, normally one would assume that he was included in the will. However, if he wasn't included or simply wants more than he got, he could kill anybody else who inherited something. That way, any property would be passed onto him due to being a blood relative. If it's not that, then it's likely that he has a partner with enough power in the capital to ensure that he'll gain control over the inheritance even after it's been returned to the state."

"Either way, he's basically guaranteed money or property, or both, which anybody smuggling large amounts of drugs would probably want," I said, clicking my tongue. Just thinking about the guy was getting me pissed. "For some reason I'm willing to bet Kanjaku isn't the only one who would benefit from Takara-san's death, either, unless he single-handedly makes up the entire drug cartel."

Kakashi nodded and sighed. "We should work under the assumption that the city itself isn't safe. It's likely full of Kanjaku's accomplices."

"Hmm…" I brushed my hand through my hair and groaned. "This is giving me such a headache! Is it even possible to pull off an assassination in the middle of the capital? Especially if Takara's mom is supposed to be some bigshot. If he did, he must have had some help, right? Maybe he really does have someone helping him from the inside."

Judging from the way he lowered his head, I got the feeling Kakashi was starting to contemplate this possibility.

"Even if his injury wasn't serious, Kanjaku's head still would have bled a lot. Since all the assassins started chasing after us when we split up, somebody would have had to come get Kanjaku before he bled out."

"So then… There's really some other bigshot involved in this?" I asked, seeking clarification.

"Which means the palace probably isn't safe, either," he sighed, scratching his head. "Maa… we might not be able to report this to any officials. We don't know who's involved in the cartel and who isn't, after all."

I groaned and stuffed my hands in my pockets again, then thrashed around in frustration. "Agh, this is getting too confusing! Just what the hell is going on here?!"

Kakashi laughed tiredly and patted my head. "Politics."

The rain had lightened up to a drizzle by the time we reached the stream. Our clothes were soaked through from before, which meant having to find something to change into. Kakashi had his own stuff, but since the only other bag I could find was Sasuke's… Well, at least we were about the same size.

I made sure Sasuke's spare clothes were dry enough to wear before I started washing up, first by taking a seat on one of the the rocks littered by the edge of the stream and dipping my feet into the water to rinse off any loose mud. I shuddered at the temperature and swished them around as I tried to get used to it.

"I'm not gonna get hypothermia if I bathe in this, will I?" I asked Kakashi, who was stripping down to his sleeveless mask-shirt hybrid and rolling up his pants.

"Didn't the Academy teach you how to warm yourself up with chakra?" he asked with the disapproving look I'd become incredibly familiar with.

"...No," I said carefully, pulling my feet out of the water. "Not that I remember, anyway."

Which was true. If Protagonist really had learned Useful Ninja Basics #3, they still hadn't come back to me. At least it made it incredibly easy for me to play through with the idiot role.

He sighed and put on an air that told me I was about to get a crash course on whatever that technique was. I suppose it was a good thing that he took it upon himself to actually teach me something useful. Either he figured this was important enough, or it might just be that my calling him out actually stuck with him.

Well, I can dream, can't I?

"It's similar to how you manipulate your chakra to climb trees. Chakra circulates just like blood, except unlike blood, you can manipulate your chakra internally. If you manipulate it so your chakra circulates more quickly, you can use it to warm up, or even dry off faster."

I gave him a dubious look. "That...kinda sounds like I could make myself explode."

Especially since everything I knew about circulating chakra came from Protagonist practising the Rasengan and bursting all those balloons and rubber balls. Can't say that's something I'd want to inflict on myself.

"You're not creating outwards pressure; you're just increasing its speed a little," Kakashi said. "Just like how an increased heart rate doesn't make you explode, either."

"Oh."

"Besides, chakra doesn't work like that. Otherwise, Sasuke would explode the second he tried to use a fire jutsu."

"...Oh . " That wouldn't be a very effective system if every shinobi was a potential suicide bomb. Which suddenly reminded me that Deidara's probably still a thing.

No. I can worry about that later. Like, two years later, at least.

"So how do I do it?" I asked, taking my mind off the subject.

"Focus on your chakra, except instead of focusing it at your feet, circulate it throughout your entire body. It should come more naturally since your chakra would be following its natural paths," he explained before tossing me two washcloths. "Wipe yourself down with those. Make sure you dry yourself properly if you haven't figured it out."

I snatched them out of the air before they flew into the stream. "...'Kay."

That...That makes a lot more sense than bathing my entire naked body in the cold river. I'm not sure why I didn't think that there was something extra to ninjas bathing in the dead of night.

I soaked the washcloth and wiped down my arms and legs, shuddering every time I came into contact with the cloth. I tried the chakra warming thing Kakashi explained and used the tiger hand seal to help focus my chakra, though whether or not it was working or if I was just going numb from the cold, I couldn't quite tell. It was still better than sleeping with mud all over me, though, and I had Sasuke's spare change with me, anyway, which made me wonder if that meant he had mine.

Too bad all I packed was a boring long-sleeve and pants.

I'd kill to see him wearing Protagonist's trademark orange, and while I have briefly contemplated the idea of simply transforming into him and various other people just to see how they'd look dressed in certain ways or making certain expressions, that was a personal boundary that I hoped to god no ninja actually crossed.

There's a lot of trust that goes into letting someone transform into you, I think.

Pushing that aside, I spared a glance at Kakashi to see what he was up to, and maybe catch a glimpse of what he looked like without his mask. It was dark and I could pretty much only make out his silhouette, so what caught my intention instead was the amount of clothes he had folded next to him.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, won't you get heatstroke wearing all those layers?" I said, pointing to the flak jacket and long-sleeve shirt neatly folded and put aside. That made three layers, one of them being skin-tight, if I included the sleeveless shirt he was still wearing. "I mean, normally. When it's daytime and not raining."

"Standard-issue clothes are more breathable than you think. Maybe you'd know that if you and your teammates tried them out sometime," he said with a one-eyed smile.

I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself from gaping.

This rude-ass bitch.

And for the record, the only thing that wasn't standard-issue about my outfit was the jacket.

"Not cool, Sensei," I muttered and silently went back to digging the mud out from between my toes.

When it came to wiping my torso, I spared a glance at Kakashi to see what he was doing. Common sense told me that, as far as ninjas were concerned, they wouldn't give two shits about stripping around each other in order to get clean, as long as there were weapons within reach. Still, I'd already made, or almost made, a lot of mistakes due to my social ignorance, so it was probably best to try and actively avoid making any more.

He seemed to just be wiping down as much as he could without actually taking his mask-shirt off, so I did the same by lifting and tucking my shirt under my chin so I could clean my stomach and back.

What caught me off guard, however, was when he very casually slipped his arms out from the shirt and lifted the binder he was wearing underneath so he could get to his chest.

...Oh.

I glanced away quickly, catching only a glimpse of the change in his silhouette before going back to minding my own business.

I wonder if this world uses "transgender" the same way mine does?

No doubt it would be weird to ask that, though, especially if he didn't want to say anything about it. Maybe I wasn't even supposed to say anything about it, considering how Kiba thought it was weird how I was reacting to the idea of being infatuated by Sakura. I sighed deeply and tried not to think too hard about it.

How the hell am I supposed to figure these things out without looking like an ass?

I decided to keep my questions to myself and pulled off my jacket and shirt to clean my torso. I was starting to get the hang of the chakra circulation thing, so it wasn't as uncomfortable anymore.

Various instances of falling on the ground or desperately trying to escape left me with several cuts and bruises, but I could literally see them healing already. The only evidence of my hand ever being wounded was a faint, pale line that was still disappearing. Even the wound in my leg was practically closed. It was still a bit raw, though, so I kept it covered to avoid infection. Watching everything heal that fast was surreal, to say the least, though it explained the lack of scars on my new body.

I wonder how many I'd have without Kurama.

I stared at my feet, silently watching the ripples glistening under the moonlight as I absently wiped under my arms and behind my neck.

After all the time spent in this world, it was only at that moment that I thought to look up and really take in the sight before me. Maybe I was too stressed before to really notice it, or maybe Protagonist's memories were so used to it that I had to actively realize that something was different on my own. No matter what the reason, I was glad that I chose that moment to acknowledge this world's night sky.

It was breathtaking, to say the least.

Every inch of the sky was covered in stars, as though it were a victim of one of my glittery concoctions, and a dark scar lined with stars and dust cut across the entire sky in a giant arch, starting from one end of the horizon to the other. I had always dreamed of seeing the clear night sky without the light pollution of a bustling city. Never would I have ever imagined that when I finally did, it would be here and now.

I set the cloth by my side and leaned back on my hands, taking in the feel of the few droplets of rain that still fell and the water brushing over my feet.

I was cold and exhausted, but for the first time in a long while, I felt at ease.

Notes:

After Credit Scene: Satoko sits alone by the stream. Kakashi is about to tell her to go to sleep, but instead decides to let her be. It's important to her to savour this moment, he thinks. The world feels silent and unmoving. Everything is at peace.

Chapter 14: Hide and Seek, Life and Death!

Summary:

Sakura does ninja things. Takara is thoroughly impressed.

Chapter Text

My body felt stiff and cold when I woke up the next morning. Somebody was shaking my shoulder, and when I mustered up the strength to open my eyes, I saw Sakura looking down at me, face slightly matted with dirt and dust. Sasuke was leaning by the cave entrance behind her, hands tucked in his pockets with Satoko's bag at his feet. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, and only then did I register that I was the last to awaken.

"Goodness- I'm so sorry, let's leave right away!" I stammered, running my hands through my hair to straighten it out as much as I could.

"It's fine. You had a long night, so we figured we should let you rest a while longer," Sakura said with a smile.

"Oh, yes, of course." I straightened out my clothes and looked between the two genin. "Thank you, that's very considerate of you."

"The sun's almost up. We need to move," Sasuke said with a hint of urgency in his voice. "Pack the blanket and let's go."

I nodded once and fought through the tiredness that weighed down my eyelids long enough to get onto my feet. I reached for the blanket, but was gently shooed away by Sakura, who took over and had it folded and packed within seconds.

Once everything was cleaned up, Sasuke and Sakura erased evidence of us having been there and we left the cave.

The sky was glowing a light orange-yellow behind the trees and the grass was wet with morning dew. I took care not to step in any puddles when crawling out of the cave and brushed the strands of grass off my legs once I was back up.

"We can make it to the capital by noon, if we hurry," Sakura said, checking the sky. "Although… This area has had a lot of rain lately, so the stream we need to cross might be flooded. We might not be able to cross it."

The kunoichi fidgeted with her fingers as she glanced at her teammate.

"Is there another route we can take? Surely the stream doesn't extend across the entire forest," I asked, hoping to provide some insight into the situation.

After a brief moment of thought, Sasuke clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"We can't risk being out in the forest too long. The assassins could still be looking for us," he said with a grimace. "We'll find a way to cross once we get there."

"Yeah! As long as we're with Sasuke-kun, we'll figure something out," Sakura smiled.

Of course. Because he's such a hero, I thought bitterly.

There were no complaints or objections I could think of, however, so we started our trek through the dense forest. It was quiet and peaceful, with the sounds of chirping from insects and birds alike. For a moment, it was peaceful, until a low growl disturbed the silence.

"My apologies, I didn't meant to-" I started, hand instinctively resting on my stomach out of politeness. "...Sorry. I'm just not used to this."

Although he clicked his tongue in annoyance while doing so, Sasuke held out a small bottle and have it a gentle shake. "Take one of these," he said, then handed me a steel water bottle. "And drink this."

"Oh, um…" I trailed off, feeling uneasy as I took the items. "I was hoping for something with a little more sustenance."

"Sorry, that's all we have right now," Sakura said with a genuinely apologetic look. "Everything else got ruined during the attack or lost along the way. We'll get something once we arrive at the capital, though."

"I see," I murmured, looking down at the pills and water. "Well, thank you for sharing what you have."

I opened the pill bottle, struggling a bit with the lid. The pills were dark and spherical, and smelled of herbal medicine. I shook one out and sniffed it curiously, having never seen something like it before.

"It's a type of soldier pill. It's a little bitter, but it'll keep you going." Sakura explained.

"What does it do?" I asked, hesitant to ingest the foreign substance.

"Hmm… Think of it as a really potent vitamin. Standard soldier pills allow shinobi to fight for around three days and three nights without rest, but this one is a moderate variation that only supplements you with nutrients."

"Does it matter, really, which variation I take?"

Sakura nodded. "Standard pills have a different effect on bodies with undeveloped chakra pools. It'd strain your body a lot, kind of like a really intense adrenaline rush, but-"

"You could have a heart attack," Sasuke finished bluntly.

I blinked and swallowed. "I...never realized our chakra pools are so different," I laughed softly before putting the pill in my mouth. It certainly was bitter, and I cringed a bit at the sharp flavour, but quickly got used to it and swallowed.

I always knew shinobi were different and capable of amazing things, but the more I learned about the way they operated, and how these differences were present even at the biological level, the less it felt like we were even the same species.

I washed away the bitter aftertaste of the pill with a gulp of water.

Despite the hunger, my energy returned just like they said it would. I at least felt more comfortable walking along with Sakura and Sasuke without aid. They were so much smaller and seemed so fragile, but as Sakura walked in front of me, I saw the back of her dress creased around developing muscle.

I couldn't say that I trusted them with my life at first, but they had already saved it once. I could trust them to do it again.

When we finally reached the stream, the sun was almost out from behind the canopy. We heard the stream before we saw it, and from the way the genin's expressions changed when we did, I braced myself for bad news.

"Damn it," Sasuke hissed once the stream came into view.

"It's flooded after all. Normally we'd be able to walk across the rocks and the stream is wider than usual, too." Sakura sighed as she crouched by the stream to fill her water bottle.

Sasuke did the same as he spoke. "The current is relatively steady, so we can still get across once we find an area that's more shallow."

I could never tell if he was just making a suggestion or not. Everything he said always sounded like an order, which only made him that much more dislikeable.

"Good idea, Sasuke-kun! You always think of everything," the kunoichi exclaimed, eyes bright and practically shimmering.

I made a face to myself. It was a wonder how anybody could be so infatuated by that unpleasant child, let alone someone as seemingly high standard as Sakura.

We walked along the stream for what felt like several long minutes until eventually the genin stopped, both with similarly concerned expressions.

"We're wasting time. We need another solution," Sasuke murmured, eyeing the stream in deep thought. Finally, he faced the water and brought his hands together in a hand seal that was so common that even I had seen it used before.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

I had several questions about what he was trying to accomplish, as well.

Without answering, he place his foot on the water and steadily put weight onto it. The water rippled unnaturally around his foot and Sakura gasped, probably realizing what he was trying to do. I, on the other hand, was still very much confused and was starting to feel left out.

"What's going on?"

"Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!" Sakura squealed instead of answering my question. "If we can walk on water, we can get across in no time!"

I blinked. "Walk on water?" Now I just had even more questions.

"It's a basic shinobi technique," Sasuke answered, finally giving me some information on what was going on.

"We did chakra training with Kakashi-sensei to walk up trees, so we should be able to apply that technique here," Sakura elaborated. "Sasuke-kun is the number one rookie, so he'll get it in no time!"

"Is that so," I murmured to myself, giving the dark-haired genin a once-over.

It was hard to take Sakura's word for it when I wasn't sure if she liked him because he was the best rookie or if she thought he was the best because she liked him. Either way, he didn't look like anything special.

There was a faint splash and Sasuke clicked his tongue.

"Damn it," he muttered, shaking his foot off. "Sakura, you try. You were the first one to finish the chakra training."

Well that's unexpected, I thought, looking between the two curiously. Sounds more like Sakura's number one here.

"T-That's true, but…" Sakura answered hesitantly, her smile uncertain. "I mean, if even you can't do it, then there's no way I can." She laughed, though I couldn't help but notice that it sounded forced and shaky, as though she were purposely holding herself back.

"You have to at least try," I insisted before Sasuke could say anything that would surely break the poor girl's spirits all over again. "I'm counting on you to get me to the capital safely."

The kunoichi went quiet, then nodded. "Yeah, okay." She took a deep breath and made the same hand seal Sasuke had made earlier, then took a step onto the water.

It rippled unnaturally the same way it did with Sasuke. Her body wavered and her foot sank into the water a little, but after a few moments, the water around her foot flattened into a smooth surface. It looked like ice in contrast to the currents around it.

"I...I think I got it!" Sakura exclaimed, slowly putting her full weight onto the water before stepping on with her other leg. Then, without warning, she punched the air and cheered. "CHA!"

I laughed at her burst of excitement and gave her a small round of applause, although she quickly went from excited to embarrassed.

"You're too loud," Sasuke muttered, brow furrowed with even more annoyance than usual. "Hurry up and take her across first," he said, nodding at me.

"I have a name," I huffed, but said nothing more of it. "If you don't mind, Sakura-chan."

"Not at all," she smiled, coming back to land so I could get on her back. "What about you, Sasuke-kun? How will you…?"

The genin fell silent as the one obvious answer lingered in the air. Sasuke's cheeks flushed and he looked away quickly. I had to bite my cheeks to stop from laughing.

He's actually pretty cute when he isn't busy being grumpy.

"Just...come back after you get her across," he muttered, clearly embarrassed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Y-Yeah," Sakura said with a nervous laugh. After a brief moment of preparation, she carefully placed her foot on the water again. She struggled a bit to find her balance now that I was weighing her down, but it wasn't long before the water became smooth and she was standing on the stream again. "Well...I'll be right back!"

Just as she took her first step, however, she paused and looked down at the water.

"What the…? Sasuke-kun, look at this!" she said, lifting her foot. I couldn't see clearly what she was referring to, but I could see enough to catch the glimmering particles caught on her sandals.

"Glitter," Sasuke murmured, sounding puzzled. "Shit, this probably means-!"

Before he could finish, however, there was a yell that came from behind, followed by the new sound of weapons flying at us which I had become rather accustomed to identifying. I didn't need to look back to know what was happening, and neither did Sakura, which is likely precisely why she stopped in her tracks.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Go!" Sasuke shouted, dropping Satoko's bag onto the ground. From the way his shoulders moved, it looked like he was doing something with his hands. Then, he exhaled, and an enormous ball of fire came with it.

"Oh my-" I gasped, but snapped out of it as the fire was already dissipating. "Sakura-chan, we need to go!"

"But what about Sa-"

"HEY LOOK A DISTRACTION!"

"-toko?! "

A blur of orange and blue cut across my field of vision and crashed into one assassin while the other barely jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a domino effect, followed by a darker blue that materialized into who I recognized as Hatake Kakashi. He attacked the second assassin, preventing her from taking a single step closer to Sasuke or us.

"Sakura, meet us at the capital," Kakashi ordered, hands occupied with defending himself from the assassin. He then turned to us - or more likely, to Sakura - and smiled through his mask. "I'm counting on you."

"Y...Yes!" Sakura answered shakily.

"And don't trust anybody but the cRAP-" Satoko yelled before being audibly interrupted.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Sakura demanded, but there was no time to get an explanation. Cursing under her breath, the kunoichi tightened her grip around my legs. "Keep your head down!"

I whimpered, but did as I was told and buried my face into her shoulder as she started running again. If there was anything that helped keep me from having a panic attack, it was that Sakura seemed like she worked better under pressure than in normal circumstances.

The last thing I heard was someone yelling, followed by a loud explosion and a sudden wave of heat crashing into my back just as we reached the forest.

"What was-?!" I gasped, but didn't dare to look behind me.

"T-They'll be okay!" Sakura shouted over the remnants of the explosion, although it seemed more like she was trying harder to convince herself of this rather than me. I could feel her jaw clench and shift against my cheek as she swallowed hard and kept her eyes forward. "They have to be."

After what had to have been at least two hours of running, Sakura finally started to slow her pace down to a jog, then a walk. Her breaths were heavy and deep, but she didn't look particularly worn out. A shinobi's stamina never failed to astound me.

Slowly, I slid off her back and stumbled as I landed. My knees immediately buckled, but Sakura caught me with her arm around my waist and I naturally leaned into her for support.

"Sorry," I murmured, desperately trying to regain my balance. "I wasn't even the one running."

"I-It's okay, you must have been scared to death the entire time," she said with a smile I noticed was forced and tense.

I furrowed my brow in concern. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Carefully, I set my hand on her shoulder as a comforting gesture. "You must have been scared, too."

The kunoichi stammered, flailing her hands in front of her face in denial. "N-Not at all! It's just a lot of things to process at once, so I need some time to think about what to do next."

I nodded in agreement, recalling Satoko's final words to us, as incomplete as they were. "Do you think Satoko-san was serious?" I asked quietly.

Sakura looked to the side with uncertainty written all over her face. I interpreted this as an agreement.

"She's an idiot who likes to pull pranks on people, but even she wouldn't go so far as to make us doubt an entire city just for the fun of it." She frowned, crossing her arms in thought. "I wouldn't normally take her word for it, but she was with Kakashi-sensei last night. He must have discussed the mission with her. It's unlikely Satoko came to this conclusion herself."

I swallowed, not liking where this train of thought was going. "So then, does this mean…?"

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "For now, let's act with caution and do as she said; trust no one. That includes the caravan, and anybody who works at the palace. Actually, I think we can still trust the Daimyou, but we wouldn't be able to have an audience with him without going through at least a dozen other people, first." She sighed again, which only emphasized how troubling it was to have such heavy doubt after just a few simple words. "If your uncle really is the one behind all this, then there's no way of knowing whether or not Hanjou-san and the others are part of his plan, too. And until we figure out where their allegiance lies, we have to assume that they also knowingly guided you to the ambush site."

Unsure of what to say, I could only nod and follow her lead. After taking a deep breath, Sakura relaxed her shoulders and offered me a smile, albeit tense and noticeably forced.

"Don't worry! We'll get to the bottom of this once we regroup with Sasuke-kun and-" Just then, her face went white as she covered her mouth in shock. I was about to panic until the reason of her sudden dread became known. "Ahh! Sasuke-kun will definitely be pissed now!"

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "For what?"

"He couldn't walk across the stream, but I-"

"You saved my life," I interrupted, having enough of Sakura's ridiculousness because for goodness sake, she looked more horrified by the prospect of angering Sasuke than having to escape from assassins. "You saved my life, Sakura-chan! And if he gets upset over something as admirable as that, then he's hardly anybody worth your attention!"

"Don't talk about Sasuke-kun like that - you don't know him!" she snapped, much to my surprise. I would be lying if I said that her sudden irritation towards me didn't hurt, even if it was probably just misdirected frustration towards herself. "I just don't want him hating me, that's all! He's my teammate!"

It was nothing more than a poor excuse to me, but I didn't know what more to say except to focus on what was important. "Even so," I sighed, "you saved my life. At least let me be thankful for that."

Still, I think I know him enough to know that he's no good for you.

I gave her a sincere smile and was relieved to see that she could still return it.

"It's nothing! I just hope I brought you far away enough," she said, looking back over her shoulder as if to emphasize the point.

I instinctively looked back as well, but saw no signs of anybody approaching. Not that that really meant anything coming from an untrained civilian like me, though. What I noticed instead, however, was the dark stain that was running down Sakura's leg. "Oh my goodness- Sakura-chan, you're bleeding!"

Despite my alarm, Sakura calmly examined her legs and simply said, "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me!"

"Y...You forgot ?" I repeated rather stupidly. I couldn't tell if her reaction was normal for a shinobi or if she just had a high pain tolerance.

"I got hit when we were first attacked, but it wasn't like I could stop running, right?" she said as she sat down and started digging through her bag. She dampened a cloth and wiped her leg before wrapping it in bandages. "Don't worry, I've sustained worse during training, and even once or twice back at the academy. It's mostly numb now, so I didn't feel it much, but it's good that you reminded me. I don't want it getting infected, and the blood makes it easier to track us."

"Isn't that good? That way Kakashi-sensei and the others can find us more easily."

"Yes, but so can the enemy," Sakura said, then smiled confidently. "I wouldn't worry too much about that, though. Satoko's an idiot, but there's no way Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei would get beaten by two people."

I smiled wryly. "Surely Satoko-san isn't that bad. She protected Sasuke-san, didn't she?" I liked to think the shinobi hired to protect my life weren't so unreliable.

"She was reckless," the kunoichi countered sharply, unknowingly against my wishes. She packed everything away and stood up again. "And Sasuke-kun didn't need her help, anyway!"

There's just no use helping this girl, is there, I thought distantly.

"Well, forget about them. I'm far more impressed by what you can do," I said, deciding it was better to change the subject. "You truly are an amazing shinobi, Sakura-chan, bringing me all the way to the capital by yourself."

"Not at all!" she laughed sheepishly. I couldn't tell if her cheeks were red from running or from embarrassment. I liked to think it was more because of the latter. "Although, I did always score the highest on tests… But that's nothing compared to what Sasuke-kun can do!"

It's like she's constantly torn between pride and humility, I observed silently. At least, when it comes to Sasuke-san.

My mother had taught me to read people and pay attention to the words they use, but one didn't need special training to know that whenever Sasuke was around or even simply a topic of conversation, Sakura's mannerisms changed completely.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and instead gave her an encouraging smile. "Well, you're the one who got me safely across the water, which means you're the best rookie as far as I know. I only have you to thank, Sakura-chan."

"It was nothing! Really!" Although she waved her hands dismissively, it was clear that she was flattered to some degree. "Anyway, the capital isn't too far from here, so we should arrive within the hour. Once we get there, though, please let me do the talking if the guards ask us any questions."

I nodded and followed her lead. Sure enough, the gate came into view before my feet even got sore. We approached the guard post and handed them our identification. There were two women on guard - one with short hair, the other with long. They both looked bored and disinterested in us.

"Name?" the short-haired woman asked, looking at me.

"Kakuchou Takara," I answered calmly. After travelling between Konoha and the capital at least a dozen times, this process had become natural for me.

The guard then looked to Sakura and asked, "Ninja registration number and rank?"

"012601, genin," she answered without a moment of thought.

"And your purpose of being here?"

"C-Rank escort mission."

"Where's the rest of your team?" the long-haired woman asked, although she didn't sound pushy when she asked. It sounded more like she was just asking for the records.

"We got attacked by bandits and got separated, but they're on their way," Sakura answered smoothly without a falter in her poker face - at least, none that I could see, and my mother had taught me rather well in reading people's expressions.

Both guards glanced at us before eyeing each other briefly, but finally let us through. I breathed a sigh of relief once were far away enough, then turned to Sakura.

"Where do we go?" I asked, once again on edge.

"Let's disguise ourselves, first," Sakura said, dragging me off into a nearby alleyway. "People might recognize you, and...admittedly, my hair isn't very subtle," she said with a sheepish laugh, tugging at the ends of her hair with one hand.

"For what it's worth, it's very beautiful," I offered with a genuine smile.

Her cheeks flushed a deep red as she answered with a quiet, "Th-Thank you," but then made herself recover enough to sputter out, "A-Anyway, I'll use a transformation technique! You should wear Satoko's shawl around your head and mouth so people don't see your face."

I nodded and did just that. It also helped that I was still wearing Satoko's clothing instead of my own, so even if I ran into somebody I knew, it was unlikely that they would recognize me right away. Besides, I had only been to the capital a handful of times and most of the people I met stayed around the palace and the surrounding area, so I wasn't too worried about meeting familiar faces, anyway.

Most of my fears lay in whether or not any other assassins were still out to get me.

Meanwhile, Sakura made a hand seal. There was a puff of smoke, and in her place stood a very typical-looking civilian boy carrying a backpack.

"That's amazing!" I gasped, as it was the first time I had ever witnessed such a technique. "Are all shinobi capable of such feats?"

Sakura nodded with a rather proud smile. "Yeah! But it's a really basic technique that we learn in the Academy. Here, take my hand. If anybody asks, my name is Kyoutaro and I'm taking you on a date."

This time, it was my cheeks that flushed. Apparently unaware, she continued.

"Ah! Maybe you should call me Kyou-kun, then," she laughed, then covered her mouth. "Oh, I can't talk much anyway, though, since I can't change my voice. Stay close so we don't have to talk very loud, okay?"

C-Calm down, Takara! It's just a disguise!

Unable to find my voice, I simply tightened my grip on her hand and nodded.

With a reassuring smile, Sakura pulled me out of the alleyway, and for the several minutes we spent in search of a place to hide, she genuinely acted as though we were on a date!

We started by getting a snack at the nearest food stall, where we purchased a stick of dango for the each of us. I was then led to a pottery shop, which had caught my attention when I noticed that the man who owned the shop was missing his right arm.

"These are incredible!" I exclaimed, admiring the intricate flowers carved into a vase. "I can't imagine how hard you must have worked to create such masterpieces."

The man gave a hearty laugh in return. "Humans are capable of achieving great things so long as they put their mind to it." His voice was harsh and raspy, but full of warmth. I couldn't help but smile just from hearing it.

We stopped by several other places as we gradually made our way towards the outskirts of town. The first one was a clothing store, where we pretended to browse for a short while before moving on to the weapon shop across the street. Although I wasn't sure why anybody would visit one on a date, it was still interesting to see the tools that I had seen Sakura and the others use on display.

"I'm...still little hungry," I said hesitantly, unsure of whether or not it would put a burden on her, but if anything, perhaps it would help with our cover.

She gasped. "Oh, that's right! You didn't have a proper breakfast. That dango couldn't have been nearly enough," she said, already guiding me towards a bakery.

We ended up walking down a section of the street that was all stalls and restaurants - first at a bakery with various desserts, then a restaurant whose specialty seemed to be sukiyaki, and then a stall that sold sliced fruit. We didn't eat at the restaurant since we had no time to sit, so I assumed Sakura wanted to take a look for herself - maybe for future reference in case her team decided to eat before they left the city.

Finally, once we started walking around crop fields and farmhouses, Sakura seemed to find a suitable place for us to hide until her teammates arrived. After going from place to place, I had almost forgotten that we were running from the entire city and could only wish that, maybe after this was all over, I could show her around the capital without fear.

"In here," Sakura whispered, ushering me into what appeared to be an abandoned barn.

She undid her transformation once we were inside and gestured for me to stay behind her as she looked around, weapon in hand.

"Everything looks clear," she eventually said, shifting out of her defensive position and putting her weapon away. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's get comfortable - we might be here for a while."

I nodded and followed her deeper into the barn. We climbed up to the loft and hid as far back as we could behind bags of wheat and piles of straw. It certainly wasn't comfortable, but it was better than the cold, damp cave I had spent the night in. I felt like, after sleeping in such an environment under such circumstances, I could sleep anywhere.

"There's an opening behind us. If we need to escape, we'll go through there," Sakura said, pushing out the shutter just a little bit to show me where the exit was before pulling it back in. "I'm going to set up some traps by all the other entry points, just in case. Oh, and could you lend me Satoko's shawl?"

"Uh, sure." I pulled it off and handed it over, not bothering to ask what it was for. After all the trouble she'd been through already, it was the least I could do to help, even if I had no idea how I was helping.

"Thanks!" the kunoichi grinned, then disappeared with a parting, "I'll be right back."

I nodded and remained seated behind the makeshift barrier, trying my best to be as still as possible. The straw kept tickling my sides no matter how I positioned myself, however, and I couldn't endure the itchiness for very long. I ended up shifting and scratching every minute or so, much to my shame.

Fortunately, I didn't have to stay seated for very long. Unfortunately, it was because Sakura rushed back with an alarmed expression and grabbed my wrist to pull me out of the hay.

"Sorry for this, Takara-san, but we need to go now," she hissed.

"W-What's going on?" I stammered, scrambling onto my feet.

"This place isn't as abandoned as it looks, but we don't have time to find somewhere else to hide," Sakura answered, pushing the shutter open. "I saw some people approaching, so the second that door opens, you have to run. I'll buy time for you to escape."

"I-I couldn't possibly-!" I started, but the hardness behind her eyes stunned me into silence. I nodded, and her gaze softened into a reassuring smile before she jumped from the loft.

I slumped down into the straw, knees weak and body trembling, wondering how she could possibly expect me to escape without her if I couldn't even stand on my own. The only reason I even made it this far was because I had her shoulder to lean on - how could I possibly escape and knowingly leave her behind?

No, don't be such a coward! I thought, slapping myself on both cheeks. I could only imagine what my mother would think if I faltered in the face of the enemy while a shinobi younger than I was put her life on the line, repeatedly, for me.

Honour what others sacrifice for your sake, Takara. Your efforts are what give meaning to theirs.

I took a deep, shaky breath, then exhaled sharply, forcing myself to toughen up. Just as Sakura had said, I crawled over to the ledge and kept my body pressed against the loft so that I could see the door and escape as needed.

A long, quiet minute passed until the door finally creaked, light slowly filling the barn. I stayed only long enough to see Sakura pull out a kunai and position herself in front of the door before crawling towards the shutter.

Now sitting with my legs hanging over the ledge, all I had to do was slip through and climb down the pile of stacked hay below. With my escape just a step away, I risked the second to wait and see if Sakura would be okay.

There was a flurry of metallic clashes and a pained grunt, but it was the scream that knocked me off my balance and sent me falling out the shutter.

Chapter 15: Turnabout Assassins

Summary:

Satoko learns just what the hell this mission is really about.

Chapter Text

When I woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of bizarre squeaking and an unfamiliar weight on my chest.

"What the hell…?" I muttered drowsily, sitting up slowly and carefully as the weight on my chest suddenly disappeared.

"Ah, you're up," Kakashi's voice came from a few feet away, sounding nonchalant as ever. "I tried to wake you, but...your little friends tried to bite me."

Puzzled by what he said, I rubbed my eyes clear of morning haze and got a better look at what was around me, which was kind of hard, considering the sun was just barely lighting up the forest. Only then did I realize that I was surrounded by something reddish-brown and incredibly furry.

I had many, many questions and was no doubt confused, but all of that mattered a lot less when faced with the fact that this was literally the best way to wake up in the morning, ever.

"Foxes!" I exclaimed, startling at least half of them into scurrying several feet away. "Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

The weight on my chest must have been one of the what seemed to be over a dozen red foxes sleeping on me, because now that I was sitting up, one of them pawed her way into my lap and made herself comfortable. I would have cried if I were the crying type. Instead I just kind melted emotionally and physically into the warmth of the fox's affection.

"S...Sensei…" I sniffed, looking towards him with a quivering bottom lip. "I'm...so happy…"

"We need to get going," he said, which would initially make him sound like a total hard-ass except for that even he looked at least amused by the situation.

"But they're so soft…" I whispered, gently petting the fox that had made herself at home in my lap. She opened her eyes and looked at me, wiggled her ears, then slowly closed her eyes again. "So pure…"

"We have a mission, Satoko," he chided.

"Oh, shit, right," I said upon remembering the several close encounters with death I'd had a mere five or six hours ago. I wasn't sure how long I had slept, but it couldn't have been long given that the sun had only just started breaking its way into the sky. Whether it was for two hours or ten, however, it still didn't change the fact that we were on a tight schedule, and that half of our team was still missing.

"Sorry foxes, but I have to go!" I said, to which the foxes whined and nuzzled against me. I whimpered quietly and looked up at Kakashi. "C...Can't I take them with me?"

Kakashi gave me a look before throwing Sasuke's bag at me without warning.

"Whoa-! Hey!" I cried, still scrambling to grab hold of the bag when he grabbed me around the waist with with one arm and literally pulled me along with him. "Holy shit, Sensei; you're like, crazy strong, you know that?"

"You're just very small," he answered smartly. "How's your leg?"

"Better, why?"

Once again without warning, he spun me forward and released me, which gave me about half a second to find my footing and start running alongside him. I yelped and stumbled forward, the shifting weight of the bag nearly making me trip over my own feet.

"You're just jealous 'cause the foxes love me and not you!" I accused as I finally had enough balance to swing Sasuke's bag over my shoulders. "Actually, now that I think about it, why were there so many foxes? Is there some kinda catnip for foxes? Did I sleep in it?"

Kakashi seemed to ponder this before his eye widened just the slightest bit, indicating that he thought of something. "Of all the possible side effects, I never would have thought…"

It took me a moment to realize what side effects he was talking about. "Wait, is this because of the Kyuubi?" I finally asked, seeking confirmation that we were on the same page.

Kakashi shrugged. "It would be the most likely explanation."

I can't imagine Kushina also attracted hordes of foxes in her sleep, otherwise I'm sure Kakashi might have come to this conclusion much sooner. Maybe different hosts have different side effects?

I thought back to the foxes nuzzling against me and briefly imagined Kurama using his foxy demon chakra to call upon a horde of foxes to keep me warm during the night. It was probably more of an instinctual thing for the foxes to gather around me, but I liked to think that was how it went down. Kurama did grow to care about Protagonist, after all, so it's not like he's a total jerk.

Speaking of the foxy demon, he still hasn't spoken to me. I wonder if that's even a thing? Maybe I need to go into that weird mindscape to talk to him.

Not that I had any idea how to get there in the first place. Ah, well.

"Well, being a jinchuuriki would have to come with some perks," I answered the jounin with a cheeky grin. "Is it bad that I like this one more than the increased chakra pool and stamina?"

"Hm...I think you're allowed to appreciate whichever you want," Kakashi said rather thoughtfully after a moment's pause, then said more tauntingly, "Since it seems like you can gather foxes at your will, I guess we don't need to take any more dog walking missions."

I gasped dramatically, then frowned. "You monster. I'll be accepting dog missions for the entirety of my ninja career, even when I'm a mysteriously capable weirdo jounin like you!"

He ignored my description of him with a disheartened, half-lidded gaze before saying, "You won't make it to jounin if you can't even finish one mission without getting distracted."

"I've finished plenty of missions, thank you very much," I retorted before changing the subject back to one I was much more interested in. "I wonder if I can call the foxes out of the forest again… I wonder if I can take them home if I find them again?"

The jounin gave me an unimpressed look, his gaze more than enough to communicate the very strong no that he never actually said.

Oh, boo, it's not like you're my landlord.

"What about a contract? Oh my god, can I make them into my summons?!"

"No," Kakashi said audibly this time. "It's not that simple. You need to form a contract with the species or animal in question, but it doesn't seem like these foxes have a contract scroll. They're just regular foxes."

"How can you tell the difference?" I asked. I already knew some summons were absurdly large, like Gamabunta, but Kakashi's ninken looked like regular dogs, save for the whole talking thing. Besides, not all summons talked, so there had to be something that separated summons from normal animals.

"Appearance, usually, but all summons have a more developed chakra system compared to their ordinary counterparts."

I sniffed. "One day I'll get fox summons and they'll be the most adorable summons ever."

"You should be more focused on how effective your summons are," Kakashi sighed.

"Fine," I grumbled, but thought to myself, I'm gonna pick my summons the way I pick my Pokémon - cute, cool, and pretty, and nobody can stop me!

Besides, wasn't half of being a ninja all about appearances? Why else would Kakashi bother dressing up his ninken in henohenomoheji uniforms?

I'll have to ask him about that one day.

"Let's pick up the pace," Kakashi said, interrupting my thoughts. "We need to make up for lost time."

"Aight," I huffed, reluctantly pushing foxes out of my thoughts for now. As much as I'd love to keep daydreaming about keeping a horde of foxes at my place, the mission unfortunately took priority at the moment.

We didn't do much except run in a straight line for an hour or two. It wasn't until the sun just started peeking over the canopy that we reached a stream. The water glistened under the sunlight and shimmered like stars, which I admired at first until we got close enough to see that the shimmering was kind of...unnaturally focused in one location by the branches that had been caught against some rocks.

"Wait a second," I murmured as we drew closer.

By the time we reached the edge of the stream, there was no doubt about it.

"It's...glitter," I said, crouching by the stream. I stuck my hand in the water and when I pulled it out, my hand was shimmering like the water. "My glitter."

"I can't imagine it would be anybody else's," Kakashi noted.

"Y'know, my bag wasn't at the camp. I have Sasuke's instead, so maybe that means he took my bag and-" The following deduction made me pause as I took a moment to imagine the angsty Uchiha kid using a glitter-based weapon against a very serious, very deadly ninja assassin. I didn't even try to hold back my laugh. "Ha! And he said my weapons were useless!"

"They certainly have... unique uses," the jounin reluctantly agreed, scratching the back of his head. "Well, unfortunately I can say from experience that a simple rinse in the stream won't get rid of it all. We might be able to track whoever your weapon was used against and get some answers."

I grinned widely, still riding the high of being absolutely thrilled by the fact that my weapon was actually used in an actual battle, and most likely by Uchiha motherfucking Sasuke no less.

Holy shit, this makes glitter-bombing Madara actually seem possible.

"I'm totally making history here," I said proudly. "There's no denying it - I'm a genius. One day glitter bombs will be standardized and we'll all be using sparkly goodness to track down our deadly assassin enemies."

"For some reason I find that hard to believe," Kakashi drawled.

I gave him a smug look and held up my glitter hand. "Remind me again how long it took for you to wash all this out?"

The jounin made no response, just a face, before turning away to face upstream. "Let's go. Whoever got hit can't be too far."

"You mean bedazzled," I grinned, and he looked back at me with a look that said he didn't want any elaboration. I elaborated anyway. "Whoever got bedazzled can't be too far."

Kakashi must have decided that it was easier to just ignore me, because he started running upstream again and didn't really wait for me to catch up.

Jerk.

It was the right call to follow the glittery tracks, however, because sure enough, two of the assassins from last night came into view, steadily creeping through the foliage and towards the stream. It would've been great if not for the fact that they clearly had their eyes set on the other half of our team, as well as our client.

"Shit," Kakashi hissed, rushing forward just as one of them broke out of the forest to attack. "Sasuke, behind you!"

The genin spun around the second Kakashi gave his warning and ducked just in time to dodge one of the assassin's attacks aimed for his neck. The other threw a handful of shuriken, which Kakashi easily deflected with his own weapons. By then, Sakura had already stopped in her tracks.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Go!" he shouted in return as he very rudely threw my bag on the ground wow what the fuck dude, and then made the hand seals necessary for his signature fire jutsu.

Have a little delicacy for other people's things, why don't you?

I took advantage of Sasuke's jutsu and was already making the hand seal I had become far too used to, releasing just the right amount of chakra needed to make a single clone.

"HEY LOOK A DISTRACTION!" my clone yelled, slamming itself right into the assassin that tried to attack my teammate, because as if I'd be dumb enough to bowl into an assassin myself. Kakashi followed immediately afterwards, occupying himself with the other enemy.

"Sakura, meet us at the capital," he ordered, then looked over his shoulder to face Sakura properly. "I'm counting on you."

"Y-Yes!" she responded shakily.

Kanjaku = drug cartel = potential secret partner in the government = TRUST NO ONE.

My brain processed this in a split second and with no time to think about it, I quickly added, "And don't trust anybody but the cRAP-!"

I had meant to say "caravan," but given that assassins were never ones to give their targets a chance to talk during battle, I had no choice but to prioritize avoiding the weapon that suddenly went flying at my face.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Sakura shouted, but with unwavering balance, she began her escape across the water with Takara on her back nevertheless.

Wait, across the water?!

I watched in a short moment of awe as the pink kunoichi clearly ran across the surface of the stream before receiving a harsh reminder that there was still a battle going on literally two feet away from me upon the death of my clone.

"Don't let them get across!" Kakashi ordered over his shoulder. He was busy keeping one assassin in place, but the other easily sped past and headed straight towards us genin.

"Oh shit-!" I cried, already panicked from suddenly being rushed. As Sasuke confronted them with a surprisingly well-timed kick, I dove for my bag and quickly pulled out a glitter bomb. It doesn't take fancy ninjutsu to stop someone in their tracks, after all. "I've got this!"

I chucked the bomb up and over the assassin so that when it popped, they'd run straight into a rainfall of glitter. Just as I did, however, Sasuke was already taking a deep breath in preparation for his fire jutsu. Okay, so we weren't really in sync, but whatever - now the assassin would just be bedazzled and on fire.

But when my weighted string mechanism swung forward and popped the bomb open, there was no rainfall of glitter.

It was a cloud of flour.

My eyes went wide and I immediately reached towards Sasuke and yelled, "NO DON'T-!" but it was already too late.

Fire flew from his lips towards the assassin, and the instant a lick of flame reached the flour, it exploded.

A wall of heat slammed into our bodies. The impact forced the water apart, evaporating some while making the rest crash against the shore. The fire expanded and rushed upwards, dropping a rain of unburned flour back into the stream and carried away by the current and the waves, and when it dissipated, bits of charred cloth from the pouch and presumably the assassin's clothes got caught by the wind and slowly drifted away.

"Holy shit," I whispered.

It was as equally awesome as it was horrifying.

The targeted assassin was blasted several feet back towards the shore and broke through the water's surface with a loud splutter and cough. They were still alive, but they were dishevelled and too battered up to escape. Getting caught within three feet or so of a dust explosion would probably do that to someone, even if that someone was a trained ninja killer.

For a moment, I stared with wide eyes and mouth parted as I fully took in how literally my mistake had blown up in my face. Slowly, I turned towards Sasuke, my expression unchanged. He looked back at me with a surprisingly similar look, except with hint of "What the fuck?!" instead of the "Holy fuck." that mine probably had.

And then he punched me in the shoulder.

"What the hell was that?!" he demanded, throwing an arm out towards the stream although most of the evidence of the explosion had already been washed away. "You could've gotten us both killed!"

"It was an accident!" I shouted back. "Besides, I told you I had it! This wouldn't have happened if you stopped trying to breath fire at anything that moves"

"You're the one who set the Hokage Palace on fire!"

"Guys-"

"That's not important!"

"Satoko-"

"Like hell it isn't!"

"Cut it out, you two," Kakashi demanded firmly as he knocked us each on the head, which got an "Ow!" from both of us. "Satoko, why did you have flour bombs in the first place?"

I huffed, rubbing my arm instead of my head to make a point of who hit me harder, and who I was more pissed at for hitting me. "They're supposed to be used strategically. I made them with the intention of using it along with Bastard's ninjutsu, since I still haven't figured out how to ignite it from a distance myself, and you're always talking about teamwork or whatever," I grumbled, playing into Protagonist's childishness as I looked away. "Besides, I meant to use a glitter bomb, but I guess I grabbed the wrong one by mistake."

Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Only you would be stupid enough to get your own weapons mixed up."

"Only you would be stupid enough to breath fire at the flour bomb!" I countered.

I grit my teeth and glowered, because it's not like I made them all look exactly the same. The flour bombs were made with red fabric while the glitter bombs were blue. Besides, I was super careful when I made them, because I was nitpicky that way - I only make one type at a time, and if I make both types in the same day, I make absolutely sure to completely wipe down the work area so I don't end up getting glitter and flour mixed together. Even so, both fillings were pretty messy, so no matter how clean I was, there was always some glitter that would get stuck outside the glitter bombs, and likewise with the flour.

Which is exactly what I saw when I was grabbing the bomb in the first place - I grabbed the one that was stained with glitter, and it's not like I really had time to double-check when I could hardly find the time to even breathe in the middle of a battle.

"Both of you screwed up because you weren't paying attention to each other's movements," Kakashi interjected, his voice indicating that he was in lecture mode. "If you don't learn to work with each other instead of against each other, you really will end up killing each other."

Okay, not that you know it, but that could be taken as some really creepy prophecy considering how things are supposed to play out.

I said nothing and instead continued sulking with my arms crossed. There was a moment where Sasuke and I made eye-contact, but we both scowled and instinctively turned away with no attempt made to hide our irritation and annoyance towards each other.

Kakashi sighed deeply and shook his head. "We can continue this later, so why don't you guys just apologize to each other for now and we can get back to the mission?"

There was mutual grumbling and the refusal to go first, because that would be like losing or however a shitty twelve-year-old would interpret an apology. So after a few moments of stubbornness from both sides, I decided to be the adult I technically was and stuck my hand out with a huff to make the Seal of Reconciliation.

He feels more like my bratty younger brother, if anything, I thought, but was relieved that Sasuke at least reciprocated. Augh, good. Now I can say you have at least one iota of decency in you.

Kakashi seemed to be satisfied with this, because he sighed a breath of relief himself and patted our backs.

"Alright, let's get back to work," he said, then started walking further away from the stream where he dropped the wet assassin next to the dry one. I wasn't sure when he managed to get that done, but I had long since decided to stop wondering how the jounin works his magic.

"So, what, do we interrogate them now or something?" I asked, tilting my head curiously.

The dry assassin scoffed. "Don't waste your breath. The worst thing you could do to me is kill me. Anything you do to me, my employer can match by tenfold. You're better off snapping my neck right now and getting it over with."

Does Kanjaku really have that much power? I thought, but was soon distracted by Kakashi stepping behind the assassin and getting ready to actually snap their neck.

"Well, if you insist," he drawled, about to grip the assassin's head.

"Hold on!" I interjected, holding out a hand to gesture for him to stop. "What the hell, Sensei?! I thought you were supposed to like, kick them in the face to get them to talk and be all, 'I'm worse than you imagined' and get them to break! Not kill them right off the bat!" I said, changing my voice so that it was low and gravelly in the middle as I imitated a generic interrogator.

The jounin sighed deeply, moving away from standing directly behind the assassin to being more at their side. "It's called bluffing, Satoko, but thank you for rendering its effect useless."

I dropped my hand. "...Oh. Well, I wanted to ask you something, anyway," I said nodding away from the assassins to suggest privacy.

Kakashi looked uncertain, but then gestured at Sasuke to watch the assassins.

"I wanna try talking to them," I said once we were out of earshot.

His expression fell into a disapproving, half-lidded stare. "This is your first C-Rank mission, Satoko. You don't need to be interrogating assassins yet."

"Yet," I repeated. "Which means I have to eventually, which means I should take the chance while I've got a safe environment, given that they're tied and bound and you're here, and that my teammate can get the experience, too."

"They aren't practice dummies, Satoko," he frowned - an expression I could read even though his mask. "They're real enemies who still pose a real risk no matter how safe the environment may seem."

"I know! I just think that there's no harm in trying the passive route, first. I mean, either beating the crap out of them gets them to talk, or it doesn't. Whether you do it before or after I try talking to them doesn't matter much, right?" Given his expression and the way his shoulders were tense, he was visibly refusing, so I decided to play a cheap shot and use my I'm an Orphan Ostracized by the Entire Village card. "I mean, I know there've been times where I wished I got a chance to talk before ultimately getting beat up..."

I saw him flinch just the tiniest bit, then sigh and relax his shoulders. "...Alright. But don't waste too much time - we can't leave Sakura alone with Takara-san for much longer."

The image of Sakura figuring out how to water walk literally on the spot just a few minutes ago crossed my mind.

She's already one step ahead of us, I thought fondly.

"We're still at risk of another attack so long as we're out here, so don't be so loud, either," Kakashi added.

I made a face, but nodded.

I contemplated the idea of surrounding the perimeter with shadow clones, but decided that Kakashi definitely thought of this idea as well and must've decided that the cons outweighed the pros, since he didn't bring it up.

"The only problem is, even if they do tell us anything, I have no idea if they'll be telling the truth or not," I murmured, eyes flickering towards the assassins.

"I'll have that part covered," Kakashi reassured, patting my head.

Oh, right. Sharingan. And general 20+ years of experience, or whatever.

"Yessir," I replied absently, although mostly I was already getting distracted by being given the chance to talk to them in the first place.

There was a curiosity about the thought processes of nukenin that I wanted to satiate while I had the chance, but it was also that these assassins made for good guinea pigs to test out my Protagonist Friendship Speech ability. If it worked, at least to some degree, then I might be able to get some information out of them. If it didn't, Kakashi could kill them, which… well, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that, but it at least wouldn't leave any loose ends or ticking time bombs like what Sasuke still was.

I certainly didn't feel like I had any right to talk about what was right and wrong when I was still wrapping my head around whether or not there was it was only good or only bad to be thankful that Kakashi killed two nukenin before they could kill me.

Morality was a mentally exhausting thing to think about when murder was so commonplace, and it wasn't so much that I felt particularly bad or good about it in the face of being alive because of it. My issues were more along the lines of whether or not there was really no other solution other than the "kill first, ask questions later" approach.

I mean, there's nothing wrong with self-defence, especially since a lot of the people shinobi defend themselves against actually are trying to kill them, but maybe shinobi shouldn't be so quick to resort to murder as their only solution.

You'd think there'd be more political tension from shinobi accidentally killing people who were more than just Generic Foreign Ninja #3716.

...Clearly this mission had given me a lot to think about once I got back to the village.

Sasuke was giving me a suspicious look when we walked back, but I ignored him and instead shooed him aside so I could take his spot in front of the assassins.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions," I stated casually, showing no attempt whatsoever at being hostile or malicious towards them.

"As if I'd answer any questions a brat like you might ask," the dry assassin said, rolling their eyes.

"Hey, how about you at least wait to shoot me down until I ask one," I huffed, squatting in front of them so I was at their eye-level. "Like, how come you're more loyal to your employer than you were to your village? You guys scared the shit outta me last night, so you've gotta be at least chuunin, or maybe even jounin. You can only make it so far if you actually care about the village, even just a little bit, right? Why would you betray it?"

Not ANBU though, or else we would've been dead before we even knew it, but I had a feeling that given how deep one's loyalty to the village had to be in order to become ANBU in the first place, it was rare for any nukenin to have formerly been one.

Unless you're Uchiha Itachi, but he doesn't really count because he's technically still loyal.

The dry assassin scoffed loudly, and to my surprise, so did the wet one. "It's not that hard to betray your village when your village betrays you, first," the latter said.

"That's heavy," I murmured, eyes wide as I took that in. "Wanna elaborate?"

"A measly genin doesn't deserve an elaboration," the dry one retorted.

"You're wasting time," Sasuke muttered from beside me. I looked up at Kakashi to see if I really was, but the jounin just kept his eye trained on the assassins and said nothing. I took it as a sign that it was alright for me to keep the conversation going.

"Can I at least get your names?" I asked, now sitting cross-legged in front of the two assassins.

"What kind of shinobi, deserter or not, gives out their name so easily? And to a child, no less," the wet one scoffed.

I made a face. "Because right now I'm referring to you guys as 'the wet one' and 'the dry one' in my head and it's getting really inconvenient. At least give me something to call you, or else I'm gonna give you nicknames myself, like... Thing One and Thing Two, or Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum."

The dry one clicked their tongue, but complied.

Strategy "Propose an Alternate Idea So Ridiculous the Enemy has No Choice but to Comply with your Original Idea," success!

"Fine," they muttered. "Call me Furumi."

I blinked, slightly wide-eyed. "That's pretty! What about you?" I asked, now looking at the other.

They hesitated for a bit - long enough for them to have to blink away droplets of water that were dripping into their eyes - before answering. "...Migi."

"Furumi and Migi it is!" I grinned, leaning back on my hands.

I snuck a glance up at Kakashi, who looked at me briefly, but still said nothing. I couldn't tell if he approved of my tactics, if they could even be called such, but he certainly wasn't trying to stop it, so it must've meant that he was getting something out of it, or was at least curious enough to see where it'd go. Meanwhile, Sasuke was radiating annoyance as he stood behind me. I ignored him and continued with my line of questioning.

"Okay, so the village betrayed you in a way that made you pissed enough to defect," I nodded, not wanting to express any doubt in their belief of this. Considering all I knew about Itachi, that was more likely than I'd like to admit, and they obviously felt strongly enough to desert the village in the first place. "So then, what makes your employer so deserving of your loyalty, even to the point of death? Sensei killed, like, three of you guys last night, and he's totally ready to kill you guys, too. What makes death less scary than the potential consequences of betraying your employer?"

"I almost forgot how naive you genin are," Furumi said with a bitter laugh. "You walk alongside death the moment you accept that headband. The fact that you admit your fear of death just proves how weak you still are."

"You'd best get rid of that fear soon," Migi said nonchalantly. "You can't depend on your sensei to protect you forever."

Geez, talk about dramatic.

I frowned, mostly because being called weak while Sasuke was right next to me not only made it easier for him to look down on me, but also made it possible for him to take the comment personally.

"I like to think that not wanting to die is a pretty good motivator to get shit done," I countered without much of a pause. "Like, sure, it's kinda there and all, but it's not like I'm not gonna try and fight it if it tries to stab me in the gut."

I did take a moment, however, to read between the lines of what they just said. If the two of them weren't afraid of death because it came with being a shinobi, then it meant Kanjaku was threatening them with something that doesn't come with being one. I started listing off the risks that came to mind, and it didn't take much for me to realize that it was a pretty shitty list.

Lost limbs, torture, trauma, comas, death, death of comrades, death of friends, death of family...

I furrowed my brow as I thought of the last one. It wasn't always the case that an entire family was made up of shinobi. Sakura was an example of that herself, along with all the other civilian-born shinobi out there. I huffed and resting my chin in my hands.

The idea that the two nukenin who tried to kill me, my teammates, and our client last night might have friends and/or family who weren't shinobi they still cared for was a hard one to accept. It forced me to humanize them in a way I honestly didn't want to, because it made all of this that much harder. It was always easier to think of the enemy as heartless monsters who did the things they do out of pure evil.

I mean, sometimes people really are just like that, or because they're ignorant, but these guys are anything but.

It didn't help that we - or rather, Kakashi, but I certainly didn't try to stop it - killed three people just last night; people who likely had motivations similar to Furumi and Migi.

"So then, is your employer holding your families hostage, or something?" I finally asked, tilting my head to the side. I was pretty confident that I was on the right track, but I flicked my eyes up at Kakashi just to make sure. He gave me the slightest nod, and I decided that he saw something in their reactions that I didn't, because as much as I could make deductions with my young adult mind trapped in a kid's body, I certainly wasn't trained in spotting tells. I decided to expand the range of possibilities and added, "Or friends, maybe."

Sasuke seemed to have put two and two together, because he suddenly quipped in with his own speculation and said firmly, "They need the money."

Training or not, even a blind monkey could see the way the nukenin both reacted to his claim.

I looked up at Sasuke, confused. "Dude, did you read their minds or something? Whaddya know that we don't?"

At least this is turning into more of a group effort. Oh my god, wait, are we doing good cop bad cop?

"Sakura and I spoke to Takara last night to get an understanding of why she might get attacked. She said her late mother founded a program that provided jobs to former shinobi," he explained, then said more bitterly, "Although I don't think she knew the jobs included hits on herself."

"Then why would you rather die than spill the beans if you need the money for someone?" I asked, addressing Furumi. "Unless...if you die, they get some kind of monetary compensation, like insurance, or something?"

Surely life insurance existed in some form in a world where relatives die in battle practically every day, right?

"You're jumping to conclusions pretty quick there, kid," Furumi said, their voice now with a warning edge. "You shouldn't talk like you know everything when you don't even know what you're dealing with."

"Then tell us!" I practically whined, even gesturing to emphasize how frustrated I was getting. "You guys are obviously shinobi in some way, shape, or form, but if you were former shinobi in the sense that you were discharged from your duties, then that means you must've been deemed permanently incapable of battle for whatever reason. Except that doesn't make sense, considering that you guys are clearly capable of fighting, so either you're being forced into this, or you feel like this is the only way to get what you need. And whichever it is, it's despite having some reason you're not supposed to be able to fight."

Although if that's the case, it does explain why us genin were still capable of not dying within ten seconds of fighting them.

"It's the latter," Sasuke said, this time taking a step forward. "Konoha must not support discharged shinobi enough, otherwise a program made solely for providing discharged shinobi with a new means of income wouldn't be necessary. Their families aren't being threatened with death - they're being threatened by debt."

At this, Furumi and Migi exchanged glances, as though they were communicating in their thoughts. Gradually, I felt the atmosphere change - it was tense and full of defensive walls put up to protect ourselves from one another, but was slowly weakening to one of resignation.

Bull's-eye.

I thought deeply about what Sasuke said as I looked between the two assassins sitting bound before me. Now that I thought about it, they looked like the age to still have living parents, siblings, or significant others, especially if the people in question were civilians.

I had no idea how many people would fit that criteria, but if there was one person in the family who made most, if not all, of the income and they suddenly lost their job permanently, then it went without saying that it would cause a number of financial problems, especially if that person lost their job because of a career-ending injury or severe mental trauma. I'd learned enough about Konoha's medical care to know that it was free for all registered shinobi, but I had no idea how much was covered for those who had been officially discharged.

What really gets to me is that, from the military dictatorship standpoint that Konoha is, I can't even completely disagree with their prioritizing, but if this is the case, then… we basically just drove three families into bankruptcy.

Simply put, this sucked. It sucked, but… Well, as long as we knew the source of the problem, we could work towards providing a solution, right?

"...What if we helped?" I suggested, speaking carefully now.

"What could you possibly do to help?" Migi frowned.

I shrugged. "Well, it would help to know all the details about how the program works, and how you two are involved, but for starters…" I trailed off for a moment to gather my thoughts. "Takara is the daughter of the woman who founded the program, right? So if we could get her in charge, maybe she can-"

I cut myself off as a flurry of realizations dawned upon me all at once.

Wait a second. If Takara's mom is dead, then who's in charge right now?

I went back to the beginning, silently piecing the bits of information we'd gathered along the way into something even remotely coherent.

Takara's mom founded the program, then she died and left her inheritance to Takara. Kanjaku was the one who hired the assassins to kill Takara because he wanted the inheritance for his drug trade. The assassins were part of the program founded by Takara's mom, which was how they got the job to kill Takara in the first place.

The program gave them the job. But it's also true that Kanjaku gave them the job, which means Kanjaku must have authority within the program.

Kanjaku runs the program. But it's also true that Kanjaku runs the drug trade.

I gasped, hands covering my mouth and all.

"The drug trade and the program are the same thing and Kanjaku is a massive jerk!" I practically shouted, flailing my hands wildly as I tried to wrap my head around it all.

I could feel all eyes on me - intrigue from Kakashi, doubt from Sasuke, and reluctance from Furumi and Migi. There was a long, heavy silence that followed my outburst until finally, Migi spoke.

"Well," they said in a voice so quiet I had to strain to hear it, "you're not completely wrong."

As it turns out, Kakashi and I were right about our suspicions about Kanjaku having a partner. Her name was Furyoku Sagi, and from what Furumi and Migi told us about her, she was the massive jerk.

"Everything you had suspected to have been Kanjaku's doing was really hers, and then some," Furumi said with a frown. "It may be easier to start from the beginning."

It was a good thing that I was already sitting, because I had a feeling it was going to be a long beginning.

"Takara's mother is Kakuchou Ryoukuna. Kanjaku is her brother, and together, they both wanted to create a program that would help support retired shinobi such as ourselves. Although we are compensated to a degree, there are many of us who have severe injuries or mental illnesses that require constant care and medication that the funds cannot afford. And, as you mentioned previously," they said, eyeing Sasuke pointedly, "many of the retired shinobi who need support were their family's only source of income, or have nobody to help them. It was a noble cause, and for many, it gave new meaning to life."

I nodded thoughtfully. I could only imagine what it was like for a shinobi - someone trained to give their entire life for the village - to suddenly have that purpose taken away from them.

Furumi continued, gaze low and voice reminiscent. "They needed funding to get the program started, however, so Sagi offered her support. In the capital, she's likened to a Saint. As a whole, people think of her as one of virtue, but anybody in our position knows that she's anything but." Their lips curved into a frown as they continued. "Although it's true that Sagi helps the many, it's at the cost of the few. For her, the ends justifies the means, no matter what they are."

Like putting a hit on a civilian teenager, I thought grimly.

"The program was a little shaky at first and there weren't many of us retired shinobi who received support. There eventually came a time where Ryoukuna-san and Kanjaku argued over what the program should prioritize - jobs or medication, respectively. Both were necessary, of course, but if either one of them were to be of any use to those of us in the program, they could only afford one or the other."

The expression Furumi wore became darker and darker the more they spoke. I had my suspicions on what happened between then and now that made the program turn into what it was, but said nothing until I heard it directly from the source.

"Sagi gave Kanjaku her funding, in the end, but only because she knew that she would be able to take control over the circulation of medication."

"And this medication was opium," Kakashi stated more than he asked, seeking clarification.

Both nukenin nodded, although Furumi was the only one who continued to speak.

"There are...other effects, yes, as well as its risks, but when taken responsibly and in proper doses, the pain relief helps immensely. It's not its only use, but that's usually why people want it - or in many cases, need it." They took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It occurred to me that it must not be easy to tell a few strangers everything all at once, especially when two of those strangers were kids. "Many discharged shinobi left the program after that, with most trying their luck at finding shinobi administrative jobs back in Konoha. Anybody who stayed were either too desperate to leave or where threatened to stay put. Although...there are a few who genuinely support Sagi's methods. It's profitable, after all."

I had no idea who this Sagi person was, but if she could keep that many people under an iron fist, then she clearly knew what the hell she was doing.

Is it wrong that the political enemies are way scarier than the assassins?

There weren't a lot of consequences that came with killing an assassin, after all, but killing political figures? That would only get more assassins sent after you - not to mention angry civilians who supported said figure, amongst a whole lot of other consequences that just didn't come with killing the person who tried to kill you first.

...Not sure if this is a good or bad development of thought.

"Ryoukuna-san was killed shortly afterwards," Migi said, surprising all of us both by their voice and choice of words. What was most surprising, however was how Furumi seemed to be hearing this for the first time, as well.

"What do you mean?" they asked, eyes wide with shock. "As deceitful as Sagi is, it was confirmed that there was no foul play involved in Ryoukuna-san's death, but rather a heart attack brought on by stress."

Migi shook their head. "Sagi had her killed because she wanted Ryoukuna-san's inheritance in order to use it for her own gains. The logic was that, if the money didn't go to Kanjaku, then it would go to the capital, from which she would still be able to gain access to the funds. Sagi used Ryoukuna-san's death to threaten Kanjaku into helping her turn the program into a drug cartel, unless he wanted to be framed for his sister's murder and for the abuse of the program. Once it was revealed that Ryoukuna-san's inheritance was going to Takara-san and neither Kanjaku nor the capital, however, his help included bringing out his niece so that she could be killed en route for the inheritance."

"What exactly was the plan, anyway?" I asked, readjusting myself so that I was sitting with my feet in front and my knees bent and tucked under my chin. "From what I gather, it's something along the lines of Kanjaku telling Takara that her mom is dead, then he leads her to the meeting point marked by the trees, then you guys attack and kill her."

"But other factors came into play during the actual attack, like me and Sakura being drugged," Sasuke added. "It also doesn't explain how the caravan was involved. Why risk having merchants and four shinobi stand between Kanjaku and his target?"

Migi nodded as they said, "There were a number of steps involved, yes, and although I'm not aware of all the details myself, I'll tell you what I know for certain."

I really wish I had a notebook right about now.

"Sagi gets her opium from all over the country, but only Konoha is an official route approved by both the Daimyou and the Hokage. This route is the one that supplies the program with medication. The others supply her cartel. Her plan was to use the Konoha route to transport Takara to the capital along with the medication."

"Does that mean the caravan members were all a part of this assassination, too?" I asked.

Migi looked uncertain about how to answer. "It's hard to say. I know that Sadame-san and Tomi-san are part of Sagi's program, so they should have been, but if I remember correctly, Hanjou-san was part of the group who left after Ryoukuna-san was killed. I don't know why she was there, but considering how many things didn't go as planned during the actual attack, it leads me to believe that Sadame-san and Tomi-san never intended to help with the assassination, and that Hanjou-san must have at least been working with them somehow."

"So the caravan members aren't actually merchants or people-smugglers?" I asked, just to be sure I was on the right page here.

Both nukenin shook their heads and said, "No."

I looked up at Kakashi, silently demanding answers, but he simply turned his head in a way that told me that even he had no way of seeing that one coming.

Although, if all three of them were or still are part of Ryoukuna's program, that meant they were all retired shinobi, which at least explained how they didn't die within two seconds of the attack. Well, their possible affiliation with the assassinations could've been an explanation, too, but now it seemed like that wasn't the case. I was starting to suspect that some past events were more than just mistakes.

"I think Sadame drugged me while in transit," I blurted out. "Was that part of the plan?"

The nukenin looked perplexed, but shook their head. "...No, it wasn't. Rather than drug one of you separately, the plan was to drug any shinobi involved before the attack to get them out of the way. Takara was the only target, after all, and no good would come from killing up to four of Konoha's shinobi."

"I still don't get it. Why were shinobi hired in the first place if it was such a risk that they'd get found out?" I asked, which earned me a mildly annoyed glare from Migi.

"I was about to explain," they said flatly. I smiled meekly and shrunk back as they continued. "It's possible to hide Sagi's abuse of the program, but impossible to hide the fact that they were using one of the wagons approved to transport opium while at the same time smuggling Ryoukuna-san's daughter. Hiring shinobi escorts was mandatory."

"If that's the case, why would Sadame drug me way before the attack? That's practically screaming, 'Hey! We're dealing drugs! And it's the real good kind, too!' And then all it did was stop me from ingesting the drugged tea because I recognized the t-" I paused, put two and two together about five steps late, and lowered my previously-gesturing hands back into my lap. "...Oh."

So, like, future reference to all potential double-agent people-smuggling non-merchants everywhere - giving warnings about getting drugged only work when the target actually knows what being drugged feels like.

"...I think it's safe to say for sure that Sadame and Tomi decided they weren't gonna help kill Takara-san." I concluded. "Actually... it seems more like they were actively trying to make us realize that the mission was more than what it seemed." I made sure to check with Kakashi for confirmation. He didn't look entirely confident, but he at least didn't show any signs that I was making a blatant contradiction somewhere.

This must be what it feels like to be Phoenix Wright under Edgeworth's scrutiny.

Although, if going by appearance alone, Sasuke was much better suited to be the attorney.

I did my best to withhold any signs of amusement, because wow, talk about inappropriate thoughts and inappropriate times.

"In other words, we still don't know what they were trying to accomplish," Sasuke said. "That still leaves Hanjou," he added, but it didn't seem like either nukenin had an answer for that.

"We'll just have to ask them about the details later, but what's important is that they aren't trying to kill Takara," Kakashi said, speaking for the first time since the interrogation - which was more like the world's most convoluted revelation over tea at this point - began.

What's important is that we finally have some background information on what the hell was actually going on this entire time.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. Being right kind of sucked when it came to assassinations and drug dealing, especially when I was only half-right and the truth was so much worse.

Furumi finally spoke again. "How do you know that what you say about Kanjaku is true?" they asked, looking doubtful. "I knew about Sadame-san and Tomi-san's involvement, but I've always been under the impression that Kanjaku and Sagi were working together. I don't recall ever hearing about him being threatened."

"He told me himself," Migi said, their voice somehow managing to become even quieter, "when he offered me over half his shares as payment to help fake his death so that he could leave the country after Takara-san was killed."

Their words hit us like a ton of bricks, and suddenly, the man who at first had been kind, then suspicious, then cruel, was now nothing more than a pathetic coward.

"It sounds like running is the only option left after deciding to kill your own family," Sasuke muttered, his voice bitter and expression grim.

There was a twitch in one of Kakashi's fingers. I pointedly didn't look at either of them because I wasn't sure how much Protagonist was supposed to know about the Uchiha Massacre, other than the fact that they were all dead. It was kinda hard to miss that much, no matter how inattentive to shinobi matters one was.

"But the plan failed," I said, hoping to steer the mood away from the crap-fest it was starting to become, no thanks to Sasuke, Prince of Angst and Drama. "Is it part of your job to tell him that Takara's still alive?"

"I was supposed to meet him after the attack to receive the rest of my payment, but since Takara is still alive, neither of us have proof of death."

"That's also why we attacked again just now," Furumi said, eyes flicking towards the stream and back.

Migi nodded. "Even if I did have proof, he wasn't at our meeting spot last night," they said. "It's possible that he fled without holding up his end of the bargain."

"What a dick," I said without thinking. I covered my mouth belatedly, ignoring the scolding look I received from Kakashi. "Sorry, that was crude."

The corner of their lips twitched as they fought back a smile. "No, you're right. He may be the most dishonourable man I have ever met," they said with a sullen nod, "but I may be just as bad, if not worse, for accepting his offer. There's very little room for honour in moments of desperation."

I had to pause and think about what to say in response to that.

Part of me wanted to embrace my tactless twelve-year-old impulses and ask just what exactly they needed the money for, but the twenty-year-old part of me beat it down with critical thinking and self-reprimanding.

Plus, if I did ask, it might suggest that I was trying to judge whether their level of desperation was enough for me to excuse their actions and, well… again, in a world full of sanctioned murder, ethics seemed a lot more complex compared to my old life.

"I think…people do what they think is necessary to achieve their goals," I said carefully, "but I also think it's important to know the difference between the people who only feel remorse, and the ones who act upon it."

I looked up at Furumi and Migi and steeled myself for what I was about to say next.

"And I think what determines whether or not Sensei kills you after this depends on which one you decide to be."

Chapter 16: Follow the Glittery Road

Summary:

Satoko and Sasuke change jobs from cops to detectives. Kakashi is proud, but not because of them.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

We took a few minutes to do an inventory check before heading off to the capital, during which I found out something very important.

Sasuke was a prick.

"YOU!" I shouted, pointing an overdramatically accusatory finger at my teammate from where I sat along the bank with my bag open in front of me. "You made me throw the wrong bomb!"

"How do I have anything to do with your mistake?" he hissed back, having just finished counting his kunai and shuriken.

I held my bag open towards him and shook it. "Look at this! You broke one of my glitter bombs when you threw my bag onto the ground! No wonder I didn't notice when I grabbed the wrong one - everything is covered in glitter!"

"That's because your weapons are stupid and ineffective!"

"You're face is stupid and ineffective!" I retorted, scowling. "You know first hand that my weapons work; they saved your stupid avian-haired ass. Twice! At least show some appreciation when you use other people's stuff - I could say a few things about how your ego's so big it's probably stretching out my clothes!"

Well, I guess I already did say a few things, huh.

Sasuke scowled back, but said nothing more.

I already knew to expect that at least one glitter bomb would be missing, since we found traces of glitter in the stream. When I asked Sasuke about it, he so brilliantly and reluctantly informed me that yes, it really was him who used it against the enemy in a fit of desperation and lack of coherence because he and Sakura were both drugged and were in no condition to be performing any ninjutsu.

My hysterical laughing at the image of Uchiha Sasuke using a glitter bomb and "In your face!" dance lasted all but two seconds until I opened my bag to see the mess he'd created, bringing us back to square one.

I grumbled insults at the brat under my breath as I carefully pulled out what was left of my inventory. Of the original three flour bombs, two Molotovs, and five glitter bombs, there were now two of each.

I frowned.

"Yo, Sasuke," I called, once again neutral instead of ready to punch his face in, "remind me again how many glitter bombs you guys used?"

"Only one," he said, clearly irritated that I was still talking to him.

I hummed thoughtfully and looked back at my inventory. "Which should leave me with four, but then there's the one that broke in the bag, which leaves three, so then…" I spoke to myself as I pulled out the plastic bag I had used to line the inside of my bag and tied it up, instantaneously cleaning up most of the glittery mess.

Thank you high school outdoor ed class for teaching me something applicable. Not that I'd ever imagined I'd use it under these circumstances.

Point being, I should have had three glitter bombs left. I pouted my lips and went back to glowering at Sasuke.

"Hey," I called out to Sasuke again. "You sure you didn't use two? Like, maybe you were too drugged up to remember, or something?"

The Uchiha glared as fiercely as his twelve-year-old eyes could and said, with heavy emphasis, "I'm sure."

"Then why do I only have two?" I said to myself, although apparently it was loud enough for him to hear it, anyway.

"Probably because you're an idiot who can't even count to five."

"Oh, you little -" I gaped, fueled by annoyance. Without thinking, I grabbed a glitter bomb and threatened to throw it at him. "I'll give you five seconds to run like hell before I bedazzle your pasty ass, you bastard-!"

I probably would've gone through with it, too, if not for the fact that making my own teammate easier to track was counter productive. And because somebody grabbed my wrist so I physically couldn't throw it anyway.

"That's enough, you two," Kakashi sighed, releasing my arm after taking the bomb away. He then addressed me in a lower voice, "We'll have to discuss your choice in weapons once this mission is over."

"But they're awesome! And they totally embrace the element of surprise," I huffed and crossed my arms. "I even got you with one of 'em," I grumbled.

Either he didn't hear me or chose to ignore me - definitely the latter, actually, considering how close he was and how much I wasn't really trying to be quiet about it - because the jounin left without so much as a grunt directed at me.

Buttface, I thought, then returned to wiping my arsenal clean of glitter as much as I could. God, they're so much fun to use, but so, so horrible when you gotta suffer the consequences yourself. Which was actually why I insisted on using them.

After a few more minutes of cleaning and checking inventory, Kakashi stood in the middle of the bank and raised his voice loud enough for all of us to hear. "We're setting out in two minutes!"

"Hai!" answered four voices.

"Your hair is still a little sparkly, Migi-san" Furumi said, although there wasn't much they could do to help while we were running through the trees and top speed.

"In all my years in the field, I've never encountered such a weapon before," Migi said, giving me a look. "It's certainly...unique. And effective. Both of them were, although the second one was much more destructive."

I laughed sheepishly and glanced away before I ended up staring at the bandages that covered the minor burns they got from the dust explosion. "To be fair, I didn't really expect us to become allies."

"We're fortunate to have stored some backup equipment nearby, otherwise we'd look more like prisoners," Furumi laughed, their voice gruff but warm. It was weird to think that it was the same voice threatening us just minutes before.

It was true, though - compared to their dark nukenin outfits complete with scratched headbands and masks, both of them were now wearing something closer to civilian clothing, but were still fit for combat. The colours were lighter, too - Furumi had an earthy palette going on while Migi colour coded themselves in lavender and grey.

"Speaking of which, how are we gonna get through the gate?" I asked. "Won't they think it's weird for you two to come back with a group of shinobi?"

"We can just say that we were making an exchange outside the capital. That's what this thing is for," Migi said, nodding over their shoulders towards the straw basket strapped to their back. It was part of their backup equipment, and I had been wondering why they stored it along with everything else.

"I find it hard to believe that the guardpost at the capital would be so lax," Sasuke said, looking uncertain and rather unimpressed.

Turns out, they kinda were. Maybe having Copy-Cat Kakashi with us helped matters a little, though, but I wouldn't know. What was important, however, was the extra information the guards told us once we explained that our team got separated along the way.

"Are you three with Sakura?" the guard with long hair asked, eyeing my team.

We nodded in unison, already feeling the tension in the air.

"She arrived thirty minutes ago with your client, Kakuchou Takara, although they didn't mention where they would wait."

Sounds like Sakura took my advice on not trusting anyone. Not that it was entirely accurate, but hey, better safe than sorry.

I could already hear her yelling at me about being misleading, though. Whoops.

"Thank you for letting us know. I'm sure we'll find her in no time," Kakashi answered with a one-eyed smile.

It was then that I noticed the faintest glimmer on the side of the desk that faced us, where the guards couldn't see. I resisted the urge to say anything until we were away from the possibly Sagi-affiliated guards.

"We'll split up to cover more ground. Besides, travelling as a group of five will definitely attract unwanted attention," Kakashi sighed, looking down the road. It was crowded, to say the least, with winding, narrow roads not unlike Konoha's streets. He glanced back at Furumi and Migi with a skeptical look. "How likely is it that someone will recognize you two?"

"As long as we avoid certain areas, very unlikely," Furumi answered. "Unfortunately, the best I can do is suppress what's left of my chakra signature, but he can still do full transformations," they said, tilting their head towards Migi.

I could tell that my teammates were all thinking the same thing at Furumi's choice of words, but none of us made a sound. It was probably really tactless to ask a discharged shinobi how their chakra got blocked - apparently permanently, or close enough - even for a twelve-year-old genin. I figured it was the same reason Kakashi never straight up asked exactly what got them discharged, although not knowing what they were and weren't capable of was still a bit unnerving - even if they weren't our enemies anymore.

"Alright then," Kakashi said, pulling his hands out of his pockets, which was a sure sign that this was serious business. "Furumi, if you have anything you can use to cover your face, then do that. The rest of us will transform. Then we'll split into two groups - Sasuke and Satoko will pair up while I'll search with you two," he said, gesturing towards Furumi and Migi.

As much as Sasuke and I were already scowling at each other, it was probably better than leaving us with the still-suspicious former enemies.

"The only question is, how are we supposed to comb through the capital without drawing attention?" Migi said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Even with disguises and small groups, somebody is bound to notice us eventually."

"Actually, I think I already know where to start," I said as a smile crept onto my face.

And I just might have an idea about what happened to my missing glitter bomb.

If Sakura wasn't such an annoyingly stubborn twelve-year-old, I might've actually fallen in love with her. People ought to give her more credit, because the girl was fucking brilliant.

"There, on the stand with the dango," I whispered to the others despite not-so-subtly pointing at the stand in question. "You see that? At the corner where the post meets the table?"

Although I wasn't sure if everybody else saw it, there was definitely a distinct patch of shimmering light that sparkled just beneath a sign that had prices listed on it.

"She used glitter to mark what path she took," Kakashi stated in disbelief. "It's not the most conventional medium, but it was clever of her to use something so specific. Nobody else but this team would think anything of it." Whether he admitted it or not, there was definitely some amount of pride behind his words.

Too bad not all my teammates were willing to be supportive.

"Told you I only used one," Sasuke muttered.

"I swear to god Sasuke I will end you -" I snapped, but shut my mouth when the jounin set his hand on my shoulder as a silent don't you dare start this shit up again , which was fair. We were already transformed into generic civilians and squabbling would only draw unwanted attention.

I clicked my tongue instead and physically turned my body away from the other genin.

I'll get you next time, Bastard.

"We should spread out and look for any more glitter, then," Furumi said. I interpreted the slight hesitation in their voice to be taken as I can't believe I'm actually using glitter to track someone down.

Welcome to the future of ninja-ing!

"Keep an eye out for any other patterns," Kakashi said. "If she thought far ahead enough to leave us a trail, then it's possible that she marked certain things in particular so it would be easier for us to find them." After receiving acknowledgement from us, he continued. "Make sure to stay within each other's sights, and don't do anything that would make you stick out, like arguing," he said pointedly, giving me and Sasuke a stern look.

We nodded, but that didn't necessarily mean we were going to cooperate, either. Not that we really had to talk much, since all we had to do was keep our eyes peeled for anything sparkling in broad daylight and only communicate once we actually found something.

It was five minutes later when I finally found something worth mentioning to my bratty teammate, but I decided to confirm that it was what I thought it was, just in case I was wrong and he decided to hold it against me.

Casually, I slipped away from the bookstore Sasuke was examining and headed one unit over to the pottery shop. Sure enough, there was a cup with a touch of glitter along the base. I picked it up and pretended to examine it while wiping off the glitter as much as I could.

"You've got quite an eye there," a gruff voice said, startling me into looking up. "Haha~ Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Are you looking for anything specific?"

For a moment, could only stare at the man as I tried to find my words. Half his face was bandaged, and I was almost certain he was missing an arm. It was hard to tell from how baggy his yukata was, though.

"Uh, no, not really," I finally answered, setting the cup back down. "Everything's super nice, though! Did you make 'em?"

The man grinned proudly and nodded. "A little hard work goes a long way!"

"Look like more than a little went into these," I commented, admiring the detail in some of the finer pieces.

"Aw, you flatter me," he laughed, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Before he could say more, there was a knock coming from the back of the store that cut our smalltalk short. "Oh, I've gotta go get that. Take your time and look around!"

I nodded absently, waiting until he was out of sight before doing my best Generic Civilian impression. "Ne, Suki! Come look at this stuff, it's so cool!" I shouted, waving towards Sasuke with a bright grin.

He immediately shuffled over with a frown that was absolutely his, even through the transformation. "You're supposed to keep a low profile," he hissed.

"People call each other over from across the street all the time," I hissed back. "More importantly, look," I said, showing him my glittered hand. "We're on the right track."

"Dango and pottery," Sasuke murmured to himself.

"You think of something?"

He paused, but eventually shook his head and grabbed my arm. "Nothing. Let's go."

"Y'know, we might get this figured a lot faster if we worked togetHER-!" I yelped as Sasuke literally pulled me along with him to the next shop. We walked for a bit until he stopped to inconspicuously examine the first jacket hanging on a rack. "Clothes?"

"My old one is ripped," he answered nonchalantly. It took me a second to remember that we were in disguise and that he was just playing his role.

While Sasuke sifted through the items on display at the front of the store, I kept an eye out for the shopkeeper, just in case. It took me a while to spot her because she was hidden behind a rack of clothes. At first I thought she was really short, but then she wheeled herself into view and I saw that she was missing both her legs.

Are missing limbs a trend on this street or what?

"Welcome!" she greeted with a bright smile as she set her hands on her lap and bowed in her seat. "Can I help you find anything today?"

"We're just browsing, thanks," I answered smoothly, eyes flickering towards Sasuke. "Find anything you like?"

"Not really," he answered, although the look in his eyes said otherwise.

"Aw, that's too bad," the shopkeeper commented. "Come back again!"

I smiled and waved goodbye as Sasuke led us to our next destination. He was definitely on to something, but I was more interested in why every employee we came across seemed to have some sort of disability: a blind florist, a blacksmith missing a couple of fingers and a foot, a deaf pastry chef - not everybody had a disability, or at least not a visible one, but there was definitely a higher concentration of disabled workers on this street, that was for sure.

Maybe this has something to do with that program Takara's mom started?

Sasuke mentioned how the program was for former shinobi, and I imagine career-ending injuries are common in this line of work. If that were the case, it'd explain why they were all in one area, too.

Looks like her mom did some solid work.

Which was all the more reason for us to hurry up and find Sakura and Takara so we could take down the bitch of a politician who was trying to fuck with the honest and good thing her mother had created.

And I guess her uncle, but nobody cares about him, so.

I spent the next several minutes following Sasuke down the streets of the capital because he clearly found some kinda pattern that told him where the next trace of glitter would be. There were a lot of misses at the beginning, but the more traces we got, the more accurate he became at locating the next one, and since he naturally couldn't be assed to explain it to me, I had no choice but to follow him around like a lost puppy.

He eventually stopped us once we started approaching the crop fields and farmhouses.

Now that we were in an area that was basically empty, we regrouped with Kakashi and the nukenin - actually, was it still appropriate to refer to them as nukenin? Maybe it'd be more accurate to refer to them as veterans - to search for Sakura's exact hiding spot together.

"This is where the path leads?" Migi asked, voice low and cautious. Kakashi nodded, and the veterans both sighed. "We should hurry. If this is where your teammate is hiding, then people you don't want finding them will come sooner or later. Many of these buildings are used to store the opium."

"Well, that sucks," I said for lack of better things to say. There still had to be some way to narrow down her location. Sasuke had definitely noticed something earlier, so I decided to bug him because clearly he wasn't planning on telling me on his own. "So...any idea where Sakura-chan might be? 'Cause I'm pretty convinced you had some system that helped you find those traces back in town. Maybe there's some way to figure out where exactly she's hiding instead of inspecting every building for a pinch of glitter."

Even if she did leave something, it would be hard to say if she made it easy or hard to find, since any trace she left could potentially be found by passersby as well, depending on how she left the mark.

"Tch, you're either clueless or you're not. Make up your mind," Sasuke muttered.

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Seriously, what the hell was that supposed to mean?

He provided no explanation and instead rolled his eyes while stuffing his hands in his pockets. "It means you're an idiot who can't even recognize a basic word pattern."

"Then tell me, asshole!" I demanded, whacking his arm.

"It'd be a waste of time," he grumbled impatiently. "There aren't any more traces, anyway."

I glowered. How was it that it felt easier to get the morally conflicted assassins to tell us who sent them than getting my own teammate to tell me something that would benefit us both?

Kakashi sighed and looked at us with a tired one-eyed smile. "Sasuke, it would help if everybody knew what to look for. Even if there aren't any more traces, it's possible that knowing the pattern could give an idea of where Sakura is hiding."

So get over yourself and explain what the hell you noticed to your teammate, I finished silently. Not that I was clueless in general, but about that particular matter? Yes, very much so.

"I was under the impression they both knew," I heard Furumi whisper to Migi.

Ha! I bit back a laugh. C'mon, have you seen our team? As if he'd actually help me.

Sasuke conceded with a bitter sigh and stopped in his tracks. "Fine, but I'm only explaining it once, so pay attention."

"Yessir," I drawled sarcastically.

I heard the faint sound of an annoyed grunt, but he said nothing and instead picked up a twig so he could write in the dirt. I loomed over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

"She picked each location with a specific word in mind," he said as he wrote down the places where we found traces of glitter in a column.

Dango stall, pottery shop, clothing store, weapons shop, bakery, sukiyaki restaurant, produce shop.

In a second column, he wrote a list of words associated with each location.

Dango, overglaze enamels, outerwear, weapons, dessert, sukiyaki, fruit.

I blinked at the words, my eyes widening as I literally only just realized that all this time, I'd been speaking, reading, and writing in Japanese. Multilingualism was weird that way, especially when you have two sets of memories with a different Point A but the same Point B, although mostly it was a lot like how I never noticed how the night sky was different until consciously choosing to because Protagonist's memories subconsciously normalized a bunch of things.

I've definitely been thinking in English this entire time, though, which is… which just makes everything that much weirder, actually.

It also made me wonder if other countries used different languages because if so, maybe I'd hear snippets of Mandarin-Chinese or Shanghainese-Chinese somewhere, or even French, although I wasn't expecting this world's language diversity to diverge too far from East Asian or even Southeast Asian ones, let alone anything outside of Asia.

Now that I was consciously aware of what language I was using, I stopped myself from automatically translating everything in my head and focused on the kana.

Dango, iroe, joui, buki, dezaato, sukiyaki, ka.

"She used the first character of every word to create a message," Sasuke continued, and when he underlined the appropriate kana, a message was formed.

DA I JOU BU DE SU KA

I blinked, standing up straight as I crossed my arms. "So, like, Sakura-chan is kinda awesome," I said with utmost confidence.

"She's definitely clever," Migi agreed. "It's one thing to use something uniquely associated with her team-" damn straight "-but another to include a pattern in order to facilitate the task of finding the trail."

"I'm pretty sure there was one at the guardpost, though," I said thoughtfully. Although I wasn't sure, the possibly-imagined shimmering gave me the idea to look for glitter in the first place and helped me find the one on the dango stand.

"It's possible," Kakashi nodded as he started walking. The rest of us followed suit. "She could've put a mark there as a sign that she left a trail in the first place, then went on to include a message."

Despite his lackluster response, the glint in his eye told me he was impressed - maybe even proud.

"Now if only she left us some way to figure out where exactly she's hiding," I sighed, looking at the dozen or so buildings that were closest to us and the many more that were further away. It was a little ways in the distance where one particular barn caught my eye. I tilted my head thoughtfully and squinted. "Hey, isn't that my-"

But before I could finish, there was a scream - a kind of weird scream? - and all our heads turned towards the barn I was looking at. Kakashi was the first to make a break for it towards the source, but the rest of us were no more than a step behind him.

"It came from that one," Furumi said, pointing to an old barn next to a wooden farmhouse.

"That's the barn we use to store the opium from Konoha," Migi added. "Someone's already inside!"

"What if it's a false alarm?" Sasuke asked, even though he was already running.

"It's not," I reassured, pointing at a red cloth hanging on the clothesline outside the farmhouse next door. "See? Sakura hung my shawl outside. She's so cool - she thinks of everything!" I grinned.

Kakashi didn't even need to think before barking orders. "Sasuke, go around the back. Furumi and Migi, flank the building. Satoko, stay with me."

While I pushed to keep up with Kakashi's steadily increasing speed, the other three split off so they could get into position.

"Draw your weapons, Satoko," the jounin said, voice low. "We're not giving them a chance to talk this time."

I tensed, but did as I was told. For all I knew they already had Sakura and Takara tied up for an execution. We rushed into the barn and, with that in mind, I slammed my heel into the first person that didn't have pink hair.

Turns out that was a mistake.

"OW- what the-" there was a loud gasp, and then, "Satoko?!"

I dropped my fighting stance upon hearing my name and immediately dropped my weapons once I saw who it was.

"OH MY GOD SADAME-SAN I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO-!" I practically sobbed, crouching down to help the poor woman back onto her feet.

"It's alright. It doesn't hurt much, and it was mostly just a graze," she reassured, despite the fact that she was rubbing her jaw.

"Oh, thank god my aim still sucks."

Kakashi gave me a look.

"But if it were anybody else I woulda knocked 'em out cold," I quickly added, but was still more worried about whether or not I'd dislocated her jaw than whether or not Kakashi was going to drill us into the ground with taijutsu training after the mission.

Any sort of kick, no matter how weak or poorly aimed, was sure to hurt nevertheless.

"No need to fuss. The worst she'll get is a bruise," Tomi said.

Once it was confirmed that Sadame would be okay, I promptly shoved Kakashi a full two inches to the side, which was pretty impressive considering the difference in our size and weight.

"This is what happens when you attack first and ask questions later!" I snapped, adding a complimentary whack on the arm.

"You're supposed to be on alert and confirm the target before you attack," he countered, gently pushing me away so I'd stop hitting him.

"It's true," Tomi nodded. "He didn't kick anybody in the face."

"Well it was dark and you were talking like Sakura-chan was already dead!"

"I'm not dead!" the voice of our missing teammate suddenly snapped, appearing from the back of the barn while rolling up a spool of wire.

"Sakura-chan!" I exclaimed. "We got your message! We're okay!"

She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "I'm glad you guys found us." She then eyed me and quirked her brow. "Didn't you see your shawl?"

"Oh, yeah! But then we heard the scream and rushed over. I'll pick it up on the way out," I said, nodding towards the door. "More importantly, you're incredible, Sakura-chan! I can't believe you were walking on water, and you left us a secret message, and-"

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Kakashi interrupted casually.

I shut my mouth and let up as he approached Sakura to check for wounds or missing limbs or whatever else a jounin looks for in the student he got separated from for almost a day after getting attacked by assassins.

"Uh, yeah! A little tired, but I'm feeling pretty good," she grinned, pocketing her wire, then gasped. "What, is there something on my face?"

Even though I could only see his back, I could sense the way Kakashi smiled.

"No, you're fine." He eased into his signature slouch and patted her head. "You did well, Sakura. Good work."

Being the teacher's pet she absolutely is, Sakura blushed at our sensei's praise and nodded. She then snapped her head up as though she'd made a dreadful realization and gasped. "W-Wait, where's Sasuke-kun? I thought you said you were all okay!"

Just when I think she's alright, she just blows it outta the water.

"He's not dead either," I said before she got any weird ideas."Unfortunately."

Kakashi flicked my head, because of course he heard that.

"I'm here," answered his grumpy voice. We all turned to face him and paused, ignoring Hanjou standing next to him in favour of the girl he was carrying bridal style. His cheeks flushed red and he snapped his head away.

"I, um," Takara started rather nervously, "sprained my ankle when I fell."

I saw the spark of jealousy in Sakura's eye, but she must've decided that between fighting for Sasuke's attention in front of the people she still knew as our clients and making sure the girl she just went to hell and back for was alright, the latter was more important.

That's one small step for Sakura, one giant leap for Team 7.

"What happened, Takara-san?" she asked, rushing over as Sasuke carefully set Takara down on her good leg. "Didn't you land on the straw?"

"I meant to- I mean, I did, but," she winced, leaning on Sakura for support a little more than what I thought was necessary, "the scream startled me and I ended up falling off the ledge. I knocked over all the hay when I landed on it."

Sakura sighed in relief. "Well, it's good that your injuries weren't any worse." She paused. "Actually, it would've been troubling if you actually did manage to run away, considering who it was at the door," she said, laughing meekly.

"What was that scream about, anyway?" I asked. "It was loud enough to get our attention from like, halfway across the field."

There was a weird silence before finally, someone confessed.

"That...would've been me," Sadame said quietly, raising her hand just barely above her shoulder. "Sakura-chan set some traps, so when we opened the door, at least a dozen kunai and shuriken flew right at us. It...startled me."

Geez, she must be really out of practice if that's all it took to scare her , I thought. Not that I wouldn't have freaked out myself, but I wasn't the veteran shinobi here.

"It's a good thing we have pretty good reflexes, otherwise we would've been in trouble," Tomi laughed, reaching up so she could throw her arm around Sadame's shoulders. "Anyway, everything was fine once we realized who was in the barn and vice versa. Hanjou went around back to get Takara, since Sakura-chan said she told her to escape through the back if anybody showed up. That's when you lot came in!"

That still didn't answer one question, though.

"Why did you come here in the first place?" Kakashi asked, and the weird silence came back.

"Well, hay is for horses, and Tsumi-chan is due for a good rest," Tomi said with a grin.

When he didn't make any notable response, her smile slowly faded.

Her story would've been fine if it weren't for the fact that Kakashi, Sasuke, and I all knew who Sadame and Tomi were, or at least weren't, what their "goods" really were, and what the barn really was. Although all their actions pointed to trying to save Takara, we still had no idea whether or not they had an ulterior motive beyond that. For all we knew, their plan could still include turning against us.

I held my breath, suddenly very aware of where everybody was standing.

Sasuke, Sakura, Takara, and Hanjou were by the entrance, with Takara still leaning on Sakura for support. From where I was standing, they were on my right. In front of me was Sadame and Tomi, and behind them was the wagon and Four-Legged Devilspawn. Kakashi was on my left, but slightly in front and closer to Tomi. He didn't give any signals, but from the way his body was tense and his back was straight, I knew what was coming next.

The tension pooled over and everybody moved at once.

In an instant, weapons were drawn and at each other's necks - Sasuke's to Hanjou's, Hanjou's to Sakura's, mine and Kakashi's to Sadame's, Tomi's to Kakashi's, Kakashi's other to Tomi's, and Sadame to mine. What I didn't expect, but I'm sure Kakashi did, was the two extra weapons drawn against Hanjou and Tsumi.

Wait, why the horse?

I didn't have a chance to ask, however, because Sadame was the first one to speak up, staring right at the person I knew as Furumi.

"Miyako?!"

"Sadame."

"Tadashi...!"

"Tomi."

Silence.

Then, Kakashi.

"We have no reason to attack you, but we have no reason to trust you, either," he said carefully. The glare he had focused on Sadame didn't lighten up even the slightest bit, "so it would be wise to explain yourselves. You should know that these two have already given us a detailed account of what's really going on."

So you really shouldn't lie, went unsaid.

It was obvious that Sadame and Tomi recognized our new allies, which should've told them a lot. Namely, that we knew about Sagi and that they were part of her program, which automatically cast them under suspicion, including Hanjou by association.

There was beat and a breath, and then the three of them lowered their weapons. The rest of us followed suit, and although the tension didn't go away, it definitely faded a little.

"You can start by admitting what you were really doing here," Furumi - or rather, Miyako - said. Even though we already knew, I guessed it was probably some kind of strategy to see if they really would be willing to talk or not.

Thankfully, because I didn't think I could handle it if things got any more complicated, Hanjou complied. "I get the feeling you already know the answer to that question, but no matter. Although we did have some actual wares and spices in our wagon, most of it was opium approved for delivery by the capital and Konoha. We came here to drop it off."

I looked around. "I don't see any opium, though. This place just looks like an old barn to me."

"That's because we store them in wheat bags," she said, nodding to a pile of said bags stacked against a wall. "Even though the opium is legal, we disguise it so other people don't try and steal it."

I briefly contemplated how common drugs were used as a recreational activity, or if it was common for people to become addicts. Apparently common enough, if precautions had to be taken so that they wouldn't get stolen. And if creating a drug cartel was profitable enough to kill a bunch of people to make it happen.

"I must confess something!" Takara announced out of the blue. We all looked towards her expectantly. "I...I knew about the opium."

I blinked.

"I-I mean, I'm sure you all must have figured out by now that I knew about how our mission request was inaccurate," she blabbered, definitely out of nervousness, "but I knew that the wagon was carrying opium because I already knew Sadame and Tomi from before, as they were part of my mother's program, and was informed that Hanjou-san would be helping me as well, for which I am thankful."

It didn't sound like she knew about what the program had become , though, but now probably wasn't the best time to drop that bomb. Maybe after we confirmed that the caravan was actually on our side and not waiting for their chance to throw shit at the fan.

She then bowed as much as she could with one arm still slung around Sakura's shoulders. "I'm sorry for deceiving you."

My teammates and I exchanged looks before I spoke for all of us.

"S'cool, man."

They probably shouldn't let me speak for all of us.

Despite my phrasing, Takara snapped her head up with a relieved smile.

"We still need an explanation from you about what your intentions are, however" Kakashi said, reminding everybody that nobody was out in the clear just yet.

"And we plan on doing just that," Hanjou said, her expression showing full well that she planned on honouring her words, "although I expect one from you, as well," she said, staring pointedly at our new allies.

Kakashi shrugged. "We'll see how it goes."

Hanjou scoffed, but said nothing of it. "We need to change locations. As I said earlier, this barn is used to store the legal opium, which means we're not the only ones who frequent it. Providing all the details will take some time, so it would be best for us to go to a safehouse."

"That would be best," Kakashi agreed. "I'm assuming you have one in mind?"

"Yes, back in the city."

"I'll join you in the front, then," he said, and since it went without saying, he wordlessly reverted back into his Generic Civilian disguise.

"The rest of us will have to hide within the cargo in the back," Tomi said, opening up the flap. "Box or bag?"

"Gee, they both sound so appealing," I drawled, looking at the piles of crates and sacks. "Can't we just transform?"

"The road is bumpy, so it'd be a lot of trouble if your transformations got dispelled along the way," Sadame said.

"Are those boxes even empty?" Sakura asked.

"Mostly. The rest is just personal gear," Tomi answered smoothly.

"Oh, speaking of personal gear, I gotta get my shawl," I said, already rushing out the door. After yanking it off the clothesline and ignoring the undergarments that fell with it, I sprinted back, shawl in hand. By then, everybody was loaded except for my team and Takara. I slowed to a walk and tilted my head. "What's up?"

"Since you four are the smallest and lightest, you'll hide in the crates in pairs," Kakashi said.

My face dropped. "Awesome."

And since Takara was most comfortable with Sakura, that of course meant that I got stuffed into a box with Jerkface McLoserton.

It was big enough to fit us and our bags, but only if we bent our legs. If it wasn't stuffy already, then it certainly was once the lid was closed on us. We probably would've gotten into another spat if it weren't for the fact that we were trying to sneak across the city so we could avoid detection by a scary political figure who could have eyes and ears anywhere at any time. So, at least there was that.

Instead, we sat in silence, with only the faintest streams of light peeking through the holes in the crate, and that was already filtered from the cover around the wagon itself.

Once we started moving, however, a sudden feeling of dread overcame me and I had to warn my teammate before my fears came true.

"Sasuke," I whispered urgently. "You better not fart."

Notes:

After credit scene: Nothing, they're just sitting in a crate and it's very uncomfortable :/

Chapter 17: Faces Old as Thine

Summary:

Sadame tells a tale of good intentions and the gang regroups with familiar faces - some too familiar to be true.

Chapter Text

We were on route for quite a while, which was incredibly boring and uncomfortable since we couldn't risk making small talk. It'd be stupid if we went through all the trouble of stuffing ourselves into bags and boxes, only to get discovered just because I really wanted to ask Takara what my teammates were like when tripping balls.

I'll get that story out of them someday if it's the last thing I do.

The wagon stopped in what I'd later learn was a side street that ran parallel to the main road, where we were then unloaded by Kakashi and Hanjou. We were carried a short distance and down what felt like a flight of stairs, where I ended up getting tipped onto Sasuke for a moment of greater discomfort. We were set down and waited until Kakashi gave us the audible okay to get out.

"Man, Sasuke totally farted-whoa!" The moment I stood up, I ended up toppling against Sasuke from a combination of head rush and numb legs, which knocked us onto the crate and sent us both crashing into the ground. "Um, ow. "

"Idiot," Sasuke hissed, shoving me off with a grunt. "And I didn't fart!"

I resisted the urge to snort. God bless the maturity of a twelve-year-old.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you okay?" Sakura cried, having escaped from her wooden confines as well. She rushed over and, of course, only checked up on her unrequited love. "And...And Satoko! You have to be more careful! Did you hit your head?"

Oooor not?

I vaguely recalled the harsh scolding Kakashi had given us after we failed the bell test - something about disregarding people she isn't interested in and how she doesn't get to decide who was worth saving.

Oh yeah, I guess that'd make a difference in her behaviour, huh.

Aside from the fact that it was blatantly obvious that she had to force herself to ask if I was okay, it was definitely better than nothing.

Baby steps.

"I'm good! Just a little creaky," I replied while stretching out my arms and legs while finally taking a moment to look around. "Oh, whoa."

I wasn't expecting much out of a safe house - a room with a table and a few chairs, at most, but instead I was visually assaulted by pottery.

Just...a fuckload of pottery.

"Holy shit," I whispered to myself for a number of reasons, but for now, it was only because of the sheer amount of everything.

"It's a little messier than I remember," Tomi murmured.

"As if that's even possible," Hanjou laughed.

I scanned the room as she led us towards a rectangular table where Takara, Sadame, Tomi, and Miyako had taken up the available seats. Tadashi stood by her, and Kakashi made himself comfortable against the wall between the entrance and a shelf loaded with dishware. My teammates and I joined him, with me standing closest to the jounin while Sasuke was the farthest.

Piles upon piles of cups, bowls, vases, and plates arranged in organised chaos along the shelves took up any space on the wall that wasn't a door. One corner was infested with broken creations while another had a stack of pottery wheels and woven baskets loaded with carving tools.

Link would be in heaven.

Not that I encouraged breaking into a stranger's house and smashing their pots for money.

Despite the clutter, I couldn't say that the basement was messy. Although it was overflowing with pottery, it was obvious that the actual work was done somewhere else because the air wasn't overly dusty. All the creations were well-kept and there was definitely some sort of system to how they were organized. It just looked messy at first because there was so much stuff.

Even doors. What kind of basement had four doors? Granted, one of them was at the top of a staircase, but two of them were across from the entrance, which probably meant they led into separate rooms, and it'd already been established that at least one of them led outdoors. What kind of basement leads outside?

The kind that doubles as a safe house, apparently.

"Wait a second…" Sakura said, carefully inspecting a row of bowls on the shelf next to us. "This place...does it happen to be a pottery shop owned by a man with one arm?"

My interest piqued, I took a closer look at the pottery and realized that the style was pretty familiar, and as big as the capital was, I doubted there were any other one-armed potters.

"Do you two recognize this place as well?" Tadashi asked, addressing me and Sasuke.

We nodded. "It was one of the locations Sakura marked," Sasuke explained.

"You were searching other parts of the street so you probably didn't realize this was one of 'em," I added.

"But how can you tell that it's the same?" he asked, still perplexed. "It's not like there's only one pottery shop in the entire capital."

I shrugged, glancing at the dishware in Sakura's hands. "It's a very distinctive bowl."

Tadashi crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. "Well, I suppose that's true. More importantly, I'd like to know where this potter is. It's rather rude for a host to not welcome their guests."

"He's busy at the moment," Hanjou explained with a smile, "but I assure you, he's trustworthy. He's been a friend of ours for a while now. We help sell his work around the country."

"So...you guys are merchants?" I asked, still unsure of what to make of them.

"That's what our contract says," Tomi grinned.

"If we're all settled," Kakashi said in a louder voice than usual, staring at the caravan members, "I'd like that explanation about what you three are trying to accomplish, if you will."

"Yes, of course," Hanjou replied, folding one hand over the other on the table. "There is...a lot to explain, however, and Takara…"

Our client looked up at her name, her expression saying that she was expecting the worst.

"It's about Uncle Kanjaku, isn't it?" she asked quietly, and Hanjou nodded. Takara breathed deeply and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "It's okay. Whatever it is, I would like to know the truth, even if… Even if it means he tried to kill me."

Everybody in the room exchanged wary glances. Unsure of what to make of it myself, I tugged at Kakashi's sleeve to get him to lean down while I stood up on my toes so I could reach his ear. Being less than five feet sucked.

"Yo, is this a good idea?" I whispered, cupping my hand. "I mean, she's already lost her mom. Revealing her uncle to be a huge cowardly dick who didn't try to stop her assassination doesn't seem like a good move, especially if she still wants to trust him."

Kakashi pocketed his hands and hummed. "Do you think it's okay for her to continue trusting him?"

"Uh," I answered cluelessly, because I could think of a million pros and cons for both answers and had no idea which one was better.

"I don't know exactly how much of this is his fault," Sakura said, "but after all that's happened, I think she deserves to know everything."

"I agree," Sasuke said, much to my surprise. But then, not to my surprise, he said, "Kanjaku betrayed her, so she should be given the chance to decide what to do about it."

Revenge towards the family member who tried to kill you. Shoulda seen that one coming.

I blinked, looking between my teammate and our client, whose steeled nerves seemed to be dying away by the second (no thanks to our secretive whispering, I'm sure). It just seemed unfair to suddenly drop another bomb on her like that, but what else could we do?

"I guess if we don't tell her now, she'll probably find out some day, which would only be worse," I concluded.

"Then it's settled," Kakashi said, although the way he said it definitely sounded like he was already planning on telling Takara the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and not because he agreed with our arguments.

My team broke away from the huddle that had naturally formed during our whispering and faced Takara once more.

"Start from the beginning," the jounin said to the caravan. "I'd like to hear how exactly the three of you are involved and to make sure that we're all on the same page, instead of making assumptions."

"Of course," Sadame nodded, and so she began.

In order to understand our actions, it should be known that Tomi and I became acquainted with Ryoukuna and Kanjaku about twelve years ago, when we first moved to the capital. Kanjaku was the one who brought us to his sister for help with housing arrangements and various documentations, such as ensuring that we received our health care, and other such matters. She helped us a great deal.

When they began to make plans for the program, we were the first to know, and when it first opened eight years ago, we were two of the first group of discharged shinobi who qualified for the program.

"How about gardening?" Tomi suggested, tapping at the sheet of paper on Ryoukuna's desk. "I love being outdoors! Sadame, you like flowers, right?"

"I do, but...I was thinking something more administrative," I replied. "Something that doesn't involve physical exertion for extended periods of time is best for me, after all."

"Ah, that's right," Tomi murmured apologetically. "Any ideas, Ryou-chan?"

"What did I say about calling me that," she sighed, sharp eyes flicking up at Tomi briefly before scanning the list of employment options again. "I recommend merchantry. Travelling between villages allows for plenty of time outdoors and you would have a wagon, so the only physical labour would be loading and unloading cargo."

Tomi and I exchanged glances, a entire conversation taking place within a split second and without a sound. I looked back at Ryoukuna with a smile.

"That sounds perfect."

We met Hanjou shortly after that, as she was also one of the first to receive aid from the program. The three of us worked together in transporting merchandise to and from the capital, as well as selling local goods elsewhere.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Please take care of me," Hanjou said with a deep bow, which we returned in kind. Once we straightened up, she pet the horse that was with her. "This is Tsumi. She's been a dear friend of mine for several years now, so please take care of her as well."

"Of course," I said, flashing the horse a smile. She snorted and shook her head, which I took as a greeting.

"There's no reason to be so formal if we're going to work together," Tomi grinned.

"A valid point," the shorter woman replied, "but I do believe that making a good first impression goes a long way."

"For what it's worth, I think we'll get along just fine," I said.

All was well for about five years, up until Ryoukuna's funds were finally starting to run out. The program was sustained by small investors who received products created or obtained by the program's members, but there wasn't enough profit. Eventually, they couldn't afford to support our growing numbers. Ryoukuna began to disagree with her brother on how they should spend their remaining funds.

"They've been arguing for a while," I murmured, glancing at Ryoukuna's office door.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Tomi asked, struggling to catch a word, even with her good ear.

I pressed myself against the wall and closed my eyes. Someone was pacing while another was moving paper around. There was a lot of white noise to filter through, but the two people inside were speaking well above it.

"We can't afford to provide both anymore," Ryoukuna said, voice loud and firm. "We need to pour all our funds into providing more jobs. With more work comes better returns, which brings in more investors. This is how our program sustains itself, Kanjaku!"

"And if you take away their medication? What then?" he demanded with just as much force. "They can't work if they are suffering! We already know that they can't afford medication on their own - that's why we started this program in the first place!"

"Numbers are what they look at," Ryoukuna countered, her voice lowering into the tone she used when she decided that the topic was not open for discussion, "and as for right now, our numbers are far too low for Daimyou-sama to see our program as an appropriate use of resources. Wasting all our money on pills will not save this program!"

"It's not a waste!" Kanjaku shouted back so loudly that I flinched away from the door. The only time I ever heard him get so loud and confrontational was towards his sister. "You know as much as I do that none of this is a waste of- of anything!"

Silence fell upon the room. I held my breath, unsure of whether they were speaking quietly or had ceased their conversation altogether.

"I understand your concerns, Ryoukuna, but you must understand mine in turn," Kanjaku said, much calmer than before. A chair scraped against the floor as he spoke. "If they aren't suffering from chronic pains, then it's tremors, and if not tremors, then it's some sort of chakra virus! How do you expect them to work if they have no way of managing any of it?"

There was a heavy sigh, followed by the sound of another chair scraping the floor.

"I used my private funds to start the program, but they can only last for so long," Ryoukuna murmured. "The program is currently only supporting thirteen people because that's all we can afford to support at this time. We need more jobs so we can employ more discharged shinobi, which would in turn make the program appear much more promising to more investors - bigger investors. We need to make this program look worthwhile so we can continue to sustain it, otherwise we'll have to cut people out of the program or shut it down altogether."

"You know we can't do that," Kanjaku replied gravely. "We wanted to help these shinobi - to give them what the village cannot! They deserve this. We can't take that away from them."

"I know," Ryoukuna answered. I could hear the way her jaw was clenched - I could picture her darkened expression perfectly. "I know, but we're running out of options."

Although their frustration was gone, it was replaced with a feeling of dread.

It didn't take very long for Sagi to catch wind of the program's struggles and offer a hand. Ryoukuna was unsure; although Sagi had the reputation and influence necessary to help the program flourish, she was hesitant to give an outsider any power. She and Kanjaku had both worked hard to make the program into what it was.

However, anybody else who came even remotely close to Sagi's qualifications had no interest in putting their resources into a program that only returned enough profit to sustain itself and nothing more. Of course, Ryoukuna's reservations were reasonable, but at the time, the decision to work with Sagi was a calculated risk that she was willing to take.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me," Ryoukuna said as she took her seat across from Sagi.

"Are you sure you want Saa-chan here for this?" Sagi asked, eyeing me with piqued curiosity. "It might be a little uncomfortable for her, considering our topic of discussion."

"I'm quite sure," Ryoukuna replied. "Sadame-san will be acting as our witness."

I nodded, keeping my posture straight and expression blank, taking great care not to give Sagi any means of reading me.

She hummed, giving me a final glance before flashing a cheerful smile at Ryoukuna. "Alrighty then! Let's see what I can do to help."

Sagi hardly seems like the type to be so heavily involved in the workings of the capital just by looking at her, but her status wasn't achieved through mere luck. She has a peculiar charm about her - a natural charisma that lures people towards her.

Despite her position of power, she's very friendly and approachable, and already has an incredibly positive history with the capital; I don't know the details, but I've heard on numerous occasions that she helped deal with the chaos that followed the coup attempted by the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Simply put, the Daimyou and the people all think highly of her, and without a doubt are willing to put their faith in her.

This reputation is what got us more funding. Sagi used that to her advantage and argued that since her involvement is what saved the program, she should have a say in how the money is spent. In the end, most of it went into supplying medication.

"I still can't agree with your decision," Ryoukuna said without reserve, looking Sagi right in the eye. She was getting frustrated, I could tell. "Investors put their money into this program and receive the fruits of the shinobi's labour in return. Employment is the way to keep the program open."

"Well," Sagi murmured, glancing aside, "I'd hate to have them working while suffering from chronic pains. Hasn't your brother mentioned something similar?"

Ryoukuna frowned. "Yes, but that doesn't mean-"

"If we can't reach an agreement," Sagi interrupted with a slight pout, "then I'm afraid I'll have to start looking into other things to put my money in, and I really don't want to do that. I can't offer help you're not willing to accept, after all, and as much as I'd like to, I can't fund something that I don't think will last with its current arrangement."

I glanced at Ryoukuna, knowing that she would love to cease her partnership with Sagi, but not at the risk of shutting down the program.

She met my gaze. All I needed to do was blink once, slowly, and she knew what I had to say.

Ryoukuna closed her eyes and sighed, regaining her patience. "There will be no need for that. I would simply like to know with certainty that this program will prove to be successful if I am to heed Kanjaku's words."

"I understand," Sagi said with a reassuring smile. "Just let me make a few small changes, I promise you'll start seeing the results in no time."

"Only if both Kanjaku and I approve," Ryoukuna said pointedly, eyes flickering down at the contract sitting between them. "Although we've agreed to sell you a fraction of our shares, let me remind you that all your proposed changes and ideas must be brought to both of us, first."

As per the contract, any changes, deals, or other such things Sagi wanted to make were brought to Ryoukuna and Kanjaku, first. The results of these changes were made clear by the end of the year. It started with everybody receiving larger amounts of medication and evolved from there.

Everything became sustainable and even improved, just like Sagi had said they would. After appealing to new, bigger investors, the program could afford to provide everyone with the employment and medication they needed. We could afford to accept more members, too, bringing us up to a couple hundred or so. She'd nearly doubled everything in her first year alone.

Something changed during her second year, however, and not for the better. Hanjou was the first to find out, but by then, we were already too late.

"I don't trust Furyoku," Hanjou said bluntly before taking a sip of her tea. "I don't think the two of you nor Ryoukuna and Kanjaku should, either."

We'd met at Hanjou's apartment upon her request since she said she had something to discuss, but never did we even imagine what it was that she had to say.

"What did she do?" I asked hesitantly.

"One of the other members approached me with...an offer," she said, frowning at the word. "Due to my excessive medical care, they thought I might benefit from the extra work that Sagi has been offering to a select few as of late."

"What kind of work?" I asked. Not that I didn't trust her, but Hanjou often made mountains out of molehills, and Sagi just wasn't the sort to make offers that warranted such a reaction.

"According to them, I would receive better payments if I expanded our routes into noncentral locations," she said, shaking her head. "Given the secrecy of it all and the variables involved, I suspect Furyoku has been using the program to trade illegally."

Tomi and I stared at her in silence, looking for any sign or hint that she was joking.

"Are you sure you didn't misunderstand?" I asked carefully.

Tomi looked just as wary and uncertain as I did. "She seems decent, as far as politicians go. There's no denying that she's done a lot of good for the capital and the country, and the program has been doing well ever since she got involved."

"I don't deny that," Hanjou murmured, "but I'm starting to wonder how the good was achieved, and at what cost."

I bit my lip. I didn't want to dismiss her, but I couldn't accept her claim without question, either. "If this is true and Sagi gets found out, the program would be shut down along with the operation. All the innocent members would lose their support. Not to mention, this could ruin Ryoukuna and Kanjaku's reputations."

"What are you trying to say?" Hanjou asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

I sighed. "It's just that, it would be easier to agree if you had some kind of evidence. It's hard to imagine that neither Kanjaku nor Ryoukuna would notice something like this happening within their own program, especially considering how any decisions Sagi makes have to be approved by them, first. They've both been receiving reports on the program's progress and have been kept updated all throughout the year. "

"I wouldn't lie about this," she retorted immediately and defensively.

"It's not that I don't believe you!" I said, gripping my cup a little too tight. "It's just...not something to be taken lightly. I certainly believe that there's something going on, but we should confirm whether or not it's specifically a cartel, or even anything necessarily bad, before taking action."

"Assuming it is true, how did it even start? And when?" Tomi asked. "And what about Kanjaku? Didn't Sagi support his stance on focusing on medicine? What if he's involved?"

The room fell silent once again as we all contemplated the idea.

"...No, he wouldn't," Hanjou finally said. "He wouldn't get involved in such a thing without telling one of us, especially his sister. We owe him just as much as Ryoukuna for making this program possible."

"Yeah," I agreed, "but just to be safe, we should avoid talking to him about this. Even if we trust him, there's no way of knowing if he might say or imply something to Sagi. He's...not the best at this sort of thing."

Kanjaku was a compassionate man, but subtle he was not.

"Okay, then let's just focus on Sagi," Tomi said. "She wouldn't be the first corrupt official I've dealt with, but you can't just decide to start trading drugs illegally and expect it to work out."

"I suspect that this was the very reason she offered to help the program in the first place," Hanjou said. "She saw what she could do with what already existed and intended to take advantage of it from the beginning. After all, it's not every program that gets supplied with opium on a bi-weekly basis." She sighed, anxiously fiddling with her earrings. "She was very insistent about being part of the decision-making process, after all, and she's been smart about it. The person who told me about the jobs tried appealing to me with greed. I imagine that's how she appealed to other members in the program to get the operation started."

I bit my lip, still uncertain and hesitant to fully go along with what Hanjou was saying. It was a bold claim to be making, especially when so much of it was circumstantial.

"Well, whether it was a misunderstanding or not, we have to look into this," Tomi finally said, stating the obvious. "It doesn't matter how much people love her - if she's a lying scumbag, she needs to go."

I nodded. "We need to at least tell Ryoukuna. No matter how good Sagi is at covering her tracks, there's bound to be something that doesn't add up."

"The two of you can do that," Hanjou said, taking us by surprise. "I'm leaving for Konoha at the end of the week."

If my cup wasn't already set on the table, I was sure I would have dropped it just then. "What do you mean?

"You're leaving?" Tomi repeated, as if just getting over her initial shock.

"Yes, and I suggest you both leave, too," Hanjou replied.

"But you just said Sagi might be trying to build a cartel!" Tomi exclaimed. "We have to do something about it! What if she tries to run Ryoukuna and Kanjak out of the program? We need to warn her and help her put a stop to this!"

"You don't need me for that," Hanjou said, her expression unpleasantly still. "I don't plan on staying any longer than necessary. At this point, there are only two outcomes - either Sagi's cartel is a success and she exploits the program and the people within, or she gets exposed and the program loses the funding that saved it. Either way, it shuts down, which means we should all start looking into other means of income."

"So you're just giving up?" I demanded.

She shook her head. "No, I'd just rather take my chances in Konoha. You two are welcome to join me, of course, but whether you do or not, I've made my decision."

For a moment, I simply stared at her, half expecting it to be a joke. I wasn't sure how to react, so instead I took a sip of my tea that had already gone cold and said nothing.

Just like she said, Hanjou left for Konoha that week. That alone would've told Ryoukuna that something wasn't right, but Tomi and I went to her nevertheless and repeated the concerns and suspicions Hanjou had shared before leaving.

She started looking into all the budget reports of the past year and, sure enough, found some discrepancies that made Sagi's deals look more and more questionable in nature. This prompted us to continue monitoring every single variable involved in the program - members, sales, contracts, investors, clients, and so on - for several months as we built up a case against her.

And since Ryoukuna now had eyes on Sagi, she started rejecting more and more proposals that came to her desk.

"Don't you think it's a risky to be this active?" Tomi asked worriedly. "She might realize that you're onto her."

"It's already been a year since she started planting her roots into the system," Ryoukuna said sternly. "That gives her plenty of time to gather a loyal following and establish strong partnerships with whoever her suppliers and clients are. Now that it's been brought to my attention, I have to do anything in my power to keep her cartel from growing even more than it already has. Whether it causes her alarm is no concern of mine - if she's really as clever and meticulous as she seems, she would have predicted that she would have to deal with me sooner or later."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't be wary of her," I cautioned. "Just be careful, okay? Don't antagonize her. She's one of the Daimyo's favourites, and her reputation is no joke."

Tomi nodded. "She could really throw you under the wagon if she wanted to."

Ryoukuna scoffed. "If I were not willing to take any risks for the sake of this program, I would have let it die before letting Sagi set foot in here. Now that that risk has proven to have severe consequences, however, I also have to be willing to clean up the mess myself." She arranged the several stray sheets of paper on her desk nonchalantly and set them aside.

"You're impossibly stubborn sometimes," I huffed, leaning back in my chair.

She glowered at me half-heartedly. "We may use different tools in our battles, but they all come with risks and are fought for sake of what we believe is right. If I'm not willing to go on the offense, I'd be but a coward undeserving of your support."

I exchanged looks with Tomi, and she spoke for both of us. "Just...be careful, and take precautions."

No amount of support could've prepared us for how Sagi reciprocated, however, although I imagine you are all familiar with what happened next.

It soon became clear that Ryoukuna took Tomi's warning to take precautions seriously, because when it came time to read out her will, we learned that it'd been changed so that all her legal property had been left to Takara. This change made it so Sagi had no way of accessing Ryoukuna's inheritance for her own gain. Unfortunately, it's also what made Takara her next target.

We first discovered this after noticing Kanjaku's odd behaviour. He started avoiding us shortly after Ryoukuna's passing. We thought it was because he needed space, at first, but after a week had gone by we knew that he was hiding something from us.

That something was the fact that Sagi was still after Ryoukuna's inheritance, and was willing to kill Takara for it.

"You can't just let her do as she pleases!" I yelled, resisting the urge to hit Kanjaku for being such a coward. "This is your niece's life in question! She doesn't deserve to be dragged into this mess!"

"I'm not the one who drew Sagi's attention to her!" he shouted back, chair scraping across the kitchen floor as he stood up. "Ryoukuna did that the moment she left everything to Takara in her will. What am I supposed to do about it?"

"We'll figure something out," I said through clenched teeth, appalled that those words even came out of his mouth. "We'll figure out a way to keep both you and Takara-chan safe, whether you intend to help or not."

Kanjaku flinched, his posture becoming more defensive. "You said so yourself, that I can't simply accuse her of these crimes," he said, lowering his voice. "What choice do I have other than to comply?"

"As much as I hate to say it, he has a point," Tomi said carefully. "It's not easy to deal with someone like Sagi. Chances are it'll only put us on her list, too."

"You say it like we weren't trained to put our lives on the line," I retorted.

"It's not that I don't want to help - of course I do, but," she glanced towards Kanjaku and sighed. "If we're going to put a stop to Sagi's plans, we'll need to know what they are in the first place."

My gaze settled on Kanjaku, silently demanding that he provide us with the information we needed.

He looked between us and was silent for a long moment until finally, he nodded. "The plan is to bring Takara to the capital at the end of the month, so you have until then to figure something out."

"What Kanjaku explained to us that night is what happened during this mission, except with a few changes prompted by our interfering," Sadame said, eyes scanning the room as she spoke.

I shifted in my seat, having taken one somewhere in the middle of her account. It was hard to find the words to say, but at the same time, the only thing we felt the need to do was listen.

When I looked over at Takara, she was sitting in absolute silence with proper posture and her hands resting on her lap. It was hard to get a good reading on her expression, but I could only imagine what she was thinking right then.

"Most of the danger came from Sagi having control over all the cards, so we decided to balance the playing field by stealing some of them and adding them to our own deck," Sadame continued.

"Considering who her mother is, it would've been weird not to hire an escort," Tomi explained. "Sagi needed to get them out of the way, but it'd cause an uproar if Konoha shinobi got killed during a domestic mission. That's why Kanjaku drugged the shinobi to keep them out of the way."

"The first card was the wagon itself," Sadame said. "Sagi's plan was to have her own subordinates guiding Kanjaku. We circumvented this by arriving at Konoha first and stealing the wagon when they arrived."

I blinked, taking a moment to imagine Sagi's grunts panicking back in Konoha as they try to figure out where the hell their wagon had gone.

Heh, losers.

"How did Hanjou-san end up coming back with you?" Sakura asked from her seat next to me.

"That was our second card," Sadame replied. "Sagi knew that with the mission presented as a standard escort mission, the shinobi who got assigned wouldn't normally be anything out of the ordinary. We knew someone in Konoha, however, who could make it so the team we wanted got assigned to the mission," she said, eyes trailing towards Hanjou.

I looked over to the small woman myself as I fought the urge to gasp after putting two and two together. "You wanted us on the mission?" I asked instead.

Tomi choked out a laugh. "Sorry, but not quite. More specifically, we wanted your sensei," she said, smiling at the jounin. "Who better to have escorting you than the Copy Nin himself?"

"Copy Nin?" Sasuke repeated skeptically as he exchanged looks with me and Sakura. Not that I had anything to be puzzled about, but since they weren't aware of the hefty bounty on our sensei's head, I simply responded with a shrug.

Kakashi ignored our confusion and instead returned Tomi's smile with an intrigued eyebrow-raise. "It's not easy, rigging the Mission Desk."

"It isn't, but you make it work when your comrades break into your apartment squabbling about how a child's life is on the line," Hanjou said with a hint of lament behind her voice as she glanced at Tomi and Sadame and huffed. "Any more persuasion and they would've been threatening me to get the job done."

Why do I get the feeling she would've done it no matter what? I thought, eyeing the way Tomi and Sadame exchanged grins.

"The last card was the drugged tea," Sadame said as she held up her thumb and two fingers. "Tomi mixed some regular tea leaves with the opium when Kanjaku wasn't looking in order to lessen the effects. It didn't negate its effects completely, but what was most important is that everybody was sober enough to escape."

"That was the extent of our intercepting Furyoku's plan," Hanjou said. "Although there's still one more matter left to discuss."

Her words settled over us in a brief moment of silence. I tried to make a timeline in my head, combining all the information I'd received from Miyako and Tadashi with what we'd just learned, only to end up with a headache.

"I want to know what happened to Uncle Kanjaku," Takara asked, surprising everyone. "That's what's left to discuss, right? That he may have faked his death?"

"He didn't," Sadame said the same time Tadashi said, "He did."

Everybody paused as the contradiction sank in.

"Sorry, what?" Tomi asked, quirking her brow. "What do you know?"

Tadashi shifted his weight from one leg to the other, visible uncomfortable from the tension rising in the room. It probably wasn't fun, having to drop the bomb to the niece of the person whose death you helped fake.

"He faked his death," he finally said, ripping off the verbal bandaid. "And I know he did because he paid me to help him."

"He what? " Hanjou asked rhetorically, her jaw clenched and nails digging into her arms where they were crossed.

Tadashi nodded. "I don't know what happened to him, though. I was supposed to help sneak him out of the country after the attack, but he never showed up."

The caravan members exchanged glances in silent communication before Hanjou spoke. "We can answer that," she sighed, clearly irritated, but before she could, there was a sudden bang from behind one of the closed doors, followed by muffled yelling that suddenly became cleared when the door swung open, revealing two thoroughly bandaged men.

"U-Uncle Kanjaku…!" Takara gasped, jumping onto her feet.

Just one look at him was enough to know that he'd seen better days. His clothes were clean, but the bandages around his arms and head were bloodied and his eyes were sunken in, exhausted.

But while everybody was staring speechless at the uncle we'd thought had run away, I was distracted by the potter standing next to him and the way every muscle in Kakashi's body tensed the second he walked in.

I didn't think anything of it before, the first time I saw him - the scars and clothing and the fact that the possibility never even crossed my mind had made it impossible, but now it suddenly felt so obvious and I just knew.

I recognized him, and it took me every single ounce of willpower not to collapse out of utter shock and disbelief and- and just so much confusion, because the man standing before me was Uchiha Obito.

Chapter 18: Ignorance is a Hit or Miss

Summary:

Forget about Obito - it's time to make a move.

(Just kidding, it's literally impossible to just forget about him, but Satoko can try. By god, can she try.)

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out.

There were only so many things I could handle at once. I thought assassins and corrupt politicians and drug cartels were more than enough, but clearly the universe thought otherwise.

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out.

It was hard to keep track of what everybody was saying, but time waits for no one and the conversation around me grew progressively louder while I silently tried to wrap my head around the reality of something so blatantly impossible, I'd never even considered it as an impossibility in the first place.

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out.

"Kakashi…?"

My head snapped towards the source of the voice. Did I hear that correctly?

"You're…Hatake Kakashi, right?" the potter - Obito? - asked, staring at the jounin in awe with just his one visible right eye.

Kakashi didn't respond right away. Instead, he looked petrified, but not the scared kind of petrified - I mean the kind that's a status ailment in RPGs that turns characters into stone. Not that I could blame him - my mind was emptier than a millennial's bank account.

Eventually, he managed to answer with a single syllable that sounded stuck in his throat. "…Yes."

"No way…" the potter - Obito?! - gasped, bringing his one hand up over his mouth in shock. "No way!"

No way, I thought, although with a lot more dread than whatever sentiment the potter - OBITO?! - carried. No. Way.

"Oh my god, no way," he repeated again in a whisper. "The Hatake Kakashi is in my house! That is- That is so! Cool!"

I blinked, unable to fully process what the fuck was going on.

"I'm such a huge fan!" he exclaimed, practically jumping up and down on the spot. "I've heard so many insane things about you, and your bounty is so high, and your eye-!"

Kakashi may as well have punched himself in the face at the mention of the eye - Obito's Sharingan eye which was currently stuck in Kakashi's skull - from how obviously distraught and panicked he was. I was pretty close to stabbing myself in the thigh to make sure it wasn't all a dream myself.

Thankfully, Hanjou cut him off before he could say anything more. "Calm down, Hidari," she sighed, which only raised more questions, because what was that she called him? Hidari? Did that mean the potter wasn't Obito? But…no, the resemblance was too much for it to be just a coincidence, especially when coupled with Kakashi's blatantly tense response.

The man I was sure was Obito, but who responded to a different name, then turned to Hanjou and smacked her on the arm with his empty right sleeve. "How the hell am I supposed to calm down?!" he hissed. "Hatake Kakashi is in my house! My house! You didn't tell me your comrades included someone like him! This place is a mess! I don't even have refreshments! It's like you were trying to embarrass me!"

"Hidari," Hanjou bit out again, enunciating every syllable as if she knew I was having doubt about the man's identity. "There's more important things to address right now."

"Oh, right," he murmured, glancing back at Kanjaku. "So, looks like you're in deep shit, huh."

After that, it was like my mind became separated from my body. I knew that people were talking; I just had no idea what they were saying. I suddenly felt like I was back in class, where I was fully aware that what the professor was saying was important information, but just that knowledge alone never stopped me from completely tuning them out while I got invested in my own thoughts. At the time, those thoughts were always about trivial things, like whether or not I should cook or eat out - the kind of stuff that didn't really excuse me from paying attention. I'm sure that if anybody knew what I was thinking about this time, though, they'd give me a free pass.

To be fair, I'd always figured that if I was going to meet somebody relevant during this mission, it would be Jiraiya or something. Hell, I was more prepared for Zabuza and Haku to show up, but who do I get instead?

MOTHERFUCKING UCHIHA OBITO.

So, yeah, whatever everybody else was yelling about could wait. I had to figure some shit out for myself, first.

Seeing as I knew the guy as a bloodthirsty whackjob hellbent on destroying the entire world, my initial thought was that, assuming Obito was still Evil Obito, he was fucking with Kakashi by showing up out of the blue and going by a fake name. Except, why go through all the trouble of getting wrapped up in our C-Rank mission gone wrong? If his intention really was just to mess with Kakashi, surely there were at least a hundred other ways to go about it that didn't involve revealing himself to a dozen other people at the same time. Plus, Hanjou said that they'd been working with him for a while, which meant that his being here wasn't something spontaneous.

Unless there was some grand conspiracy going on, there didn't seem to be any reason for Obito to show up if he was still Evil Obito, which meant that either he wasn't Obito at all - which, judging by Kakashi's reaction, was no longer an option even if Hanjou did call him by a different name - or that he wasn't the Obito that I'd been reading about for literal years. So if Obito wasn't busy being evil, then the next question was whether or not Madara was still a threat, and whether or not there was anybody known as Tobi in the first place.

It was possible that Madara could've picked up any other Uchiha kid during the war to carry out his crazy "hypnotize the entire world" plan. If that was the case, I had no idea what to expect anymore. It could also mean, however, that Madara wasn't a foreseeable threat because clearly he didn't pick up Obito in the first place, which would mean that he doesn't need somebody for his plan, which would mean that I didn't have to deal with any of that mess at all.

Then there was the matter of who exactly this version of Obito was in the first place. Given that the list of things I didn't know about him was so long it could expand across the entire capital, I decided to start with the things I actually did know.

Most notably, he still had his injuries from the Kannabi Bridge mission, which meant that the mission still happened. Unless he somehow got the exact same injuries through some other means, but that was unlikely because Kakashi still had Obito's Sharingan. Well, I'd never seen him use it yet, but he still kept his eye covered with his headband and Hanjou referred to him as the Copy Nin, so I felt justified enough to make that assumption.

Secondly, Obito definitely wasn't a shinobi anymore. Instead, he was an impressive one-armed potter named Hidari who, honestly, made some really nice stuff.

So, either Obito recovered from his injuries and decided to start a new life in the capital, or he forgot everything and was given a new life in the capital. Considering how he reacted to seeing Kakashi, though - that is, as a fan instead of a former teammate who was left for dead - I was betting on amnesia.

If that was the case, how did Obito end up at the capital instead of back in Konoha, then? Surely somebody must've brought him here, unless he had been brought back to Konoha and then transferred to the capital. Did the Hokage even know Obito was still alive? If it wasn't some stranger who brought Obito to the capital, then maybe it was the village who put him here for some reason.

Either way, all that didn't answer the question I found to be the most pressing: did Kakashi know that Obito was still alive before now? Obito having amnesia didn't necessarily mean that Kakashi didn't know he was alive.

The way he looked at the KIA stone after the bell test told me he didn't, but that expression could have easily been only for Minato and Rin. If he did know, though, it was hard to imagine that he'd be pretty much the same as what I knew about him from my previous world, and he didn't mention anything about having a friend in the capital, either. Not that it was any of our business, but I was pretty sure that he would show at least some sign of knowing about Obito, assuming he did at all.

With only Kakashi's silent reactions to go by, it was looking more like he had no idea Obito was alive all this time. Otherwise, I'd think that he would look more relieved instead of like he was shitting out an entire brick house. In the end, I could only really conclude two things:

Obito doesn't remember the time when he was Uchiha Obito.

His being here was either something very, very good, or very, very bad.

My chest tightened just at the mere thought of the latter, and I suddenly remembered how close I'd already come to death on numerous occasions. It was only our first mission outside the village and already we've been caught up in something way bigger than just a C-Rank mission. Assuming nothing else changed, it would only get more dangerous from here on out; Orochimaru would attack the village during the Chuunin Exams, and I'd have to fight Gaara. After that came Itachi and Kisame, and if I went to find Tsunade with Jiraiya, I'd face Orochimaru myself, and assuming I survived all of that , it was still just one fight after another, injury after injury, loss after loss.

This mission was just one hurdle in a treacherous marathon that only ended if I died , and it wasn't like I had much of a choice but to keep running; my only other option was to get back to where I came from, but if there was a way to do that, I certainly had no idea what it was. Why was I even here, anyway? Surely there had to be a reason, but fuck if I had any idea of what that was, either.

I would've lashed out if it weren't for Hanjou getting fed up about something herself.

"Enough," she said fiercely, unwittingly pulling me back from the downward spiral I'd fallen into. It wasn't quite a shout, but it was certainly loud enough to make some people flinch. I was only subconsciously aware of the conversation going on before, but only after everyone had suddenly gone quiet did I realize that the conversation must've been pretty damn heated. "Fine," Hanjou said with a heavy sigh, looking at Takara, "if that's what you really want."

I blinked, not even trying to hide my cluelessness. Wanted what?

"It is," Takara said with conviction. "Selling him out would be sending him to his grave."

Something about Kanjaku, I guess, I thought distantly. Figures.

"He's more useful alive than he is dead," Tomi agreed, then muttered, "Even if he is trash."

Despite the insults thrown at her uncle, Takara nodded in agreement, although I imagined it was more in response to Tomi's first statement "But more than anything else, I… I want to know why you did this," she said, facing her uncle, who immediately looked away.

There was a long, heavy silence before Kanjaku finally answered.

"You said it yourself; I was as good as dead," he said, voice low and defeated. "What other choice did I have?"

Takara bit her lip, her shoulders wide and hands balled into fists as she looked up at the man who betrayed her.

"I don't believe that," she said, her breath trembling as she spoke. "How could it be that you had no other choice but to abandon everybody who was counting on you? How could you have had no other choice but to abandon me while you knew full well what that woman intended to do? She killed my mother - your sister - and then tried to kill me, so tell me!" Her voice grew louder, full of power that I never would have thought could come from someone of her timid appearance. "How was it your only choice to stand aside and let it all happen?!"

"How could I fight back when she was threatening to frame me with the corruption of my own program and the death of my own sister? My choice was to live or to die; I simply chose to live!"

"You could have chosen to live and fight, but instead you chose to live and run away with your tail between your legs," Hanjou said with bitterness dripping from every word. "You chose to leave behind those you promised to help. You chose to throw years of your and Ryoukuna's work away. You chose to abandon your niece - your family." I was almost certain she was going to hit Kanjaku from how close she was, but instead she kept her voice low and her hands to herself, and growled, "You chose to be a coward."

Kanjaku was frozen in place, having long since crossed over the line from pitiful to pathetic.

"I chose to survive," he eventually said, voice broken and strained. "I'm not a shinobi. I'm not trained to put my life on the line, nor did I ever think that I would have to," his voice got progressively louder as he found his words, "so you'll have to forgive me if I didn't know what else to do when trying not to die!" His chest heaved with every sentence, and through all his rage and desperation, I could see every single one of his regrets written on his face. "I didn't sign up for this!"

"Neither did I!" Takara shouted over him, her knuckles white from clenching her hands into tight fists. "But that doesn't mean I'll turn my back on the people who need my help - who need your help! If it weren't for them," she said, gesturing towards the caravan, "you wouldn't even be here! You'd probably be dead already because Sagi would've found out that you tried to run away and sent assassins after you to tie up loose ends, but you're not; you're alive, so help us!"

Kanjaku was at a loss for words, but his eyes said everything. He was too overcome with paranoia and fear to listen to reason. "She'll kill me if I go back," he finally said, sweat mixing with his tears.

When I looked at him, I saw a coward, but I also saw a man who had been caught between a rock and a hard place. He saw no other way out, and he had a point - he wasn't trained to fight the same way a shinobi was.

Honestly, I could see where Kanjaku was coming from, but Takara was right; she never signed up for this, either, but she was still running the marathon whether she liked it or not. It was a kind of shitty feeling, realizing that I related better to the asshole uncle than the righteous niece, who was just… good. Too good for me to understand how she managed to put herself through life-risking hardships for the sake of that good.

Then again, I wasn't Kanjaku. I wasn't that asshole uncle who abandoned his niece - I was a nineteen-year-old university student trapped in the body of a twelve-year-old orphan whose world was built around a science I didn't understand and was the basis for the military-based society that developed.

…Am I just making excuses?

I liked to think that they were at least pretty valid, considering how alternate dimensions were involved in mine, but even so…

Whatever. I still had time to judge my own actions and figure out what I wanted to do about my situation. At that moment, Kanjaku was the one being judged. At least that, I could do.

"Having your life threatened makes your actions understandable, but it doesn't necessarily make them right," I said. All eyes were on me. I flexed my hands anxiously and continued. "There's nothing wrong with trying to save yourself, and if it was only about you, that'd be fine. But it wasn't. It was also about your sister, your niece, the program, and everyone in it. The problem isn't that you ran away to save yourself - the problem is that you ran away and left everybody else behind."

I didn't really intend to go off, and there was so much more I could say, but I was already regretting drawing attention to myself at all and didn't want to say anything that might turn the tables against me. I was never really good at handling sensitive situations with tact.

Kanjaku stared at me, silent, and I looked back with an unwavering gaze. His eyes quivered and his lips trembled, the rest of his face gradually contorting into a sobbing mess. "I-I'm sorry…!" he sobbed, covering his face with one hand while the other gripped his crutch so tight that some of the wounds in his arm reopened. "I'm sorry!"

He sucked in deep, sharp breaths as he tried to calm himself down. I glanced at Takara, whose gaze on her uncle looked broken, yet relieved.

"Th-They're right - your uncle is just a c-coward who can't do a-anything! I-I've done wrong, and I don't know how to b-begin fixing my e-errors, but even so…!" he wiped his face and bowed as deeply as he could, his dark brown dropping messily over his face. "Please, forgive me!"

He was an absolute mess, but it was because he was such a mess that it was impossible to believe that it was an act. What he expressed was nothing but genuine regret. It wasn't enough for everybody, considering the bitter scowl Hanjou still wore, but it was enough for the person whose opinion mattered most.

"You can start by helping us," Takara said with watery eyes, stepping towards her uncle. "If you're truly sorry, then help us take her down."

Kanjaku wiped his tears with the back of his hand and looked up at his niece with eyes full of conviction that didn't match the rest of his pathetic appearance. "I will," he said, as though signing a contract with his words.

I exchanged glances with my teammates, who looked back with no signs of disapproval. Kakashi still looked distant, as if he was thinking about something else entirely, but if I didn't know about Obito, I would've just thought he was already thinking of some kind of plan to deal with Sagi. I resisted the urge to sigh and instead looked back at the others.

At least we got one thing settled.

"There's one more thing."

Or not.

All eyes turned to Kakashi, who surprised everyone by speaking for the first time in a long while. He looked back with a half-lidded gaze, his expression distant, but serious.

"Simply put, you lied about the mission," he said, dropping the bomb rather casually. "We're operating outside our duties right now. This has become at least a B-Rank mission, and my genin are barely a month out of the academy. Now that we know exactly what's going on, we might be better off going back and sending a more qualified team to come handle the issue."

I grimaced. So that was why Kakashi waited so long to bring that up. I supposed being a shinobi had a lot to do with seeing all the cards in everyone's hands. Information was power, after all.

"That can't be-!" Takara said, mouth agape.

The caravan and the mercenaries all cringed. Figures that they were all familiar with standard procedures, even if they haven't been active for a few years.

"He's right," Hanjou said regrettably. "Unless they agree, they are under no obligation to continue this mission."

All eyes settled on me and my teammates. We exchanged glances with each other, then glanced back at Kakashi, who simply sat in silence with no further prompting either way. He was leaving the decision entirely up to us.

I sighed. As much as I wanted to take advantage of the way out, that was just… Well, talk about a dick move. I was basically just given the option of being the Kanjaku or the Takara of the situation, and after everything I said, it'd just be hypocritical to back out, wouldn't it? Even if we weren't technically expected to stay on the mission, we'd already come so far. There was really only one possible answer.

"Then let's agree," I said before I could think too hard and doubt myself again. I looked at Sasuke and Sakura for their support, which they thankfully provided.

"Yeah," Sakura said with a determined nod. "Even if we did leave, by the time another team comes to help, who knows what Sagi will have done by then?"

"The sooner we attack, the better," Sasuke said in agreement. "Everybody is already gathered and Sagi's plan was disrupted. It'd be best to make a move while she's still trying to find her bearings again."

"Even so, the three of your are still only genin," Tomi said hesitantly. "Kakashi-san is right - this mission is way out of your league."

"I raised the issue in order to determine whether or not they could handle the mission," Kakashi said, his one eye flickering towards us and curving just slightly. "And from the looks of it, they can."

"They're right, too," Tadashi said. "If we wait any longer, we might lose our chance. It won't be long until Sagi finds out we defected," he said, gesturing to himself and Miyako.

"So then, you'll still…?" Takara asked, just to be sure, giving my team a hopeful look.

I nodded and grinned. "Let's sink that bitch."

And figure out what the deal is with Obito and Kakashi later.

Now that everybody in the room was on the same side, the tension dissipated and we started making ourselves comfortable. We still had a lot of work to do, after all, like figuring out how to proceed from here. Since the caravan members had been thinking about this for some time, however, it was pretty easy to map out a general plan.

"The goal is to ruin Sagi's reputation and get her removed from the program so Takara can gain ownership of it, as per Ryoukuna's revised will," Hanjou said while Sadame jotted down notes. "To get this done effectively, we need three things: the ledger, the will, and the illegal opium."

"Ledger?" Sakura asked curiously.

Surprisingly, but also not so surprisingly, Kanjaku was the one to elaborate on that. "Although it's in code, Sagi keeps a ledger of all the transactions made by the cartel. Everybody who profits or has profited from it has been recorded, along with how much money or opium was exchanged with every deal."

"In order words, if we can get our hands on that ledger, we have something to hold over Sagi's head," Tomi said conclusively. "Getting the illegal opium is more like a really good bonus. It isn't exactly necessarily, but it would definitely help."

"As for the will, we need it to prove that Takara's the rightful inheritor of the program," Hanjou said.

I nodded along, mind driven towards logging every piece of information they gave us, which was hard because I was getting distracted by the fact that this was happening at all. It made me as anxious as it did excited, sitting around a table with about ten other people as we plotted a literal heist to take down a corrupt politician and her drug cartel. It was hard to pretend that it wasn't even a little bit awesome.

So awesome.

"Out of the three, the will is easiest to obtain because only Takara is allowed access to it," Sadame added. "Not even Sagi can get it."

"However, this means that once we do get the will, Sagi is likely to try and steal it from us," Hanjou said. "She'll want to destroy it in order to get Takara away from the program."

Figures, I thought with a huff.

"In order words, we're fighting a cold war until we make the first move," Sakura said, seeking confirmation. The caravan members nodded.

I furrowed my brow and tilted my head. "Whaddya mean?"

"Haven't you been listening?" Sasuke griped.

I kept my eyes forward while I retaliated with a kick under the table.

"The new will has Takara as the sole beneficiary. Sagi wants the will so she can destroy it. That way, instead of having everything in Ryoukuna's name go to Takara, it will go back to the capital, which Sagi can get access to because she's still leading the program," Sadame explained patiently. "But the will says that only Takara is allowed to see the will, and not even Sagi can bypass those laws. At least, not without arousing obvious suspicion.

"And she's not gonna risk that, especially since she knows we'll be getting it ourselves, anyway," Tomi added. "Instead of trying to steal it from city hall, it'd be easier for her to try and steal it from us."

I responded with a long "ah" and nodded my head. "So Sagi's just waiting for us to make the first move," I confirmed, receiving nods in return. "That's good, right? If she can't make the first move, that means we can rest up and take our time putting together a solid plan."

"Yes and no," Hanjou answered. "It does mean we don't have to worry about her getting the will before we do, but Sagi could be working to destroy or hide any evidence that can be used against her as we speak."

"Like the ledger," Sakura said.

"And the drugs," Sasuke added.

"Exactly," Hanjou said. "We don't have to worry about Sagi getting the will before us, and the opium isn't absolutely necessary, albeit incredibly useful if we could get control over it. What's most important is that we get the ledger."

"We should make our move tonight, then," I concluded. "Otherwise we might lose our chance to steal it."

"Do we even know where it is?" Takara asked. "Surely it must be kept somewhere secret and safe. Uncle, do you know anything about it?"

Kanjaku visibly flinched from suddenly being put on the spot, but he quickly answered with a headshake. "N…No, but I've seen it before. It's a white notebook kept in a brown envelope. My guess is that it's either hidden somewhere in her office or at her house."

"It wouldn't be either of those places," Tadashi objected. "It's too obvious. She'd hide it somewhere where she has an excuse to frequent, but isn't a place that draws attention. Sagi owns quite a bit of property across the capital, but Miyako and I have a few ideas on where she might've hidden it."

I furrowed my brows, wondering what kind of places a ledger could be hidden myself. Despite all the crime shows I'd watched, I never really understood how cartels were organized. Then again, it's not like I ever thought I'd be so closely involved in one myself.

If only I spent more time studying fictional mafias and drug cartels.

"I have a list of the program's properties," Kanjaku said, desperately wanting to be helpful.

"How do you know the information is correct?" Hanjou asked skeptically, and rightfully so. Kanjaku was barely an ally at this point, and seeing as how he was obviously being controlled by Sagi, it was hard to say if any information he had would even be accurate.

"Sagi deals illegally, but all her purchases and contracts within the capital still go through official processes. She also needs me to sign off on all decisions," he explained. "I can't tell you what exactly she does with the properties, but I can at least tell you which ones she's using."

Hanjou still looked hesitant to trust him, but even bias couldn't deny that what he said sounded pretty solid. She sighed. "Alright. That list will give us someplace to start, at least," Hanjou said. "As for the will, we won't be able to get it today. City hall is already closed."

"I know someone who can let us in after hours," Kakashi said, resting his chin in his hand. "But that's only if we decide we need the will tonight."

"That's something to consider," Tomi agreed. "I'd say the best time to attack is after midnight, when most of the capital is asleep. That's more than enough time to come up with a plan, especially since we know city hall and the capital inside and out."

It was late into the afternoon, which gave us over seven hours, which didn't sound like a lot of time to me, but what did I know? Then again, with so many experienced people on the same side, they probably only need an hour, or even thirty minutes, to come with something.

"What about the opium?" I asked. "It sounds like there's a lot of it stored in the barns. How's she gonna hide all that?"

"She'll find a way," Kanjaku said quietly. "She always finds a way to get what she wants."

I bit my lip. Talk about ominous.

"Which is why we can't give her too much time before we make our move," Sadame said, frowning at Kanjaku;, probably for lowering morale.

So, basically, we could take some time to plan, but not too much because Sagi would definitely sense that something was amiss sooner or later. Now that I thought about it, none of the assassins she sent after Takara could have reported back to her, seeing as how Kakashi killed three of them and the other two joined our ranks. Kanjaku was certainly in no position to be contacting her, either, though hopefully by now he didn't want to, anyway.

"Let's get started, then," Takara urged, looking more fired up than ever. "I have to get the will myself, right?"

Sadame nodded. "I'll go with you."

"Miyako-san, Tadashi-san, do you know what to expect from Furyoku's subordinates?" Tomi asked. "How strong are they?"

"Honestly, the five of us that she sent last night were among the best, so I wouldn't worry about who else she might send," Tadashi admitted, glancing sheepishly at Kakashi. "Especially when you have an elite jounin on your side."

"Sagi's muscle comes from the program, so they're all disabled in some way, but there's about a handful of them who can still hold their own in a fight. They could certainly defeat the genin in a one-on-one battle, at least," Miyako said, glancing at us briefly before looking back at Tomi. "I recommend that you go with Sadame-san so the two of you can guard Takara-san, just to be safe."

The two members nodded. "That leaves the ledger and the opium," Sadame said.

"I can take Tsumi-chan to steal the opium," Hanjou said. "We can move whatever we carry to another location and threaten Sagi to leave the program, otherwise we'll burn what we stole."

"Wouldn't you guys be able to use the illegal opium once Sagi's booted out, though?" I asked. "Use it legally, I mean."

"Yes, but if Sagi tries to resists or bargain her way out, burning half, or even all of it, won't be detrimental for us," Hanjou replied.

I was suddenly reminded of every action show I've seen that involved hostages and dramatic face-offs. Man, this is totally like the movies. Except for the part where it's not.

"The barn is on the outskirts of the capital, so Sagi could have more subordinates stationed there without it drawing too much attention," Sasuke noted. "We should help capture the barn. It'd be easier with more numbers."

"I don't know…" Sakura said hesitantly. "Even if they're weaker than the ones who attacked us last night, they still have more experience, don't they? And we don't know how many Sagi will send. They might overwhelm us."

I was about to remind her that I could make hundreds of copies of myself with a single hand gesture and big chakra fart, but Kakashi spoke first.

"I'll attack the barn," he proposed. "You three will help steal the ledger," he said to us genin. "Even if the barn is on the outskirts, their numbers wouldn't even reach that of a small army. In this case, we wouldn't have to be worried about getting overwhelmed, especially since they aren't particularly strong."

"Aw, but we're so good at blowing shit up," I whined, glancing at my bag that was piled next to the table along with the others. "We could totally use a flour bomb properly this time. It was pretty effective. Right, Tadashi?"

"Horrifyingly so," he said with a smile.

"Which is why you shouldn't go to the barn," Kakashi sighed. "We want to transfer the opium quickly and quietly. Explosions and fire aren't exactly subtle," he said, eyeing me and Sasuke in particular.

I huffed. Point taken. Not that I really wanted to go toe to toe with another shinobi, anyway. I had more than enough of that last night. Besides, Kakashi was obviously stressed - it'd probably do him good to punch it out. I had a feeling it was more than just because we weren't suited for that kind of task, though. His expression was the same as when Sakura escaped with Takara - worry, fear, exhaustion. When I thought of it that way, it seemed pretty obvious for him to want to keep us away from the heat of the battle.

The fear of dead teammates is probably way too fresh in his mind, too, I thought grimly, once again giving Obito the side-eye.

"How are we supposed to steal the ledger, then?" Sakura asked, looking worried. "There might be guards everywhere, and we don't even know where it is."

"It's likely hidden in one of the properties Kanjaku mentioned," Hanjou said. "Wherever it is, it won't be too heavily guarded for the same reasons Sagi won't have an army at the barn."

"Then should we help capture the barn?" Tadashi asked nobody in particular, gesturing at Miyako and himself. "Having too many people going after the ledger might draw too much attention."

"Actually, I think we should go after the ledger," Miyako suggested instead. "Sagi doesn't know we're alive. Nobody last night has reported back to her. She probably thinks we're dead, including Kanjaku. We can use that to our advantage and take her by surprise."

"That's a good idea," Hanjou agreed, "but I'd rather not have the two of you working together, especially to get the ledger. As much as we all appreciate your help, it's still difficult not to doubt the ones who worked under Sagi's command up until just a few hours ago."

The veterans in question both laugh sheepishly and glanced away. "Yeah…that's fair," Tadashi mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

I covered my grin with the back of my hand. Even if the doubt was there, I had a hard time believing either of them would try to do anything, anyway - not when Elite Jounin Hatake Kakashi was watching them. Everybody must've known that, too, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"What do you suggest, then?" Miyako asked, unimposing.

"I'll switch with one of you," Hanjou answered, turning towards Kakashi. "Do you have a preference as to who you are teamed with, Hatake-san?" When Kakashi didn't answer right away, she furrowed her brow in concern. "Or perhaps you had another strategy in mind?" she asked slowly, unsure of what his silence was about.

Only then did Kakashi seem to realize that he was being asked for an opinion. "Sorry, sorry, I got lost in thought for a bit," he apologized with a meek smile. I was pretty confident that I could take a guess as to what that thought was about. "Stealing the ledger will likely require disguises and other things involving chakra manipulation, so Tadashi should do that. I'll attack the barn with Miyako."

Ah, right, Miyako wasn't able to transform, I thought. I wondered once again what exactly was wrong with her chakra stream if all she could do was suppress her signature, and how well she must make up for it if she was still one of Sagi's top fighters despite being limited to just taijutsu. Then again, Rock Lee existed. Miyako hardly seemed to have the kind of passionate Youth that he had, though, but she was still one of the assassins who nearly made me shit myself last night, so who was I to doubt her abilities?

"Now that I think about it, I don't think Sagi would know that Hanjou's here, either," Tomi said, tapping her chin. "She knows Sadame and I were getting nosy, but since Hanjou left, Sagi isn't likely to suspect that she's involved."

"That's perfect, then," Sadame said with a faint smile. "She won't know what hit her."

Hanjou nodded, looking satisfied with the setup as well.

"So Takara, Sadame-san, and Tomi-san are getting the will," I said, wanting to make sure I'd been following everything correctly, "Sensei, Miyako, and the four-legged hell spawn are capturing the barn," Sakura kicked me for the nickname, which I ignored because I stand by it, "and us, Hanjou-san, and Tadashi are stealing the ledger." I paused and waited to get nods of confirmation before asking, "What about Kanjaku? Is he gonna do anything?"

All eyes turned to him.

"Can he do anything?" Sasuke asked rather bitterly.

Kanjaku swallowed. I stared at him expectantly, silently urging him to take the chance I'd just given him to prove that he was a changed man. We made eye contact, and I could see the hesitation and fear in his eyes, but I didn't let up. I simply quirked my brow and did the best I could to convey the message that I'd shank his ass if he chickened out again, as would everybody else in the room, I'm sure.

"I…might be able to get you close to the barn," Kanjaku finally said, his body stiff as he spoke. "I sometimes oversaw the illegal trades myself, mostly so Sagi had more to hold over my head in case I tried to rat her out…" He glanced away and sighed at this, but continued. "I can probably distract them and give you two an opportunity to get close."

The caravan exchanged looks before nodding. "That sounds good," Hanjou said. "You'll go with Hatake-san, then."

"The barn will have the most fighting. Are you sure we can trust him to stick to the plan?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes at the man. Funny how he was fairly quiet until the opportunity to talk smack about Kanjaku came up, I thought. It would've been annoying if I wasn't sure that the rest of us were thinking the exact same thing, and also totally understandable, given how personally Sasuke took people betraying their own families and all that.

"He will," Sadame said - nearly threatened. "I'm sure Hatake-san will make sure of that."

Kakashi smiled. "Of course."

Kanjaku lowered his head. It was almost pitiable how much he resembled a kicked dog.

Almost.

"Now all that's left is figuring out how exactly we go about stealing the ledger," Sadame said.

"If we want to take advantage of Tadashi, then we should be the ones who actually steal the ledger," Hanjou said.

"What about us?" Sakura asked, tilting her head.

"You three will be a distraction," Kakashi said.

I grinned. "We're good at that." It was a lot less stressful than having to deal with the delicate work of sneaking around, too. As cool as it would've been, I'd rather not pop a vessel from all the pressure.

"That's possible," Sadame said. She looked at Kanjaku and the two veterans. "Have you noticed any patterns in Sagi's movements that might help?"

"Hey~ Is there anything I can do?" Obito suddenly cut in, leaning over the table with a cheeky grin that shifted the bandages on his face.

"This doesn't concern you, Hidari," Hanjou sighed.

Ah, shit, I almost forgot about him. Can't I go back to a time where I didn't know he existed?

I pressed my lips together and risked a glance at Kakashi. He looked stiff, but kept his eye focused on the table instead of his former teammate. Who, again, was supposed to be dead. Even Kakashi couldn't keep his reactions under control, but I supposed anybody else who noticed would think it was about the mission and not because of the teammate who was back from the dead .

I just really wanted this conversation to be over so I could have a few minutes to think about that whole ordeal in peace and quiet.

More like suffering and quiet.

"Don't think you can use me just for my housing," Obito pouted. "This sounds exciting! Plus, what kinda friend would I be if I didn't help take down a corrupt politician and her drug cartel?"

"You could help by getting us something to eat," Tomi said teasingly. "It's about time for dinner, anyway."

Obito whined, but peeled himself off the table again nevertheless. "Fine. But only because I'm hungry, too." He then eyed my team and Takara expectantly. "I could use a hand," he said with a grin, flapping the sleeve that covered his missing right arm. "Y'know, since the adults are busy planning, anyway."

Sasuke visibly twitched at this, and I could tell Sakura was annoyed at the suggestion that we had no reason to be there, too. Hell, even I was annoyed, and I barely knew what the hell was going on. We may be young and inexperienced, but we were still shinobi.

"Actually, I was thinking of letting my team come up with a plan on how they should go about being a distraction," Kakashi said, his one eye shifting between us and the caravan. "They were pretty quick on their feet last night, so I'd like to see how they do when they actually have time to come up with a strategy. It'd be a good exercise for them."

I blinked at him, clueless. He wants us to do what now?

"Sensei, I don't-" Sakura started, but was quickly interrupted by Hanjou.

"You can't be serious," she said with a heavy frown. "I admit that they're capable for their age and rank, but we can't trust a few rookies to make decisions for a plan that requires this kind of delicacy."

"I'll review whatever they come up with, of course," Kakashi said, sounding unconcerned, "and they'll be given a deadline so we still have time to modify it and prepare ourselves as needed."

The caravan exchanged looks, silently communicating for a moment until finally, Hanjou sighed and nodded. "Alright. Admittedly, I'm quite curious to see what you three can come up with," she said, eyeing us with a piercing gaze.

I shrank under the weight of everybody's stares. I never liked being put under the pressure of expectations, even if they weren't particularly high. Mostly, though, I was wondering why Kakashi was throwing us under the bus like this in the first place. I would've thought that he would rather we get the job done quickly and efficiently. In other words, that he'd just tell us what to do and carry us through the rest of the mission, especially after we all took turns almost dying last night.

"It's getting late, so I'm giving you an hour to come up with a plan," Kakashi said. "In the meantime, I'll go see if my contact is willing to help us tonight. Remember to work together~"

Without even giving us a chance to ask any questions or object to being left with the task he gave us, he transformed with a puff of smoke and slipped out the back door, leaving my teammates and I gaping at his absence.

Oh, I see how it is.

Not that anybody else would be able to guess it, but it seemed to me that Kakashi just needed to get out and take a breather. He probably wasn't in the mood to be planning anything that involved delicate details, or at least needed some time alone before he could calm down enough to do so, assuming seeing Obito alive and relatively well was something he could calm down from at all. Him suddenly speaking up like that probably didn't help calm Kakashi's nerves. I mean, it certainly didn't calm mine.

I made a mental note to keep an eye on Kakashi, just in case.

At least he could actually get some alone time, though. Meanwhile, I was about to spend the next two hours stuck in a basement trying to put together some haphazard infiltration plan with my two stubborn teammates.

"So I…guess we're planning a heist?" I asked, looking between Sasuke and Sakura, who were just as dumbfounded as I was.

"We'll leave you three to it," Tomi grinned, patting Sakura on the back as she stood up.

"Aw, then who's gonna help me with dinner?" Obito whined.

"I will!" Tadashi answered suddenly, and rather excitedly. I could've sworn his cheeks were turning red, too, but it was hard to tell from the lighting.

"We'll all help," Sadame said. "Any preferences?"

We shook our heads in unison.

"Don't overthink it," she added with a gentle smile. "More often than not, the best solutions are the simplest ones."

I nodded, but couldn't help but think that nothing about this mission was simple.

"And remember to include me in your plans, too!" Obito chimed before disappearing up the stairs.

I resisted the urge to drop my head on the table. Please stop reminding me that you exist.

"You," Hanjou said, stopping Kanjaku in his tracks as he was about to get up, "should write that list of properties and give it to them so they have something to work with."

Kanjaku nodded and sat back down. "Of course."

"We can't plan much without the list, so hurry up," Sasuke urged, glaring daggers at the man.

"Sasuke-kun, don't you think you're being a little too harsh?" Sakura whispered.

I didn't bother getting involved myself. Instead, I was still preoccupied with wrapping my head around literally everything. Between Obito, Kakashi, and suddenly being left to plan a heist, it was kind of hard to focus on the task at hand. I didn't exactly know much about breaking and entering, either.

Okay, Satoko. Time to put your years of roleplaying and fiction writing to use.

Except that writing heists and actually doing a heist were two completely different things, and the former certainly didn't prepare me for the latter.

I sighed deeply.

This is going to be swell.

After getting the list from Kanjaku and a notebook for us to draw our plan in, Sasuke, Sakura and I holed ourselves up in the room Kanjaku and Obito had barged out of. It was decent in size - big enough to fit a bed and a desk, but a little cramped with three people. We ended up settling on the floor with the notebook and pens in the middle. The floor was smooth hardwood, so writing wasn't an issue.

"Okay, so we need to make a distraction," I said , fiddling with one of the pens with the notebook open in front of me. "I've still got two of everything, so we could totally blow something up." My teammates immediately shot me down with a glare and I whined. "Whaaat? He said distraction!"

"We can't go around terrorizing the capital!" Sakura hissed, smacking my arm. "We do have to be loud, though. Something that'll catch Sagi's attention, but nobody else's. Which is why we can't blow something up," she repeated, shooting me a look.

I slumped back on my hands with a pout. "Fine. What do we do, then, flare our chakra signatures like crazy? I could always send out a bunch of clones or something."

"We should look for the ledger," Sasuke said. "Sagi will be expecting someone to go after the ledger. If we make it obvious enough, we can make her focus on us instead of Hanjou and Tadashi."

"You're so smart, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura practically squealed - a sound I almost forgot existed until just then.

Man, I hope I live long enough to see the older Sakura.

On the other hand, I hope I figured out a way to get back home soon enough to never see her.

"If she finds out that we're trying to steal it, she might move it to a safer location, too," I added. "We can use the distraction to put pressure on her to reveal its actual location."

"Things are always most vulnerable when they're in transit," Sakura said, as though reading from a textbook. "If they can find Sagi while she's moving the ledger, it'll be a piece of cake for them to steal it."

I clasped my hands and grinned. "Nice! But then, don't we need some way to track Sagi? How're we supposed to know that she's onto us?"

"You said you can make clones, didn't you?" Sasuke said. "You can hide them around the city and keep an eye out for her."

I furrowed my brow and hummed thoughtfully. "I guess that could work, yeah. They can dispel themselves if they see Sagi and transfer that info back to me."

"Your clones can do that?" Sakura asked curiously.

I nodded. "Yeah, whatever experience they gain, I get once they get dispelled. It has its pros and cons," I said with a sheepish grin, recalling the many ghost pains I got from when a clone got dispelled by an attack. "Okay, so that's settled. Should we split up or stay as a group?"

"Split up," Sasuke said while Sakura said, "A group."

We fell silent and exchanged looks, with Sakura getting flustered over having disagreed with her beloved Sasuke or whatever.

"Or we could split up!" she said quickly with a shaky laugh. "We can cover more ground that way, right?"

Oh my god, this girl. Then again, answering right away instead of waiting to hear Sasuke's opinion just so she could agree was pretty good - by her standards, anyway.

Sasuke nodded, earning a sigh of relief from Sakura. "It'll give her a false sense of security if she knows that we're all separated."

"But that makes it more dangerous for us," I countered. "Any fighting is most likely to happen at the barn, but we can't completely rule it out for us, either. I think we should stick together in case something happens. It's easier to be unsubtle as a group, too, which is our goal."

Sakura looked like she wanted to disagree, but she eventually gave in with a sigh and said, "Satoko has a point - we still might get attacked when going after the ledger. Even if the chances are low, I don't think we should risk it."

Oh, thank god.

It was nice to know she was thinking about the wellbeing of the team as a whole and not just taking a chance to be alone with Sasuke.

Then again, it's hard to forget how badly Kakashi roasted us after the bell test.

Which was good, because otherwise I had a feeling that Sakura really would be more likely to throw me under the bus. Repeatedly. Hell, she probably would've been the one driving.

"Don't put me on the same level as you," he retorted. "You can pair up with Sakura if you don't think you can handle it yourself. I'll be fine on my own."

I clicked my tongue, gripping the pen tightly between my fingers. "This isn't about showing off or proving how great we are," I bit out. "It's about having enough self-awareness to know that we're better off not putting ourselves at unnecessary risk for the sake of a mission that's already gone to shit and beyond. You think Kakashi-sensei wants to bury his students? It's only been a month since we even became a team."

"You're just scared," Sasuke scoffed, turning his head away.

"For fuck's sake!" I snapped, shifting my position so that I was cross-legged with my hands on my knees.

"You guys-" Sakura started, but I was already going off because clearly Sasuke still needed to get some basics hammered into his thick skull.

"We're all genin!" I shouted, gesturing at all of us with one hand. "What, you think just because you're from a clan that it automatically makes you better than us? Well, newsflash: we're on the same fucking team! We're all genin! We're all kids! We're all rookies! So get the fuck off your high horse and learn to cooperate for once before you get yourself killed!"

The room fell silent, and I could've sworn that the chatter coming from those outside ceased for a moment, too. The air was suffocating and nobody made eye-contact with each other. Sakura gripped her dress until her knuckles turned white, but she said nothing. I broke the silence with a loud huff and leaned back again, relaxing my shoulders.

"We all know you're ahead of the game, Bastard," I grumbled, resting my forehead against my hand, "but that doesn't mean the rest of us are complete shit! Didn't you learn anything from the bell test? The only way to pass was to work together-"

"We didn't pass because of your plan," he interrupted sharply, to which I responded with an irked glare.

"No, we didn't," I agreed stiffly, "because just physically working together wasn't enough," I said, enunciating the last with a hiss. "We passed because we all stood up for each other - because we proved that we had the capacity to give even a single flying fuck about each other. Kakashi-sensei said that teamwork isn't a temporary truce. What we did to pass the genin test wasn't a temporary truce; we're supposed to keep looking out for each other and keep working together, instead of constantly treating each other like a burden."

Sasuke grit his teeth and clicked his tongue. "Tch, you talk too much," he muttered, glowering at me. "Quit acting like you know everything - you're just an idiot who barely even managed to graduate! So what if we're all genin? You've always been at the bottom of our class while Sakura and I have always been at the top. It's naïve to think that means we're all on the same level; you barely even qualify!"

"Sasuke-kun-"

I could feel my cheeks turning red as my face became hot. "That doesn't mean you can just- augh!" I threw my hands into the air and plopped them into my lap.

What the hell was I supposed to say to get through to him? Was it really too much to ask for him quite being such a loner so that maybe he won't grow up to be a traitor and the root of everybody's problems? How the fuck was I supposed to get him to care about us enough for him to say no to Orochimaru in, what, one month? Two? I was running out of time, and there were only so many flags between then and now were I could try and convince Sasuke that we were worth sticking around for - not just as teammates, but as friends, too.

"I'm so sick of you, man!" I grumbled. "Do you even listen to anything I say?"

"I could say the same about you," Sasuke rebuked.

"Stop fighting!" Sakura suddenly yelled, starting me and Sasuke into silence. "We only have an hour to come up with a plan and all you've done so far is argue! Satoko's right, we need to work together, not just for the sake of the mission, but because we're a team," she said to Sasuke before looking at me. "Sasuke-kun's right, too - we aren't all on the same level, but it's because we have different strengths and weaknesses. But it's because we're a team that it shouldn't matter that we're on different levels," she said pointedly while turning back to Sasuke, "because the point is to cover each other's weaknesses with our own strengths!"

There was a long, heavy silence as the three of us exchanged a variety of looks - irritated, frustrated, worried - but eventually Sasuke and I both conceded with a sigh.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. "You're right, it's not like arguing's gonna help, either."

"Yeah, sorry," Sasuke said, glancing away. "...You're right."

Sakura sat back with her arms crossed and sighed. "Honestly, you two..." She looked tired, but was clearly satisfied with herself. "We've already wasted almost twenty minutes, so let's get to work and make sure Sensei doesn't regret passing us!"

"Alright!" I cheered, grinning widely. Even Sasuke mustered up a smirk.

So with a renewed sense of teamwork and no more desire to get at each other's throats, at least for now, we got to work.

By the time our hour was up, we had pages full of notes, half of which were crossed out because we later decided on something better. When we heard the others outside greeting Kakashi's return, we quickly rushed over our final plan to make sure everything was in order.

"Do you think this is enough?" Sakura asked as she frowned a the page.

"It's as good as it's going to get," Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"C'mon, this is pretty great," I said, skimming through our final draft. "We're pretty awesome for even putting together this much, y'know!"

"I guess…" Sakura said with a shrug. "Let's go over it one more time, just to be sure."

"Okay! So, we're going as a group," I said, tapping against our notes with the pen. "We're gonna comb through the list of properties Kanjaku listed for us and intentionally be bad at sneaking around so Sagi, or Sagi's subordinates, are looking for us. Meanwhile, I'll have clones all around the city looking for her. Once they locate her, they'll dispel and I'll get the info on her location, which I'll give to you guys, Hanjou, and Tadashi, who are shadowing us the entire time."

I looked up to make sure we were all on the same page and continued after receiving nods from both my teammates.

"Once Sagi's found, Hanjou and Tadashi will go shadow her. We'll make our presence obvious enough to pressure Sagi into moving the ledger to a new location. Once she moves the ledger, Hanjou and Tadashi will steal it, and bam!" I exclaimed, slapping the notebook against the ground. "We emerge victorious."

Sakura slapped my arm, annoyed. "Be serious! There's a high chance that Sagi will send people to come after us once she realizes we're snooping around, so we have to be on our guard the entire time," she reminded. "This isn't a game, you know."

I huffed, rubbing my arm even though the slap didn't really hurt. "I know, I know."

"Kakashi-sensei's back, so let's go," Sasuke said, already standing up.

I stood up after him, the notebook in hand, and brushed off my pants. "Our plan turned out to be pretty great, huh!" I grinned, resting my hands behind my head. "I bet he won't even change anything."

I wasn't too surprised to be immediately proven wrong.

"Maa, this is better than I expected," Kakashi said after taking just a minute to review it, "but I'm still going to make a few changes."

Of course. Not that it was particularly unexpected, even if I said what I'd said.

"Firstly," he said, adding a note on the page, "you should all transform when you're looking for the ledger."

Sakura gasped and shot Sasuke and I a look. "I told you guys!" she cried "It makes it look more like we're actually trying to steal! Being too obvious is no good, either."

Kakashi nodded, looking amused at the way we shrank away from Sakura's scolding. "Exactly."

"Shoulda argued for it better if you thought it was such a good idea," I mumbled, earning a slap on the arm.

"Secondly, I'll give Hanjou and Tadashi something to replace the ledger with, if the opportunity arises. It might be useful, depending on how things play out," Kakashi said, adding a small note that indicated as such.

I hummed thoughtfully. I wasn't sure what good would come out of that, but it wasn't like I'd know any better.

"Lastly," he continued, scribbling even more notes this time, "Satoko should have her clones locate Sagi before any of you move out. Once Sagi is located, Satoko will receive that information from her clones and give it to Hanjou and Tadashi. When those two leave to find Sagi, Satoko will send a clone with them, but this one will be transformed into a small object, like a shuriken, so that traveling is easier and more stealthy. Once they locate Sagi, the clone will dispel, which will be your signal to head out."

The three of us nodded along silently as he spoke, following along as he made rather detailed notes in a short matter of time.

"The entire first part of the plan depends on you, Satoko," he said, his half-lidded eye settling on me. "Can you handle it?"

Do I really have a choice?

"Of course! I can make clones in my sleep!" I grinned, and for once, I wasn't even putting on a front.

Thankfully, making clones had become second-nature to me, and I'd already used them plenty of times in a similar manner in Konoha. It sounded kind of tedious when the process was laid out step-by-step, but in practice, having my clones do everything he just said wasn't really that difficult. The clones were useful for exchanging information that way, so I saw no problem abusing the power so long as my chakra pool let me.

Man, Protagonist could've done so much cool shit with his clones if he had the brains for anything other than spamming.

I mean, they're not even that good for combat, anyway, seeing as how they die right after throwing a punch. Kinda like bees.

"He ended up changing our plan a whole bunch after all," Sakura sighed, dropping her head onto the table.

"Don't be discouraged," Kakashi said, patting her head. "You three laid down a decent foundation for a plan. It's good that you're making use of your strengths, and I can tell that you put a lot of thought into this," he added, flipping through the pages of rough notes and scrapped ideas. He set the notebook down and gave us a one-eyed smile. "I'm proud of you."

Sakura immediately perked up at the compliments and I patted my teammates' arms, grinning widely. "He's proud!" I cheered. "Told ya we're awesome!"

They swatted my hands away, but both wore smiles themselves - even Sasuke, whose was faint, but content.

"Alright, then! Dinner should be ready soon, so let's head upstairs," Kakashi said, standing up with the notebook in hand. "We could all use a break."

I eyed him carefully when he said that, taking note of how he looked only a bit better than before. He still looked distracted and stressed, but at least he wasn't totally out of it anymore. All things considered, he was doing pretty damn well - I can't imagine seeing a once-dead teammate again after over a decade was something you could get over after just a one-hour walk, even if you were Hatake Kakashi, Angstlord of Konoha.

You and me both, buddy. You and me both.

Dinner was a little cramped - we ate at the table in the basement as the usual dining table was too small for a dozen people, but even then we were almost shoulder to shoulder. It was lively, and although I was already used to eating alone every night at university, it was a nice change of pace for once, especially in terms of the actual meal. I never knew how good home-cooked food was until it followed a day of rations and near-death experiences. I didn't even recognize half of what I was eating - some vegetables were similar to the ones back home, but many of them were either variants or completely foreign to me.

Good thing I've always liked vegetables, even if they looked kinda weird.

The table talk started off with Kakashi going through the ledger plan with Hanjou and Tadashi, but then quickly switched to more casual conversations that finally gave us a mental break. After over twelve hours of being in a state of panic and stress, I was pretty sure my brain was literally starting to cramp up.

"I've been wondering," Sakura started when there was a break in the conversation, "were the instruments just part of your cover as a group of merchants, or do you all actually play together sometimes, or maybe even perform?"

"We don't perform," Tomi answered with a laugh, her eyes flickering at Takara briefly, "but we do have fun with them."

"They're primarily a cover, though," Sadame said, pulling out her ocarina from her pocket. "We use them to conceal weapons." Right after saying this, she aimed the small instrument at the wall opposite of her and played a single note. A senbon needle shot out from the base of the ocarina and sank almost halfway into the wall.

I blinked, eyes wide and mouth open. "Oh dang."

"Are all your instruments like that?" Sasuke asked curiously, prompting Tomi and Hanjou to get their respective instruments, both of which could be opened to reveal a concealed blade.

"Oh dang!" I leaned over the table and gestured towards Tomi, who was sitting right across from me, to let me get a closer look at her pipa. She happily passed it over the table, and I stuffed another piece of mystery vegetable into my mouth before examining it closely. "This is so cool!"

I fiddled with the neck to see how it came off before strumming it a few times. I didn't have perfect pitch, but as far as I could tell, it was in tune. It was also probably the closest thing I'd ever see to a bass ever again, so I savoured the moment as much as I could and messed around with the chords.

"Oh? That's not bad!" Tomi commented. "Have you played one before?"

I laughed sheepishly and tilted my head. "Kind of?" I answered vaguely.

"I can't believe they still work as instruments…" Sakura murmured, carefully unsheathing the flute-knife Hanjou had passed on to her. "Where do you get weapons like these, anyway?"

"There's a lot of creative people in the world," Tomi grinned. "Some of them make instruments that double as weapons, that's all."

"These are so cool…" I whispered, still unable to wrap my head around the fact that these actually existed. Just the idea of knives hidden in the neck of a pipa was cool already, but the engineering and craftsmanship that must've gone into all these weaponized instruments almost made me want to take them apart just to see how it was done. "These are so freakin' cool!"

"Aren't they?" Tomi laughed as I finally returned her kick-ass pipa.

"Why don't you just use standard weapons?" Sasuke asked, although it didn't sound patronizing like I'd expected. I think he just wanted to know why they decided to go the extra mile to conceal their weapons.

"It's easier to convince people that we're harmless merchants when we can play folk songs," Sadame said. "And if we do get attacked, it catches the enemies off guard, because the last thing they're expecting is to get stabbed by a flute."

"Wait, didn't Kanjaku-san have an instrument, too?" Sakura asked. "Was yours a weapon, too?"

Kanjaku laughed nervously and glanced away. "Ah, n…no, mine's just a lute."

I would've scoffed if not for the food in my mouth.

Why do I feel like they did that on purpose?

The caravan didn't even try to hide how much they hated the guy. It would've been cruel if it wasn't because he was so awful up until one hour ago. The context actually made of kind of hilarious, in a dark humour kind of way.

"Well, you could always use it to bash people's heads in," I offered wryly.

The conversation went from one topic to another after that until eventually, the dishes were all cleared. We still had quite a bit of time until midnight, so we took the opportunity to finally wash off all the forest grime. The bathroom was surprisingly big, probably to allow Obito to move around more easily with his crutches and whatnot. There was a circular bath large enough to fit two people comfortably - three if they squished - that looked kind of like a giant pot, with a big wooden lid and everything. There were also a small wooden stool in front of a showerhead, where we could scrub and wash our hair. It was pretty much what I expected from a world so heavily based off Japan.

It still wasn't big enough for a lot of us to bathe at once, so we took turns in groups of three with Takara, Sadame, and Tomi going first, followed by my team. I braced myself for a lot of squealing on Sakura's part, but was pleasantly surprised to find that she treated it like no big deal, which actually kind of made sense. There'd probably be a lot of times in the future where we'd have to change or wash up in front of each other - shinobi just don't have time to be worrying about segregated bathrooms.

"Haa, I feel like I just shed my skin," I sighed, drying my hair with a towel once I was done.

"Ew, why would you say that?" Sakura cringed.

We headed back downstairs together, where we tagged in Hanjou, Miyako, and Tadashi for their turn.

"Oh, you're back!" Obito greeted with a smile and wave once we returned to the main floor. "Would you guys mind helping me close the shop?"

"Sure," I answered instinctively on behalf of all of us.

"Oh, but don't wear anything that might identify you as shinobi; we don't wanna attract unwanted attention."

Good call.

We nodded and slipped on a pair of straw sandals before following him outside. It was a bit chilly, but not enough for me to regret my damp hair. The sun was nearly set and casted long, dark shadows down the quieting roads. People were still walking about and there was still background noise, but it was much quieter than when we'd first arrived. It would've been quaint if we weren't plotting an attack later that night. Instead, the looming darkness made the capital eerie.

"The boxes and wares are labeled with numbers, so you just need to pack them into their respective boxes," Obito explained from the doorway. "I usually have my students around to help me with this part, but of course, they aren't around today," he said with a laugh.

"Students?" Sakura asked as she pulled out a few empty boxes from under the display table.

"Yeah! I teach classes. Most of the stuff in the basement was made by my students," he explained, leaning against the doorframe with a cheerful smile. "A lot of them are cracked and can't be sold, but I just can't bring myself to get rid of them. Good thing I have a big basement, right?" He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

He looks so proud, I thought distantly. And happy.

I was still having a hard time accepting the fact that this man was the same man who ruined everything in the original story. He was just so…carefree, like the young Obito I came to know as a third party. I wondered if Kakashi saw it, too. He hadn't taken his turn in the bath, yet, so maybe he was listening. I kind of hoped he was - it might help to know that Obito was content with his new life.

"Maybe you could donate them, or sell them as flower pots," I suggested, pulling out a few boxes myself. "Whoa, what's this?" I gasped, noticing an intricate statue that was placed by the entrance of the shop. It was behind the display table, so I couldn't have seen it the first time we were passing by. "The details are incredible…"

"Haha, thanks!" Obito grinned.

"Wait, you made this?" I asked in disbelief. "I mean, I knew you were good, but damn."

The statue was of a serpent dragon, whose body was coiled protectively around a single flower that sprouted from a rock, which served as the base of the statue. Its mouth was closed, but I could see parts of its teeth showing through the natural gaps from the way its jaws fit together. Every single one of the dragon's scales was individually carved, but that wasn't all there was to the statue - the flower was the sort that had dozens of petals layered on top of each other. It was carved so carefully that there were even gaps between the layers, adding depth and texture to the sculpture. None of the petals were obstructed by the dragon's hands, which were hovering just above the flower, as though it were shielding it from something. It was even painted, although not very much. Most of it was coated in a dark bronze finish, but the flower petals were painted magenta with white tips.

"Whoa…" Sakura gasped, peering at the statue from the other side. "Wait, I think I've seen these around the city before. A lot of other stores had statues similar to this one, with the dragon and the zinnia."

"Zinnia?"

"Yeah, it symbolizes loyalty," she explained. "This one in particular is called the hidden dragon zinnia, I think."

"You sure know a lot, Sakura-chan," Obito said, impressed. "You're sharp, too! All the stores that are owned by members of the program have a statue. Each one is unique and were all made by me," he said with a wide grin.

"Geez, isn't that, like, hundreds of 'em?"

Obito laughed. "Almost! There's more members than there are businesses. I got my students to help with some of the easier parts, though. These statues were less about quality and more about the meaning behind it - a show of our community and whatnot. The program is actually named Hyakunichisou, after the flower, I think also to symbolize longevity."

"Longevity?" I asked.

He nodded. "Hyakunichi is written with the same kanji as 'a hundred days.'"

I nodded thoughtfully. "What about the dragon? And why the hidden dragon zinnia?"

Obito hummed uncertainly before shrugging. "Hmm…I'm not sure, actually. You'd have to ask someone else about that. I think it's just because it looks cool!" he laughed. "Oh, could you put it on the table? I'll show you something really special about it!"

As requested, Sakura picked up the statue with great care and set it on the table, where Obito could reach it more easily.

"See, right now the dragon's mouth is closed," he said, "but if you push the middle of the flower right here…"

There was a faint click, and the dragon's mouth fell open with a thud. It didn't just open, either - it also revealed a small wooden box inside, which slid down to the tip of the mouth and got caught by the dragon's long fangs. I gasped in awe of the sharp teeth that were fitted so perfectly that the mouth could open and close with such ease.

"No way!" I exclaimed, leaning in to get a closer look. "How do you even make something do that?! This is beyond cool!"

"What's in the box?" Sasuke asked, poking his head in from next to Obito.

"Oh, just a small memento of sorts," he answered, taking the box out. He snapped it open revealing a small metallic shard that reflected the light coming from the house.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"It kinda looks like a piece of a knife, or something," I murmured. It was more or less a polygon, with one side thin and sharp while the other was slightly thicker. It looked battered and dirty, but not completely lost to time. "What's it from?"

Obito shrugged. "Apparently I had it on me when I was found at the entrance of the capital. I've been told that it's the shard of some kind of blade, but it's hard to tell from just this small bit. " Sakura and Sasuke looked up at this, confused. I quickly followed suit, if only to blend in. "Truth be told, I'm not from here - at least, not from the capital, I don't think. And I don't remember where I was from. The first memory I have is waking up in the hospital, where I was missing almost my entire right side and my left eye. Apparently there was a war going on then, so some people thought I was a shinobi while others thought I was a casualty. Either way, I never regained my memories, so I guess it doesn't really matter who I used to be, haha!"

I bit my lip and said nothing which, thankfully, wasn't a weird response. It would've been hard to find a way to respond to that even if I didn't know who he really was.

"That must've been scary…" Sakura murmured for a lack of anything better to say. Her downcast expression didn't last very long, however, because she suddenly made a face of disbelief and squinted at him. "Wait, is that why you're named Hidari?"

Obito immediately burst into a short fit of laughter as he closed the box. "Ha! Yeah, I thought of it myself. Pretty great, huh?"

Sakura made a face that told me she thought otherwise. Sasuke didn't seem to appreciate the humour, either. As for me, the realization suddenly sank in and I snorted. "Holy shit," I snickered, covering my mouth with my hand. "Because this is all that's left of him!"

I just about died, but quickly regained my composure after receiving a scolding glare from Sakura.

"Exactly!" Obito cackled, patting my back. "There's no use moping about stuff I don't even know, right? So I thought I might as well have fun with it. Life goes on, after all~"

I guess it does, huh.

Now that I thought about it, it was pretty obvious that Obito was living his own life beyond Konoha and the Uchiha clan. He seemed happy to not know what he'd forgotten, either, and at this point, I wondered if it would even do him any good. Rin and Minato were dead, and his entire clan had been killed. It just didn't seem fair to constantly tie him to a past he neither remembered nor longed for, even if he didn't know I was doing it.

Yeah. He was a totally different person, now. It would probably be easier on me, too, if I started thinking about him that way.

"Anyway," Hidari said, placing the box back in the dragon's mouth. "All the statues outside the stores have compartments like this. If there's something inside, the mouth will be closed. If it's empty, it stays open. Pretty nifty, right?"

After suddenly getting his backstory like that, I'd almost forgotten how we even got to that point in the first place. "Super cool," I said instead, because that much was still true.

"Kanjaku said that Sagi frequents the businesses a lot, right?" Sasuke asked out of the blue, catching our attention. "What if she hid the ledger in one of the statues?"

The rest of us fell silent as we exchanged looks.

"Oh," I said absently. "Oh dang."

"Good idea, Sasuke," Kakashi said, showing up out of nowhere and startling all of us. "You three should keep an eye out for those statues while you're executing the plan."

"Dude, how long have you been there?!" I hissed, hand still against my chest from being caught off guard.

Kakashi rolled his head away and shrugged. "Hyakunichisou is a nice name for the program."

I frowned. So, like, from the very beginning.

Which meant he heard everything Hidari had to say about his life and how he got here.

…Yeah, it was probably better for me not to try and consider how he felt about it.

"I came to tell Hidari-san that the bath is available, but I didn't want to interrupt," Kakashi said, his one eye crinkling as he smiled.

"Oh, thanks! I'll leave this to the rest of you, then," Hidari said, swiftly patting our heads in succession with his one arm before limping his way back inside.

Once Hidari was inside, Kakashi gave us a smile and waved. "Make sure not to break anything! Those sure look expensive," he said before closing the door behind him.

I stuck my tongue out at the door. "Jerk."

"Let's hurry up," Sasuke said, pulling out the boxes out from underneath the table. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can prepare for tonight."

Sakura and I nodded and quickly got to work.

It wasn't too long afterwards, however, when we were interrupted by someone from outside.

"Oh, no! Are you closing up already?" a pleasantly warm voice asked. The three of us looked up from packing Hidari's various wares to see a woman with light blonde hair, which was the most eye-catching part about her. Her eyes were blue, but they weren't particularly piercing, and her clothes were earthy, muted colours that blended in with the rest of the citizens. There wasn't anything that stood out about her, other than the fact that she felt approachable.

"Um, yeah!" Sakura answered. "Sorry, we're just helping. The shop's owner is inside. Should I get him for you?"

The woman laughed and waved her hand. "Oh, no worries! I just thought I'd stop by to say hi to Hidari-kun, but it looks like he's busy, so it's fine."

We paused and blinked at her curiously. "Are you a friend of his?" I asked.

It would've been alarming if not for the fact that a skillful one-armed potter was probably rare, so it made sense that locals would know him by name, especially since it seemed like he made all sorts of stuff. His prices were pretty high, too, and many of the pieces were intricate enough that I could only see them being displayed as decoration instead of actually being used.

"I'm familiar with him," she answered. "His work is pretty popular around the capital," she said, leaning over to take a closer look at the wares that were still on display before pointing at a teapot Sasuke was holding. "Oh, do you mind if I take a look at that one?"

Without any particular reason to say no, Sasuke carefully set the pot in the woman's hands. As he did so, however, the woman took the pot with one hand and caught Sasuke's hand with the other. The movement was so fluid that it didn't even strike me as something unnatural until I reminded myself that suddenly being grabbed by a stranger wasn't normal. The way Sasuke tensed told me that he was very aware of this, too, but before he could pull away, the woman released his hand just as quickly as she'd grabbed it.

"Oh, your hands look like you work hard," she commented, no longer paying attention to the teapot she'd asked to see. "Are you three students of Hidari-kun, by any chance?"

"No, we're not," Sakura answered politely.

"Are you shinobi, then?" the woman asked before she could give a cover story. "Did Hidari-kun hire you to do a mission for him? That'd be exciting!"

"We're not shinobi," Sasuke lied smoothly. "We're helping him load a cart to transfer some of his wares. We're going to sell them in Konoha."

Ah, the merchant lie.

The woman was sticking around a little too long for comfort, but even if she was just a fan of Hidari's work, it wasn't a good idea for us to say that we were shinobi, especially after Hidari specifically told us not to.

"Do shinobi visit the capital often?" Sasuke asked shortly afterwards, evidently calm and unalarmed enough to get some basic intel from the local.

Nice, that might be useful. It'd be good to know how common it was for the capital's citizens to see shinobi. There was nothing peculiar about seeing clones running about in Konoha, but it might matter in the capital.

The woman picked up another teapot and shrugged. "They come and go, but Konoha naturally has way more," she said. "The ones that do pass through, though…" Before she could finish, her eyes flickered up at the door just as it slid open.

When we looked back, Hidari was standing at the doorway with a towel around his neck, body frozen in place as he wore a stiff smile. "Ah, shit."

The air suddenly went cold and when I looked back at the woman, a shiver went down my spine as she continued where she'd left off with a complacent glint in her eyes. "…They're usually higher rank, so I was wondering what you adorable little genin were doing here." The woman smiled, and although it looked exactly like the one she wore before, this one was devoid of all warmth. Her continuously pleasant voice made the exchange even more chilling. "Long time no see, Hidari-kun! Do you happen to have more valuable wares at the back?"

My teammates and I exchanged looks, unsure of what was going on until Hidari dropped the bomb.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I don't allow customers inside," he said with a tight smile. "Even if it's you, Sagi-san."

I think I might've died a little inside. My blood ran cold and I couldn't help but stare at her in blatant disbelief and shock.

That woman.

The one with the warm smiles and the aura that was so approachable that even Sasuke didn't act hostile towards her.

That woman.

Was the corrupt woman who turned an honest charity program into a drug cartel and sent assassins after a sixteen-year-old girl.

I swallowed and finally found it in me to look away.

You have got to be kidding me.

"I'll give you all points for effort, at least," she said, eyes lazily scanning the three of us who were still frozen in place behind the display table. "You went through a lot of trouble to avoid getting caught. Too bad my people are everywhere. You were caught the second you walked through those gates with Takara-chan on your back," Sagi said, her dull gaze settling on Sakura.

Sakura flinched, but didn't falter. Sagi's words were sharp, but her demeanour was still relaxed. I didn't need to be a genius to know that she was mocking us - sizing us up.

"It's hard to miss the elite Hatake Kakashi, too, especially when he shows up with so many people," she said with a small shrug.

Shit, does she know about Miyako and Tadashi after all?

"Although that does explain a lot," she continued. "I guess I'll just have to make better preparations on my end. I can't have you stealing my things without putting up a fight, after all."

I wanted to ask what exactly it explained, but kept my mouth shut. It was hard to tell what she knew - or what she thought she knew, like whether or not she was aware that Miyako and Tadashi were with us - but I barely even knew how to talk to those two, let alone the very antagonistic mastermind who was confident enough to approach us alone.

"Why are you here?" Hidari demanded, dropping his polite façade. "If you know that Kakashi-san is here, then you know that you don't stand a chance."

"You only have so many options right now," Sagi retorted, casually examining a teapot as she spoke, "and none of them really allow for brute force, so I wonder if you really have that much of an advantage?"

Nobody said a word. We simply stared her down, watching her every move as she put down the teapot and picked up a bowl to examine next.

"But…whatever. I just came to tell you not to keep me waiting too long," she said with a shrug before looking up at us with the same smile as before. "I'm a busy person, after all."

"You should go, then," Hidari said, voice low and borderline threatening.

Sagi set the bowl down and held her hands up in defence. "I was just leaving," she said, backing away from the shop. She left with a wave and another smile. "Tell Hanjou I say hi."

Shit.

It didn't take long for all of us to gather in the basement again for an emergency meeting.

"I don't know if she knows about you guys," I said, pointing to Miyako, Tadashi, and Kanjaku, "but she definitely knows about Hanjou."

"It should only be me," Hanjou said. "When we arrived last night, Sadame and Tomi were in the wagon with Kanjaku. We brought him straight inside - nobody should've seen him."

"What about us?" Miyako asked. "She said that Hatake-san showed up with 'so many people,' but that doesn't necessarily mean she knows it's us."

"If she didn't see me and Sadame arrive at the capital with Hanjou, it's possible she might think that the two extra people with Kakashi-san were us instead of you," Tomi said. "I think she's far more likely to assume that Kakashi killed both of you and mistaken you for us, especially since you two looked more like merchants than assassins when you arrived."

"It doesn't matter what she does or doesn't know," Kakashi said, voice low and serious. "We'll continue with the original plan: Takara, Sadame, and Tomi are getting the will; Kanjaku, Miyako, and I are attacking the barn and using Tsumi to move the opium; and my team are going with Hanjou and Tadashi to steal the ledger."

"But half of the plan relied on us being able to ambush Sagi because she wouldn't be expecting us," Tadashi said. "We've lost the element of surprise."

Kakashi shook his head. "Not necessarily. So long as we play our cards right, she won't suspect that you two are there at all." His single eye settled on the three of us as he added, "We'll just need to make a slight modification to your roles. Satoko," he asked, looking at me, "what bombs do you have left?"

I gasped softly and slowly brought my hands to my chest. "I thought you'd never ask."

When the clock finally turned, I was sitting at the table in the basement with a few others, drumming the table with my fingertips. To say I was anxious was putting it lightly. It was more like my entire body was hit by a freight train and then struck by lightning, repeatedly. I couldn't sit still at all and started shaking my legs, too, until someone set a firm hand on my shoulder.

"Satoko."

I jumped and looked back to see who the hell almost made me shit myself.

"Hanjou-san," I greeted with a clenched jaw.

"Take a deep breath," she instructed. I did as I was told and let it out in a long sigh. "You'll be fine."

I swallowed and nodded, stuffing my hands in my pockets so I'd stop fidgeting with them.

"Yeah," I huffed, taking another deep breath. "Thanks."

I turned to Sakura and saw that she was sitting unnaturally still, eyes fixated on the table and nothing else.

"Sakura-chan?" I asked quietly, nudging her gently with my elbow. Her head snapped up and she blinked away whatever daze she was in. "You okay?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked away when she said this.

I flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Sasuke and I are still gonna be there! There's no way we're gonna let anything happen to you, no matter what. Right, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha nodded. He looked pissed, but not at us. I don't think he appreciated being fooled by Sagi's demeanour. None of us did, but Sasuke was the type to take things way too personally. To be fair to him, though, out of all of us, I did expect him to be the one to smell something fishy, which only showed how skilled of a manipulator Sagi was.

And how much of a creep she is.

"Everybody ready?" Kakashi asked from the back entrance. Everybody turned to face him and responded with nods. "Alright, then. Let's get started."

I slipped off the stool with a huff and checked to make sure all my equipment was in place. With everyone as ready as can be, my nerves were already settling. Yeah, we'd be fine. Piece of cake.

"Like I said." I punched my fist into my hand and grinned. "We're gonna sink that bitch."

Notes:

Happy New Years! May 2017 give us and Satoko the break we all deserve.

Chapter 19: The Roof, the Roof!

Summary:

Satoko tries to have conversations with people she shouldn't be having conversations with. Sasuke fails to learn from his mistakes. Sakura is generally a badass and is really the only one who has her shit together.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Takara's team was the first to head out, followed by Kakashi's team, and then mine. We walked down the quiet streets in our civilian disguises, keeping an eye out for the businesses on Kanjaku's list. There was no time to get or make a proper map, so finding the right shops and restaurants was a bit of a struggle. Finding the ones with close-mouthed statues was harder still, but at least we had no problem blending in with the crowd.

It was no surprise that the capital's nightlife was bustling. The majority of the businesses on the street were still open, and looked like they would be open for a while. Young adults and teenagers mingled about while some elderly folks made themselves comfortable in tea shops and bars. There were even a few parents taking their kids out - tourists, I assumed.

"Careful not to bump into anybody," I said to Sakura, gesturing for her to stay close.

"Right," she nodded. "Man, I hope this plan works."

"Don't jinx it," I hissed.

We found the first close-mouthed statue after a few minutes of walking down the street, and I made sure to make a bit of a scene about going over to inspect it, just in case somebody was looking.

"Hey, this place looks nice!" I said, approaching the restaurant. "D'you think they have seats?"

"Doesn't look like it," Sasuke said, double-checking the name of the restaurant with the one on the list. "I'll ask how long the wait is."

That was my cue to examine the statue while Sasuke had the host distracted. Sakura came with me, disguised to be just a bit taller than her usual height so she could subtly hide what I was doing just a bit better. While she leaned against the counter to block the host's view, I put on a bit of an act to pretend I'd only just noticed the statue, then curiously prodded at the teeth and petals before pressing the switch. I feigned surprise when the mouth popped open and tried not to look disappointed when all that came out was a certificate of some sort.

"Hey, what're you doing?" the host suddenly asked, and I scrambled to push the certificate back in and close the statue's mouth. "Please don't touch that, it's quite delicate."

"Sorry! I was just curious," I said with a meek grin.

"I told you not to!" Sakura hissed, for once not genuinely annoyed, before looking back at Sasuke. "Should we wait?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It'll take too long. Let's find somewhere else," he answered, rejoining us after thanking the host. "Let's go."

It felt like we spent forever walking up and down the streets, putting on an act while going into every other business under the guise of exploring them. I was starting to run out of fake conversation topics, and the anticipation of waiting to be spotted was killing me. It put me on edge, which made me all the more sensitive to every little sound around me. Especially the not-so-little sounds, like the squealing of a small child getting their mother's attention.

"Mama, look! Kitty!"

I flinched and looked over at the child, who was pulling at his mother's sleeve. Sure enough, there was a small calico scurrying away from the tiny human, clearly not wanting to be touched.

"Calm down," Sasuke muttered, barely sparing a glance at the small commotion.

"Man, gimme a break; I almost died like, five times last night," I muttered back. "So what if I'm a little on edge."

"You weren't the only one in danger," he retorted.

"Yeah, well," I started, but then found that it was pretty hard to win the argument when I was talking to the guy who'd seen his parents murdered by his older brother when he was just seven years old. "Just remember that it was my glitter bomb that ultimately saved your ass," I said instead, because like hell I was ever going to let him forget that.

Sasuke scoffed and said nothing more, directing his attention instead to the list of store names and the signs we passed by. We stopped every so often to examine a statue, pulling a similar routine each time. The redundancy would've been bad form if that wasn't the point, and it was a good thing it was the point, because there were only so many ways I could mess with the obviously-valuable statue without permission.

At the same time, I thought about what my clones were doing. They were hidden around the village, some in disguises and others not, scouring the streets for any signs of Sagi or any potential subordinates. I was staying on guard for any potential influx of information that might come from any dispelled clones, which is precisely what happened once we check the fifth building or so.

"Shit," I whispered under my breath. "A clone reported back. Sagi has Takara and Sadame, but Tomi escaped with the will, at least."

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "Keep your guard up."

I nodded, pretending to stretch while I took a good look at the people around us. There wasn't anybody who seemed to be following us, but in the crowds of the capital's nightlife, it was pretty hard to tell if I'd seen the same person twice or not.

It wasn't until we reached the end of the night market that the next wave of memories rushed back to me, this time of other parts of the capital I'd never visited before. I recalled the series of images, one of which put Sagi near a closed souvenir shop we passed a few minutes ago.

About damn time. What the hell took her so long?

Now all that was left was for Sagi to move the ledger and hide it somewhere else. Once my clone fed the new location to Hanjou and Tadashi, it'd dispel to let me know that the job was done, and we'd be on our merry way.

We found another statue on the next block. We were getting to the end of the marketplace, where the street was darker and the crowds had thinned. Only a few people were loitering about, but we could still see and hear the bustling coming from up the street.

"She's close, by the way," I whispered, approaching the statue while Sasuke and Sakura shielded me. "Couldn't mention earlier because of the crowds, but she was a few shops behind us."

"Has she moved the ledger yet?" Sasuke asked just as quietly.

I shook my head. "I think she's about to, though. She must be retrieving it by now," I said while doing my best to stay natural as I examined the statue. Like usual, its mouth opened with a dull click with I pressed the flower. It pushed out a brown envelope that was rolled up and bound with twine. I untied it and opened the envelop, removing the white notebook inside. I froze. "Orrr not?"

I removed the envelop and held it up so my teammates could see. "We weren't supposed to actually find this, were we?"

"No, we weren't," Sasuke agreed, looking stiffer than usual. "Something's not right."

I frowned. "Y'don't say."

"I'll be taking that," a calm voice said, startling us into spinning around.

And there she is.

It was a good thing being subtle wasn't part of the plan, because I was too alarmed to even think about hiding the ledger behind my back. Sagi greeted us with a laidback smile. She would've looked pleasant and approachable if not for the fact that I knew exactly the kind of shit she'd done, which made her all the more threatening.

"It's not nice to go snooping around through people's private belongings, you know."

We dispelled our transformations, seeing as the gig was up and there was no point in draining our chakra more than necessary.

"Not nice to kill a bunch of people just so you can sell more drugs, either," I retorted, grip tightening around the ledger. "You think we're gonna hand this over without a fight?"

"I'd rather not disturb the neighbourhood," Sagi said, her half-lidded eyes glancing to the side just briefly. It was a silent command, but it was brief enough that by the time any of us registered it as such, we were already being surrounded.

A man and a woman emerged from a nearby alleyway and loomed over us, a silent threat not to move.

"We're shinobi," Sasuke said stiffly, warning her against trying to harm us.

Although we were away from the main crowd, there were still witnesses, and more than enough light for everybody to see our faces. I figured that, logically, the chances of her actually starting a fight were low. Even so, we weren't really in any position to go on the offense, either - I didn't want to take my chances on what kinds of hidden weapons they might have stowed in their sleeves, and if she dealt with opium, she could reasonably have access to knockout drugs, too.

"Relax. Even I wouldn't try getting away with Konoha's genin. Especially not you, " she said, staring pointedly at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance while I was just surprised at the implication of her words. Then again, Sasuke wore his clan symbol like a target on his back, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. I did wonder if she knew about Kurama, though. It didn't seem like it, seeing as how she more or less dismissed me, but I was definitely okay with that.

"That's literally treason, after all, and I'm nothing if not patriotic," Sagi said with a smile. "Takara-chan, though…" she continued, tilting her head thoughtfully. She looked annoyingly relaxed. "Well, she's still in the way, you know? Last night didn't go as planned."

I narrowed my eyes. "What're you talking about, lady?" I asked, even though I had a very good idea what she was talking about. I just needed some time to process the situation - that Takara was likely taken hostage.

Sagi laughed, rubbing the back of her head and looking inappropriately sheepish, as if she'd forgotten to buy the milk or take out the trash. "Well, I knew she'd want to get the will, and it's not like Saa-chan or Tomi-chan are in good shape anymore. It was pretty easy to capture her, you know? I didn't really want to resort to holding hostages, but it makes life a little easier. So, anyway, it'd be great if the three of you could cooperate."

"How do we know you really have her?" Sakura demanded.

"You don't," Sagi admitted with a shrug, "but it's up to you whether or not you'd like to call my bluff."

I exchanged a long, silent stare with my teammates before reluctantly handing over the ledger with gritted teeth, because it was better to act on the assumption that Takara's life was in danger.

Hanjou and Tadashi had better break even and get the ledger.

"I'll leave the rest to you," Sagi said to her two subordinates, slipping the ledger into her sleeve. "Meanwhile, I'm going to put this somewhere safe and sound." She spoke with a soft smile, enunciating her last words with sharp clarity. I had a feeling it was her way of rubbing it in our faces.

"Damn it," I hissed, begrudgingly letting the woman strip me of my weapons.

"Take care~" Sagi smiled and waved before she left, her voice not even a little bit malicious, unlike her actions.

The subordinates had us walk in between them, with the woman in the front and the man behind us. To anybody who saw, we would've looked like a group of people enjoying the nightlife - just three kids out and about with their relatives, or something. I wondered if anybody would notice the kunai hidden in their sleeves if they looked at just the right time, though.

After a few minutes of being taken hostage, the crowds thinned and the lights dimmed. We were walking through what looked like the more residential areas, and soon I realized that we were headed towards the barns. It was starting to get too quiet for comfort, so like any good hostage, I started talking.

"Why do you work for her, anyway?" I asked out of the blue, keeping my voice low and even. They didn't answer at first, so I egged them on a little - not just to be annoying, but because we'd been wrapping our heads around the whole situation for hours on end and I still had no clear idea why so many people were willing to follow Sagi after all that she'd done. "I mean, you do know she killed Takara's mom, right?"

There was another long silence. I knew that physically our footsteps could only be so loud, but they sounded like drums beating in my skull in that moment.

"Sagi-san provides us with a living," the man said, his voice low as to not attract unwanted attention. "We've been better off ever since she got involved with the program."

"Maybe, but at what cost?" I pressed, frowning.

"Is this your first mission outside the village?" the woman asked. I nodded. "I thought so. Perhaps you'll have a better understanding of what it means to be a shinobi once this is over."

I squinted my eyes and frowned. I was never really a fan of vague, cryptic answers, but I had an idea of what exactly she meant. I already knew, at least from looking in on this world from the outside, that nothing about it was black and white. Even so, you'd think these once-honourable shinobi would draw the line at following someone who kills an innocent person to get what they want. Then again, not all shinobi were necessarily honourable in the first place. Mizuki certainly wasn't.

I wonder how common it is for shinobi to abuse their power the way cops do.

"That sounds like something someone who can't be assed to make the right choice would say," I finally said, keeping my head up and eyes forward as the woman turned around with a glare. I made a point to not look away. "I think you forgot what it means to be a shinobi."

The woman clicked her teeth, and I ignored the scolding glared I was getting from Sasuke - a silent demand to shut up hell up.

"You don't know what you're talking about," she said. "Much like how a unit leader will have to make hard calls in the field, people have to make difficult choices all the time, for the greater good. That's all Sagi-san is doing. Without her, the program would have dissolved."

"Without her, Ryoukuna would still be alive and we wouldn't be here trying to clean up the mess," I countered.

"Without her," the man interjected firmly, "many of us would be starving, or living on the streets, or dead. Sometimes it's all you can do just to survive."

I bit my lip. I had a lot to say about that, because true as that may be, I'd like to think that they still held...standards, so to speak. That maybe they wouldn't want their food to come at the expense of the death of a civilian. But I couldn't find the right words to respond with, so I didn't. I mean, I still didn't know how to feel about Kakashi having killed the assassins from last night, and that was life or death.

Maybe that's just how they're wired to think, that everything is life or death.

Maybe it would make sense if I started thinking that way, too. But I couldn't find it in me to switch gears like that, so I didn't.

The walk continued in silence. I spent the entire time dwelling over what the man and woman had said, not registering that we'd made it to the outskirts of the capital until they stopped us so they could bind our hands. Now that we were away from the crowds, there was no point in pretending we weren't being captured, I supposed, but that was to be expected.

What I didn't expect, however, was to be brought to the barns again. The barn that stored the opium was within sight, but the woman led us to the next one over. I could just make out Kakashi's figure in the distance, and only by the shape of his overly voluminous hair, but he didn't show any signs of noticing us. I would've called out to him so I could at least tell him about Takara, but then, knowing that she was in danger made that seem like a horrible idea rather than just a bad one.

We were brought to a shed nearby, following such a path that we were out of Kakashi's potential line of sight for most of it. The woman opened the door and glared at us until we walked in, no fuss no muss. My teammates and I briefly exchanged glances before the woman closed the door behind us, leaving only us and the man in the shed. It was much smaller than the barn, but still large enough that there was a canopy layered with straw. It was empty besides a pile of large bags of what I assumed was opium, a few barrels and boxes off to the side, and the oil lamp that was sitting on them.

"Sit down," he said, crossing his arms.

Now that I finally got a good look at him, I saw that he was missing three fingers on his left hand, leaving only his index and thumb. The rest of his arm didn't look any better. It was covered in patches of skin that were discoloured and scarred - from a fire, maybe - and his bicep had an entire chunk seemingly carved out of it. I tried not to stare, but it was pretty hard to look away. It didn't take him long to notice my staring, to which he clicked his teeth and absently rolled his left shoulder, looking away.

Sasuke and Sakura took a seat on the opium. I plopped down next to Sakura so that she was between the two of us, hands still tied behind my back. It seemed like the plan was just to sit here until the situation outside sorted itself out, so naturally, I tried to chat up the man to kill the time.

"So," I said, leaning back so I could look up at the man towering over us, "why'd you join the program?"

The man glowered at me like I was stupid, like maybe I hadn't seen how horribly disfigured his arm was. I liked to think it was at least a little bit thoughtful, to actually ask him about it instead of just assuming things. That being said, he didn't answer and instead pointedly ignored me. I huffed and looked at my teammates, who opted to wait in silence like decent captives. I, on the other hand, wasn't about to let this opportunity slide. I need info on this world, at least for future reference, and while being captured wasn't exactly ideal, the actual threat against our well-beings was pretty low. I felt safe enough, at least, to keep bugging the guy for some answers.

"I mean, I can take a guess, I suppose," I said dismissively, rolling my neck. "The program - Hyakunichisou, right? - Takara's mom started it with Kanjaku so they could give veteran shinobi like you a second chance at life. Is this how you're gonna use their kindness, by turning a blind eye to Ryoukuna's death, watch Kanjaku get threatened into submission, watch Sagi turn something good into something rotten?"

He still said nothing, but I saw his eyebrow twitch, so at least I knew he was listening.

I hummed thoughtfully, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to figure out where to begin. "I mean, there's gotta be a reason you're still willing to work for her. Maybe you have family you need to provide for? Or maybe you need a lot more medicine than the program's standard amount for your arm-"

"Don't make me gag you," the man glowered, crossing his arms.

"Satoko," Sasuke said with a warning edge to his voice, but I ignored him.

"C'mon, I finally got him to talk," I said with a grin, brushing Sasuke off. I turned back to the man, who'd finally answered. "So I was right, then?"

"The medication Sagi-san provides depends on the individual," he snapped, voice sharp and irritated. "Those who need more, get more. I'm not doing this for anything extra, if that's what you're thinking." He looked away, his brows deeply furrowed. "Sagi-san isn't like that."

"Isn't like that?" I repeated. "She killed Takara's mom."

The man clicked his tongue in annoyance and went back to crossing his arms. "Your simple-mindedness is getting on my nerves."

"Then explain it to me," I insisted, inching forward on the bag. "I mean, the program couldn't have been doing that badly before Sagi came along. Isn't it great that Takara's mom created something like this at all? Aren't you even a little bit thankful?"

He grit his teeth, but his glowering softened just the slightest bit. "There's a lot that you genin wouldn't understand. Of course I'm grateful for what Ryoukuna-san did. We all are."

I leaned back and tilted my head, silently urging him to continue. Sasuke and Sakura remained silent, their attention either divided or simply listening to what he had to say as well.

"We aren't glad that Ryoukuna was killed, and it's not like we wanted it to happen," he continued, shifting his glance to the side, "but we can't deny that it was a step that made the program flourish into what it is now. The program was struggling to provide everybody with both medication and employment. If it weren't for Sagi stepping in, most of us would have to have been removed from the program and starving by now. We've been able to afford both ever since."

"So then, it was worth it?" I asked, leaning forward again.

The man looked back, shoulders stiff and eyes on me.

"Doing all of this, continuing with her plans, turning a blind eye to Ryoukuna's murder and the attempt on Takara - it's all worth it, for the sake of the program's success?" I made sure I kept my eyes locked with his as I spoke.

He was silent for a moment before finally speaking again.

"You were attacked, weren't you?" he asked, suddenly flipping the interrogation onto me. I wanted to see where he was going with this, so I nodded. "And your sensei, he killed some of the ones sent to attack you?" I nodded again. "Because if those assassins didn't die, you would've died instead."

I pressed my lips together as I rolled over those words in my head. "Well, yes," I finally said. "Are you comparing this to Sagi killing Ryoukuna? That if she didn't die, you would've died instead?"

"Our livelihoods weren't guaranteed when the program was led by Ryoukuna and Kanjaku," he said instead. "It's not an easy decision to make, but I do know for a fact that I'm here now, alive and healthy, because of Sagi's decisions. Her methods might not be entirely ethical, but you can't deny that she's helped hundreds of people, and not just with the program. I support the good that she's done for the city's people."

"But she... murdered Ryoukuna." I was started to feel like a broken record, but I was having a hard time trying to process how that didn't seem to faze the man whatsoever.

"If I opposed every person who has done good and who has also killed someone, I'd be a ronin," he said. "People kill to help, save, and protect others - just like how your sensei killed the others to protect you.. That's how this world works; that's what we shinobi do, and it's something that you'll have to do one day, too, if you continue down this road. The success of a mission is often achieved through the death of others."

He stepped towards me, and I made a point to stay put, to not lean back away from him even though he was a little too close for comfort.

"Civilian or not, it's still true that the program improved after Ryoukuna's death," he said. "Shinobi sacrifice themselves for the sake of the mission all the time. Every shinobi who died in the war died for the sake of a better future - for the greater good of the village and country. When you're faced with a decision that makes you choose between one life or a hundred, would you not choose to sacrifice the one life to save that hundred?"

"Bullshit," I sighed. I wanted to rub my hands over my face, suddenly feeling heavy and exhausted, but seeing as they were tied up, I opted for rubbing my face against my shoulder instead. "We're shinobi. We signed up for that kinda shit. We know that death is a possibility. But Ryoukuna, and Takara? They weren't ever supposed to be in danger. They're civilians. Dying isn't part of their job. What Kakashi-sensei did was self-defence; what happened with Ryoukuna was nothing short of murder." I looked up at him, brows furrowed in frustration. I could hear my heart beating in my ears and I couldn't help it when my voice got louder. "How can you possibly act like it's the same thing? Don't tell me you've been retired and corrupt for so long you forgot the difference between friend and foe."

"Quiet down, or I'll gag you," the man sighed heavily, running his two-fingered hand through his hair. "My friend outside was right; maybe you'll get it after you're done with this mission."

I huffed, blowing a loose strand of hair out of my face. "If that's the way I'll end up thinking, I don't think I wanna get it," I said, glancing away. I shuffled back in my seat and slouched. "I mean, I can at least understand that Miyako and Tadashi need the money, but you-"

"What?"

In a blink of an eye, the tension skyrocketed and I suddenly found it harder to breath.

...Oh, wait.

Sasuke snapped his head towards me and I could feel the daggers he was glaring at me.

Shit. I fucked up.

"Miyako and- how did you get those-" the man started, standing over me, but it didn't take him very long to put two and two together. He clicked his tongue. "Guess your sensei didn't kill all of them."

I swallowed, looking up at the man with wide eyes, unsure of how to fix the situation. "Uh oh."

I fucked up.

"You idiot!" Sasuke hissed, but there was no time for scolding. The man was already headed for the door, surely to alert Sagi that we had an extra card up our sleeves. "Sakura!"

With no hesitation, Sakura got up from her seat and charged at the man, who spun around with his arms raised in defense. He'd quickly realize that he didn't really need to defend himself, however, because shortly after Sakura tackling him to the ground, she disappeared into a puff of smoke, and all of this evening's events, but from her perspective, came rushing back to me.

"What the-?!"

Sasuke and I were already following suit, cut ropes falling from our wrists as we tag-teamed the man before he could get back up again. He was fairly large and was hard to subdue even with the two of us, however, so when the woman came in to check in on the ruckus, I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"Move!" Sasuke shouted, and I lowered my head instinctively, just in time to hear a kunai whizz by me. He lunged at the woman, attacking just in time to stop her from getting any closer, leaving me to hold my own against the man.

I scrambled to pull the kunai out of the ground, but he was predictably fast enough to grab my wrist before I could retrieve it and pulled it behind my back.

"The third one must be nearby," he called out to the woman as he pinned me to the ground.

"Okay, that info I'm not gonna let slip," I coughed, gasping at the weight of his knee on my back. I struggled against him, but with only one arm to push back with, it was hard to get any leverage. "Man, get off me!"

"Unlikely," the man grumbled, pulling both my arms behind my back. I winced, desperately trying to figure out what options I had to escape. "Maybe I should just knock you out."

"And give me a concussion? No thanks," I bit out, struggling against his grip.

"Where's your teammate?" he demanded, pressing me into the ground.

"Why? Don't you have something you gotta tell Sagi?"

"For all I know she's waiting to ambush me the second I step outside, so I'd rather be prepared," he retorted, now grabbing me by the hair and lifting my head up. "So tell me, is that something I have to worry about, or not?"

I struggled to swallow, knowing that I shouldn't sell out my teammate but also really not enjoying the prospect of getting my head smashed into the ground or anything. Before I could respond with anything, however, soft but rapid footsteps came rushing towards me, and I looked towards the sound just in time to see a furry blur latch onto the man's face.

"What the hell?!"

The man fell back, giving me the freedom to move and roll onto my back so I was in a better position to get back onto my feet, and while I wasn't sure exactly what was going on, the loud meowing gave me an idea of what, or who, was attacking the man.

"Get off me!" the man yelled, throwing the calico off to the side. It hit the side of the shed with a heavy thud, and with another cloud of smoke, revealed none other than Sakura. "So, you were here all along."

"Ow," Sakura winced, though she quickly got back onto her feet. "Satoko, you idiot! Everything was going fine before you screwed up!"

"Sorry! I'll try to make it up to you," I said with a meek grin, keeping my eyes on the man as he got into a defensive position. "After we get outta this mess, though."

Sakura attacked first, drawing the man's attention while I used the opportunity to pull the kunai out of the ground and lunge at his back with it. It felt like my body was moving on its own; I flicked the kunai around in my hand so I could slash at his back, but he spun around to block with his left arm. I instinctively flicked the weapon around my hand and gripped it for stabbing in response and I blocked with my forearm, stopping his momentum so I could attack his bicep. Everything was fine until the kunai pierced deep into his skin and splattered blood across my cheek. I suddenly snapped out of the daze and fumbled, losing my grip on the weapon and getting knocked back with a thwack on the shoulder.

Oh god, augh! Ew! What the hell was that!

I stumbled back, sucking in a deep breath as I processed the feeling of having just stabbed a man. I wiped my face on my shirt and looked back at the man just as he pulled the kunai out without so much as a blink.

Okay, so I guess that arm doesn't just look dead.

"A shinobi shouldn't hesitate," he said, pointing the weapon back at me. He closed the distance between us in a blink of an eye, and if it weren't for Sakura attacking his legs from the back to throw off his balance, I was pretty sure I would've lost an ear.

"Satoko, pull yourself together!" she scolded, whipping out a kunai. At least she still had her weapons, and did a much better job at holding up against the man's heavy hits.

I gulped and nodded, once again using the only technique I knew how to do and creating half a dozen clones to overwhelm the man.

It's okay, I told myself as the man quickly deflected my clones one by one, giving me a few precious seconds to gather my bearings. Freak out about it later. Right now you've gotta have Sakura's back!

When the last clone was dispelled, I rushed the man again, attacking from the other side while Sakura continued to use taijutsu against him. Now that we knew that the man didn't feel any pain in his left arm, we focused on his right, aiming for vital areas that would stagger him and give us the upper hand. What Miyako said was right - if it was a one-on-one battle, he would definitely win. We at least had a better chance with the two of us together, but even then, we were struggling.

Hang in there, Sasuke - we'll be there in a sec.

Except that it didn't take very long for the man to knock Sakura to the ground long enough to come after me, nor did it take much effort on his part to block my series of kicks and punches, only to counter with a single, hard punch in the gut that sent me flying against the wall with a breathless gasp. I clutched my stomach in pain and struggled to take in an even breath, eyes screwed shut as I tried to ease myself out of the pain.

"Satoko!" I heard Sakura cry, but couldn't break away from her fight.

I cracked my eyes open just enough to see Sakura now keeping herself at a distance from him, using shuriken to keep him dodging and buying herself time while I recovered. I sucked in a deep breath and forced myself onto my feet, ready to send another wave of shadow clones at the man, but before I could, a sudden yell came from Sasuke's direction, drawing both our attentions to the other fight.

"Get away!"

My head was still throbbing from the impact, but I looked up just in time to see Sasuke dodge an attack from the woman. Her dagger cut into the bags of opium instead of Sasuke, and while I expected plant-like substance to come falling out, what came out instead was clouds of white powder. It spread quickly as Sasuke countered, desperately swinging his legs into the woman's so she tripped and fell onto the bags, sending even more of the powder flying up into the air. She became a silhouette as the cloud thickened around her and the last thing I saw was a frantic Sasuke stumbling back, eyes blown wide and hands trembling, creating distance between him and the woman just as he started forming an all-too familiar series of hand signs.

My tongue felt heavy in my mouth and I found myself unable to speak before it was too late.

"Katon-!"

"Sasuke, don't-! "

"-Great Fireball Technique!"

A stream of fire stretched from his lips, and before it could even form into the enormous sphere it was supposed to, it ignited the powder and exploded into a cloud of flames instead. I slammed my eyes shut, covering my face with my arms as I could only hope the fire wouldn't reach me from there. I realized shortly afterwards that the flames never actually touched me, despite the intense heat that washed over me, until I opened my eyes and saw that I could still actually open my eyes.

There was a lot to take in - the flames that had reached the ceiling and were lighting the straw on fire, Sasuke slowly sitting up after having been knocked back by the small explosion, Sakura immediately rushing to his side, the smoke that was quickly starting to fill the shed along with flour and dust - but what caught my attention the most was the woman rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put out the flames that clung to her hair and clothes as she wailed in agony.

The man had already jumped into action, tearing open another bag of flour and emptying it onto the woman. I instinctively braced myself for another explosion, but recalled that it was really only a danger when the powder was suspended in the air, and not in dense amounts. And only after the woman's screaming had been reduced to strangled, dry heaving did I realize, I need to run.

"Sasuke! Sakura" I shouted, finally coming back to my senses enough to get up. The fire only continued to grow and the man, now completely ignoring us, grabbed the woman and had already rushed for the door. I rushed towards my teammates, keeping a wary eye on the fire as it crawled up the rafters and reached the ceiling. There was still a clear path to the exit, but I had no idea how much longer it was going to last. "Sasuke, snap out of it! We need to get outta here!"

"It- He was-" He looked up at me, eyes darting back and forth as he seemed to be coming out of some sort of daze.

I frowned, wondering if I'd misheard him. He? But Sasuke was fighting the woman... Seeing as how we were pressed for time, however, I made a mental note to bring it up again later.

"Sasuke-kun, it's okay! You're safe," Sakura said, carefully resting her hand on his shoulder. "Can you walk? We need to go."

Blink rapidly, Sasuke nodded and thankfully didn't complain when Sakura and I lent him a hand. "I'm fine," he muttered, but immediately staggered once he was on his feet again. Whatever it was that happened, it was still serious enough to leave him disoriented.

"You probably hit your head on the ground," I said. "Sakura, you take his other arm. Let's get going before-"

"Look out!"

Just as I was reaching to pull Sasuke's arm over my shoulder, he instead shoved me away at the same time Sakura pulled him back, just in time for a flaming plank of wood to fall between us. My heart leapt into my throat and I stared wide-eyed at my teammates, who then disappeared behind a curtain of debris that came crashing down after.

There was an awful moment of silence, filled only with the sound of fire eating away at the shed, as I inched away from the fire before it could lick at my skin. Then, Sakura's voice: "We're fine! Get out!"

"But you guys-" I started, only to get cut off by something that came crashing through the front entrance. I spun around, instinctively putting my arms up in defense, but quickly lowered them when I realized it wasn't a threat. At least, I was pretty sure the long-necked quadrupedal creature before me wasn't a threat. "W-What the hell are you?!"

"Rude!" it scoffed, and while I was still stunned by its sudden appearance and the fact that it talked , it snatched the back of my shirt with its teeth and threw me onto its back with ease. "Hold on tight!"

"W-Wait, my teammates are still back there!"

"We'll find a way out!" Sakura shouted, although it didn't make much of a difference - the creature had already started galloping back out the exit, escaping just as a flaming pile of straw fell from the canopy behind us.

I didn't realize how polluted the air in the shed was until I got my first breath of fresh air in a while. I inhaled long and deep, coughing out the impurities that were surely stuck in my lungs. By the time the creature had finally come to a stop, we were several feet away from the flaming shed, where Kakashi and the others were waiting.

"Satoko," he said, sounding breathless as I slid off the back of the creature. His look of relief didn't last very long. "Where are Sasuke and Sakura?"

I coughed, wiping the tears that were starting to gather as they tried to push out the dust and smoke in my eyes. "The shed started collapsing and they got stuck at the back-"

He didn't wait for me to finish my sentence, immediately sprinting towards the shed himself.

"Kakashi-san!" someone yelled after him, but he was already out of earshot.

I followed suit, and within seconds, we arrived at the back of the shed where someone was already waiting.

"Tomi!" I exclaimed, having thought she'd gone AWOL after escaping with the will.

"I can sense them," she said, skipping the pleasantries. "We can break the wall down pretty easily, but the structure is weak."

"It might collapse," Kakashi said, voice tight as he spoke. After just another heartbeat of deliberation, he stepped back and formed a hand seal. There was a shift in the air, and my gut told me it meant he was gathering chakra. "I'll put the fire out. You two, get them out once it's clear. Ready?"

Tomi and I nodded, but just as Kakashi began to make the first hand seal, there was a sudden spike in the air and the wall burst open with a rain of fire and splinters, revealing Sakura carrying a limp Sasuke in her arms.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" she gasped, nearly crashing into him as she came to a full stop. "S-Sasuke-kun is- he suddenly passed out and-!"

"I'll bring him to the hospital," Tomi said, gesturing for Sakura to hand him over so she could get him on her back. "Is that alright with you, Kakashi-san?"

"Yes, thank you," he said, still sounding stiff, but looking significantly more relaxed than before now that the three of us were visibly alive, at least. He turned to face us again and patted our heads. "I'm glad you're okay. Tell me what happened later - right now, we still have some business to wrap up."

"Ah, she's still..." I started, but the look in Kakashi's eye was the only answer I needed.

Amidst the chaos of escaping a flaming shed and making sure my teammates hadn't been roasted alive, I completely missed how Sagi had also made her way across the field. As we approached her, I saw her two subordinates, each with either Takara or Sadame still held captive. That much, I expected, but what came as a surprise was seeing Miyako out in the open, along with Hanjou and Tadashi standing with Kanjaku and the weird creature I still hadn't gotten a chance to ask about yet.

"Oh? You're missing one," Sagi said once we were close enough, glancing briefly at the shed that was still lighting up the field.

"He's been taken to the hospital," Kakashi answered flatly.

"Ah, that's good to hear. I'd hate for any of you to have gotten hurt," she said, and the weirdest part is, I was pretty sure she genuinely meant it. After hearing what the man had to say about her, though, maybe it wasn't too hard to believe that she actually cared about the well-being of others - it's just that, she was also totally willing to get rid of those who stood in the way of what she thought was right. "Anyway, as I had just finished discussing with Hanjou-san here; you win."

I blinked, certain that I'd misheard. "Ha?"

But no, apparently I hadn't, because the next thing I knew, Sagi was waving her hand dismissively at her subordinates. "Let them go." They did as they were told, and Sadame hastily brought Takara over to our side, but not before shooting Sagi a nasty glare, which she ignored. "No use in keeping a hostage when you guys have the ledger, anyway. I'll admit I didn't expect you to have turned my own people against me. You must be a smooth talker, Hatake-san," she said, flashing him a rather coy smile.

"Actually, it was my student who did most of the talking," he said, patting my shoulder. I tensed, still too dumbstruck to really say anything.

Sagi's half-lidded gaze settled on me and she hummed thoughtfully. "What an impressive team you have," she said, smiling once again. "It makes me feel less bad about getting caught."

"Aren't you even a little bit sorry about what you've done?" Sakura demanded.

Sagi shrugged, crossing her arms as she tilted her head in thought. "Hmm...I'm sorry it had to be this way. And I'm sorry I got caught. But," she said, her gaze suddenly hardening as she glanced at the opium barn, "I'm not sorry for all the people I helped." She slowly trailed her gaze back to Takara and offered a smile. "It'll be hard to keep the program at the level it's at without my deals, you know."

Takara stepped forward, holding her chin up high. "I'll support Hyakunichisou the way my mother intended."

"And I hope that you'll be able to," Sagi said with a nod, "truly. Because otherwise, people like Rokuro and Yui," she said, gesturing to the subordinates still with her, "or Miyako and Tadashi-" she walked towards Takara, meeting her in the middle while the rest of us stood on guard, "-or Saa-chan and Tomi-chan - they'll have a hard time finding somewhere else to go. You'll be responsible for many lives, Takara-chan." Sagi looked down at her with an unusually stern gaze as she asked, "Are you sure you'll be able to protect them?"

The tension in the air was thick, and I could see Takara fidgeting with her fingers, but she didn't break eye-contact and answered with unwavering confidence, "Yes."

Sagi's expression immediately softened, and she smiled once again. "I'm happy to hear that." She closed her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her chest, as if she'd just finished eating a meal. "Alright, then! I'll be headed home now. It's been a long night, and I'd like to make sure Shiori's burns aren't too severe, so if you'll excuse me."

And as if she was tired from a night of socializing with friends, Sagi turned her back to leave, the two named Rokuro and Yui following suit.

"Wait, don't think you can just-!" Sakura started, but Kakashi clapped his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She looked back up at him and frowned. "I don't understand, are we really just going to let her go so easily?"

"Maa..." Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's complicated, but for now, we should accept this outcome. Takara is safe, and now that Sagi is out of the picture, she has full ownership of Hyakunichisou. By those standards, our mission is a success."

I shuffled my feet, watching Sagi gradually disappear into the field as she walked too far for the fire's light to reach her.

"Wait...that's it?" I asked, looking up at Kakashi.

He nodded once. "That's it."

I thought about how Protagonist got an entire bridge named after him and huffed, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "You say that, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it."

Notes:

The caravan mission is finally coming to an end! It only took three years :'DDD Chapter 20 will officially bring this arc to a close and also begin the next arc! Stay tuned for more bad decisions and weaponized cooking ingredients!

Chapter 20: You Can't Eat a Bridge

Summary:

The Caravan Mission comes to a close. Some debriefing happens. Satoko finds out what happened with the Wave Mission. Sorta.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

It wasn't until after nearly an hour of making sure the fire was extinguished and that the opium was secure that I finally got to shower and sleep. The night passed in a hazy blur, all except for one exchange that I'd never forget, even if I wanted to:

"What is that?" I asked, looking at the long-necked creature that had pulled me out of the fire.

The last thing I expected was for the creature to snap its head at me like it understood and say, "Rude. "

"Are you a summon?" Sakura asked, just as curious about the bizarre creature before us.

The creature scoffed and rolled its eyes, letting Sadame explain in its stead.

"Oh, I guess you wouldn't recognize her looking like this, huh," Sadame said, petting the summon's head. "This is Tsumi! Although her real name is Chirin."

"Seriously?!" I squinted at Chirin and shuffled to the side to see her neck from the side. "But your neck is so long! Aren't you supposed to be a horse?"

"My father was a giraffe," she said as if it explained everything.

I blinked. "What?"

Were giraffe-horse hybrids even possible? Then again, I supposed it was fair enough for ninja animals to follow a different biology than the animals I was familiar with.

"She was using a transformation technique up until now," Sadame explained.

Okay, so we're just gonna pretend that's normal, then. Although I did wonder if maybe Chirin had siblings with regular necks, but long legs.

"More importantly, where's my thanks?" Chirin huffed. "I saved you, you know. You ought to show some respect, girl."

I was about to retaliate, but shut my mouth and sighed. I hated horses, but now Chirin was sentient, and it was true that she saved my ass, so I could give her that, at least. "Yeah, thanks," I said, doing my best to sound genuine. But then everything else from the mission suddenly came back to me and I scowled again. "Hey, you bit my hair on purpose!"

Sakura pulled me away before I could get into it, although I made sure to glare hard while Chirin batted her thick eyelashes knowing exactly what she'd done.

Good thing I'll never have to deal with that thing ever again once this mission is over.

The rest of the night was largely uneventful. We extinguished the fire and made sure the opium was secured before heading back to the center of the capital. Sakura and I tried to go with Kakashi to visit Sasuke at the hospital, but he insisted that we should go back to the pottery shop first to sleep, which was fair - as much as I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything serious going on with my teammate, I could barely keep my eyes open. So, we went back to Hidari's place instead, with almost everybody but Kanjaku and Hanjou spending the night like it was one huge slumber party - except it was all slumber, no party. Exhaustion hit me like a freight train the second my head hit the pillow and I woke up feeling like I'd been encased in cement.

My body felt heavy and my ears were pounding. I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I struggled to open them. When I finally did, I saw that the cold morning light was filling the room, which was surprising - I didn't expect to be waking up before noon.

What was also surprising was the fact that I'd woken up before Sakura. Considering how much of a stickler she was for being punctual, I thought she'd be the one waking me up. Then again, the mission had been long for all of us, especially for her, so she definitely deserved to sleep in a bit. I contemplated falling back asleep myself, but my overly potent stamina cleared my grogginess way more quickly than what I was used to, so I probably wouldn't have been able to, even if I tried. Instead, I got out of bed as carefully as I could so I wouldn't wake Sakura or Takara, who was sleeping soundly on her other side. I left without changing and closed the bedroom door behind me with a soft click, washed up in the bathroom, then went downstairs to see who else was up.

I could hear the chatter of unfamiliar voices, followed by Hidari's distinct laugh, so I assumed he'd already opened the shop. It was a little unexpected, considering how much happened last night, but I supposed business was business, and the worst of the mission was officially over, anyway.

I popped my head through the door and greeted him when he turned around. "G'morning."

"Satoko-chan! Good morning~" Hidari grinned, turning to face me in his seat but not getting up. "How're you feeling? You all looked pretty exhausted when you came back."

"I'm fine. Where're the others?"

"Sadame and Tomi went out to get Hanjou and Kanjaku, Miyako-san and Tadashi-san went out to handle some of their own business, and Kakashi-sensei's just lounging about," he said, then crossed his arms in thought. "I think he might be in kitchen, unless he snuck out while I wasn't paying attention, haha!"

"Thanks, I'll go see him right now," I said, about to duck back into the house before he stopped me.

"Oh, Tadashi-san helped me make breakfast this morning! It's pretty good, so make sure you eat," Hidari said with a smile. "And feel free to eat as much as you want! You deserve a good, warm meal."

I laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

Sure enough, when I got to kitchen, Kakashi was sitting at the floor table with a cup of tea and his signature book. He looked up from it when I entered and greeted me with a smile.

"Good morning. How're you feeling?"

"Like I got suplexed all the way down to the seventh level of Hell," I answered immediately. He blinked, exasperated, and I flashed him a weak grin and a thumbs up. "But otherwise I'm a-okay. What's for breakfast?"

Kakashi nodded towards the counter where several dishes had been laid out in sets. It was pretty standard, but it was definitely fresh and warm - the rice was fresh from the cooker, the miso soup was kept heated on the stove, the fish was kept sealed in a pan with a lid to retain the heat, and the vegetables were freshly washed and chopped up into bite-sized pieces.

"Haa, it looks so good," I sighed blissfully, scooping out a generous portion of rice and helping myself to a bit of everything else. On top of my stamina, my appetite had also increased significantly since getting a new body.

I served myself breakfast in silence until I was finally seated and muttered a quiet itadakimasu to myself. I took the first few bites in silence to savor the food, but also to go through last night's events in my head. I wanted to talk to Kakashi about it, but not before I collected my thoughts.

First and foremost, I was concerned about Sasuke. Something wasn't right in the way he was acting. He was visibly distressed in a way I'd never seen him before, and when I got to him after the fire started... I distinctly remembered what Sasuke said.

"It- He was-"

I frowned around a pickled cucumber and sighed to myself again, this time troubled.

Who's "he?"

I paused, chewing on the tips of my chopsticks as I thought of the only person it possibly could be, then frowned even more deeply.

Man, I don't even know what to do about the Chuunin Exams yet, let alone him.

"Satoko?" Kakashi suddenly said, startling me out of my thoughts. "Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

I blinked, regaining my composure before shaking my head. "Uh, no, not really. I was just wondering how Sasuke was doing," I said, glancing down at my food. "He didn't look severely injured, but..."

Kakashi tilted his head in thought. "The medics didn't find any serious injuries, either, external or internal. They said he just needed to rest, and that we could pick him up in the morning."

"Did you go see him yet?"

He shook his head. "No, I thought it'd be nicer if we went as a team."

I nodded, and although I found the sentiment to be nice, I continued to frown. Kakashi definitely noticed, but he waited until I brought it up myself.

"He looked shaken," I said, glancing up at him. "Like he was scared, but not because he was being attacked." I shook my head, realizing I probably wasn't being very coherent. "Y'know, like, almost like he was looking at something that wasn't there? I mean, he used a fire jutsu even though there was flour everywhere - even though we already made that mistake at the stream, and I don't think he's the type to make that mistake again unless he was panicking, or something. I dunno," I sighed, rubbing my face with the heel of my hand. "Something just wasn't right and I'm worried."

Kakashi hummed in thought, resting his chin in his hand. "Did he say anything?"

"Kinda?" I shrugged, taking another bit of the fish. "I dunno if it means anything, but when I tried talking to him, he mentioned a 'he' even though the person he was fighting was a woman, and then I remembered how he mentioned how he wanted to kill a certain someone on that day we introduced ourselves, and I don't know the details but I know his clan was, um...y'know," I trailed off, glancing to the side as I stopped rambling. "I thought it might be related to that, maybe. I dunno."

Kakashi was silent for a moment before looking back at me. "I didn't realize you worried so much about your teammates. I'm glad," he said with a smile. "I'll keep an eye on Sasuke, so don't worry."

I nodded, although I couldn't help but think that I was definitely still going to worry. As much as Kakashi was a great shinobi, he was pretty awful at taking care of his traumatized students in canon. I was already preparing to pick up the slack, but at least he knew now not to let his guard down with regards to Sasuke.

"What about me?" I asked as I stirred the miso soup. "Is there anything I can do?"

Kakashi blinked, seemingly caught off guard at my question. Now that I thought of it, he probably wasn't expecting me to ask that sort of thing about my supposed rival or whatever. "Maa...I don't know if mentioning anything is the best option when it comes to him. Or rather, I don't think he'll talk about it if you asked, but...maybe if you let him know that you're looking out for him, it's better than nothing," he said with a meek smile.

I guess better than nothing is as much as I can do at this point. I was still too early on in my relationship with Sasuke and Sakura as teammates to really justify pushing that sort of topic, anyway.

I finished off the rice and set the bowl aside as I sipped the soup, then started picking away at the rest of the fish. I felt better after telling Kakashi about Sasuke, but there were still other things eating away at me, like what the man had been telling me before everything went to shit. Kakashi must've noticed that as well, because although he wasn't obvious about it, he glanced at me when I set my chopsticks across my empty bowl - a silent invitation to say what I wanted to say.

He's not the best, but it's not like I have anybody else I'd ask about this kinda stuff.

"Ne, Sensei," I started, sighing deeply, "one of Sagi's people was talking about how she viewed her own actions. He said that Ryoukuna's death was justified because it's ultimately what allowed Sagi to go on to help everybody in the program, and then some. He talked about Sagi's actions like it was a mission, like Ryoukuna's death - her teammates death, so to speak - was necessary for the mission's success, and..."

I huffed, absently stacking the empty dishes as I tried to figure out how to word my concerns. Morality was already hard enough to talk about in the world I came from, let alone in a world where death was a lot more common and children were promoted by fighting each other, sometimes to the death.

I bit my lip. "And he said that I'd have to make decisions like that one day, too, but..." I got up from my seat, taking the dishes with me to put them in the sink, "when that time comes, I don't know I'll know what to choose - the mission, or my teammates." I sighed again, leaning against the counter as my chest suddenly felt heavy. "I know they're both important, but if I'm ever in that position..."

Kakashi stood up as well, bringing his empty teacup to the sink. I squinted at it suspiciously, having failed to notice any signs of him drinking from it at all, and looked back at him. He didn't say anything about it, but I knew that he knew that I knew exactly what he did.

Stupid mask-wearing sorcery.

"It's not easy," Kakashi agreed solemnly, "and if you continue down the path of a shinobi, one day you'll be faced with this problem whether you're ready for it or not. When that day comes, remind yourself what's truly important. You remember what I said before, don't you?"

I nodded, filling in what he'd left unspoken. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are even lower than scum.

I sighed, eyes fixated on a droplet of water that threatened to drip from the tap. "I wonder if Sagi ever really considered Ryoukuna a comrade, though."

"If you think what she did was wrong, then you need to think about what would've been the right thing to do," Kakashi said, patting my head. I ducked into it, still unused to the fact that I was so damn short. "More importantly, what Sagi thinks of Ryoukuna doesn't matter for you. What matters is whether you consider Sasuke and Sakura, and even myself, as your teammates."

I pouted. "Well, yeah, of course I do," I muttered. "But still, every mission is different." I rolled my neck slowly from one shoulder to another and sighed loudly. "Haa, I don't think I'm cut out for this kinda stuff!"

"That's up for you to decide," Kakashi said, ruffling my hair.

Given that I'm the village's jinchuuriki, I don't think it is, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I took advantage of how close he was and went in for a hug instead, mostly for me but also for him, too, whether he knew it or not. Poor guy only had a day to wrap his head around Obito being alive, after all.

"This sucks," I mumbled into Kakashi's vest, suddenly understanding Protagonist's Ninja Way a lot more intimately than I ever wanted to.

Kakashi laughed lightly and patted my back. "Let's wake up Sakura. It's about time we see if Sasuke's ready to be discharged."

Without waking Takara, we got Sakura out of bed and headed to the hospital together. After a few minutes of talking to reception and waiting for Kakashi to fill out some paperwork, Sasuke showed up in the lobby looking grumpier than usual, but at least he seemed better than last night.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, rushing over to his side in an instant and throwing her arms around him. He tensed and winced, but tolerated it with an annoyed scowl. "How're you feeling? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, gently pushing on her shoulder to get her off. He looked between me and Sakura before furrowing his brows, visibly trying to remember the events of last night. "What happened? I remember the roof collapsing, but nothing after that."

"You passed out suddenly," Sakura explained as we started exiting the hospital. "I was so worried... but you're okay now, right? You weren't acting like yourself, before."

"It was nothing. I'm fine," Sasuke said, although he winced when he shook his head, giving himself away.

I scoffed. "You probably shouldn't move your head so quickly; it basically got smashed through the shed," I said with a grin, because like hell I was going to let Sakura pretend she didn't single-handedly save her teammate's unconscious ass.

Sakura's face immediately turned red and Sasuke cocked a brow at me, absently rubbing his head. "Huh?"

"Satoko, don't-"

I ignored Sakura and talked over her instead. "You passed out, so Sakura pulled some crazy badass stunt and like, busted through the shed at full power before Kakashi-sensei could even try to do something about it, all while carrying your deadweight! Fire and wood went flying everywhere and she emerged like a phoenix being reborn from the ashes!" I explained with grand hand gestures and a wide smile. "It was, without a doubt, the coolest shit I've ever seen happen literally ever, and that's including our accidental flour bomb."

"I-It was nothing, really!" Sakura stammered, flailing her arms in front of her face. "All I did was focus a bunch of chakra to my feet in order to give myself a boost! Anybody could've done it!"

"Sakura ," I whined, nudging her shoulder with mine, "you were objectively awesome. Sasuke could've been seriously hurt if you didn't save him, y'know. Right, Sasuke?" I leaned forward so I could make eye-contact with him, silently warning him not to be a dick about this.

With a sigh, Sasuke, rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. "Yeah. Thanks, Sakura." He sounded irritated, but it wasn't directed at Sakura, at least.

I sighed, knowing full well that he was annoyed with himself, whether it was because he thought he was weak for freaking out or because he thought of Itachi. While it was chaotic, it's not like it was his fault - not the same way I accidentally let too much information slip. Still, him thanking Sakura was better than nothing, and it got her to feel good enough to smile.

"The three of you did well on this mission," Kakashi said, content. "I'm impressed by how much you've all grown in such a short amount of time. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"Yeah!" I grinned, changing positions so I was between my teammates and linked my arms with theirs, despite their protests. "I bet we could make some awesome strategies if we get our timing right! We're pretty good at dealing damage accidentally, so imagine how strong we'd be if we did it on purpose. "

Kakashi laughed sheepishly and turned his head away. "We can discuss that more in detail when we get back. For now, let's focus on wrapping up this mission."

"What else do we have left to do?" Sasuke asked, simply tolerating the fact that our arms were still linked - Sakura as well.

"Nothing big," Kakashi reassured. "We're just going to make sure everything is in order with Takara and her ownership of the program before leaving."

"Aw, that's it?" I huffed. "I'm glad we managed to help Takara, but I kinda feel like we're ending on a pretty boring note."

"Oh, they're also throwing a banquet to celebrate the success of the mission."

I gasped loudly, snapping my head up at Kakashi, who continued to look bored and only interested in his book even though I knew full well he was doing it on purpose.

"Really?!"

"After we get our work done."

"Aw, man."

We entered through the back when we reached the shop, where we saw a certain long-necked quadrupedal creature who I still wasn't friendly with, even after learning it was a summon.

"Augh." I grimaced as she came into sight. "You again."

Now that it was light, I got a better look at Chirin and saw that, not only was her neck absurdly long, so were her legs. Her coat was oddly bright, too - almost golden. She looked more or less like a horse, except the golden-brown of her coat faded into a blotchy pattern on her legs and face. Most of all, she had antlers , albeit small and nubby, and a face just a bit more slender than that of a horse. It was hard to say exactly what she was supposed to be, but she definitely wasn't a horse. At least, not the kind of horse I was used to.

"Rude," she huffed, kicking up dust with her hind leg. "Is that how you talk to the one who saved your life?"

"It's how I talk to the one who tried to eat me!" I retaliated, glaring as hard as I could at her.

"Satoko, cut it out!" Sakura hissed.

Chirin scoffed and rolled her gross, beady eyes. "Don't flatter yourself! As if I'd want to eat something as dirty as you!"

"Who's the dirty one, huh?!"

"That's enough," Kakashi sighed, guiding me into the house with his hand on my back. "You shouldn't argue with summons."

I huffed, slipping my sandals off and setting them aside. "She started it."

Everybody was already gathered at the table in the basement. Well, almost everybody - the only people still missing were Miyako, Tadashi, and Hidari, who was presumably still running the shop. The only odd person out was an unfamiliar woman, but given that nobody looked tense, she must've been an acquaintance.

"Welcome back!" Takara greeted, perking up from her seat. "How are you feeling, Sasuke-san?"

"I'm fine," he answered.

"What's left to do?" I asked, approaching the table.

"I'm going to officially claim my inheritance," Takara explained, her voice tighter than before. She looked nervous - I assumed because the fact that she was taking over the entire Hyakunichisou is suddenly very, very real - but kept her head high and her hands from fidgeting. "Konoe-san is here to execute the will."

I eyed the woman skeptically, instinctively wary after all the betrayals and deception of the past couple of days. She was tall and thin, with dark eyes and equally dark hair pulled back into a tight bun. She had a graceful air about her, not unlike Sagi, but more obviously tense. Sagi didn't have any edge to her presence whatsoever, which is what made her all the more threatening.

"It's nice to finally meet you three. I'm Konoe Jinguu," the woman said, smiling at me and my teammates before looking up at Kakashi. "I'm glad your mission went well."

"You know her?" Sakura asked, looking between Kakashi and Jinguu.

"She was my contact," Kakashi explained. "She gave us access to the building after hours so we could get the will - a favour that was greatly appreciated, by the way."

I can't tell if I'm more or less surprised that he wasn't lying about having a contact.

"Not at all. Who am I to deny a personal request from you, Kakashi-san?" Jinguu said with a small and elegant smile. "Anyway, take a seat and let's begin."

The process was fairly simple. Jinguu read out the will, stating that all of Ryoukuna's property and money was to be inherited by Takara. After signing it off with all of us bearing witness, Takara was officially the owner of Hyakunichisou. It felt pretty anti-climactic, but I supposed that was just how it was with paperwork.

"Now that that's settled," Hanjou said, getting up from her seat. "Let's go eat, shall we?"

"Yes!" I cheered, punching my first in the air. "Where're we going?"

"It's not far," she said. "I'll get Chirin, so you all go ahead first."

As Hanjou exited through the back, my team grabbed our sandals and followed everybody else up the stairs so we could exit through the front door. Sadame lead us down the street, and when we approached the restaurant, I quickly recognized it as the one where I got scolded at for touching the statue.

"Whoa!" Sakura gasped, clasping her hands together. "There's so much food!"

"Holy shit," I whispered, absently holding my stomach. "I'm so happy I have the appetite of a demon fox."

"Careful what you say," Kakashi said jokingly as he walked by.

I ignored him and instead dragged my teammates over to inspect the display of beautiful plated dishes, ranging from grilled fish to an entire roasted boar. I thought again about how Protagonist got a bridge named after him and grinned to myself, feeling like I'd won.

You can't eat a bridge!

"When did you have time to make all this?" Sasuke asked, looking back at the Takara and the others.

Tomi laughed, her voice reserved as usual, and waved her hand in front of her face. "Oh, no, it wasn't us! Actually-"

"It was me!" a voice suddenly announced just as the kitchen door burst open. I jumped, spinning around to see Tadashi emerge with a cart full of various desserts. "You guys are right on time! Everybody else should be arriving in just a minute."

"Everybody else?" I repeated, still trying to take in what was happening. "Wait, you made all this?!"

"They didn't tell you?" Miyako asked, suddenly popping out from the kitchen behind Tadashi. "Tadashi and I own this restaurant. He's the head chef while I run management."

"Well, damn," I murmured, dumbstruck. It was hard to imagine that the two assassins sent to kill us actually had day jobs. Then again, they were members of the program, so it figures.

I wonder what Sagi's other subordinates do during the day.

"No wonder you're so good at cooking!" Hidari exclaimed, quickly hobbling over to Tadashi's side. "D'you mind if I ask you about your recipes? At least tell me how you cooked the fish this morning. It looked so simple, but it tasted so good!"

"Ah, i-it was nothing special, really," Tadashi answered with a nervous laugh, glancing away. I noticed the way his cheeks flushed red and covered my smile with a cough. "A-Anyway! Miyako, help me set this on that last table over there and we're good too go."

"Who else is coming?" I asked the merchants, glancing at the door to see if someone would miraculously show up.

"Just some others from the program, to celebrate turning a new leaf for the Hyakunichisou," Sadame said.

"Consider it a celebration for the success of your mission, too, of course!" Takara said with a bright smile. "They go hand in hand."

"That's just our job," Sakura said sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. "Are we waiting for the other guests to arrive before we start eating?"

"You don't have to! Are you hungry?" Takara asked.

"Ah, n-no! Not at all!" Sakura frantically waved her hands in front of her face and shook her head. "I was just curious-"

"It's okay, we can start eating," Takara said with a laugh, taking her hand. "Here, let me show you what's good! The capital has some great signature dishes."

"E-Eh-? It's okay, you don't have to-!" Sakura didn't stand a chance, however, and was promptly dragged towards the food with Takara taking the lead.

I tilted my head towards Sasuke and slowly grinned.

He sighed and wisely walked ahead first instead of waiting for me to pull him by the wrist. "Fine. Let's eat."

About thirty minutes into the banquet, the room was filled with all sorts of people from the program. Many of them were missing various limbs, while others were in wheelchairs, or had crutches or canes supporting them. I even spotted some with prosthetics and wondered what exactly the limitations of chakra medicine was if it had the technology for prosthetics, but nothing that could help put these veterans back on the battlefield.

I sat in the corner of a booth, silently gnawing away at a cut of some kind of meat - it looked like lamb shank but didn't taste quite like it - while Kakashi was chatting with Jinguu. Sasuke sat across from me, also eating in silence. I noted the small bowl full of just cherry tomatoes that he got for himself.

The data book didn't lie, I thought, hiding my amused smile behind the bone I was chewing on.

Seeing him looking relatively content made me think back on the panicked expression he had last night. It was nothing short of freaking out, and as much as I knew getting specific about it probably wasn't a good idea, I wanted to at least let him know that both me and Sakura were looking out for him, whether he wanted us to or not.

"Hey, Sasuke," I said finally, wiping my hands on my napkin. It was probably better not to engage in this topic while stuffing my face full of meat. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? And I don't mean just physically. I mean, well, it looked like something really got to you last night, is all."

The mood around him immediately darkened, and I did my best not to flinch away. "It's nothing. And it's none of your business, either."

I frowned, but kept my voice light. "It's definitely at least some of my business - and Sakura's and Sensei's, too. I'm not gonna make you talk about it if you don't wanna, but... Just know that we're looking out for you, is all I wanted to say. We're your teammates, after all."

Sasuke didn't say anything, but at least his scowl and the edge around him faded. I wasn't sure if those were the kinds of words that would actually help him, but anything was better compared to the total nothing he got in canon, I figured.

Anything to help you stop that Cursed Seal from dragging you to the deep end.

Whatever heavy atmosphere that remained was quickly shooed away when Takara approached the booth with a small plate of bite-sized food. "May I join you two?" Sasuke and I nodded, and I scooched over so she had more room to sit. "You sure eat a lot for your size, huh, Satoko-san," she commented, gesturing towards my stack of plates.

"I never wanna stop," I said, still nibbling away at the bits of meat left on the bone. "Man, I forgot how good food can be when you actually bother to cook it."

Takara tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I live alone and I don't really cook a lot, and if I do it's always the same stuff," I said with a shrug, thinking back on the many times I made fried rice with the same three ingredients: rice, ground beef, and some green vegetable that resembled bok choy. "I'm not really picky, but I do appreciate good food." I sighed blissfully, finally setting the bare bone down and starting on another not-lamb shank.

"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it! What about you, Sasuke-san? Do you cook?"

"I keep it simple," he responded shortly, but in a typical Sasuke-esque way and not because he was hostile.

What a vague non-answer. Classic Sasuke.

Takara clearly had no idea what to do with such a simple answer, however, and instead laughed nervously. "I see! Then, hopefully you get to try some new foods today."

There was a short silence, neither Sasuke nor I seemed to mind, but Takara kept glancing up at us and back at her food, looking restless.

"You okay there?" I asked nonchalantly, side-eyeing Takara through the bangs I was too lazy to brush out of my face. "It looks like you have something you wanna say."

Her cheeks flushed just a bit as she nervously picked at the food on her dish. "Nothing in particular. I just wanted to thank you two again for everything that you've done. You truly are incredibly shinobi. And because of all the commotion, I never got to properly apologize for putting you all in danger. So, um... I'm very sorry for the trouble I caused!" At that, she stood up from her seat and bowed, and I tried to ignore the few people nearby who noticed and stared.

"Sit down!" I hissed, flapping my hand at her until she sat down again. "It's fine! It all worked out, right? Besides, it's our job. And it's gonna look super cool on our records," I grinned. "Right, Sasuke?"

"The mission we accepted was a C-Rank, but it'll likely be upgraded to a B, or even A-Rank," he said with a nod. "Well get paid more for it, too."

Takara laughed softly and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I'm glad you'll be properly compensated for your extra work, at least. I was just worried. I was told you got stuck in a fire."

Sasuke and I exchanged looks before he answered, "It happens."

"Did you have a chance to talk to Sakura-chan yet?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Oh, yes! I was going to find her afterwards," Takara said as bashful smile creeped onto her lips. She held her cheek in one hand and sighed. "I'm incredibly grateful towards her, too, of course. I don't think I would have made it to the capital without her help, after all. She's incredibly brave."

"Right?" I immediately agreed, grinning widely. "Sakura-chan's gonna be the best kunoichi Konoha's ever seen!"

Takara laughed, raising her brow at me. "It won't be you?"

I paused, thought about what I said, then added, "Well... We can both be the best! We have different skill sets, after all, and it's not like we can't both be awesome."

She laughed again, and I ignored Sasuke rolling his eyes. "Yes, there's nothing stopping Konoha from producing two formidable kunoichi," Takara agreed, then suddenly perked up as she noticed something across the room. "Ah, there's Sakura-chan! I should go speak to her. Thank you for your company!" she said before rushing off with her plate.

Once Takara was out of earshot, I leaned over the table and gestured for Sasuke to come closer so I could ask in a hushed whisper, "You spent more time with Takara than I did - is it just me, or does she totally have a thing for Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke made a face and pulled away. "Definitely," he answered flatly, much to my surprise and amusement. "She looks at Sakura the way Sakura looks at me."

I snorted and nearly choked on my tea, then laughed even more when I saw the displeased face Sasuke was pulling. "Aw, that's kinda sweet," I said, to which Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, I'm not talking about this with you."

"C'mon, think of it this way - maybe you can use Takara to get Sakura off your back."

"Why are you the one bringing this up?" he asked, suspicious. "I thought you were in love with Sakura."

I rolled my eyes and sipped my tea, hoping to end that stupid subplot once and for all. "I don't love her in that way - I admire her, and what's not there to admire? She's great at thinking on her feet, and picks up new skills in a flash, and-"

"Alright, I get it," Sasuke muttered, gesturing at me to shut up while I blatantly ignored him.

"-she could maintain that cat henge for so long, otherwise it would've been way harder to get outta those ropes."

"You talk too much," Sasuke sighed and slipped out of the booth. "I'm getting more food."

"I'm coming with you!" I grinned, quickly jumping out after him.

"Augh."

The banquet went on for a few hours until finally, Kakashi said we had to go or else we'd miss the sunlight. After shamelessly accepting some leftovers packed neatly into several containers, we headed back to Hidari's shop to pick up our things.

Everybody came to see us off at the gates, including Jinguu and Hidari. I tried not to stare at the way his shoulder kept bumping into Tadashi's, and tried even harder not to stare at Kakashi, who definitely noticed.

I wonder if he's happy for him.

Then again, it was hard to tell if Kakashi was happy about this turn of events at all.

Nevertheless, he put on his signature one-eyed smile and politely thanked Hidari for his hospitality and wished Takara luck on succeeding the Hyakunichisou.

"Oh, before you leave," Sadame said, grabbing a few bundles from Chirin's cart. "We wanted you to have these."

When she revealed what was inside, I didn't even try to contain my excitement. From left to right, there was an instrument resembling a wooden flute, one that looked like Tomi's pipa, and a third that looked like an egg-shaped ocarina. They weren't the exact same as the ones we were shown the other day, but the unique, handcrafted style was distinguishable enough that I knew there were hidden weapons in all of them.

"Wait, seriously?!" I gasped, looking between the three women with wide eyes, then spun around to face Kakashi and asked, "Are we allowed to accept these?!"

"It's normal to receive gifts from clients," he said with a smile. "What you do with them is up to you, though."

"You don't have to learn how to use them in battle, of course," Tomi said. "We just thought that you'd at least enjoy experimenting with them. It seemed like you were all interested in ours."

"One of the best parts about being a genin is trying different weapons and fighting styles," Hanjou said. "The three of you are still young, but you're all very good at adapting. Keep your options open - you might end up discovering a new skill."

"And if not, then you can always take up the instrument as a hobby," Tomi added with a laugh. "We weren't sure if you had any preferences, so we tried to get the simplest ones and thought you could sort it out amongst yourselves."

"This one's called a shinobue," Sadame said, holding out the wooden flute-like instrument. "There's a compartment underneath the mouth hole that can be used to store senbon. It opens manually so you can load it," she said, sliding the cover off, "and there's a little hole at the end here that shoots the senbon if you play the right note."

She gave a demonstration, showing the note she was playing before blowing into the instrument and angling herself so the senbon needle was shot into the wagon. After returning the senbon back into the shinobue, Sadame gave it to Tomi, who wrapped it in a cloth, and then held out an instrument that looked similar to Tomi's pipa.

"This one's a biwa - specifically a heike-biwa. It's small size was designed for portability. The plectrum," she said, holding up a small triangle-like tool, "is used to play the strings, but this one also doubles as a weapon. As long as you maintain it, it'll be strong enough to cut through steel wire."

"Which is why it also comes with a special cover, so that you don't accidentally cut the instrument's string if you're using it as such," Hanjou added, pulling off the thin, wooden cover of the plectrum to reveal the shine of a blade underneath. I gasped quietly, in awe of how carefully it must've been constructed in order to look so inconspicuous, even with the cover on. "Lastly, this small one is called a tsuchibue."

"It's similar to mine, just with a different shape," Sadame explained, exchanging the biwa for the tsuchibue. "If you play this note here," she said, once again showing us the correct fingering, "it'll shoot a senbon needle. This one's better suited for stealth and concealment, so it only loads one needle at a time. But," she said, wearing an excited grin, "if you push this part of the back just right-" With a faint click, a tiny, thin dagger shot out of the back. It was slightly curved to fit the shape of the tsuchibue. "It's pretty good for delicate work."

Sadame pulled the blade back into the instrument and carefully placed it back into the cushioned box it came in.

"The entire thing is made of reinforced material, so you could also just use it as a blunt weapon," Tomi added, playfully gesturing as though she was hitting Sadame over the head with a rock.

"They can all be used as blunt weapons, really," Sadame agreed, swatting Tomi's hand away, then smiled back at us. "And that's it! Cool, right?"

"So cool," I agreed, still in awe that such instruments could be made at all, then turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "I call dibs on the biwa."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but smiled at the merchants. "That's fine. I was more interested in the tsuchibue, anyway. Unless you wanted it, too, Sasuke-kun?"

"I don't have a preference," he said with a shrug.

With that settled, we took one instrument each and carefully packed them away. At least, I tried to pack mine away as much as I could. The handle was still sticking out of the top of my bag, but at least it was wrapped in cloth.

"Okay, you're free to go now!" Takara said with a light laugh. "I'll work hard to make the Hyakunichisou into what my mother wanted it to be."

"And I'll make up for my mistakes," Kanjaku said, still weary, but better. "I hope I can meet you all again as a more honourable man."

"We look forward to it," Kakashi said with a smile. "Take care, Jinguu-san, and thanks again for your help."

"Not at all," Jinguu said, then stepped forward, pulling two letters bundled together with twine out of her sleeve. She handed them to Kakashi. "In return, however, I'd like you to deliver these letters for me. I believe you will deliver them sooner than a courier would. They are not confidential, so you can entrust them to your genin if you wish."

I exchanged looks and Sasuke and Sakura, knowing full well that Kakashi was absolutely going to pawn off the errand onto us.

"Of course," Kakashi said, accepting the letters and predictably handing them over to me. "Confidential or not, we'll make sure they get delivered."

I rolled my eyes, but took the letters nevertheless. I was about to give him some sass about making us do the grunt work, but was instead rendered speechless when I saw whose name was written on the first letter.

"Wait, what?!" I cried, pointing at the name and showing it to Jinguu. "You're Shino's mom?!"

Sasuke and Sakura responded with a disbelieving "Huh?!" and "What?!" respectively. I shoved the letter in their faces to show the Aburame Shino neatly printed in black ink as the recipient's name.

Hell, Shino has a mom?!

Jinguu laughed behind her hand and eyed Kakashi knowingly. "I see your sensei is as forgetful as ever and failed to mention it."

"Maa, I didn't think it was worth getting excited about," he said with a shrug.

"But I thought your surname was Konoe?" I asked, confused.

"I use my maiden name at work," Jinguu explained.

"And you're so pretty!" Sakura gasped. "I would've never suspected - you two look nothing alike." She immediately realized the implication of what she said, however, and quickly started fumbling over her words. "Wait, no, not he's- I mean-!"

"It is alright. I understand," Jinguu said, waving her hand. "He does look more like his father, although I'm often told that he has my eyes."

"Well, he's always wearing those shades..." Sasuke said, glancing to the side.

"Yes, my Shino-kun is a little shy," Jinguu laughed, shaking her head. "He takes after his father in that way. You all graduated together, yes? I hope you'll take care of him."

"We will!" I grinned, safely tucking the letters into my bag. "And we'll make sure these letters get to him, too!"

"I'm happy to hear that," she said. "I think we've all held you here long enough. You really should get going now so you can get home before dark."

"Any last words?" Kakashi said nonchalantly, and I scoffed at how he used a phrase that's usually a threat in such a casual setting. When we all shook out heads, he nodded. "Alright, then. Let's go!"

After our final waves and quick goodbyes, the four of us turned around and broke into a full sprint. Our mission was officially a success, and we were finally headed home.

When we were about halfway back to Konoha, we took a break from running and instead walked for a few minutes.

Since we were finally at a pace where I could do so, I swung my bag around and pulled out my newly acquired biwa.

"What're you doing?" Sakura asked, already bracing herself. "Don't mess with it now. You'll be home in a bit, anyway!"

"Aw, but I'm bored," I said, already tuning the strings.

"Do you even know how to play it?" Sasuke asked.

"I can figure it out," I said, humming a few pitches until I was satisfied with the chords. I gave it a few strums and grinned. "Perfect!"

And with all the nostalgia and longing for music, I sang my heart out:

Two lovers, forbidden from one another~
A wa~ar divides their people~
And a moun~tain divides them ap~art~
Built a path to be together~

"...Yeah, I never actually learned the next couple of lines, but then it goes-"

Secret tunnel!
Secret tunnel!
Through the moun~tain!
Secret, secret, secret, secret tunn~e~e~el! Yeah!

"What kind of song was that...?" Sakura asked, looking exasperated.

I grinned widely, too amused and pleased with myself to really care that I was the only one who could truly appreciate it. "It's the Secret Tunnel song. Y'know, about two forbidden lovers and the mountain that divides them apart."

Sakura groaned, annoyed, and decided not to answer, which was probably for the better.

"Shouldn't we start running again?" Sasuke asked, wearing an expression similar to Sakura's as he did so.

Kakashi gave him a half-lidded stare and nodded. "Yeah."

Bastards barely even gave me enough time to pack my biwa away before breaking out into a sprint again.

The sun was just starting to set when we reached the village gates. I was amazed at how short the travel was when we were sprinting instead of walking along with a caravan. We made it back in just a few hours, having only stopped for a ten-minute break.

I don't even feel that tired, I thought as we had our passports checked by the guards.

"Alright, good work you three," Kakashi said once we were let through. "Since this mission turned out to be much more than we anticipated, you'll all have to fill out a report. We can take it easy, so we'll meet tomorrow at noon to submit the reports together and get a debriefing. You all worked hard, so make sure you get a good night's rest. Dismi-"

"KAKASHI!" shouted a sudden booming voice, startling all of us into spinning out heads around to see who the hell the source of that voice was. "MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"

Oh my god.

In a cloud of dust and youth, a green spandex-wearing man sprinted towards us and immediately pulled Kakashi into a monstrous hug which I was certain cracked Kakashi's spine all the way down to his tailbone. My teammates and I jumped back, with Sasuke and Sakura wearing the same wide-eyed, appalled expression while I simply stared, stunned by the fact that I was seeing Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey himself, Maito Gai, for real, in the flesh.

"I see you've returned from your mission as well!" he exclaimed, finally releasing our disheveled sensei from his crushing embrace. I could feel the horror in my teammates' souls when his big eyes and bright smile were aimed at us next. "Are these your genin? They look a little worse for wear, Kakashi! Perhaps taking them outside the village so soon was too much for these rookies!"

Man, you don't even know the half of it, I thought, feeling abysmal.

"Who is this guy?!" Sakura whispered to me and Sasuke. "He's so...gross!"

"I guess he's Sensei's friend?" I whispered back.

His best friend, actually, I thought. The best support system he has, actually. Everything Kakashi needs and deserves and more, actually.

But for the sake of not revealing myself as a cross-dimensionally misplaced college student, I tried to contain myself and my feelings over the relationship these two had.

Kakashi laughed tiredly and gently patted Gai on the shoulder to get him to step back. "I take it your mission went well?"

Gai laughed heartily with his hands on his hips. "It was nothing my beautiful students couldn't handle! Isn't that right?!" he called over his shoulder, to which I heard the distant sound of Tenten scolding him.

"You can't just run off like that, Sensei!" she cried as finally, on the horizon, several figures emerged from the sunset as dark silhouettes.

And as I saw their faces clear when they came close, I suddenly had to try very, very hard to contain myself.

As expected, from left to right, I saw Neji, Tenten, and Lee. They walked casually towards the gates, with Neji and Tenten looking exhausted by their sensei's antics while Lee was, of course, just as upbeat as Gai.

But in addition to those three, there were three surprises.

The first was Gatou, bound by the hands and being led by Tenten.

What.

The second was the sword strapped to Tenten's back. Specifically, a large broadsword with two holes made specifically for decapitating. Specifically, Zabuza's sword.

The FUCK.

And lastly, as if I wasn't ready to explode by what I was seeing, there was the third figure, bound and led by Lee. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, wondering if maybe the sunlight was making my eyes play tricks on me, but no, I was definitely seeing things right.

The fifth person approaching the village was Haku.

HAPPENED?!

Notes:

After credit scene: Satoko being visibly torn between screaming internally at Unprecedented Haku and fangirling over Tenten's sword because holy shit?

Please read these end notes for things I'd like to draw your attention to!

Shino's mom is actually created by AwayLaughing, who was like "Shino needs a mom I'm gonna make him a mom" so now we have Jinguu. Jinguu is the best and so is Away. She so kindly let me borrow for the sake of making Kakashi's contact more relevant, and also because there's far too many missing moms in canon and there's no way they're all dead or whatever.

For those who'd like to know exactly what happened during the Wave Mission, Away also wrote Effloresce (AKA TG in Wave), which is also canonically what happened during the mission in SATOKO! I highly encourage you to read it because it's full of great stuff and explains why Haku and Gatou came back with TG, and why Tenten has Zabuza's sword (although that's probably pretty intuitive). You won't have to read it to understand anything else that happens in SATOKO, though. Think of it as super bonus extra content that focuses on TG dynamics instead of just the results of the mission.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 21: Springtime of Youth: Electric Boogaloo

Summary:

Satoko's not getting answers to any of her questions ft. Shino

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Holy SHIT."

I spoke without thinking and immediately clamped my hands over my mouth, still staring wide-eyed at the genin and their...captives? Prisoners? ...Hostages? I wasn't quite sure what situation they were in. Gatou looked predictably annoyed, but Haku was very calm, so it was hard to say.

The older genin looked at me and I froze, quickly trying to pinpoint something to yell about that wasn't the last two people I expected to see in Konoha. Seriously, Haku was supposed to be dead. Thankfully, my brain had become used to processing plot-changing revelations by then because they were quickly pushed onto the backburner as a Currently Rejected but Acknowledged Problem - or as I liked to call it, a huge load of CRAP.

"That sword is huge!" I exclaimed, pointing at Tenten's sword. I wanted to get a closer look, but it felt awkward to get any closer with Haku hovering around her. "Holy shit that's so cool!"

"Calm down!" Sakura snapped the same time Sasuke hissed, "Shut up."

Tenten's face lit up and she flashed a toothy grin. "Isn't it?! I picked it up during our mission. It used to belong to one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," she said, looking just as smug as she was happy to show it off.

"That's so cool!" I repeated, then looked back at Kakashi. "Who are the Seven Swordsmen?"

"I'll tell you about them later," Kakashi said, looking tired. "Right now it looks like they have their hands full, so we should get go-"

"Not to fast, Kakashi!" Gai shouted, trapping Kakashi in a friendly headlock. "You haven't even introduced me to your team!"

Kakashi slipped out of Gai's hold and stretched his neck. "Are you sure you have time for this?" he asked warily, glancing at Haku and Gatou.

"Of course! We always make time for pleasantries," he grinned, looking back at me and my teammates. I took it to mean that there was no rush, considering how unthreatening and calm Gatou and Haku were respectively. "My name is-!"

"This is Maito Gai," Kakashi interrupted, holding his hand out as though presenting him, despite his complete lack of enthusiasm. "He's the jounin leader of Team 3."

"It is a great pleasure to meet you!" Lee shouted, straightening his posture as he greeted us with a salute. "I am Rock Lee, Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast!"

Sasuke and Sakura made a face while I stifled a laugh. I had braced myself for Lee to make an advance on Sakura, but thankfully the context seemed to stop him from doing so. Despite being in high spirits, I could imagine how tired they were. Having just returned from a mission gone wrong with a prisoner in hand probably wasn't the best time to profess his love for a girl he literally just met.

Tenten sighed at Lee's introduction, but flipped her expression into a pleasant smile as she introduced herself. "I'm Tenten, and this is Neji," she said, pointing at her teammate with her free hand.

"I can introduce myself," he sighed, looking back at us. "Nice to meet you."

"Who are they?" Sakura asked curiously, gesturing at Gatou and Haku. "U-Unless you can't tell us, of course!"

"It's fine," Tenten said, but then cocked her brow and looked up at Gai. "At least, I think so. Sensei?"

"Not a problem, my dear pupil! Haku has been a model prisoner. It would be rude to ignore him!"

I tried not to laugh at the fact that everybody was blatantly ignoring Gatou, which wasn't very surprising. He was gagged and bound, and stood as far away as he possibly could. Haku looked like the restraints were just a formality.

"So you're Haku?" I asked, looking at the taller boy. I tried my hardest not to lose my shit over actually seeing him in person. All I could think about was how he was supposed to dead. Very, very dead.

"That's correct. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said with a polite smile. "I'm sorry our first meeting had to be this way."

I laughed warily and decided to change the subject by introducing myself. "I'm Uzumaki Satoko!"

"My name is Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet all of you," she said with a short bow and smile.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said simply. "Your eyes," Sasuke continued unexpectedly, looking at Neji. "You're a Hyuuga?"

The air thickened and I resisted the urge to groan.

"Yes," Neji answered stiffly. His eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. "What of it?"

Tenten shot Neji a look while I hissed at Sasuke, "Quit trying to pick a fight!"

"I'm not!" he hissed back.

"Then it's a wonder how you always manage to sound like you are!"

"Be nice," Kakashi said, clapping his hands onto our shoulders. "Those three are your senpai."

"Senpai?" Sakura repeated to herself.

"They graduated the year before you," Kakashi said. I tried not to look to amused at how conflicted Sasuke looked about having a kid who looks like Lee as his senpai. "Anyway, you should handle your business before the sun sets. We should be going, too" he said, looking back at Gai. "Take care."

"Yes, may we meet again soon!" Gai exclaimed, waving enthusiastically as Kakashi pushed us along.

Before we got to far, I spun around and yelled, "Tenten-senpai! Let me take a closer look at your kickass sword sometime!"

"S-Senpai?" I heard her gasp, cheeks flushed, before she called back with a grin, "Sure thing! I can show you some other cool stuff, too!"

I smiled back before catching up to my team, who so kindly went on ahead without me. "So cool," I said again once I fell into step with them. Shortly afterwards, my stomach growled loudly, and I held my stomach with a frown while looking at my team. "Hey, wanna grab dinner before we head home?"

"I'm really tired," Sakura yawned. "But it would be nice to get some comfort food after being away for so long. Especially after that mission."

"We were given a banquet for lunch," Sasuke said. "Satoko even brought home leftovers."

"Hey, so did you!"

"That's a good idea," Kakashi said with a smile. He materialized several bills and handed it to me. "It's nice to unwind with something familiar after a tough mission. Consider it my treat."

I flicked through the money and gasped. There was more than enough for all of us to get at least two bowls each. I looked up at him, confused. "You're not coming?"

Kakashi shook his head. He looked tired the same way he did after we'd met Hidari.

Oh.

"It's okay if you three hand in your reports tomorrow, but I should go talk to the Hokage about what happened, first," he said, patting me on the head. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Without another word, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves. I looked at Sakura and Sasuke, then back at the money.

"So, uh...you guys up for some ramen?"

I wasn't nearly as big a fan of ramen as Protagonist was, but Ichiraku's seemed like the obvious choice. It wasn't just the food that was warm and welcoming, but the atmosphere as well. The countertop seating is what made it cozy, and I could never say no to being greeted by Teuchi's and Ayame's bright smiles.

"Welcome home!" they said in unison as we took our seats. "Kakashi-sensei isn't joining you?" Ayame asked.

"He's busy, but he's still treating us," I said, slapping the money he'd given me on the counter. Teuchi laughed and took enough money for three bowls. "I'll have a tonkotsu ramen, please!"

"Shoyu for me, please," Sakura said.

Sasuke skimmed the menu before ordering, "I'll have shio, please."

Teuchi grinned, already getting the noodles ready. "Coming right up!"

The rich scent of broth filled the air as we waited for our meals. Meanwhile, the image of Kakashi's weary expression lingered in my mind. I sighed, propping my chin in my hands as I wondered what he was really talking to the Hokage about right now.

I'd send a clone to eavesdrop if it wasn't guaranteed to get caught immediately, I thought. Even if I tried to disguise it as an animal or an insect, between Kakashi and the Hokage, of course they would catch me.

"-toko!"

I jumped in my seat, snapping my head up to see Ayame setting a bowl in front of me.

"Tired from the mission, huh," she said with a smile.

I laughed shortly while grabbing a pair of chopsticks. "Yeah, it gave me a lot to think about."

"Oh? Why don't you tell us about it? If you're allowed."

"Everything went wrong," Sakura sighed. She thanked Ayame as her ramen was served and continued, "It was supposed to be a simple escort mission, but instead it became a huge political mess!"

"We took down an entire drug cartel," I said, at a bit of a loss. It didn't really sink in how wild our mission was until I'd said that out loud. "Holy shit," I said, looking at my teammates. "We took down a freaking drug cartel. On our first C-Ranked mission."

"And exposed a prolific politician for extortion, blackmail, and murder," Sasuke added, accepting his ramen. We chanted itadakimasu in unison before digging in.

"Man," I murmured, grinning at my teammates. "We're pretty awesome!"

Teuchi and Ayame laughed as though they'd heard it all before, which I was sure they had. They must've heard the stories from every rookie team for the past two decades.

"Sounds like a typical first C-Rank," Teuchi said. "It looks like you three had a rough time, so here," he said, setting a plate of gyoza in front of us. I didn't even realize Ichiraku had side dishes until now. "On the house."

I gasped, quickly slurping up my bite ramen so I could reach for one while they were still fresh. "You're the best, Ojisan!"

We finished our meals in relative silence, simply relaxing and enjoying our food to our heart's content. It really had been a long few days, and now that we were finally safe and sound in Konoha, all the exhaustion came crashing down on me at once. I sipped my tea and could feel the warmth relaxing the tension in my muscles.

"Agh," I groaned, suddenly remembering all the stuff we had left to do. "I'm so tired, but we still need to write our reports! How do we even do that? Did we ever learn how to do that?"

"Yes," Sasuke and Sakura answered in unison, giving me that You're a Complete Idiot look again.

"Did you listen at all in the Academy?" Sakura scolded. "It's like you don't even have ears!"

Shit, of course we would've learned this from the academy. I made the effort not to change my expression despite the realization. Although I bet it's like how I once "learned" how to write essays in high school. Five-paragraph structure my ass.

"I don't listen to the boring stuff," I said with a huff. "More importantly, it's our first report and a lot happened, so we should make sure it's done properly, right?"

"What are you trying to say?" Sasuke asked warily.

"I'm saying we should go to someone's house and write them together!"

"No," Sasuke said without a second of hesitation.

"You suck."

Sakura looked like she was about to agree, but then gave it a moment of thought. "Actually…that might not be a bad idea," she said, leaning towards Sasuke. "Do you really trust Satoko to write a proper report?"

Sasuke looked between me and Sakura and sighed. "You're right. That idiot probably doesn't even remember the client's name."

"Man, you both suck," I mumbled. Well, whatever gets them to agree. "Whatever. It's settled then! We're going to Sasuke's house!"

"I never agreed to that!"

"We can go to my place!" Sakura interjected before we could argue any further. She was getting better at knowing when to step in. "It's nearby, and my parents keep asking to meet you two, anyway."

"They wanna meet us?" I repeated.

Sakura shuffled in her seat. "Well, yeah… They've already met Kakashi-sensei, of course, but they keep nagging me about properly introducing you to them." She snapped her head towards me and huffed. "Just don't read into it! It's not like I want you to come over - it's just convenient!"

"I didn't say anything!" I retorted, raising my hands in defense. "It's settled for real then; we're going to Sakura's place!"

"You two should drop your things off, first," Sakura reminded. "Don't you still have leftovers in your bag?"

"Oh, right." The food I took wasn't likely to go bad too quickly but it was always a good idea to store leftovers as soon as possible. "Okay, then me and Sasuke will make a pit stop, then we'll all meet at Sakura's place!"

After downing the rest of our tea, the three of us said our goodbyes to Teuchi and Ayame and set off.

Ah, shit, I still have Shino's letter. I guess I'll take care of it tomorrow.

I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I walked through the door and toed my sandals off. My feet ached and my body threatened to give out all at once. I almost regretted suggesting to work on the report together. I didn't really think I needed the help - it was pretty self-explanatory to just write about what happened on the mission, but they actually went along with my excuse for team bonding, so there was no way I was giving it up.

I put the leftovers in my fridge, washed my face, and changed my clothes before heading out again. At least the evening breeze was refreshing and helped wake me up.

I followed the directions Sakura gave us and saw her standing outside when I arrived. I waved when she saw me and jogged the short distance over.

"Thanks for waiting!"

"I was starting to think you got lost," she said. "Sasuke-kun's already here."

"Ah, my bad! I took a rinse before I came."

After heading inside, we got settled at the dining room table where Sasuke was already seated and got straight to work. It was a pain, to review everything that happened during the mission, but it was better to do it sooner rather than later, and it gave us time to review the details to make sure we were all telling the same story before the debriefing tomorrow.

The one good thing about reports is that they were somewhat standardized in that we had a form to fill out for basic information, like our names, team number, our client, and so on. The actual details of the mission were to be attached to the form.

"Ok, I think that's everybody," Sakura said after we finished listing over a dozen people involved in the mission. Between us, the caravan, and everybody we met in the capital, the list was long. "Next is-"

She was cut off with a sudden clang that startled all of us into looking towards the kitchen, where the sound had come from. There was no yelling or anything to suggest that something bad had happened, so after a moment of silence we got back to work.

"Anyway, next we have to explain how-"

Another clang interrupted Sakura again, and this time I saw her eyebrow twitch the way it does before she usually smacks me. More sounds came from the kitchen - someone was presumably cooking something - and Sakura opened her mouth, looking like she was going to yell. After taking a deep breath, however, she exhaled slowly and instead stood up calmly, jaw clenched.

"Let's go to my room."

We resettled on the floor in Sakura's room after she pointedly closed the door. Now that it was quiet, we could get some proper work done.

"Okay," Sakura huffed, taking her seat between me and Sasuke, "let's start from the beginning."

It wasn't until we started writing the report that I realized how quickly the whole mission was over. Getting to the capital took way longer than expected - between getting attacked and split up, it took well over a day to actually get there, but then we formulated and executed our plan on the same night, and everything was over before the sun was even up. By the time we left the banquet and returned to Konoha, only three days had passed.

The exhaustion accumulated over the past three days crashed down on me all over again, and I slumped onto the table.

"Man...this mission was wild," I said, staring blankly at my incomplete report. We'd only written notes so far so we didn't miss any details when actually writing the report and still managed to fill up two pages double-sided.

"No kidding," Sakura sighed, rolling her neck. "My wrist is already sore and we haven't even started writing it yet."

"We need to address the socio-economic issues implied by the bandits attacking us, in relation to the more obvious ones." Sasuke said.

I propped my chin onto my hands. "Whaddya mean by that?"

"If the issue was that veterans weren't getting enough income, then it's likely that the bandits attacked us for similar reasons," he explained. "They could've even been relatives of veterans. It's unlikely they themselves were veterans, though, given how inexperienced they were."

I took a moment to process what he was saying and made several connections in my head. "Wait...doesn't that mean that if, say, the bandits were related to any of the assassins that attacked us..."

My teammates fell silent, and we all sat staring at nothing in particular for a moment.

"It's in the past," Sasuke finally said. "And we're not wrong for protecting ourselves."

"Yeah, there's no use in over-analyzing it," Sakura said, although her expression still looked troubled. "C'mon, it's getting late so let's hurry up and finish writing this."

I nodded and pushed the thought aside. I could let it keep me up at night later, after we were done writing our reports. Retrospective guilt aside, at least it gave me an opportunity to finally get Sasuke and Sakura to tell me what happened while they were high. Or, at least, I tried.

"Nothing happened!" Sakura said, even though I knew she was lying given the flush in her cheeks. "We just got dizzy and disoriented."

"We got attacked, but managed to escape by using-" Sasuke stopped himself, and I could see his entire posture sulk as he recalled the memory.

I grinned widely and shuffled closer to him. "Using...?"

He shoved me away and I laughed, catching myself before I fell over. "Shut up! There was nothing useful in your damn bag. I just threw the first thing that I saw!"

"I don't care if you meant to use it. What matters is that it worked," I said. "You guys are always making fun of my weapons, but it totally saved your ass! And it helped me and Sensei help find you guys later, too! Admit it - my glitter bombs are useful."

Sasuke and Sakura groaned simultaneously as I continued to grin cheekily.

"Fine," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "It was useful, but only that one time! It doesn't mean it's a good weapon. It's unreliable, and the cons aren't worth the risk!"

"And it's messy," Sasuke added. "Just use normal weapons like everybody else. They're standardized for a reason."

"It's a work in progress," I offered as a compromise. "More importantly, I think it's super important that you guys recall every detail about being high as a kite. Konoha could stand to know the effects of opium."

"Nothing happened!" they both insisted in unison, and they left the matter at that.

I huffed and accepted defeat. For now.

One day...

We were about halfway through writing the actual report when suddenly there was a knock at the door and before Sakura could even answer, her father came in with a bowl of fruit.

"You three must be hungry! Here, Yuuta-san picked these from their garden just this morning," he said setting it between me and Sakura.

"Dad!" she snapped, shoving his leg from where she was sitting. "I told you not to bother us, we're busy!"

"Okay, okay!" he laughed, quickly retreating out the door. "Just give a shout if you need anything. I'll leave you alone!"

He did not leave us alone.

Ten minutes later, he came back with reinforcements and tea.

"Mom!" Sakura cried. Her expression was nothing but appalled as Mebuki followed in after Kizashi, who was holding yet another bowl, this time of full of packets of crackers and nuts.

"We'll be quick!" she said, setting a tray with a teapot and three teacups down between Sakura and Sasuke. "You've been at it for almost two hours now, so we thought some tea and snacks would help keep you energized."

While Sasuke and I thanked them, Sakura groaned and shoved her parents out the door. "We're fine!"

It was oddly comforting to know that parents were the same no matter what universe I was in. Mebuki and Kizashi reminded me of my own overbearing parents, at least when it came to forcing various fruits on me every other hour and then complaining when I was too full for dinner. I couldn't say I missed being interrupted several times a day, but it was nice not having to worry about food by myself. It almost made me homesick, but it was nostalgic more than anything else.

I stifled a laugh and happily sipped my tea. "Your parents are so nice, Sakura-chan."

"They're annoying!" Sakura huffed, taking her seat again. "We won't finish at this rate if they keep interrupting."

"Then let's focus," Sasuke said.

With snacks and tea to fuel our minds, we powered through the rest of the report and ended up with three double-sided pages of extensive detail regarding the events of the mission. It was a pain to keep track of who was doing what considering we were almost always separated during the mission, but we managed to account for everything except for whatever happened at the barn on Kakashi's end.

I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

We gathered all out papers together and made sure no drafts or notes slipped in. Most of our time was spent figuring out how to write everything out linearly. After over four hours of work, we could finally relax.

I leaned back on my hands and sighed. "Man, I'm wiped. What time is it?"

"Almost two," Sakura said.

"Haa..." I groaned and fell onto my back. "I can barely move... Ne, can I crash here tonight?"

"What?! No!"

I made a whining sound and rolled onto my side to face her, arms sprawled out in disdain. "But I'm tired , and we're all going to the same place tomorrow, anyway! Have mercy~"

"It takes you less than ten minutes to get home!" Sakura snapped. "Don't be such a hindrance."

I huffed. "C'mon, even Sasuke's tired."

"What do you mean?"

I nodded over towards Sasuke, who was leaning against Sakura's bed with this head towards his shoulder. Without a scowl on his face, I could see how young he was, and was suddenly reminded that soon his entire future would rest entirely in my hands.

No pressure, though.

I blinked back at Sakura expectantly. She relented with a sigh. "Alright, alright. I guess it's been a long day for all of us. I'll go tell my parents that I'm using the futons."

I pumped my fist into the air and grinned. "I'll help!"

It didn't take long to get ready for bed. The biggest struggle was quickly tucking Sasuke into a futon without stirring him awake, which naturally turned out to be impossible given that he was a trained shinobi and was more or less genetically engineered to be a light sleeper. Thankfully, he was drowsy enough that we convinced him to just spend the night. We were all passed out by 3am.

Kakashi didn't make any comments when we all showed up together, but he did give us a look. We handed in our reports and stood across from the Hokage, who reviewed them briefly.

Eventually, he set the reports down and blew out a long stream of smoke from his pipe as he looked back at us. "It seems like your team experienced several unpredicted setbacks, Kakashi. I'm glad you all made it back safely."

"My team proved themselves to be capable of working well under pressure." Kakashi said.

Hiruzen looked across the three of us and smiled fondly. "So it seems. They've adapted well to the life of a shinobi."

I flashed a smile, but kept my mouth shut. I wasn't exactly sure how these kinds of proceedings were supposed to go, and really all I wanted was for the situation to be over with so I could deliver Shino's letter.

"The mission involved village-level concerns and suppressing shinobi-level forces," Hiruzen continued, "so your mission will be recorded as an A-Rank. You'll also be paid accordingly."

"An A-Rank?!" Sakura gasped, looking as dumbfounded as I did. Even Sasuke was looking shocked at the news. We knew we were going to get compensated, but for it to go all the way up to an A-Rank was almost laughable. How the hell did we make it back alive from an A-Ranked mission?

"Holy shit," I said. "Seriously? How much is an A-Rank even worth?!"

Hiruzen laughed and puffed his pipe. "I'll have to determine the exact payment later, but you'll all be paid at least 150 000 ryo each."

"What?!" I jumped on the spot, this time grabbing Sasuke and Sakura by the arms as I looked between them. "That's so much money I don't even know what it means! How much ramen can I buy with that much money?"

"Too much for it to be healthy," Kakashi answered. He set his hand on my head in attempted to get me to stay put, but all it did was give me a chance to grab his hand instead and swing it around in excitement. He sighed, but ultimately did nothing about it. "Make sure you save some, at least."

"Man, we're so cool," I said, finally releasing Kakashi. "I can't believe our first mission outside the village was an A-Rank. We freaking took down a drug cartel!"

Sakura looked annoyed, but the glint in her eye told me she felt the same. Sasuke had already moved on to looking proud of himself, and honestly, who could blame him? Sure, Kakashi carried the team, but we still held our own pretty damn well despite getting drugged, separated, and almost set on fire. Sasuke got Tadashi and Miyako to cooperate with us by figuring out why they were working for Sagi, Sakura learned how to walk on water and barrelled through a burning shed to save Sasuke, and I didn't die!

"I take it you're ready to take on more C-Rank missions after this, then?" Hiruzen asked with a sort of teasing smile.

My excitement dropped and I laughed wearily. "Aha...maybe give it a couple of weeks?"

He laughed in turn and addressed Kakashi again. "I think you and your team deserve a break. This is all for now - you can expect your payments to arrive in the next few days. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"There is," Kakashi said plainly before side-eying us. "Although it's regarding certain individuals in the capital, so the three of you should go on, first."

"Isn't it important for us to be here for this, too?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi patted his head, which Sasuke brushed off with an annoyed glare. "This is a little more complex, and a little beyond your security clearance."

And a little too much about a certain dead relative of yours, I added silently.

"I don't wanna hear about more politics, anyway," I said, resting my hands behind my head. "I've had more than enough of that, thank you very much. Besides, we still need to deliver the letters to Shino."

"I'm not going with you," Sakura said flatly, making a face. "He's so…creepy."

"He's just quiet," I said.

"He's covered in bugs."

"They live inside him," Sasuke corrected.

A visible chill went down Sakura's back. "That's even more gross!"

"In any case," Kakashi interjected. "I need to talk to Hokage-sama alone. We'll meet in the training field tomorrow morning, so don't be late."

"You're one to talk," I said, rolling my eyes.

The three of us left full of curiosity, but it wasn't like we'd get away with eavesdropping on the conversation, so we went our separate ways.

It was a good thing I could understand the address written on the letters, otherwise I would've had no idea how to find Shino's house. At least, not without awkwardly asking about the residence of the Aburame Head, which feels suspicious even if his son was my former classmate.

After confirming the address, I knocked on the door twice and patiently waited until it opened. I came face to face with none other than Shino, with his dark shades and poofy hair and raised collar.

"Satoko-san," he greeted flatly.

I flashed a smile and waved. "Hey! Long time no see!"

"I agree," he answered. "I'm surprised to see you here. Why? Because a personal visit is unexpected from an acquaintance like you."

"Totally fair, but hold that thought" I said, digging the letters out of my pocket. They were a little wrinkled by then, but not so much that it looked like I wasn't at least trying to take care of them. "I'm here to make a delivery! My team went to the capital on our last mission, and we just happened to meet your mom! She asked us to give these to you and your dad."

Shino tensed when I mentioned the letters, although I wasn't sure why. Then again, Shino was always a little socially reserved. He probably didn't like people getting involved with his personal life, even if it was just as a courier between him and his mother. The letters looked personal, too - now that I was holding them backside up, I saw that Jinguu left a kiss mark on one of the envelopes.

We both looked up and made eye-contact through his shades, and I laughed sheepishly. "Your mother sure is a romantic, huh!"

Shino held the letters against his chest and nodded stiffly. "She's very forward. Thank you for delivering these letters. I apologize on behalf of my mother for causing you trouble."

"No worries! Let me know if you ever need anything. I'm always happy to help," I said with a grin.

There was a brief pause, and I wondered if maybe I'd said something wrong. In retrospect, it really was weird for me to make a delivery. I probably should have passed them on to Kiba or Hinata, instead.

Shino looked me up and down and finally said, "You've changed."

I blinked. "Have I?"

"Yes." Shino was rather blunt, I observed. Not that it took much observing to notice. "Why? Because you never used to be this friendly with me, even though we were classmates for several years during the Academy and continue to be comrades as shinobi of Konoha."

"Ah, I guess that's true..." I laughed nervously. Stupid Protagonist ruining literally everything he comes into contact with. Augh. I continued brightly, "Then, yeah! I have changed! I was wrong to ignore you. I didn't know better. But now it's different! I'm a genin, and I just finished my first C-Rank mission." I stuck out my hand and offered a handshake. "I hope we can get along from now on. It's like you said, we're both Konoha genin, so we've gotta have each other's backs. From now on, consider me your friend!"

Shino stared at me for along moment again. Despite the tense atmosphere between us, he relaxed his shoulders and returned the handshake.

"Thank you. I'm glad you came by. Why? Because it has given us an opportunity to strengthen our bond as comrades." I couldn't see his mouth, but I liked to think that he was smiling underneath that big collar of his.

"No problem! Then I'll see you around, Shino. Let's grab lunch sometime!"

After waving goodbye and parting ways, I jogged down the block until Shino's house was out of sight before slowing to a walk. I was still stuck on the bizarre yet pleasant exchange I'd just had. Is it supposed to be that easy to get on good terms with someone? If so, what the hell was wrong with all my teammates?

"I just wanna be friends," I sighed to myself.

Ah, well. After that chaotic mission and a forced sleepover, I liked to think we'd gotten at least two steps closer in our relationships.

Just like we were told, my teammates and I showed up bright and early at the training field the next day. And just like I expected, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. What I didn't expect for him to not show up at all.

Instead, we were struck by a sudden gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. When I turned around, I was greeted by the blindingly bright light...of Gai-sensei's smile.

"GOOD MORNING, KAKASHI-SAN'S BELOVED TEAM! Are you ready to begin the day with a refreshing 500 laps around the village?!"

Gai's genin were standing behind him. As expected, Lee was already doing stretches and jogging on the spot while Tenten looked simultaneously apologetic and embarrassed that she was associated with her sensei at all. Neji had a similarly embarrassed look in his eye, although he covered it up by wearing his usual grumpy frown and avoiding eye contact with literally anybody.

I looked back at my teammates, who returned the same speechless, confused stare of mild horror as I had, before looking back at Gai.

"Uh...no?"

As I looked dumbfounded at the spandex-clad man, I could only think of one thing: what the hell happened to Kakashi after we left?

Notes:

This chapter marks the beginning of the second arc!

Chapter 22: Ignite! The Sparks of Youth!

Summary:

Training with Team Gai officially begins! Satoko has some feelings about it. Most of them is concern.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Of all the ways to start off the day, this was the last thing I expected. I stared blankly at Gai, who smiled back while posing with an enthusiastic thumbs up. Before we could question anything, though, Tenten scolded him from behind.

"Sensei, you can't start with 500 laps right away! We all passed out by 200 when you did that to us," she said, hands on her hips. "They need to be trained up to it, first."

I have so many problems with everything she just said.

"Ever wise, Tenten!" Gai said, looking over his shoulder to his student. "You make an excellent point. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! Change of plans, then - we will begin with 200 laps around the field!"

"That sounds doable," I said, still with a grimace. Even if 50 laps was a breeze to me now, I still didn't want to do 200 of them. Enhanced stamina didn't make laps any less boring. Maybe that's the real reason behind Gai and Lee doing laps on their hands... "Wait, more importantly, why are you even here?!"

"Yeah, what happened to Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Excellent question!" Gai commended. "Kakashi has been unexpectedly assigned to an urgent task. He has thus asked me to train you in his stead until he returns!"

There was a lot more I wanted to ask about that, but questioning Gai would have to wait because Lee interrupted by rushing up next to Gai and greeting us with a bow. We instinctively bowed in turn.

"We look forward to training alongside you!" Lee said with gusto. He looked at Sakura afterwards and approached her directly. "You are Sakura-chan, correct?"

Sakura blinked. "Uh, yeah...?"

Oh boy. The Springtime of Youth. I can feel it already.

"Allow me to introduce myself once again! My name is Rock lee," he said. "Would you like to go out with me? I will protect you with my life!"

Sakura cringed, and I hid my laugh with a cough. "N...No thanks..."

"Don't bother her like that, Lee!" Tenten said, pulling him back as he deflated. "Sorry about him. We look forward to training with you today," she said, smiling at us.

"Likewise," I said with a smile. "I bet we can learn a lot from you."

Despite Lee's high-energy existence, I liked him. He was certainly a refreshing break from the gloomy likes of Sasuke and the bratty likes of Sakura. It helped that Tenten was sociable, too. The biggest obstacle would be working with Neji, who was hovering around the back of the group looking like a grouch, but at least even he had a higher capacity for being superficially polite. Probably.

"Such a youthful attitude! Let us begin our training at once!" Gai said, and broke out into a fast jog without giving us any time to ask any more questions about Kakashi.

I exchanged looks with Sasuke and Sakura. They both looked reluctant to participate, but we didn't really have a choice except to go along with it for now. Gai's team jogged after him, and we followed suit.

"Must be nice to have a punctual sensei," I muttered to my teammates.

"I'm surprised he's actually doing the warm up with us," Sakura added.

"Too bad he's so noisy," Sasuke said.

By the time we completed our laps, we were all sweaty and out of breath, so we recovered while stretching. We were all close enough that I could use the opportunity to ask Gai some questions.

"Gai-sensei," I started, getting his attention, "how long will Kakashi be away for?"

"It's a complex situation, so it could take quite some time, I believe," he answered with ease.

I paused mid-stretch and cocked my brow. "Some time?" I repeated.

"Does this have something to do with the capital?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei spoke to Hokage-sama privately after our debriefing yesterday, even though they had already spoken after we first returned the day before," Sakura pointed out. "Is something wrong?"

There was definitely a split second of hesitation before Gai laughed heartily. "Excellent observations! You truly are Kakashi-sensei's students!"

If there's one thing we've learned, it's how to look underneath the underneath, or whatever.

"Unfortunately I cannot give you any details, but it is indeed in relation to your last mission," Gai confirmed with a sage nod.

Sakura made an uncertain sound. "I hope it's nothing too serious... He's okay, right?"

"Fear not! It may be an urgent matter, but not a dangerous one. Your sensei will return safely in due time," Gai reassured. "I'll be sure to let him know that his precious students are thinking of him!"

"You're in contact with him?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowing skeptically.

There was no doubt that all three of us noticed the way Gai stiffened, jaw locked in a smile, before he covered his nervousness with a laugh.

"N-No, of course not! Because he's very busy with his very important mission!" The way he emphasized the mission made him even less credible. "What I meant is that I will give him a thorough report on your progress once he returns, so of course I will make sure your heartfelt sentiments reach him."

Some time, due time... Not only was he being careless with his implications, but Gai was being vague. If Kakashi was really on a mission, we should at least be given an approximate timeframe for how long it would take, especially if we were being put under the care of another jounin instead of killing time with a list of D-Ranks. I wasn't the only one reading into what Gai was saying, either.

"I guess that makes sense," I said, finally letting him off the hook. "Our mission left a huge political mess to clean up, so he's probably just dealing with that in person."

"Precisely!" Gai said, failing to hide the fact that he was obviously relieved that the conversation was over.

He really isn't cut out for ANBU, I thought warily. Subtly wasn't even within the realm of his abilities if even I could pick up on his tells.

I wasn't satisfied with Gai's explanation, but I didn't want to push it anymore, either. Judging by their doubtful silence, my teammates felt the same way. In their case, though, their reluctance to accept Gai as a substitute was probably more because they didn't want to be trained by him and less because they knew he was trying to cover for something, even if it was obvious that he wasn't telling the whole truth.

Vague explanation or not, it wasn't like we could really ask about it. I had to be careful about pushing the issue, too, since it was definitely about Obito's new identity as Hidari. The last thing I needed was to accidentally let it slip that I knew way more than I was supposed to.

We stretched for a few more minutes until Gai stood up straight with his hands on his hips.

"Now then! Since this is our first day training together, I would like to gauge your skill levels so I can determine what kind of exercises are appropriate for you," he said, looking at my team. "We will begin with some general assessments!"

"What should we do, Sensei?" Tenten asked, rolling back on her heels.

"You will be doing them as well, of course!"

Tenten slumped. "…Oh."

I glanced away and made a face. Even if she was being nice, I bet she like felt her team was losing precious training time, too, which was only fair.

"There's no need to worry, my precious students!" Gai reassured. "It is important for shinobi of all levels to review the basics regularly. Consider it an evaluation of how far you've come since you first graduated!"

"Yosh!" Lee exclaimed, punching the air. "Let us take advantage of this opportunity to see who has improved the most among us!"

"Your naiveté evidently hasn't, for starters," Neji said.

Gai laughed heartily at his team's banter. "I admire your enthusiasm! Now then, let us begin!"

The first few hours were spent reviewing some basic stuff. We went through basic ninjutsu, hit some targets, and practiced dodging and deflecting while Team Gai happily emptied their inventories on us. I got away with just a few cuts and scratches here and there, which would be healed by the time we were done training that day. Gai took notes the entire time, scribbling something down every now and then into a tiny notebook.

The one thing I noticed was that Gai never asked to see Sasuke's Fire Style or my clones.

Must be because of the Chuunin Exams.

Even if we were comrades and training together now, with the Exams so close, I guess even Gai didn't want us learning everything about each other.

We finished by demonstrating our ability to run up trees.

"Sakura can walk on water, too!" I said once I was back on the ground.

"Most impressive!" Gai said, beaming at my teammate. "I'll be counting on you to aid your teammates in the future, then!"

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. "Y-Yeah, sure thing."

"What a surprise," Neji said. "They're more behind than I thought."

His teammates promptly shot him a scolding look of varying degrees while Sakura and I pointedly stared down our own grouchy teammate from saying anything in return.

"We will finish with some friendly sparring!" Gai announced. I could've sworn he glanced at Neji on the word 'friendly.'

"If it's sparring, then I challenge you, Sasuke-kun!" Lee declared, pointing at him with enthusiasm. "I would like to test my techniques against the last surviving member of the legendary Uchiha Clan."

I exchanged uneasy glances with Sakura before sneaking a peak at Sasuke, whose expression looked darker. Ever since becoming a team, we'd never directly addressed the fact that he was the Uchiha Survivor; it had always been an elephant in the room, so for Lee to speak so boldly about it without hesitation was...unexpected, to say the least.

Man, some things are just apparently set in stone.

At least this time, their first spar would be in a friendly context instead of an overtly competitive one. And upon remembering their canon encounter, I only then realized something important.

Sasuke doesn't have the Sharingan anymore.

Thankfully, I was very good at hiding my panic at this point and kept a poker face, but it didn't change the fact that I was screaming inside. Did this mean Orochimaru wouldn't come for him anymore? Would Orochimaru even know? If he didn't activate it now, when's the next chance he'll get?

I lamented briefly over the idea of having to instigate an ideal Sharingan-activating situation myself, but quickly pushed it aside.

I better not have to fake my fucking death for this dude.

"You're challenging me while knowing of my bloodline?" Sasuke scoffed, bringing my attention back to the conversation at hand. "You must be clueless, then."

"Dude, be nice," I snapped, but it was already too late.

Neji glowered at Sasuke with his arms crossed, looking as hostile as ever. "It'll be interesting to see how this year's Number One Rookie fares against Lee."

I fidgeted, uncomfortable from the growing tension. It was hard to get a read on Neji - I couldn't tell if he was getting defensive on Lee's behalf or annoyed at Sasuke's arrogance, or both.

Sasuke looked ready to pick a fight with him, too, so I threw my arm into the air and shouted, "I wanna fight Tenten-senpai!"

"Me?" She pointed to herself, looking surprised at being chosen.

"Yeah, if that's okay," I said, dropping my hand and facing her. "You look super strong; I wanna test myself against you."

She's also the most likely to go easy on me out of goodwill. I thought about the other people on her team, however, and sighed inwardly. Not that I really expect her to.

Tenten's cheeks flushed, but she maintained an air of confidence. "Assuming you even last long enough in the first place," she said with a grin.

"It fills my heart with joy to see you all befriending each other!" Gai said, flashing a wider smile still. "Sakura will spar with Neji, then!"

Oh, I did not think this one through.

Admittedly, I got completely blind-sighted by hoping to see Tenten's kickass new sword up close. I looked at Sakura, who looked nervous, and Neji, who was already sizing her up and looking vastly unimpressed. He didn't say anything, though. He may be grumpy, but at least he was generally agreeable, unlike a certain other archetypal asshole.

Ah, well. I'm sure she'll be fine. It's not like she's Hinata or anything.

Prompted by Lee's enthusiasm, he and Sasuke were the first to spar. The rest of us took a seat by the training posts, attention entirely focused on them. Sakura looked a little restless - she was confident in Sasuke's abilities, but also not naive about the reality of Lee being the more experienced of the two. I, for one, knew that Sasuke was about to get his ass handed back to him by tenfold, and couldn't wait to see it happen with my own eyes. Without his Sharingan, he couldn't copy any of Lee's fancy techniques, either.

On the other hand, I was worried about how this might be more of an emotional blow to Sasuke. He was already feeling pretty low after the mission, what with getting shown up by Sakura and then being saved by her. Then again, Lee had very good sportsmanship, and Gai was nothing if not supportive. If there was anybody I would trust to do a good job of kicking Sasuke's ass while still being nice about it, it was Lee.

"Taijutsu only, no weapons," Gai said. He raised his arm and lowered it with a snap. "Begin!"

Before I could even blink, the distance was closed and Lee was already pressuring Sasuke into a defensive stance with a flurry of strikes before ending it by sending him flying back with a kick.

"Whoa," I murmured while Sakura cried out in shock.

Sasuke slid across the grass and recovered quickly, but he didn't fare much better in the second round. He didn't stand a chance even with the Sharingan, let alone without it. Lee was simply too fast - I could barely keep track of what he was even doing.

The match continued with Sasuke constantly pushing back against Lee in an attempt to counter. Watching them made me feel like there was no room to breathe and my eyes got sore trying to keep up - it was just one strike after another, without pause. Their movements were swift and quiet, but the sheer density of them made it feel loud.

It's like watching the visual equivalent of white noise.

Sasuke stumbled over his feet and just barely managed to catch himself in time to block a kick, but the match ultimately ended with Lee knocking him off his feet. Lee's hand was just a hair's width away from Sasuke's neck. Sasuke looked up at him with a mix of shock and annoyance. It all happened so fast that I could feel the air settle around them.

"Excellent!" Gai praised before the tension could become an uncomfortable silence. "What a spectacular display of prowess! You did well to hold up against Lee for that long, Sasuke. His taijutsu is unmatched among most genin."

Lee quickly got up from his stance and offered Sasuke a hand. "The Uchiha Clan truly is formidable! This has truly been an insightful learning experience!"

Sasuke responded as predicted - with a dismissive grunt and ignoring Lee's offer to help him up.

"You were great, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said in an attempt to make him feel better, although that also was left mostly ignored. If anything, it soured his mood even more.

"Don't patronize me," he muttered.

Yep. Definitely sour.

"Do not feel discouraged - there is only room for improvement in training!" Gai said, flashing us a grin. He was definitely practiced in diffusing tension with positivity. "Let's move on to Neji and Sakura. Take your places!"

Neji got up without a word and briskly took his place on the field. Sakura followed suit, noticeably uncertain about what to do. I've seen her spar before, and I've sparred with her myself. She wasn't bad and had gotten the upper hand on me several times both from my lack of experience and her superior technical skills, but I couldn't imagine she'd be anything worth Neji's time.

"There's no need to worry," Neji said calmly, taking his stance. "After witnessing the limits of your year's Number One, I'm keeping my expectations low."

"Hey! Don't forget that you used to be a rookie, too!" Sakura snapped, although she didn't have much else to say.

I got the impression that her response actually made Neji acknowledge her more, even if it was only by a bit. It at least changed his expression from disinterested to smug. Considering it was Neji, I took it as an improvement.

"Hmph. The way you are now, I could've defeated you even at the Academy."

I winced at the smack talk and glanced at Tenten, who sighed at her teammate's behaviour. Even worse was that he was totally right - Neji clearly had the upper hand the moment the battle began.

As far as I could tell, Sakura did an impressive job nevertheless. She defended herself with firm stances and precise blocks. In contrast, however, she didn't look as solid when she tried to counter and get on the offense.

It showed on her face, too. She'd wince and grit her teeth, and whenever she did manage to slip in a punch or a kick of her own, it looked weak, despite her accurate form. It was a lot like watching someone who didn't quite know the moves to a dance - she looked like she was watching someone else to remind herself what to do.

Her uncertainty made her fall a step behind, which gave Neji the opening to keep pressuring her to stay defensive until their sparring ultimately ended with Neji pulling her arm behind her back.

"An excellent use of technique and forms!" Gai said as Sakura was released. "Your mastery of the foundations will help you learn advanced maneuvers with ease."

Despite her loss, Sakura looked uplifted by the compliment. "Thanks!" She then turned to Neji and extended her hand with the Seal of Reconciliation, which Neji accepted silently.

Good to know not everybody's sour.

It was refreshing to see her get praised, but not at the expense of me or Sasuke. Kakashi doesn't acknowledge our strengths or progress as directly as Gai does, and when he does comment on it, it's usually in the form of creating a sense of competition. It was a decent tactic for getting us to take training exercises seriously, but not so much when it came to strengthening our teamwork.

Ironic, considering how he's known for preaching it.

Now that it was my turn to spar, the nerves made my hands jittery. I flexed them in an attempt to calm down and smiled wearily at Tenten.

"Any chance you'll go easy on me?"

She moved to stand up, smiling back at me. "But then how would you learn anything?"

I laughed nervously and followed after her.

Guess I'll die.

It was only when we were standing face to face that I remembered we weren't allowed weapons, which was the whole reason I wanted to fight her in the first place. Then again, it was probably for the better - I wasn't emotionally prepared to get attacked with a metallic slice of Swiss cheese.

...I wonder if they call it Swiss cheese in this world? Or maybe it's called like... Suna cheese, or something?

I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I almost missed Gai giving the cue to start, which gave Tenten an edge that she really didn't need. Our sparring went pretty much as I expected.

I stumbled over myself in an attempt to get on the offense, but I couldn't get my thought process to cooperate with my body. One moment, it'd go through the motions that were ingrained into its muscle memory. The next, I'd be too afraid to get close to Tenten and risk getting injuries, even if it was just a friendly spar. The combined familiarity and unfamiliarity made it feel like learning to play a new instrument by keeping time with a broken metronome.

On the other hand, I never realized how much I had actually learned in just a few months of being here. My brain fired off commands without much thought. When Tenten went in for a kick, I instinctively twisted my body out of the way and struck her in the ribs. When she immediately countered by pivoting on one foot while swinging her other leg at me, I grabbed it tight and yanked hard, which nearly pulled her off her feet if it weren't for the fact that she used the momentum against me and knocked me over instead. I quickly bounced back onto my feet, and our spar continued.

I already knew that her skill level was way higher than mine, but it was a whole other thing to experience it first hand. Her strikes were precise and powerful, and guaranteed to leave me covered in bruises. I tried to use Kakashi's chakra training to give myself a burst of speed, but then it felt like I was losing control over my body so I pulled back again into a defensive stance. Just as I did, however, Tenten caught me by my ankle and I toppled over as she stood over me.

Most saliently, what I realized was that I had way more to catch up on than I thought. It had occurred to me before that taijutsu might not be my style, but now I was certain. I much preferred staying behind a wall of defence made of clones, where I could prepare a bomb to throw at my enemy from a distance.

It didn't help that Protagonist nothing but a close-ranged fighter. And that he already had a lot of catching up to do.

"Splendid! Not only am I proud of my team for demonstrating their skills, I expected no less from Kakashi's team!" Gai said, standing before us with his hands on his hips.

"Not bad!" Tenten said as she helped me up.

"Thanks," I said, brushing myself off. "I don't think I wanna know what it's like to fight you with weapons."

Tenten laughed and clapped by shoulder. "It's way more fun, for starters!"

"Your sparring has provided me with great insight into how we should proceed from here," Gai said once we sat down. "But first, lunch!"

Right when he called for a lunch break, Gai disappeared to prepare some stuff for the second half of training, leaving us genin to eat by the training posts. I finished eating quickly because I decided I couldn't wait any longer - I just had to know what happened on their mission. Namely, I had to get a damn good look at Tenten's sword.

"Ne," I said, shuffling over to her with my bento in hand. "What happened to your sword from the other day?" I gasped as a sudden, horrible realization dawned upon me, and quickly followed up with, "It wasn't confiscated, was it?!"

Tenten laughed and shook her head. "Thankfully, no. I have it right here, actually! Wanna see?"

I stared at her wide-eyed, my leg immediately bouncing in excitement. "YES."

Tenten beamed. She quickly set her lunch aside and pulled out a scroll from her pack. "You might want to move back a bit."

I scooted back a couple of feet and watched with anticipation as Tenten opened her scroll and placed her hand on one of the seals. There was a small flicker of chakra in the air, followed by a puff of smoke, and the sword materialized instantly in her hands.

"Holy shit ," I gasped, staring in awe as the sun caught the blade, highlighting its sharpened edge.

I am SO glad we didn't have to fight against that thing.

Sagi was a huge pain in the ass and I wasn't particularly fond of the mission, but at least her forces were disabled ex-shinobi as opposed to lethal, S-Ranked nukenin with a sword longer than I was tall that was literally designed for decapitation.

"Neat, huh," Tenten grinned, running her hand down the blunt edge. "I'll have to do some strength training before I can try wielding it, though."

"No kidding," I said, still floored by the sheer size of the thing.

"Satoko, don't bother her!" Sakura scolded, coming over just to nudge my ribs. "You don't have to humour her - just ignore her."

Tenten waved her hand in front of her face and shook her head. "No worries! I love showing off my weapons, especially when it's loot." There was a glint in her eye that told us she meant it, not that I needed convincing.

"Yes! Tenten's weaponry skills are the best amongst all of us," Lee said, chiming in from next to her. "She is most worthy of wielding the mighty weapon of our fallen enemy!"

"Cut it out, Lee," she scolded, although it hardly looked like she meant it.

"We got some cool weapons from our mission, too, but they're way less menacing," I said. "And more subtle."

Tenten set her sword down and listened with a piqued interest. "Oh? What kind?"

"They're weapons disguised as instruments," Sakura explained, paused, and then reiterated. "Actually, I guess it's more accurate to say that they're instruments modified to conceal weapons."

"That sounds so cool! I'd love to see them sometime," Tenten said.

"Sure thing! We all got one," I said, briefly glancing towards Sasuke. He was sitting farther away, pointedly avoiding eye-contact so he could eat his lunch in peace. Lame .

"Is this a sealing scroll?" Sakura asked, looking at the scroll that was opened next to the sword.

"Yeah, I made it myself," Tenten said, looking proud. "I use them because of my fighting style, but they're really handy for travelling, too. I have one just for medical and emergency supplies."

"Yourself?" Sakura repeated, looking impressed. "They're so clean! I remember trying to make a basic seal in the Academy, and even that was difficult on its own."

"Man, you're so cool," I said, blinking between her and the scroll.

Tenten grinned, rubbing the back of her neck. "Thanks! It comes with practice."

"How do you make it?"

"Mostly it's the writing," she explained, "but the ink is special, too. You need a kind that's infused with chakra. The paper matters, too, but mostly when it comes to more complex seals. For basic stuff like this, standard scrolls are fine."

As she spoke, I leaned across Sakura to get a closer look and blatantly ignored her protests as I did.

I recognized some characters, like the basic ones that indicated what kind of object was sealed - it was just various types of weapons, go figure - but all the smaller characters surrounding the main ones seemed to be written in an older script that I was unfamiliar with.

"What does the paper have to do with-" I started, but before I could finish, Gai interrupted with his high-energy presence and ever-youthful voice.

"It is most heartwarming to see you all interacting harmoniously, but it is time to resume our training!"

"Aw, man," I huffed, getting back onto my feet. "Can you show me more of your stuff next time?"

"I'd be happy to," Tenten said, sealing her sword away again. "It's nice to have people asking about it, unlike some people," she said, very obviously looking at Neji.

"I don't ask questions because I already know how it works," he retorted, calmly packing his lunch away.

"He's such a buzzkill," Tenten murmured to us behind her hand.

I nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I guess every team has a grouch."

Tenten stifled a laugh while Sakura smacked my shoulder, and with that, we went back to training.

All things considered, I felt pretty good about the joint training so far. Sure, we had some conflicts with personalities, but Gai was clearly used to managing it, so it at least never got out of hand the way if often did when it was just between my team.

"Now that I have a better understanding of your abilities, we will move on to more exciting exercises!" Gai announced.

Uh oh. Define "exciting."

"I will begin with you, Sasuke!"

His pointed at Sasuke, who visibly flinched and leaned away. I hid my face behind my arms to hide my laughter.

"Already, you are an exceptional shinobi indeed, and full of confidence! But," Gai said, holding up a finger, "that confidence can lead to hasty decisions that will put you and your teammates at risk. We will work on your timing - instead of constantly pushing to gain the upper hand, sometimes what you need is to wait for the right moment to strike."

Sasuke didn't say anything in return. He looked annoyed, but he at least nodded in acknowledgement of Gai's input.

"To do so, you will train with Tenten! She has a mastery over various weapons and has exceptional accuracy and precision. I am confident that she will be able to aid you in finding the right moment to strike!"

I thought back to the flour bomb incident during the mission and nodded to myself. It admittedly wasn't entirely his fault, but despite his generally cool demeanour, Sasuke did have a tendency to rush into things.

"Your weaknesses stem from the complete opposite, Sakura," Gai said, turning his attention to a wary kunoichi. "Your extensive knowledge of shinobi matters shines in your technique, but you lack the confidence to reach your full potential. Your movements are clean, but hesitant. You cannot be afraid to make mistakes, otherwise you will never have the opportunity to learn from them."

"I guess so," Sakura nodded, looking somewhat embarrassed at having those characteristics pointed out.

Despite only having seen her fighting for a few minutes, it seemed to me that Gai's assessment was pretty accurate. Sakura was bold by nature - in canon, she readily defended Tazuna when they first got ambushed by Zabuza, and now I've witnessed it with my own eyes when she escaped with Takara on her back - but her self-consciousness and fears got in the way of following through with her decisions.

Not that I was one to talk, of course. The image of the assassins attacking would be forever imprinted into my memory.

Until the next attack overwrites them, probably.

Gai continued with as much gusto as ever. "Such is why you will train with my beloved Lee!"

Sakura was nodding along up until that moment, after which she was tense and nodded stiffly. "Haha… great…"

"There is no need to worry! Lee is a master of taijutsu - he will help build up your strength in no time!"

At least one of them looks excited, I thought, glancing between the two.

"What gives you the most trouble is your inability to decide, Satoko," Gai said, looking thoughtful as he spoke. "At times, you attack with confidence and assuredness, but in the next moment, you retreat and keep your distance. It's almost as though you're two minds arguing over what to do."

I laughed wearily. Isn't that a little too on the nose?

"I will take this opportunity to improve on your commitment to one strategy. Although it's good to keep many options in mind, it's no good to keep changing your mind in the middle of a battle. Otherwise, your opponent will use it against you and catch you off guard."

Tenten flashed me a smile at that, and I gave her a sheepish one in return. "Thanks, I'll work on that," I said, looking up at Gai.

"And Neji will help you!" he said. "Neji is well-practiced in the art of utilizing his skills when it is most advantageous. He can help you evaluate which type of approach is best in what situations so that you may gain confidence in your decisions and see them through."

I looked over at Neji, who looked neutral at best.

Ah, well I was gonna have to deal with him sooner or later.

It was kind of surreal how quickly and effectively Gai reached these conclusions. It wasn't anything too detailed, but his goals were certainly personalized for all three of us. It felt bad to think about, but we got more insight into our strengths and weaknesses in those few minutes than Kakashi had ever given us in the past few months.

No wonder Team Gai worked so well together, and why he was perfect for Kakashi - Gai was a damn genius at figuring out exactly what he needs to do to help those around him.

It occurred to me just then that, whether he was aware of this skill or not, Gai was terrifyingly good at reading people. If it weren't for his personality, he would've been great for intel. Then again, his personality is exactly what makes him suitable for teaching.

And being Kakashi's best friend.

Man. What a guy.

Gai clapped his hands together and smiled brightly at us. "Now then, let us begin!"

Each of us was assigned to a task specific to what Gai wanted us to work on. Sasuke's task was to use a single kunai to break a row of swinging targets made of paper. The idea was to wait until they were aligned so that the kunai would fly through all the targets in a row. Tenten was supposed to give him pointers while working on her own precision.

Lee was still openly excited to help Sakura with strength training. I think what Gai wanted was for Sakura to first get used to the idea of breaking and hitting things with all her strength, so it was pretty straightforward training that involved…breaking and hitting things. Considering how she turned out after the timeskip, I was confident in her potential for progress.

She never has any qualms about hitting me with full force, though.

Working with Neji was…an experience. More than anything else, it was tense and awkward. Gai told us to alternate between executing offensive and evasive maneuvers so that I could practice using only one at a time, but the first few moments were spent standing face to face in an uncomfortable silence.

"So, uh…" I glanced between him and the grass next to him, unsure of where to start. "I guess I'll start with evading?"

"It makes no difference to me," Neji said, already getting into stance.

I followed suit, albeit with much more anxiety, and went at it.

I never thought I was particularly bad, but Neji moved with sort of grace that I quickly learned that I couldn't even compare to. I knew in my head which steps to take, but my body wouldn't always move according to plan, and I often ended up taking more steps than necessary to get from point A to point B.

"Make your stance wider," he said simply.

Other times, I'd end up locked in place because I was too tense, or because I was trying to maneuver myself in a way that just didn't make sense.

"Lead with your right leg."

He continued to make short comments now and then, which I'd follow as best I could. Just as I thought I was getting the hang of it, I stumbled over my feet when trying to pivot out of the way.

Neji clicked his tongue and looked me up and down in disapproval. "With that kind of sloppy footwork, you should be going over your kata instead."

Before I could say anything in return, Gai materialized next to us and smiled down at him. "Excellent proposal, Neji! You can begin by helping Satoko review the basic sets."

"I didn't mean-"

"I will let you judge when she is ready to move on to other sets!"

He rushed off to check in with the other pairs before Neji could try and argue, leaving him scowling where Gai once stood. I looked away and refrained from laughing.

"For what it's worth, I'm pretty good at kata," I said with a meek smile.

Neji rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean much, coming from you."

I huffed. "See, now that's just mean."

I became so engrossed in doing kata that I didn't even realize the sun was setting, marking the end of our training for the day. After the chaos of the caravan mission, it was nice to have a recap on the basics. It felt like I'd forgotten everything I knew during those few moments of real battle, so hitting a few targets and putting my body through the motions reassured me that I still had the capacity for ninja business.

After we finished the last of our kata, Gai called us over for a final debriefing.

"Excellent work today, everyone! We will continue tomorrow. Rest well, for we will start bright and early as usual!"

"How early is early, exactly?" I asked, hesitant to know the answer.

"We rise with the sun, so that we may take full advantage of the daylight!" Lee explained brightly.

I grimaced and looked at the sky, watching the sun setting behind the trees. "Well, I guess it's not like we have anything else to do."

Although I should start sending my clones to research stuff again. And maybe buy some groceries.

"You get used to it," Tenten said, patting my back. "Eventually."

"No need to fret - the longer you absorb the warmth of the sun, the more energy you will have to train!" Gai said, giving us a thumbs up.

"Does he think we're plants?" Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"He certainly dresses like it," Sakura whispered back.

"Well then, I must take my leave. Have a wonderful evening, everyone!" And with that, Gai ran off into the distance and presumably directly to wherever the hell Kakashi was.

Hopefully, anyway.

"Sakura-chan!" Lee exclaimed, bouncing up to her once his sensei left. "It is getting dark. Would you like me to walk you home?"

Sakura took a step back and held her hands up, gesturing for him to keep his distance. "Uh, no thank you. I'm fine," she said, smiling stiffly. "I walk home alone all the time."

"Unacceptable! I insist on keeping you company!"

"Sorry, Lee. Sakura-chan and I made plans to buy groceries together on the way home today," I said, wrapping my arm around her neck. "Right, Sakura?"

"T-That's right!" she said, nodding furiously. "We live in the same area, so it's convenient."

"Oh, I see!" Lee accepted the excuse immediately and thankfully backed off. "I wouldn't want to intrude in your team bonding."

"No problem, you didn't know," I said with a polite smile.

I was lying, of course. It wasn't like I thought Lee was going to harm her - he obviously wouldn't - but he was still evidently making Sakura uncomfortable, and as much as I thought Lee was a way better guy than Sasuke, he could definitely stand to learn a thing or two about boundaries. Despite his good intentions, he could be very overwhelming.

Doesn't take very long to learn that he usually is.

"Anyway, we should get going. You're coming too, Bastard!" I said, hooking my arm around Sasuke's before he could escape.

"What the- let go!"

"Bye!" Tenten said, waving as she and her team left in the opposite direction.

"I look forward to training with you tomorrow, Sakura-chan!" Lee called.

"Walk faster!" she hissed to us in disgust, pulling me - and subsequently, Sasuke - along with her. She let us go only when we exited the field and we were well out of earshot. "He's so gross! I can't believe we have to train with him until Kakashi comes back."

"They're challenging opponents," Sasuke said, yanking his arm out of my grip. "Annoying, thought."

I put my hands in my pocket and shrugged. "At least they're nice," I said, and immediately felt the questionable stares from my teammates as we all definitely thought about Neji at the same time. "For the most part," I added, glancing at Sasuke. "And at least Neji can act polite."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said, glowering at me.

"It means you're a bastard, Bastard," I said, sticking my tongue out at him, to which he retaliated by jabbing my side. "Well, it doesn't matter. It's only until Kakashi-sensei comes back, anyway."

"Then he'd better come back soon."

"Yeah," Sakura sighed. "I hope it doesn't take too long to sort things out."

I nodded, but kept quiet, knowing full well that it wasn't exactly the case.

I could only imagine how Kakashi was feeling about learning that Obito's alive. Shock was certainly one emotion. Disbelief, maybe. But was he angry? Did he feel betrayed? Relieved? Happy?

Did he cry?

The conversations he had with the Hokage only implied how serious the situation was. I didn't know how these types of situations were usually handled, or if there'd ever even been one like this before, but for Kakashi to speak with the Hokage about it two days in a row and then go AWOL immediately afterwards certainly raised some flags.

I sighed to myself and shook my head. No matter how Kakashi was dealing with it, all I could do was silently count on Gai to support him until he was ready to come back.

Notes:

After credit scene: Satoko dragging Sasuke and Sakura along to buy groceries. Sakura ends up grabbing some stuff that's running out at home. Satoko jokingly gifts Sasuke a single tomato. He complains about it, but takes it home anyway because he doesn't want to waste food.

Chapter 23: Embrace the Spirit of Youth!

Summary:

Satoko tries to socialize with Neji. She also learns about the Wave mission. One of these things goes better than the other. Guess which one it is!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Days two and three of training were pretty similar to the first, except now we were already sore before we even got started.

A lot of it was going through kata and putting them into practice by drilling offensive and defensive maneuvers. It wasn't anything special, probably because the arrangement wasn't supposed to be long-term, but at least it gave me a good opportunity to get familiar with my peers.

Sort of.

It was kind of hard to gauge how well I was getting along with Neji. He seemed to be tolerating me just fine, but surely he only had so much patience for someone who kept messing up the few counterattack maneuvers we'd been practicing. Even I was starting to get fed up with myself.

"Have you forgotten the basics already?" Neji sighed, lowering his arms so he could adjust mine. "Relax your shoulders. Face forward. Keep your weight on your back leg."

I sucked in a deep breath and followed his corrections for what must've been the tenth time on this one exercise alone. I controlled my exhale with a clenched jaw and forced my shoulder to relax despite my increasing heart rate. One of the few things I could usually take pride in was my ability to learn quickly, especially when it came to using my body, so my inability to get this one damn thing right was starting to wear me down.

Learning kata was a lot like learning a dance - something I'd been doing ever since I was a child. Going through the movements wasn't the problem. Applying them in combat, however, introduced an entirely new rhythm to the combinations that threw everything off. I became so focused on what I was supposed to do that I started forgetting how to do it because actual combat involved making quick, mental calculations in response to what my opponent was doing. Then again, I mostly only performed choreographed pieces; improvisation was never my forte.

"Again," Neji said, for what must have been the dozenth time for this one exercise alone.

I nodded and got into my starting stance, ready to give it yet another shot.

The more we ran through different simulations, the more I realized how correct Gai was in his assessment of me. If one tactic didn't work the first time, my first instinct was to change plans and try something else. This only created an opening for Neji to break through my stance and knock me off my feet.

It inevitably happened again.

"Damn it!" I cried before I'd even hit the ground.

I couldn't take it anymore - I groaned and flopped onto my back, letting gravity pull my arms to the ground with a painful thud.

Shortly after I started glaring at the sky, Neji appeared in my line of sight, frowning down at me.

"I didn't peg you as the type to give up so easily," he said, "but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering you were at the bottom of your class. A failure will always be a failure."

I shoved myself into a sitting position and scowled up at Neji. I highly doubted he'd said what he said with the underlying intention of getting me motivated the way Kakashi often did. No - he was just being mean, so I got pissed and annoyed, through and through.

"Hey man, I'm trying!" I snapped. My voice was louder than I'd intended it to be, but since I was already yelling, I figured I'd might as well keep at it. "Just because I don't get it in one day doesn't mean I'm a failure! And just because I wasn't good in the Academy doesn't mean I can't improve!"

"So long as your improvement is slow, it'll be insignificant compared to your peers. More importantly, it'll be insignificant to your enemies," Neji said. "Abilities and talents are determined at birth. Your destiny dictates that no matter what, you'll still be a failure in the end."

"If that's the case, then I guess you'll still be a bastard no matter what!" I retorted. "Man, I can't believe you and Hinata-chan are related. She's way nicer."

I didn't really think about what I said until I'd said it, but by then it was too late. The air became tense around us and Neji's eyes narrowed into a cold glare. I tried to act as aloof as possible considering I wasn't supposed to know how sensitive a topic Hinata was, but it was hard not to shrink under the weight of his scowl. At least I didn't have to fake avoiding eye-contact.

Well, I guess now I have a reason to dig into his backstory.

A lot happened during the Chuunin Exams that ultimately helped Neji work through his issues about destiny - it even got him an apology from Hiashi himself - but it was almost at the cost of Hinata's life. If I had the chance to help him work through those issues without almost killing his cousin, I sure as hell was going to take it. I just had to figure out where to start.

Protagonist had the benefit of getting Neji's entire backstory handed to him in the form of a dramatic monologue. He also witnessed Neji beating the crap out of Hinata and got to use that against him. I, on the other hand, didn't have much to work with besides a few insults. I had to find some other way to get through to him.

So, against my better judgement, I pushed.

"What, you have something against Hinata-chan?" I muttered, crossing my arms and playing dumb.

I felt a little bad about it, but he was the one being unnecessarily rude to begin with, so I comforted myself with the idea that this made us even. Sort of. It didn't really matter, I supposed - it's not like he thought very highly of me in the first place.

Before he could say something that I'm sure was going to be bitter and cold, Gai materialized behind him and clapped his hand on Neji's shoulder.

"I think now would be a good time for a break!" he declared with a smile, looking between us. "Would you like to join me for lunch, Neji?"

Neji was quiet for a moment, until he relaxed his shoulders with a sigh and his expression went from an angry scowl to his usual, neutral scowl. "I don't think you're actually giving me a choice, Sensei."

Gai laughed heartily, but he didn't actually deny anything. "We will return shortly!" he said, pulling Neji along as he left.

I waved after them briefly before turning around to get my lunch. Instead, I came face to face with Tenten and Lee. I was about to greet them, but they cut right to the chase.

"Sorry about him," Tenten started. "Neji's always been a little touchy about his family."

Oh, good. Bringing up the topic was easier than I thought it'd be.

"What's up with his family?" I asked, thankful to finally have a chance to figure out what went down.

We started walking back to get our lunches while Tenten continued, her voice low as she spoke.

"The Hyuuga clan is divided into two houses - the main family and the branch family. It's the branch family's sworn duty to serve and protect those of the main family, even if it costs them their lives. They're supposed to never disobey the main family."

I swallowed. I already knew about the Hyuuga clan, but it was still upsetting to hear about it in person. I took note of how she didn't mention the Caged Bird Seal. I assumed she knew about it and chose to withhold that information, considering how it didn't seem to come as a surprise to her when he revealed it in canon.

"What does that have to do with Neji and Hinata-chan?" I asked, retrieving my bento from my bag while they did the same.

"Neji-kun is of the branch family while Hinata-chan is from the main," Lee explained. He took a seat next to Tenten while I sat across from them. "Because of this, he… his relationship with Hinata-chan is not favourable."

I averted my gaze, focusing instead on my bento. "I didn't know," I lied.

"It's okay," Tenten reassured with a smile. "It's not your fault, and he's been especially touchy since we got back."

"Did something happen during the mission?" I asked. I spent the past few days dying to know what happened, but never had a chance to bring it up until now. It was a good a time as any to finally get some answers.

"Sorta," she said, exchanging glances with Lee. "Do you remember Haku, the boy we brought back with us?"

I nodded. It was impossible to forget him when he was supposed to be dead; I'd been dying to know how the hell he made it back in the first place.

"I could not hear their exchange, but during their fight, Haku-san said something to Neji that I believe upset him," Lee said.

"He ignored Haku the entire way home," Tenten elaborated.

I pondered this for a short moment, but the potential answer came pretty easily.

Haku's whole deal was that he saw himself as Zabuza's weapon. Everything he did was for the sake of fulfilling Zabuza's will, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. Neji, on the other hand, was forced to be the main family's meat shield and follow their will. If what Haku said to Neji was anything along the lines of what he'd said to Protagonist, it was no wonder Neji had gotten upset.

I swallowed a mouthful of rice before asking, "They fought? Haku didn't look very threatening."

"I can testify that he was indeed a formidable opponent!" Lee interjected just as he took a bite of his lunch. "He possesses a unique kekkei genkai that allows him to use ice-type ninjutsu. I myself struggled to keep up with Haku's movements from outside his-"

Tenten jabbed him in the side, abruptly cutting him off with a yelp.

"Outside of what?" I asked, hoping that they would elaborate further about Haku's Ice Prison.

She smiled tightly. "Haku used his ice to separate Lee so he could fight Neji one-on-one," was all she said about the matter.

"What a cheap shot," I said, not pressing for details despite being obviously aware that there was something Tenten didn't want me to know. Naturally, I started thinking about what it might be.

From what I could gather, Neji got trapped in Haku's Ice Prison while Lee attacked from the outside.

Does she not want Lee to talk about the Ice Prison?

That made no sense though, since information about the Ice Prison itself wasn't really confidential. Me knowing about it would only put Haku at a disadvantage, and only if I ever fought him. I was pretty confident that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

It had to be something that would put her or one of her teammates at a potential disadvantage if I knew about it, then. We were allies, but she knew better than to show all their cards, especially with the Chuunin Exams coming up. Maybe she didn't want Lee to accidentally mention his weights, or maybe it involved one of Neji's fancy techniques-

My brain stalled for a moment before pulling up all the images that I could remember from the Chuunin Exams. I sifted through all the events that involved Neji until I paused on the image of him defending himself against Protagonist's clones with the kaiten. Not only was it a very fancy technique that created an almost impenetrable defense around him, it was a technique that, as a member of the branch family, Neji wasn't ever supposed to know.

I'd say that's qualifies as "something."

It also gave me somewhere to start helping Neji without having to use Hinata as a punching bag. Now I just had to figure out a way to get Team Gai to actually tell me about it. Seeing as that was definitely going to be a whole new pain in the ass to figure out, I decided to save that problem for another day. It's not like Neji was suddenly going to stop having problems tomorrow; though that would save me a lot of time and effort.

For now, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about the events of the Wave mission.

"What happened to Haku, anyway?" I asked, keeping the subject focused on him instead of Neji, who they obviously didn't want to reveal too much about.

"He was taken to T&I along with Gatou," Tenten explained. "Gatou has a one-way ticket to prison once they get information from him. Haku has a kekkei genkai, though, and he was much closer to Zabuza, so they'll probably hold onto him for a while."

"Zabuza?" I repeated, realizing just then that they'd never actually mentioned him by name before.

"Oh, yes! Zabuza was Haku's mentor, unfortunately," Lee said, looking rather grim despite his high energy. "He was a tremendously powerful S-Ranked nukenin, but he was still no match for Tenten and Gai-sensei's combined strength!"

Tenten gave him a shove. "Cut it out, Lee," she said, although she happily accepted the praise with a proud grin. I made a mental note: ask Tenten to teach Sakura about taking compliments. "He's the guy I got my sword from," she explained.

" Awesome ," I said with maximum sincerity. "Wait, how did you guys end up fighting an S-Ranked nukenin on a genin mission?" I asked, only because it would've felt weird not to question something so obviously unusual.

"Funny story actually," Tenten started, "it wasn't even our original mission. It got assigned to us last-minute when we were just about to leave for another one."

I tried not to laugh to myself at the mention of it . Yeah, sorry about that.

"As it turns out though, our client couldn't afford to pay for a mission higher than a C-Rank, even though he knew there were potential risks against his life."

"It was the most unfortunate of circumstances!" Lee added.

"So he lied?" They nodded, and I gasped loudly for dramatic effect. "No way, so did ours!"

"No kidding!" Tenten exclaimed. "How?"

Right before I was about to delve into the story of our mission, a shadow suddenly creep over us. I looked up and saw my teammates staring down at me disapprovingly.

"Do you ever shut up?" Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"Honestly, we could hear you from across the field," Sakura huffed. "What're you yelling about this time?"

I patted the grass next to me and grinned. "I was just about to tell them about our mission! It was awesome - we took down an entire drug cartel!" I said, turning to Tenten and Lee.

"Don't bore them, I'm sure they've been on plenty of missions that were way more exciting," Sakura said. Despite her complaints, she still took a seat next to me. Sasuke joined on my other side.

I knew it - nobody can resist the chance to boast about an awesome mission.

"Please, do share! We would be honoured to hear about your tales of bravery!" Lee declared, eyes wide and fully alert.

"Yeah! We helped free a town from poverty, but we've never dealt with a drug cartel before," Tenten said, grinning.

I smiled widely and wolfed down the rest of my lunch so I could focus on telling the tale of our mission gone awry. "Okay, okay! So, it started out as a pretty standard escort mission…"

We spent the rest of our break sharing the events of our respective missions until finally, we came to the part I was dying to hear.

"You got to name a bridge?!" I exclaimed. "Oh my god, I have to hear this."

"Tenten! As I had the honour of sharing the news with Neji, I insist that you be the one to inform our kouhai!"

"It's only fitting," Tenten agreed with a comically sage nod. "Are you guys ready for this?"

I nodded furiously. "Yes. "

"Why do I feel like I already know what it's going to be?" Sakura said.

"We named it…" Tenten grinned widely, and with her arms spread wide open, she announced, "The Bridge of the Youthful Flame!"

I was immediately overcome with a feeling that could only being described as the Springtime of Youth and punched the air. " YES! "

"Oh my god," Sasuke and Sakura muttered in unison.

"As if you guys could come up with a better name," I scoffed, elbowing them both in the sides.

"As if you wouldn't name it after something equally stupid like ramen," Sasuke quipped, elbowing me back.

"Ramen isn't stupid," I snapped back. "And neither are the Flames of Y-"

A thunderous clap echoed across the field just then, dissipating our excitement and startling us into whipping out heads towards the source of the sound. We saw Gai standing with his hands together, beaming at us.

"Let us resume our training!" He announced. Neji was by his side, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

I made a disgruntled sound at the back of my throat. "Great."

Tenten offered me a sympathetic smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure Gai-sensei had a chat with him."

"Yes! So long as you continue to try your best, I am sure our beloved teammate will train with you in good faith!" Lee said, giving me a thumbs up and an equally blinding smile.

I smiled back at them. "Thanks."

Trying hard wasn't exactly winning me any points with Neji, but until I could get one of them to tell me about the kaiten, there wasn't much I could do besides my best.

It'll have to do for now , I thought warily.

As my teammates paired off with Tenten and Lee, Neji and I approached each other in silence. I didn't want to speak first because as childish as it may sound, he'd started it, but I also hated the uncomfortable tension that would only get worse as the silence droned on.

Thankfully, Neji initiated conversation with a curt sigh. "I apologize."

I relaxed the tension in my shoulders, if only by a little bit.

Alright, off to a good start.

"According to Gai-sensei, it was rude of me to call you a failure, at least to your face."

Annnd there it is.

I rolled my eyes. "I may suck at kata, but you suck at apologies," I grumbled.

Neji grunted the same way Sasuke grunted when he wasn't not agreeing, but still wasn't exactly agreeing, either. I took it as a sign of compliance.

He must've decided that was enough because he got right back to business.

"Gai-sensei has suggested that we move on to something else for a change of pace." He sat down and crossed his legs. "I'm going to assume you at least know how to meditate."

I scoffed and plopped myself down next to him. "Of course I do." I didn't, but it was a lot easier to fake meditation than it was to fake knowing how to say, perform a 5-step evasive maneuver.

Neji didn't look particularly thrilled about our latest exercise. Neither was I, given that I was never very good at sitting still in absolute silence, but I appreciated the time it gave me to think about how I could get Neji to reveal his kaiten.

The first method that came to mind was attacking him from all angles. I was certain he'd used it before during training to defend against Tenten's onslaught of weapons, but the chances of them doing that while we were around were slim. My other option was to attack him myself with an onslaught of clones.

I wasn't particularly fond of overusing the clones, however. I learned from the caravan mission that the rush of memories that came back to me after they were dissipated were confusing and gave me a headache. I had no idea how Protagonist handled so many memories of him getting beat up rushing back to him all at once. Maybe he just didn't care, but I did. It was stressful as all hell, and super unpleasant. I greatly preferred using them for things like scouting or gathering intel.

My other option was to take a conversational approach. I could ask him directly about his clan and what techniques they were known for. Except that involved getting Neji to talk about his clan, which wasn't very likely. Then again, he wasn't the only Hyuuga I knew.

Hinata might faint before I get any answers from her, though…

I decided to at least give the conversational approach a shot before resorting to tracking down external sources. Neji was already here, after all.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to speak, however, he spoke first.

"Meditation is typically done in silence," Neji said without even opening his eyes.

I shut my mouth and scowled.

How the hell did he know?

Fine. I'd just have to try again tomorrow.

Unfortunately, tomorrow was too busy spent applying the maneuvers in a spar, and the day after was spent recovering from the severe ass-whooping I got from those spars. By the seventh day, my mind was preoccupied with something else entirely.

It had been a week since we started training with Team Gai and even as we wrapped things up for the day, there was still no sign of Kakashi.

"Do you guys think he's still, like…alive?" I asked, glancing between my teammates.

"Don't make jokes like that!" Sakura scolded, elbowing my side. "Gai-sensei said he was wrapping things up at the capital, so if he's dying, it's probably from boredom."

"He's probably just wasting time over there and reading his book," Sasuke said.

I laughed wearily. If it weren't for Hidari, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if that actually turned out to be true.

"Let's ask Gai-sensei again," I said. "He must know something. Maybe he can even deliver a message for us!"

"He said he wasn't in contact with Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said dismissively. It was obvious that he just didn't want to bother.

I gave him a look that said both I know we all silently agreed he was obviously lying about that and This is gonna be a team effort whether you like it or not, asshole.

Sasuke scoffed. "Fine."

"I think it'd be nice if we could get a message to Kakashi-sensei," Sakura agreed. She then added less enthusiastically, "Maybe it'll make him work faster so he can come back and free us from these impossible training sessions."

I rolled my shoulders thoughtfully. "I'm actually getting pretty used to them."

"That's because your stamina is insane!" Sakura said with a huff. "I've never been more exhausted and bruised in my entire life. I haven't been able to use chopsticks all week because of all this punching!" she said, flexing her hands.

I didn't get a chance to take a good look at them until now, but Sakura's hands were wrapped in bandages up to her elbows. From what I could see, her fingernails were cracked and her skin was getting callused. She flexed her hands again, wincing from what I could imagine was the sharp pain of open cuts and sore joints.

"Ouch. Looks painful," I said sympathetically, "but it's so cool that you're still giving it your all, Sakura-chan! It looks like you're learning a lot from Lee!"

"He's weird," was her immediately response, although she quickly continued with a pensive sigh, "but… he obviously has a lot of experience, and he's really encouraging, so I've been putting up with it! And he finally stopped asking me out everyday."

She looked like she didn't want to admit that she was actually learning stuff from him. In her defense, if I didn't already know what kind of person Lee was, I probably would've felt the same.

"He just has way too much energy," she added. "I don't think I'll ever be able to keep up! You'd get along with him just fine, though," she said, looking at me.

"Hey, if you're offering to switch with me and train with Grumpy McFrown, be my guest," I said, resting my hands behind my head. "He's been kicking my ass all week, and he's the complete opposite of encouraging when he does it."

"It's your fault you never learned your kata properly in the first place," Sasuke said.

"Man, you're never on my side." I swatted at his head, which he dodged effortlessly. "What're you doing with Tenten-senpai?"

"Target practice," he answered. "It's a waste of my time."

"You think everything's a waste of your time," I retorted.

"That's because Sasuke-kun is already great at everything!" Sakura chimed.

"Oh yeah? Then why'd he get his butt kicked by Lee?"

"Shut up," Sasuke grumbled, swatting at my head in return.

I dodged with a grin. "Let's go talk to Gai-sensei before he leaves," I said, changing the subject back to the issue at hand.

We grabbed our bags and hustled over. "Gai-sensei!"

He turned to us and flashed a bright smile. "Hello, beloved students of my Eternal Rival! Do you have any questions about your training today? Perhaps you seek some further advice on how to embrace the Flames of Youth!"

"No, no, we're pretty good on that front. Neji's been doing a great job teaching me all about that," I said, ignoring the cold glare I instantly felt stabbing at my back. At least it was accompanied by a snort that could've only come from Tenten. "We were hoping you could give us an update on Kakashi-sensei. It's been a while; he's still alive, right?"

I batted Sakura's hand away before she could pinch me.

"Haha, but of course!" he responded, flashing a smile. The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes flickered to and from mine. These tics did not go unnoticed. "It is not uncommon for urgent matters, such as the one he has been tasked with, to take longer than anticipated. Such is the way of politics, after all!"

"But it's been a week now," Sakura said, crossing her arms in thought. "Our entire mission was over in less than three days. It must be serious if it's taking this long."

"Maybe we set too many things on fire," Sasuke drawled, staring at me pointedly.

"Don't pretend like you're not an accomplice," I retorted. I turned my attention back to Gai. "Do you think you can get a courier to deliver a message to him? It should be doable since he's only stationed in the capital, right?"

I could see in the look of his eyes that Gai wanted to shut me down - maybe he was considering trying to convince us that it wasn't possible - but he was easy to break. His smile was already cracking. I made a point not to look away and could physically see his reservations crumbling down around him.

"It would be cruel of me to refuse such a heartwarming request!" he finally exclaimed, forcing his smile back on in full. He whipped out his notebook and pressed pencil to paper. "I am prepared to deliver any and all messages you may have! What will it be, a personal essay? Poetry? A monologue? I can even perform if you so-"

"Just a few messages," Sakura said, cutting him off with a stiff smile. Gai nodded firmly. "We want him to know that we're getting tired of waiting for him to come back."

Scribble scribble.

"And that we're worried he's died of boredom," I added.

Scribble.

"And that he's supposed to be teaching us ninjutsu instead of wasting time halfway across the country," Sasuke said.

Pause.

Scribble scribble scribble.

Gai snapped his notebook shut and struck a dynamic pose topped with a sparkling thumbs up. "I swear on my life that I will get this message delivered to Kakashi! If I fail, I will do 500 laps around the village while carrying ten cows on my back!"

"That's dangerous for the cows, Sensei," Tenten cautioned.

"Oh! You make an excellent point, my dear pupil!" Gai said, patting her on the back. "Then I will carry a boulder the the weight of ten cows!"

"Yosh! If so, then I will join you and carry a boulder the weight of twenty cows!" Lee declared.

"I'm going home," Neji interjected, having had enough of his team's nonsense.

"Ah, yes! Rest well, everyone, for tomorrow we will be starting something new!" Gai announced.

"Not sure I like the sounds of that," I muttered to my teammates.

Sasuke frowned. "It better not involve cows."

Notes:

After credit scene: Gai's passionate energy dissipates upon his return home. He carefully tears the message out of his notebook and places it on his dresser for safekeeping. Although he knows where Kakashi went, he does not know when he will return. Kakashi did not say much before his departure - only the vague mention of a friend and a gift he'd once received.

It is not much, but it is enough for Gai to conclude that it will be a while. Whenever it may be, Gai vows to welcome Kakashi home with eternal love and support, and a crushing embrace.

Chapter 24: The Burning Passion of Youth!

Summary:

The genin engage in a friendly competition.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The idea of starting "something new" haunted me. Coming from Gai, it could mean anything. Sparring while balancing on stalks of bamboo? With a basket of eggs on our heads? While on fire? The possibilities were endless.

I dreamt about cows that night.

I didn't know what to expect as I headed to the training field the next morning. Just that no matter what it was, I wouldn't be ready for it.

I was...wrong.

The training field was set up in a way that brought back nostalgic memories of summer camp and grade school gym classes. There were two poles behind Gai, and at the top of each pole was a flag.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself, fighting the urge to smile. "We're playing Capture the Flag."

"What?" Sasuke asked, as if he misheard what I said.

"Capture the Flag! It's the 'something new' Gai-sensei said we were starting today," I said with air quotes.

Sasuke stared at me, perplexed. "You mean Retrieve the Rag?"

"Retrieve the-" I pressed my lips together and furrowed my brow, nodding. "…Yeah, that."

Sasuke looked at me like I was the weird one. I shook it off.

"Good morning, dear students of Kakashi!" Gai greeted, arms as wide as his grin. His team was already on the field, standing on either side of him. "I can already see the flames of excitement burning in your eyes! I am sure you are all familiar with this set up - today we will warm up with a youthful game of Retrieve the Rag!"

Sasuke and I exchanged glances, but said nothing.

"Oh no," Sakura said. I wasn't an expert, but I was almost certain nothing was burning in her eyes. "We're playing against them?"

"Not necessarily," Gai said. He pulled something out from his item pouch, revealing six wooden sticks. "The teams will be chosen through a random draw!"

Sakura sighed in relief, and honestly, so did I. I wouldn't want to have to face any of them, even as a team.

We took turns drawing sticks one by one. The ends were coloured in either green or blue. When we were all done, I looked up at the team matchups and swallowed.

Classic.

"I was hoping for a challenge," Neji said with his arms crossed, blue stick in hand.

Tenten scoffed. "Careful who you're talking to, buddy." She twirled her stick between fingers effortlessly, drawing green circles in the air.

"A most exciting combination!" Lee exclaimed, clenching is blue stick tight in his hand. "I look forward to challenging you, Sakura-chan!"

"L…Likewise," Sakura said warily, looking unsure of the green stick in her hands. Her eyes were still lacking any spark of excitement, and with good reason. "Good luck, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke grunted. "I don't need it."

I scowled at Sasuke and put on an air of confidence. "We'll see about that." I turned back to my team with a grin. "Let's take these boys down!"

"Quite the grand statement for someone who took three days to learn basic kata," Neji said.

I whipped my head around and glowered. "You should know better than to underestimate your opponents!"

"Satoko-" Sakura warned, but the ball was already rolling.

"Tenten poses an actual threat," he said without breaking eye contact even for a moment. "You, on the other hand, are about as threatening as a newborn fawn."

I SWEAR TO GOD-

"Hey!" Tenten snapped before I could retaliate - not that I much of a retaliation, because I was just gonna call him a jerkface. She clapped her hands onto mine and Sakura's shoulders and stared him down. "Underestimating my teammates means underestimating me, too, and you know how much I hate to see you get cocky."

Oh snap, Tenten-senpai coming in clutch.

Neji turned smug. "You're strong, but even you can't carry two dead-weights and still keep up."

HEY.

Tenten matched his expression and crossed her arms. "You of all people should know that the key is to work with the weights instead of against them."

…Wait, did she just agree that me and Sakura are dead-weights?

They stared each other down, sparks flying between them. Despite the rising tension, it looked like they were having fun. Was that normal? It had to be - Gai was doing nothing to stop it, and Lee's eye were glimmering with excitement.

"House rules," Neji finally said. "Five hundred laps."

"What?" I asked, eyes wide. "Five hundred laps of what?"

"Agreed," Tenten said, ignoring me.

They looked up at Gai, who beamed down at them and nodded. "One round. Ten minutes. Winners take all!"

"YOSH!" Lee cheered, punching the air in front of him. "If I lose, I shall run backwards!"

"What's the house rules?" I asked, looking between Sakura and Sasuke. They were just as confused and alarmed as I was. "Five hundred laps of what?"

"You have five minutes to plant your flags and strategize," Gai continued, disregarding my increasing distress. "Whoever steals the other team's flag and ties it to their post first, wins. Anything is fair game. However! You must hit only where it hurts, not where it-"

"-Maims?" "-Kills." "-Permanently disables!" His team answered in unison.

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

"Excellent!" Gai laughed. He clapped his hands together. "Your five minutes start now!"

Before I could even process what just happened, Tenten grabbed the flag and dashed into the forest. "Let's go!"

I stumbled after her, heart racing from the fear of what would happen if we lost.

"FIVE HUNDRED LAPS OF WHAT?!"

It wasn't until after we planted our flag post when I finally had the chance to ask what the hell just happened.

"What the hell just happened?!"

Tenten was focused on making sure our flag was secured. Without looking back she said, "Just some friendly competition to keep it interesting!"

"What happens if we lose?!" I demanded, desperate for an answer.

"Don't worry about that," Tenten said nonchalantly, waving her hand. "What matters is what we get when we win. "

"Which is?"

She grinned wide. "The day off."

. "…Yeah, alright, I'll fight to the death for that." I raised my brows and rolled my shoulder. It was still sore from all the sparring from the other day, but I could suck it up.

Tenten laughed. "Exactly! Just keep your eyes on the prize." She gave the flag one final tug and faced us, grinning wide. "Don't worry. I know my teammates' weaknesses, and you guys know Sasuke's. We just need to come up with a good strategy!"

"But they know our weaknesses, too," Sakura said.

"Well, yeah - that's what makes it fun!" Tenten said, beaming. "Okay, let's be quick and smart about this. I'm going to set some traps while we talk." She examined her surroundings before picking a direction to walk in. "There's three positions - defense, offense, and retriever. We'll want to have ways to counter each position while figuring out a way to get their flag."

I had no idea if her idea was actually good or not, but I also had no idea whether or not five minute was considered a long time for this kind of strategizing. It felt like nothing to me, so I was more than happy to let Tenten take the lead. She clearly knew what she was doing, anyway. Sakura seemed to agree, because she remained quiet and attentive as Tenten continued.

"We'll make a strategy based on the assumption that Neji is the retriever. I could be wrong, but it's the most likely scenario."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, watching as she carefully tightened a tripwire set to unleash a rain of senbon needles.

"My teammates know that I'll set traps, which means Neji is likely to use his Byakugan to navigate around them. It's more efficient than guiding someone else through the terrain, especially when we're fighting head on."

"Doesn't that mean there's no point in setting any? They already know what to expect," Sakura asked.

Tenten shook her head. "We can catch him off guard if we're smart about it." Her eyes had a devious glint to them. "I've been his teammate for a year now - I know a few ways to make his life harder."

"And anything that would work against Neji would work just as well on Sasuke and Lee?" I offered as an additional point.

"Exactly." Tenten smiled.

"But wouldn't his Byakugan make him a good defense, too?" Sakura asked. "He could see who's coming from all directions."

"He wouldn't want to risk having to show his kai-ai-I-I mean, secret technique!" Tenten said, stammering over her slipup.

I knew it. He used the kaiten during the Wave mission.

"Secret technique?" I asked, hoping to pry some more information out of her.

"We all have some cards in our deck that we want to keep hidden," she said, brushing it off. "We may be training together right now, but who knows when we'll end up facing off."

Like during the Chuunin Exams, I thought.

"Fair enough." I shrugged.

"FOUR MINUTES!"

"More importantly," Tenten started, changing the subject, "are either of you good with genjutsu?"

I looked up at Sakura, who was furrowing her brow. "I can cast some basic illusions - nothing too complex," she said.

"That's all we need," Tenten said with a smile. "Neji can detect genjutsu, but the way he detects it is by identifying changes in chakra patterns. So if we use a genjutsu to conceal a clone, for example-"

"-he'll have a harder time spotting the clone," Sakura finished. "It's like camouflage."

"Exactly."

"We can conceal a bunch of them and ambush the retriever," Sakura said, looking at me.

"That strategy doesn't have a good payoff," I said, shaking my head. "I get all the clones' memories when they dissipate, so it's super disorienting and is generally a bad time. I'm ok with a few, though. I can transform them, too."

Sakura gave a pensive nod. "I didn't realize it took such a mental toll…"

"I have another idea, though," I said, a smile creeping its way to my lips. "Tenten-senpai, does your arsenal include anything that has more of a bang?"

Tenten mirrored my smile and pulled out her scroll, unsealing two canister-shaped objects.

"How about these?"

I gasped, eyes lighting up with glee. "Perfect."

"This one activates with chakra," she said, putting one into Sakura's hand. "Can you conceal it?"

Sakura looked down at the object in her hand and nodded slowly. "Y…Yeah…"

"Great! I'll tell you how to set that up when you cast it. Satoko, you hold onto this one," Tenten said, putting the other one in my hand. "Just pull the pin and throw."

"I am loving this." I grinned, pocketing the canister. Sakura looked nowhere near as excited as I was, but that was to be expected.

Tenten laughed and started heading off in a new direction. "Use it on my cue."

Sakura stayed a step behind and murmured, "No wonder you call her senpai; she's just like you. Except she actually knows what she's doing."

"Are you implying that I should or shouldn't learn from her?" I murmured back.

Sakura made a disgruntled sound from the back of her throat and walked ahead.

"Lee hits fast and hard. I'd put him on offense," Tenten said. She slipped between the trees and foliage with ease while stringing some kunai onto a thread of wire. "We need to be quick, so our best bet is to lead him into a trap to get him out of the way."

"That leaves Sasuke," I said. "You don't happen to have a bucket of water in your scrolls, do you?" I asked wryly.

"Be serious," Sakura scolded. "Explosives could work, though. We could get him to use his ninjutsu too close to some tags."

I laughed under my breath. "Yeah, if he's got one weakness, it's accidentally blowing things up. And he says I'm the reckless one."

I hopped away before Sakura could jab my side.

"Explosives are likely to do more harm than good in this kind of close-quarters environment. They work better when you can lead your opponent into the trap. Otherwise, you end up hurting your own." Tenten said, shaking her head. "We'll just have to fend him off the old fashion way."

"What about another trap?" I asked.

Tenten shook her head. "It's hard enough to get one person, let alone a second person who'll see it coming. He's the easiest to fight one-on-one, anyway, and if all goes according to plan, it'll be at least two against one."

"THREE MINUTES!"

"Shit, we're running out of time," I murmured.

"We still need to decide on our positions," Sakura said. She was starting to get tense as the minutes ticked by.

"And a way to get the flag," Tenten added.

Sakura was deep in thought before she suddenly dropped her fist into her hand and gasped. "Oh! Tenten, how long is your range?"

Tenten's face lit up. "Long enough for what you're thinking of."

"What're you thinking of?" I asked, squinting at them suspiciously.

"She can get you past the defense by throwing you as a kunai," Sakura explained.

"I can seal you in one of my scrolls and throw you with the rest of my arsenal," Tenten said.

I scrunched up my face. "Is that…safe?"

"Sure!" She said, giving me a thumbs up. "Besides, you'd get dispelled almost immediately if I put you in my holster, and Neji would be able to tell you're using a transformation jutsu if he saw you."

"I guess that makes sense…" I murmured. "Wait, why does it have to be me?!"

"Because you can replace yourself with a clone," Sakura said.

I huffed. "Fine."

Tenten hummed. "Ah…but Neji would see that it's a clone and know that something's up."

Sakura and I shook our heads in unison. "My clones are different," I said simply.

Tenten raised her brow. "Oh? What makes them so special?"

I grinned. "That's a card I'm not gonna reveal just yet."

She laughed, dismissing me with a wave. "Fair enough."

"More importantly, is it safe to get sealed inside a scroll?" I asked.

The idea of getting sealed into a scroll was…unnerving, but I guess there was a first time for everything. And apparently it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, given their expectations. "As long as I don't get stuck in some alternate dimension or something."

"My seals are made with love and care. There's no way you'd get stuck," Tenten reassured.

"If you say so…" I'd just have to trust that they knew what they were doing, then. "Now the question is, how do we bring it to our side without getting caught? Not to mention, this is all happening while the boys are trying to get our flag, too."

"These traps will keep their retriever busy for a while yet," Tenten said, looking proud of her work. "I have some ideas on how to stop them from getting it back to their flag post-"

"TWO MINUTES!"

We exchanged glances before hurrying back to our flag to make our final preparations.

"Okay, we have two minutes to come up with a strategy to bring the flag back to our post," Tenten said once we were settled.

I sucked in a deep breath and shook out my hands. "Okay, we've got this! If we learned anything from our mission it's that we're quick on our feet and that Sakura works really well under pressure."

"Just hurry up and think!" she snapped.

"Okay, okay!"

I closed my eyes and desperately searched the encyclopedia in my brain for ideas. I didn't bring any bombs with me, so those were out of the question. Otherwise, my arsenal was made up of standard weaponry. We didn't have many techniques to choose from, either, which was both a blessing and a curse. It limited our options, but at least I didn't have to think too much.

Transformation, clones, transportation-

"The Substitution Technique!" I gasped, snapping my eyes open. "Sakura, what else did you learn from Lee this week?"

She made a face. "I don't like where this is going."

"Just hear me out," I said.

I quickly explained my idea, and immediately Sakura's mouth fell open.

"What?! No! I can't do that!"

"C'mon, I'm the one getting sealed into a scroll! It doesn't need to be perfect," I said. "You just need to buy some time. You've been doing strength training all week, You've got this."

"But there's no way that'll work against him! Right, Senpai?" Sakura asked, desperately seeking support from Tenten.

Tenten smiled warily and shrugged. "Actually, the Substitution Technique is more about who has the most chakra, so it should be fine. It's definitely clever - he'd never see it coming."

Sakura deflated. "But I can't just-!"

"ONE MINUTE!"

"We don't have time for other options," Tenten said, pulling out one of her scrolls. "How much do you guys know about sealing?"

"Nothing," I answered immediately. "Why?"

"Making them is hard, but using them is pretty simple," she explained, pulling out one of her scrolls. "Just put a little chakra into it and- poof! I'll seal the flag, but if we get thrown out of formation, any one of us can unseal the flag. Got it?"

Sakura and I nodded.

"Okay, now there's something else…"

A small diagram in the dirt later, we were ready to go.

"Everybody clear on the details?" Tenten asked, wiping the diagram away.

"We don't really have a choice," Sakura said, standing up on her feet. "Just make sure you focus, Satoko! This depends on your timing!"

"Don't worry, this is nothing compared to our mission!" I said, giving her a reassuring grin. "Just remember to get his arms."

"I still don't think-"

"TEN SECONDS!" Gai yelled, cutting her off."

"No more chit chat - cast the genjutsu, Sakura!"

"O-Okay! False Surroundings Technique!"

"Now just pull the pin and-"

"FIVE!"

"-good, careful not to hit it. Satoko, I'll leave the other one to you."

"FOUR!

"No problem," I said while making the hand seal to transform.

"Oh yeah, one more thing!" Tenten said right before I did.

"THREE!"

"If the round ends in a draw, everybody has to run five hundred laps around the village."

"Wait, what?!"

"TWO!"

WHAT KIND OF HOUSE RULES ARE THESE?!

"ONE!"

AGH, FORGET IT-!

Poof!

I hastily made the tiger hand seal, barely managing to transform when a surge of chakra hit me. In an instant, I was gone.

Getting sealed in a scroll was downright alarming, to say the least. It all happened so fast - there was the blast chakra and a sort of push-and-pull sensation, followed by that abrupt feeling of falling and waking up in bed. Except instead of a bed, I was in the dimensional pocket of the sealing scroll.

There was no impact - just the sudden change of being on paper to being on a wooden surface. I opened my eyes and was immediately blinded by a bright light. I jerked up into a sitting position and took in my surroundings.

"Whoa…"

It looked like I was in an enormous closet. There were lights above me, high up on the ceiling that seemed impossible to reach. The floor was hardwood and disappeared into the surrounding darkness, untouched by the lights. There was only one wall, and it was made up entirely of shelves, each one storing an individual weapon inside.

Carefully, I made sure the ground was solid before standing up.

And then I realized I shouldn't have been able to do that.

"Oh shit," I gasped, looking down at myself in a panic. "I'm not a kunai."

The shock of getting sealed must've been more than I realized, because my transformation got dispelled and now I was standing on my own two feet.

"Is this allowed? Am I supposed to be able to walk around like this? Did I just break time? Did I just break spacetime-?!"

Just then, dozens of poofs erupted from the shelves, startling me into turning around.

"Geez!"

Some of the shelves were empty now, save for the remnant smoke that dissipated into the air. I took a closer look and realized that the shelves containing weapons were labelled with the weapon's name, but the empty shelves were blank. The entire structure had a clear beginning, just a few units to my right, but it appeared to extend infinitely leftwards.

Is that…the start of the scroll?

I was curious to see how far it went. I started walking along the shelf, taking care not to touch anything as I examined the space.

The shelves varied in size to accommodate the size of the weapon. They also appeared to be sectioned off with bigger seals that hovered just in front of the shelves. Some were huge, reaching so far up I had to take a few steps back and crane my head back to get a glimpse of the top. Others only encompassed a handful of weapons, like a dozen kunai or a couple of spears.

Another series of poofs went off again as the rest of the kunai in the first section disappeared. Immediately afterwards, the shelves started to rearrange themselves until it was one huge empty square, unlabelled and marked with a giant, empty seal.

It adjusts to its contents…and empties itself when there's nothing left , I observed. Wish my closet could organize itself.

Just then, images of the battle flooded my mind, up until the moment my clone got dispelled by one of Lee's attacks.

"Oh, shit-!"

With some panic and great haste, I rushed towards the shelf. Just as I was worrying about how I'd fit into such a tiny space, the shelf adjusted to match my size.

"Huh. Fancy." I scrambled onto the shelf and quickly transformed back into a kunai. I could feel the shelf shrinking around me once I did.

Transforming into an inanimate object was less alarming, but much more weird. It was like sleep paralysis, except I couldn't see or hear anything. I could feel the slight buzzing of chakra as I maintained my transformation and the pressure of being set on a hard surface, but that was about it.

Almost like a sensory deprivation tank…but dry.

There was little warning when Tenten unsealed me - just another surge of chakra and the same push-and-pull. This time, however, I was ready for it. Instead of accidentally dispelling my transformation, I flew through the air and straight towards the flag post.

I got dispelled upon impact, briefly disoriented by the sudden rush of sound and light before I regained my bearings and snatched the flag. I heard a snap, followed by the familiar sound of many weapons whizzing through the air.

"Holy shit-!"

I dropped to the ground, narrowly missing out on getting skewed by a over a dozen kunai by a hair.

Of course they'd rig the post.

I quickly regained my balance and located Tenten across the field. It was littered with weapons and scorch marks, along with large patches of upturned dirt. It couldn't have been long, but it was clear that both teams were struggling to hold the line. I marked my path through the mess and broke into a sprint.

"I will stop her!" Lee announced.

"Sakura!" Tenten called the moment she saw me running towards her.

"CHA!" Sakura pulled hard, causing something to cut through the air like whips.

Suddenly Lee stumbled over in a heap, hands trapped against his sides and legs stuck together. I got a glimpses as I rushed past - the sun was caught on the thin wires that travelled from Sakura and Tenten's hands and wrapped around him, rendering him completely immobile.

"Whoa!" Lee yelped, wincing as he hit the ground with a heavy thud. "You have bested me, Tenten and Sakura-chan! A most impressive strategy executed with such skilled technique!"

"Stay still!" Sakura huffed, giving the wires a sharp tug.

"Behind you!" Tenten shouted the second I slapped the flag into her hand.

I spun around on my heels just in time to block Sasuke's kick. Before I could even fully register what was going on, my muscle memory carried me through the kata for a counterattack. As I kept Sasuke busy, I heard Tenten unravel her scroll behind me and seal the flag.

"You'll have to do better than that," I gloated.

"Fine," Sasuke muttered. He caught my fist in the air and pulled me forward, using the momentum to throw me over his shoulder with ease.

"Ow! Damn it-" I grunted, hitting the ground on my side. I'd learned how to land safely by then, but it still hurt to get thrown into the ground.

"Sasuke-kun, the scroll!" Lee shouted from the ground.

I scrambled onto my feet as fast as possible, but it was too late. Sasuke was already making hand seals and aimed his jutsu right at Tenten and her scroll.

"Fire Style; Phoenix Flower Technique!"

"Tenten!" I shouted.

She looked up just in time to see the fireballs flying her way and made a hand sign of her own before slamming her hand onto her scroll. I was expecting her to counter with another flood of weapons, but what came out instead was an actual flood.

Water gushed out of her scroll, making easy work of the fireballs. What none of us expected, however - but what I really should've seen coming - were the shuriken hidden in the fireballs that cut through the water.

"Shit-!" Tenten gasped. She flipped out of the way, but not fast enough to save her scroll from getting torn up. "Damn it!"

Right before the shuriken disappeared into the forest, Sasuke yanked his arm back. Suddenly, they whipped around again and flew back towards Sakura.

"Look out!" I shouted, but before either of us could do anything, the shuriken cut through her wires with ease.

"YOSH!" Lee cheered, shaking off the wires and jumping onto his feet. "You have my deepest gratitude, Sasuke-kun!"

"We need to make an opening," Sasuke said, dismissing him.

Lee nodded firmly. Right as he took his first step, however, a burst of chakra exploded from our side of the field, rushing throughout the forest like a wave of energy. Lee stopped in his tracks and got into a defensive stance, anticipating whatever might follow.

"He's back," Tenten said, drawing our attention back to our side of the field again.

Within seconds, Neji ran out of the forest, sliding to a stop as he came face to face with us. His balance was unsteady, like he was dizzy or couldn't see very well. His Byakugan was deactivated.

Now comes the hard part.

We had reached a stalemate - Neji was blocking us from getting back to our flag post while we blocked him from returning to his. At the same time, Sasuke and Lee were standing between us and their flag post, forcing us to divide our attention between both sides of the field. I spared a glance at Sakura as we stood back to back with Tenten.

"Satoko," Tenten murmured, slipping another scroll into my hand. We were so close that the boys were unable to see the exchange.

I put the scroll in my pouch and exchanged it for something else. "Get ready," I said, glancing at Sakura.

"The clock is ticking," Neji said, calmly scanning the two of us for weak points. "You're position puts you at a disadvantage. You can't win by attacking us head-on."

"Where's your Byakugan?" I taunted in return.

Neji remained unfazed. He shifted into a fighting stance and stared me down. "You're not as clever as you think."

I grinned, flicking the pin out of the canister with a click. "Aren't I?"

It was instantaneous. Neji charged. I threw the canister at the ground between us. A flash of light exploded, stunning everyone on the field while I powered through some hand seals. By the time it faded, I switched places with Neji and was on a breakaway to my team's flag post.

"What the hell-?"

"Sakura, keep him down!"

"I am-!"

"Anchor your feet, Sakura-chan!"

"Don't- agh- give her advice-!"

Their voices faded as I disappeared into the forest. My hands were shaking, but I managed to pull out the scroll Tenten gave me and unrolled it to the first seal. As I kept running, I held the scroll in my mouth so I could use one hand to focus chakra and the other to unseal the flag. Three more steps, and the flag was tied around the top of our post in place of our own.

A whistle blew, marking the end of the round.

"THE MATCH IS OVER! THE WINNER IS TEAM GREEN!"

I exhaled a deep sigh of relief and collapsed against the post.

"Holy shit," I gasped, pressing my forehead against the cool metal. "I can't believe that actually worked."

"-a most formidable execution of the tate shiho gatame hold, Sakura-chan!"

I returned to the clearing and saw the others conversing in the middle. It was littered with more weapons than ever before, as well as new scorch and skid marks alike. It was still wet from Tenten's flood, although most of the water had drained by then.

"Ah… Thanks. You were a big help," a very muddy Sakura said, avoiding eye-contact. She was using a damp cloth to wipe herself down, although her clothes were beyond saving.

"I told you to ignore her," Neji sighed, addressing Lee. He was equally muddy, and yet somehow his hair still looked pristine.

"My deepest apologies, Neji! I simply could not allow a fellow comrade to miss an opportunity to learn!" Lee said, bowing. "How are your shoulders?"

Neji's eyebrow twitched. "I'm fine . "

"Welcome back, Satoko!" Gai greeted, announcing my return. "Congratulations on your team's victory! And what a stunning victory it was, fitting for an equally stunning match. Such clever combinations of weaponry, skills, and techniques from both teams! I am brought to tears by the passionate display of teamwork and creativity you have shown me today!"

"Seriously, when did you start combining all that shit with your fire jutsu?" I muttered to Sasuke. "That was like, ten layers of surprise attacks."

"When did you realize you could try the Substitution Technique on a human being?" he countered.

"C'mon, Sensei! Hurry up and give them their penalty!" Tenten said, grinning from ear to ear.

Gai set his hands on his hips and laughed. "Haha, of course! As the victors, Team Green will be given the rest of the day off while Team Blue carries out their penalty. As agreed upon prior to the match, you will each run five hundred laps around the village!"

Despite his annoyance, Neji hardly seemed phased while Lee was blatantly excited. Sasuke, on the other hand - his face was priceless.

"The village?" he repeated, head dropping as if he didn't hear properly. It was like his soul had left his body. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry, Sasuke," I said, patting his shoulder. "Just think about how easy it'll be the next time you lose."

"Indeed! Only after pushing yourself beyond your limits will you come out stronger!" Lee boasted. "I look forward to bonding with my comrades through such a youthful endeavour!"

Sasuke grimaced. "…Gross."

"Perhaps this will encourage you to stick to the plan," Neji said offhandedly.

Sasuke's grimace instantly turned into a cold glare. I quickly took a step back before I could get caught in the middle.

"Am I not wrong?" Neji said, crossing his arms. "If you had stuck to the plan, Lee could have taken the other scroll before they made the exchange."

"He got caught before the flag was sealed, and you broke through too early."

"Because you weren't in position."

"Because I knew we needed to hit harder," Sasuke snapped. "I told you they're stronger as a team. You got caught off guard because you underestimated my teammates."

I blinked, unsure if what I was hearing was real or not. I exchanged glances with Sakura, who looked just as surprised.

Thank god for that mission, I thought.

"Sakura isn't strong, but her technique is flawless. You can't have a strategy that depends on her failure because she doesn't make mistakes to begin with," he continued. "And Satoko's an idiot-"

"Hey!"

"-but it's what makes her plans hard to predict. You can't see what's coming because you think being an idiot is all there is to her." Sasuke's expression changed from wanting to tear Neji a new one to being smug as hell. "Maybe this will encourage you to take my team seriously."

Neji was silent for a long, long moment. It took me all my willpower not to become Sasuke's hype squad and drop a mic in his place.

Finally, Neji relaxed his glare and smirked. "Heh. I won't be surprised again."

"Indeed!" Lee cheered, happy to interject the second it was clear no fight was going to break out. "It is most exciting to have the honour of challenging our fellow peers!"

"OH!" Gai sobbed, holding a fist up in front of his crying face. "What a beautiful display of camaraderie! I am confident that your blossoming bonds will one day grow into a mighty tree nurtured by your passionate Flames of Eternal Youth!"

I couldn't help but snort as Neji and Sasuke's expressions instantly became the same look of abject disgust.

"Let's…go," Neji said curtly.

Sasuke nodded once. "Gladly."

"Remember to keep up the pace!" Tenten called after them, her voice teasing. "The sun's not going to stay up forever, you know."

"Thank you, Tenten! We will be sure to finish before it gets dark!" Lee said running backwards after them.

A man of his word, if anything, I thought absently.

"Aren't they going to rinse off first?" Sakura asked, looking at her mud stains.

"It's part of the penalty," Tenten said, waving her hand. "Besides, it'll dry up and flake off in a few minutes anyway. It's basically an exfoliant."

"That checks out," I said. I shielded my eyes as I checked the sun's position and huffed. "So, what do we do?"

Tenten flipped her shredded scroll in her hand and sighed. "Well, I was hoping I'd get to go home early and have lunch with my siblings, but now I need to replace this thing."

"That reminds me, how was I able to unseal the flag even though I used a different scroll?" I asked.

"Simple!" Tenten unravelling both scrolls, one intact and one torn. "They have the exact same seals, so the items are stored in the same dimension. I make copies specifically because this can happen," she said, shaking the tattered scroll. "Otherwise I'd lose access to everything I sealed inside until I fixed it."

I squinted. "So if there was only one scroll… and it got damaged while I was still inside…"

"You would've gotten stuck until I remade the seals, but ," she said quickly before I could rightfully freak out at her, "I never would've risked it if I didn't have backups. That's just reckless. And besides, I told you you'd be fine, didn't I?"

"So it's like making two doors that lead to the same room?" I asked. Tenten nodded. I crossed my arms and hummed thoughtfully. "That's so freaking cool !" I exclaimed, bouncing on the spot. "Can I see how you make it? I have so many questions-"

" Yes ," Tenten answered immediately, grabbing my hands as if she was worried I'd escape. She looked at me with wide, sparkling eyes and a hopeful smile. "Yes, absolutely! There's only a handful of people in Konoha who use fuuinjutsu. Please let me at least try to make you into one of them."

I looked back with eyes just as wide, shaking her hands up and down in excitement. "I would be honoured."

"You're so embarrassing," Sakura muttered to me from behind.

"You should join us, Sakura!" Tenten said with a grin. "We can meet at the reference library - after we shower and change, of course."

Sakura's cheeks flushed. Despite her attempts to hide it, it was obvious that she was just as excited by the prospect of learning.

"…Sure," she answered, smiling into her shoulder. "I'll bring my notes!"

"Great!" I said, clapping my hands together. "See you guys in, what, thirty minutes?"

"Works for me," Tenten agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei!"

"Yes! I look forward to training with you all in the morning!" Gai said.

After we said our temporary goodbyes, I spared one last glance back at Gai before I left. His eyes were definitely still watering, and it was definitely because of our burning passion of youth or whatever.

I wondered if he'd start crying again when telling Kakashi about what happened today.

… Definitely.

Notes:

After credit scene:
The girls reconvene at the reference library and dive into piles of scrolls and books about sealing. Tenten explains the basics - ink, paper, kanji, and the like. Sakura has amazing penmanship and nails it the first time. Satoko almost seals away her hand. Her calligraphy could use some work.

Meanwhile:

The boys are on their 372th lap around the village. Lee still has the energy to chat. Neji is well versed in ignoring him. Sasuke can't feel his legs, but the fact that Lee is running backwards and is still faster and not even sweating keeps him going. A small voice in his head wonders if it's the jumpsuit. Should he get a jumpsuit? Oh god, this penalty is getting to him.

Meanwhile:

Gai walks home with a pep in his step, as he is most excited to recount the day's events to Kakashi upon his return. He has been gone a while, so Gai makes a stop at Kakashi's apartment to water Mr. Ukki. He approaches the door and pauses. The usual traps and seals that protect the apartment from intruders are no longer in place. He looks down at the gap beneath the doorway. There are shadows moving inside.

Chapter 25: Our Erupting Flames of Youth!

Summary:

Satoko learns more fuuinjutsu. Neji is in a bad mood. Something about fried rice, maybe?

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

BANG BANG BANG.

"-toko!"

BANG BANG BANG.

"Hey! Satoko!"

I cracked my eyes open, unable to process the meaning of the noise around me. My mouth was dry and there was something stuck to my face. I couldn't feel my legs.

"SATOKO!" BANG! "WAKE UP!"

I jerked up, lifting my head from the low table and knocking a bunch of scrolls over in the process.

"Ah, shit-" I tried to get up, but my legs were asleep and I immediately collapsed back onto the table, sending papers and ink flying. "Ah, shit!"

"Satoko?"

"One second!" I shouted, haphazardly using one of the papers to wipe the excess ink off my shirt before it could drip everywhere.

I hobbled my way over to the front door, clinging to furniture for support until I finally made it to the door and unlocked it.

"What're you doing here?" I asked, clutching the door for support.

My teammates looked immensely unimpressed.

"What a loser…" Sasuke muttered, yanking the piece of paper that was stuck to my face.

"You're late for training!" Sakura scolded.

"Gai-sensei told us to see what happened, but clearly you just slept in like an idiot," Sasuke said, looking exasperated.

"Honestly." Sakura crossed her arms. "We're using our lunch break to come get you, you know!"

"Sorry, sorry!" I bowed my head as much as I could without falling over. "I was up all night practicing my calligraphy. Who knew so much of sealing depended so much on penmanship, right?"

"Everyone knew that," Sakura said. "More importantly, hurry up and get ready! It's already past noon!"

My eyes went wide. "Oh, shit! Okay, okay- just lemme-" I looked behind me at the mess on the table and sheepishly looked back at my teammates. "Actually…could you guys gimme a hand? There's ink everywhere ."

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged weary glances, agreeing with a sigh.

"You're a lost cause," Sakura said, shaking her head and toeing her sandals off. "Fine, but only because you're already so late. You have five minutes to wash up before I drag you out the door as is!"

"This is why we never come to your place," Sasuke muttered as he brushed past me.

I closed the door behind me and shouted after him, "Not all of us are blessed with a furnished balcony and internal cooling!"

And not everybody's parents had time to leave anything to their kid besides a parasitic chakra demon before getting brutally murdered.

An air-conditioner would've been nice is all I'm saying.

While Sasuke and Sakura cleaned the mess I'd made, I rushed through my shower in exactly three minutes and got dressed in two. When I came out, the ink had been wiped clean and the papers were stacked on the table. My teammates were in the middle of tidying up the scrolls.

"Geez, how late did you stay up?" Sakura examined the scrolls as she piled them up. "This is more than what we've learned with Tenten-senpai."

"It's more than what I thought you'd be able to understand," Sasuke jabbed, rolling up a scroll that had unraveled halfway across the room.

I threw my used towel at him, which he immediately whipped back at me. I dodged it and made a face at him. "I would've paid way more attention in the Academy if this is what they taught - it's actually interesting!"

And it aligned surprisingly well with the linguistics major I was studying before I was transported here. It was basically like programming, but solely with words. Certain characters would make the seal perform different actions, which had to be written in a specific order for it to work properly. Most importantly, they had to be written properly, otherwise I might create something that had a risk of blowing up in my face.

Not that it hasn't happened once or twice already.

There were even different writing systems used for different seals. The basic ones used the modern writing systems that combined kanji, hiragana, and katakana, but more complex seals even require the use of archaic characters that more closely resembled ancient Chinese scripts used for oracle bones and stamped seals.

Those complex seals required equally complex structures that involved combinations. Some involved functions that were basically the equivalent of truth values. If a certain character was used, it meant the seal absolutely had to perform a certain action. Others would combine several functions into one seal in order to create a multi-purpose seal, or to create something new altogether.

The efficiency of the seal depended on how the characters are used, too. It was similar to hand seals in that regard, where experienced users could use, say, three seals to achieve the same result as a beginner using ten seals.

"It's weird to see you studying so seriously… You're really into it, huh," Sakura said thoughtfully, scrutinizing my work. "Your calligraphy still sucks though, so don't use any of these seals until they're legible."

"That's fair," I agreed. I pointedly did not mention the time a seal I made had rejected a kunai and nearly took my ear off. "Anyway, thanks for helping me clean up! I owe you guys one."

"Lunch is on you then," Sasuke said, setting the last scroll down. "Let's go."

"Oh, good idea!" Sakura grinned.

"H-Hey! As long as it's not too expensive!" I said hurriedly.

"Fine, we'll just order kobe beef for ourselves then," Sakura said, skipping to the door.

"Aw, c'mon!"

As promised, I bought lunch for Sasuke and Sakura on our way to the training field and grabbed myself a few of onigiri and a bento box for breakfast. Thankfully they didn't actually order anything exceedingly pricey - my finances were in a much better state after we got paid for the caravan mission, but seeing as I probably wouldn't be getting paid for another A-Rank anytime soon, I wanted to stretch out those funds.

When we finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was how beat up the training field was. There were weapons strewn about, as well as a few small craters with holes in the middle. What caught my attention the most were the two large patches of dirt where the grass had been uprooted. Team Gai was shuffling around them, picking up their weapons. Gai himself was nowhere to be seen.

He used the kaiten, I thought, making an effort not to look at Neji.

I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I'd spend the last week trying to get one of his teammates to tell me more about the kaiten to no avail. They'd always deflect the question or change the subject. Even Gai managed to brush it off, although he wasn't very subtle about it - at one point he frantically claimed that Neji didn't know any techniques beyond the Byakugan.

I didn't buy it, much to his dismay.

The current state of the field finally presented me with the perfect opportunity to ask more about it, however, and I sure as hell wasn't about to let the chance slip by.

"Whoa! What happened here?" I asked loudly as we approached.

The three of them looked up. Tenten and Lee greeted us with a smile. Neji silently resumed gathering the weapons.

"We were just reviewing some of our secret techniques," Tenten teased, sealing away a pile of weapons.

I cocked my brow, looking between her and the field. "Geez, I'd hate to get caught in the middle of whatever caused these tracks. What kind of move makes that kind of mark? Looks like something was spinning super fast," I said, pointing at the two large circles of dirt.

Her shoulders tensed as she laughed. "Maybe one day you'll find out if you're unlucky enough!"

I hummed thoughtfully, feigning ignorance as I gasped and said, "D'you have tornadoes sealed in your scrolls, too?!"

Tenten relaxed. "Ha! I wish. It takes a lot of chakra and some damn good fuuinjutsu to seal a natural phenomenon."

Why does she say it like she's tried before?

"Good afternoon, Satoko-san! Welcome back, Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun!" Lee exclaimed, rushing up next to Tenten. His jumpsuit looked more tattered than usual and he was rewrapping his bandages. I looked back at the craters and concluded that he must've been practicing the Front Lotus. "I am most relieved to see that you are well. Gai-sensei wishes for us to train together this week so that we may hone our taijutsu together!"

"Sounds like fun," I said wearily.

After seeing Sakura train with him for the first week and Sasuke train with him for the second, I knew exactly what to expect and knew exactly how not fun it was going to be. I didn't like getting bruised, let alone repeatedly for every day of the week.

"About time," Neji said from behind his teammates, looking very unimpressed by my tardiness.

"Sorry, sorry!" I rubbed the back of my neck and averted my gaze. Considering how training started at sunrise with Team Gai, it was almost shameful to show up after noon.

"Are you feeling okay?" Tenten asked, scanning me from head to toe. "Training can take a toll if you don't rest well. Gai-sensei won't mind if you need to take the day off."

"I'm fine! I just slept through my alarm," I said apologetically.

"In that case, you have a lot to catch up on," she grinned, patting my shoulder.

"Shouldn't be a problem since you're so well-rested," Neji said pointedly.

I slumped over. "Aw, man! Gimme a break, I was up all night practicing my seals."

Tenten's eyes lit up. "Really?! That's awesome, show me after training today! You've gotten way better since we started, but we've still only covered the basics so far. There's way more that goes into a seal than just handwriting, like the coarseness of the paper and the ink's consistency-"

"You can continue your conversation after you help us clean the field," Neji interrupted, tossing a bundle of kunai at Tenten. "Gai-sensei will be back soon."

"I said I was sorry," I whined, but got to work before Sakura could scold me for whining. It was the least I could do for holding up training.

It didn't take long for all six of us to finish gathering the weapons and covering up some of the damage done to the field. I'd learned early on that shinobi rotated between training fields while others were restored. It was no wonder there were over a hundred of them - they got beat up pretty easily.

Once we were done, Sasuke and Sakura quickly ate their lunch while I finally had the chance to eat my breakfast. Gai showed up not too long afterwards, presenting himself with a boisterous entrance. I noticed that he looked out of breath, as if he'd been running around. Then again, that wasn't so unusual when it came to Gai.

"Good afternoon, Satoko! I am most relieved to see that you are well!" he said, flashing me a big smile that I returned in kind. "Now that we have all returned, let us resume our training!"

I was hoping to get more opportunities to pry information about the kaiten out of Team Gai while we were still training together. Unfortunately, it was hard to get a word in about anything. Sakura was working on her weaponry skills with Tenten, Sasuke was working on agility with Neji, and I was too busy getting my ass handed to me by Green Beast Jr. for a full five hours. I had built up my pain tolerance after suffering at the hands of Neji and Tenten, but Lee was on a whole new level of Fucking Ow.

"You are familiar with the hold that Sakura-chan used on Neji, yes?" he asked when we finally finished our one hundred push-ups and sit-ups. It was an understatement to say that I couldn't feel my arms.

"Yeah, the tate-something or other, right?"

"Yes! Tate shiho gatame hold," Lee said with an enthusiastic nod. "Today I will be teaching it to you as well, in addition to other basic grappling techniques. Let us begin, Satoko-san!"

I got into a kneeling position with a heavy sigh and shook out my arms. "Alright, but I'm warning you now - I'm not gonna put up an impressive fight."

It went just about as well as I'd predicted. I seriously couldn't feel my arms. At least Lee was a good teacher. I learned a lot while having my body repeatedly twisted over itself.

After a short break during which I downed a whole water bottle and checked my pulse just in case I was already dead, Lee taught me some combos. He started by showing me how to go from a shoulder throw to an arm hold. He of course demonstrated the technique on myself, and even though I knew how to land safely, the hardened dirt with pebbles strewn about was hardly a pleasant surface to land on.

We ended the day with a few rounds of grappling. My arms were barely responsive and Lee flipped me effortlessly, thought I still managed to get in a few good holds.

"Anchor your feet!" he always said. No matter how much he reassured me that strength didn't matter as long as I had good technique, the way he lifted me without breaking a sweat convinced me otherwise.

Finally, Gai announced that we were done for the day. Lee and I dusted ourselves off and made a Seal of Reconciliation.

"Excellent work today, Satoko-san!" Lee said with a wide grin. "I look forward to further strengthening our bodies and our minds tomorrow as well!"

"Likewise," I said, mustering up a tired smile. "Now if you don't mind me, I'm gonna go home and glue my arms back on."

Lee rushed off to do his additional hundred laps around the village because he failed to knock me down ten times. It only took one fall for my butt to start aching, so either way it sucked for me.

"Tomorrow is your day off, so be sure to rest well!" Gai said as we got ready to leave. "We will resume training the day after as usual."

"Finally," Sakura sighed to herself. "Sasuke-kun~! Are you busy tomorrow?"

As Sakura went off to get rejected by our less-than-pleasant teammate, Tenten jogged up to me.

"Yo, Satoko! Show me what you've got," she said, holding her hands out.

We'd made it a routine now, where I'd show her the seals I was working on so she could give me pointers. I happily pulled out a small bundle and let her take a look.

"Wow, you're really coming along!" she exclaimed. "You could make a functioning seal if you write like this for sure."

"Really?!" I beamed, bouncing my leg. "Oh man, this is gonna be so awesome! You think it'll work this time?"

Tenten nodded enthusiastically. "It'll at least be your best shot yet! You picked up on the structures pretty quickly. The only problem was that your calligraphy was messy. I was surprised, actually! Usually it's the other way around."

I rubbed my neck and grinned. "Something about it just made sense, I guess."

"Right?!" Tenten was beaming. "A lot of people get put off by fuuinjutsu because it requires a lot of detailed work. It takes a certain kind of person to be interested in that sort of thing."

"Yeah, I wish the Academy taught more of it! It's totally up my alley," I agreed fondly.

"I'll show you some new stuff once you've successfully made a basic seal," Tenten said, handing the papers back to me. "Keep it up! You're doing great."

I smiled brightly in return. "Thanks!"

After promising to show her my seals again next time and saying goodbye to the others, I headed for the marketplace. Between a full day of training and all the studying I've been doing, I haven't had time to restock the fridge.I had just finished grabbing the last of my groceries when I spotted a familiar face in the distance.

Nice, perfect timing.

"Yo, Shino!" I called out to him. I waved my hand when he turned around and rushed over to him.

"Good evening, Satoko-san," he said politely. He gave me a once-over and said, "Kurenai-sensei mentioned that you're training with our senpai. It looks like you're working hard. Why? Because despite your energetic nature, your clothes are worn out and you have multiple fresh wounds."

"Haa, is it that obvious?" I laughed sheepishly, glancing down at my battered self. "Lee wiped the floor with my ass today, but it's nothing I can't sleep off! How about you? What's it like training with your team?"

"I will choose not to answer this question in detail. Why? Because although we are comrades and friends, it would be unwise to speak of our strategies this close to the Chuunin Exams."

Ah, shit. It's coming up real soon, isn't it?

I scoffed. "Fair enough. Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"I will do my best to provide a sufficient answer," Shino said, neutral as ever.

"What's your team's schedule like? I had a few questions for Hinata about the Byakugan," I explained, trying to come off as well-intentioned as possible. "I've been training with Neji for two weeks now and I'm curious about how it works, but he isn't exactly approachable, y'know? I was hoping she'd be able to answer my questions instead!"

"I see," he said simply, his expression indiscernible with those shades and collar in the way. "I'm able to share this information with you. However," he added firmly, "I advise you to refrain from speaking with her carelessly. Why? Because I do not want her to get in trouble with her elders."

Don't need to tell me twice.

I nodded. "You got it!"

Shino nodded in return. "Tomorrow happens to be our day off. We have agreed to have dinner together, but you should be able to meet her at the Hyuuga manor before then."

"Perfect! We've got the day off, too. Thanks a bunch, Shino!"

"You're welcome," he said, adjusting his shades. "You appear to be quite busy, and I have taken up enough of your time, so I'll be going now. I hope your conversation with Hinata goes well."

"And I hope you guys have a nice dinner," I said. "Thanks again for your help, Shino. See ya around!"

He waved once before heading on his way. It was about time I got home, too. I had a couple of clones working on seals all day and needed to redelegate them to cooking dinner while I finally washed up. Most importantly, I had to plan out my questions carefully so Hinata would tell me what I wanted to hear.

I spent all evening planning out exactly how I was going to approach the topic of the kaiten. Not only did I have to be careful about drawing suspicion to myself, I had to make sure Hinata didn't figure out Neji had learned it.

Need to make sure nobody eavesdrops on the conversation, either, I thought grimly. The last thing I needed was a fucking nark to ruin the whole plan.

The sun was rising by the time I finalized what I was going to do and how I was going to say it. I slept just a few hours before I set out in the morning, hoping to catch Hinata before she might leave to run errands or do whatever else she does in her spare time.

I felt a bit like I was trying to stalk her, but I had to account for as much as my prepubescent brain could think of. I even prepared at least five scenarios for how the line of questioning might play out and three contingencies in case something went wrong. It felt excessive, but I had to be more than ready if I was going to survive walking into the lion's den.

I reviewed my game plan one last time as I walked towards the manor:

Step one, ask about the Byakugan so it's less suspect when I ask about other techniques. Step two, mention the tracks in the field that were obviously left by the kaiten so she'll think about the kaiten. Step three, pretend I don't know anything when Hinata tells me about the kaiten. Step four, use the kaiten as proof that Neji is resisting the destiny that he believes is decided for him. Step five, have Neji perform a cathartic monologue so he's less likely to try and kill Hinata during the Chuunin Exams. Step six, hug it out.

Step six was unlikely, but a girl can dream.

As I approached the manor, I quickly realized that I might have to leave and come back a bit later. I didn't really have expectations for who I'd see at the gate; I figured it would've been some random branch member. Instead, of all people, it was none other than Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi.

I saw her from a distance at first. It looked like she was waiting for someone. She was definitely Hinata's sister - the resemblance was almost uncanny - but their expression was what set them apart. Even from a distance I could tell she had a serious look on her face. Unfortunately, before I had a chance to turn around, we made eye contact. It was hard to look away from those blank eyes, even if the eyes belonged to a child.

I sucked it up and kept marching forward.

"Good morning! Is Hinata-chan home?" I asked.

Hanabi looked me up and down. "Who's asking?"

I did my best to maintain my smile without faltering. "I'm Satoko! I was her classmate in the Academy."

Her eyes turned cold. "I see. So you're Satoko-san."

I faltered.

I took into account that I might run into Hanabi. What I did not account for was that she'd have already mastered the Hyuuga Glare.

I forced myself to maintain a smile. "T-That's right! Is, ah, Hinata-chan available-?"

"She isn't," Hanabi answered immediately. "Neesama and I are going out today. She doesn't have time for the likes of you."

The corner of my mouth wavered. I definitely didn't account for her to be so hostile, either.

This isn't because I'm the jinchuuriki, is it?

I was used to the civilians treating me badly for whatever misguided reason, but as far as I knew the shinobi either didn't care or didn't even know who I was. If anything, they'd give me the stinkeye for the horrible track record I inherited from Protagonist.

"A-Ah… Um, I'll be quick-" I tried again, but to no avail.

"Don't you have somewhere to be? " Hanabi snapped, crossing her arms defiantly. "Someone like you shouldn't be skipping out on training."

"I-I have the day off!" I said, holding my hands up in defense. "I heard from Shino that his team had the day off, too, so I-"

"So now you're trying to pick on her at home, too?!"

I paused. What?

"What?"

"Don't play dumb! I know you-"

"Hanabi-chan?" A soft voice came from within the gates. It creaked open, and Hinata's head poked through. "Is there someone at the- AH!"

We locked eyes, and within a heartbeat her face was beet red.

"S-S-S-S-Sa-Sa-Sa-!"

And just like that, she keeled over.

"Hinata-chan!"

"Neesama!"

Hanabi and I both instinctively reached out to catch her, but she fell into my arms first because I was taller.

"Wh-What just happened?!" I cried, looking at Hanabi for answers.

"What does it look like?! She fainted, idiot! Bring her inside!"

I lifted Hinata so I was carrying her bridal style - as much as I hated Team Gai's training style, I was definitely getting stronger - and brought her inside while Hanabi propped the gates open.

"Put her down there," she said, pointing at the bed of grass that went around the inner walls surrounding the manor.

"Shouldn't we bring her to her room?"

"It only takes a few minutes for her to wake up," Hanabi said knowingly.

I nodded and gently laid her on the grass. While Hanabi fussed over picking Hinata's bangs out of her eyes, I folded up my vest and tucked it under her head to use as a pillow.

Hanabi paused and looked up at me curiously, as if I'd done something she didn't expect me to do. I sat down on the other side of Hinata and returned the puzzled look.

"What?"

Hanabi quickly glanced away and shook her head. "It's nothing. And don't sit so close to her! She'll faint again if you're the first thing she sees when she wakes up."

I wanted to argue, but she actually had a point.

Shit. I forgot to account for how big a mess Hinata is around me, too.

It was starting to feel like I should just leave and try again another day.

"Why're you still here?" Hanabi grumbled.

I huffed.

Never mind. I refuse to let myself get beaten by a literal child.

"I wanna make sure she's okay," I answered smoothly.

Hanabi pursed her lips, but seemed to accept my answer and halted her attacks for now. I sighed in relief and avoided eye-contact, instead taking the time to examine the place.

The Hyuuga manor was as elegant as I'd expected. There was a seemingly never-ending outdoor balcony that stretched all around the main building and connected to the others. The estate was huge, but it looked like only the main family were permanent residents. The connecting buildings were likely meeting and dining halls, and whatever other room an ancient traditional clan would have.

I bet there's a hallway with scary portraits of all the past clan heads , I thought idly. I bet they all have the exact same grumpy face.

I risked a glance at Hanabi and tried to imagine her growing into someone like her father. Even though she wore a scowl, she was still an adorable little girl with big eyes and ears that she had yet to grow into. It was hard to imagine that she was already training to be the next clan head.

I quickly looked away when she noticed me staring and went back to examining the manor.

The sliding doors were screened with rice paper and framed with intricate wooden patterns. Even the training ground was gorgeous, despite being obviously worn down. There were plants along the perimeter that were sectioned off with decorative rocks and trees, and a small pond with one of those bamboo things that hit a rock when it got filled with water.

I'd expected more people to be walking around, but there wasn't a single soul in sight.

I guess they're all busy with whatever stuff a Hyuuga does during the day. Like skulking around the compound, probably.

The sound of Hinata stirring drew my attention back to her. Her brows furrowed, but her eyes remained closed. I felt bad, even though it wasn't exactly my fault.

"This is your fault," Hanabi said.

Can her Byakugan see into my mind too or what?

"I didn't do anything!" I said.

"Don't lie to me! Hinata-neesama always gets so nervous when she talks about you, and she can never approach you even though you've been classmates for years! It can only mean one thing." Hanabi glared ice cold daggers at me, and suddenly an image of Neji flashed before me. "You're bullying her!"

My mouth fell open. "What?! No!" But I guess when you put it that way… "I'm not the bully; I'm the one who gets bullied!"

"Yeah, I know," Hanabi said to my surprise. "Because you're the kyuubi's vessel, right?"

I froze. "Uh…yeah. How'd you know that?"

Was it more common knowledge than I thought? I knew Kakashi knew, but he was my sensei so that was to be expected. Civilians definitely didn't understand that I was just a host and not Kurama himself, but it was hard to say if any other shinobi were fully aware of what it meant to be a jinchuuriki.

"I saw you getting scorned by the villagers once. They called you a monster," Hanabi said indifferently. "It didn't make sense to me at the time since you just looked like a regular kid, but when I got older I learned about the Kyuubi attack and remembered what I saw. It wasn't that hard to figure it out after that."

"You're pretty sharp, huh," I said with an airy laugh. I just hoped it wouldn't bite me in the ass later. "Does your sister know?"

Hanabi shook her head. "It's only something that clan leaders would need to know. I'm not going to go around telling everybody, if that's what you're worried about," she said, giving me a look.

"I-I wasn't thinking that!" I said quickly, waving my hands in front of me. "But thanks, Hanabi-chan. I'd appreciate that."

Hanabi scoffed. "It's nothing." She quickly got back to business. "More importantly, it's because you get bullied that you take it out on someone you think is weaker than you, like Hinata-neesama!"

God damn it, give me a break!

"That's not what it is!"

"What else could it be? She fainted just from the mere sight of you - she's terrified!"

"Agh!" I had no time for misunderstandings, especially not the kind that tarnished my reputation, so I decided to take the direct approach and clear things up once and for all. "She likes me!"

Unfortunately, such tactics only worked on those who are actually willing to listen.

"That's impossible!" Hanabi denied immediately. "Neesama always says she's too scared to look you in the eye because of how strong you are!"

"She's scared because she's shy . She can't look anybody in the eye!" I tried to explain, desperate to get her to understand what the hell it meant to have a crush. Clan heir or not, she was still a child after all.

"You're wrong! Hinata-neesama is strong and brave," Hanabi insisted. "I know she gets nervous, but you're the only one who makes her faint like this, and people only faint when they're scared!"

I tried not to laugh. Ah…She must be the kind of sheltered kid who gets most of her social education from stuff like comic books.

"Hanabi-chan," I said gently, "you like your sister, right?"

She nodded.

I gave a soft smile. "Can you tell me why?"

Hanabi looked hesitant to answer, but went along with it. "Well… she's strong, and she always tries her best, even when things are difficult for her." She looked away and added quietly, "Even when otousama doesn't believe in her."

I pushed my way past the tension of that last comment and continued. "I like those things about your sister, too," I answered honestly. "Do you ever see her training at home?"

She nodded again, this time looking brighter. "Yeah! Sometimes I'll watch her from the other room, so I don't bother her. She… She looks so cool when she's training," she said, blushing somewhat as she looked away. "I can't help but watch…"

"See, right there!" I exclaimed, pointing at her face. "You're getting shy, aren't you, Hanabi-chan!"

Hanabi snapped her head up and held her cheeks. "What?! N-No I'm not!"

"It's normal to get shy when you talk about someone you like," I reassured with a smile.

She responded with a huff.

"Do you get it now? It's the same with Hinata-chan. She gets shy when she talks about the people she likes, too. The only difference is that your sister has a harder time controlling that feeling, so it keeps building up and up until she can't handle anymore, and then-" I paused for effect, gesturing with my hands in the air, "-she faints!" I said, dropping my arms for emphasis.

Hanabi was quiet as she visibly processed my attempt at an explanation. "Hinata-neesama only gets like that when she talks about you, though," she said, brows furrowed in thought. "She doesn't get like that when she talks about me or her teammates, or even her sensei."

I laughed sheepishly. "Ah…The way she likes you and her team is different from the way she likes me, I think…" It felt almost arrogant to try and convince Hanabi that her sister had a crush on me, but it's not like Hinata was going to say so herself. "Anyway, does it make sense now?"

Hanabi didn't look entirely convinced, but she seemed less ready to fight me to the death on behalf of her sister, so I counted it as a success. "I guess," she finally murmured. "I just don't see what neesama likes about someone like you."

I huffed. "Hey! Maybe I've just got a little something that only she can see!"

Hinata stirred again, and this time she actually woke up. Maybe all the yelling helped.

I'm surprised nobody's come to see what's going on yet.

"Neesama!" Hanabi gasped, helping her sister sit up. "How are you feeling?"

Hinata held her head and blinked a few times. "Ah, Hanabi-chan… What happened? I thought I saw Sa…" We locked eyes, and once again her face turned red. "S-S-Satoko-chan-!"

"It's okay, Hinata-neesama!" Hanabi grabbed her sister by the shoulders to keep her steady. "Just look at me!"

"Please don't faint again, Hinata-chan!" I pleaded. I'd been there for several minutes already and really didn't want to overstay my welcome in the Hyuuga Estate of all places. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions about the Byakugan!"

The sudden change in topic seemed to be enough for Hinata to snap out of her flustered daze and return her heart rate to normal. Hanabi eyed me curiously, perking up at the mere mention of her clan's dojutsu.

"The Byakugan…?" Hinata repeated. "I-I can try to answer y-your questions as much as I can… W-What do you want to know?"

I adjusted my position and sat up straight. Alright, it's go time!

"So, the Byakugan lets you see super far, right? And you can see through stuff, too?"

Hinata nodded.

I exaggerated my confusion and held my chin in thought. "Then… does it also let you guys do something…spinny?"

Hinata tilted her head. "S…Spinny…?"

"Yeah! Something that might leave tracks in the field that look like big circles." I explained with big hand gestures in an attempt to get my point across.

"Ah…! That sounds like the k-kaiten," Hinata said, much more quickly than I thought she would.

Nice!

"Kaiten?" I repeated, as if to make sure I'd gotten it right. "What's that?"

"I-It's a technique that's passed down only to the m-members of the main family," she explained. "I can't tell you the details, b-but it leaves the kind of t-track you described."

"Ohh," I hummed, nodding in understanding. "Thanks, Hinata-chan! That's all I wanted to know."

Hinata blinked in surprise. "O-Oh! I'm glad I was a-able to answer your questions," she said, fidgeting with her fingers as she looked away. "Uhm, w-why did you want to know?"

I flashed an innocent smile and shrugged. "I came across tracks that looked like this the other day and was just curious about what kind of technique would leave those kinds of marks. It must be super powerful if it clears entire patches of grass!"

"Y-Yes, it's considered to be an absolute defense," Hinata said.

"Anyway," I said, hopping onto my feet, "I should get going now. Thanks for answering my questions, Hinata-chan! It was nice meeting you, Hanabi-chan!"

Before I could even take a single step, however, Hanabi had me frozen with a single question.

"Where did you see those tracks?"

I looked back over my shoulder and smiled wearily. "Eh?"

Hinata looked surprised that her sister had spoken up, too. "Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi ignored Hinata and stood up slowly, dusting herself off. "And how did you know that technique belongs to the Hyuuga clan?"

I gulped. Just like that, she went from being the naïve little sister to the upcoming heir of Konoha's top clan.

"Well, y'know! I just saw some of your clanmates training in the fields the other day, is all!" I lied in a panic, mustering up all the confidence I had to sound convincing.

Hanabi quirked her brow, and I instantly knew that I'd lost. "Members of the main family practice clan techniques within the manor," she countered simply.

Damn it, she's too sharp!

"W-What I meant was- Well, you see-!" I stammered, but she quickly hushed me with a raised hand.

She gestured at me to lower my voice and then said in a whisper, "It was Neji-niisan, wasn't it."

I couldn't help but freeze, eyes wide and sweat building at my hairline. Hanabi only needed to read my expression to know she got it right.

DAMN IT, THIS TOTALLY CAME BACK TO BITE ME IN THE ASS!

"W…Would that be bad?" I whispered despite knowing full well that it would be.

Even Hinata was starting to look her own brand of serious. "H-He could be seriously punished if someone found out…"

I gulped. "I-I mean, I never actually saw him use it, so it really could've been anybody… It might not have even been a Hyuuga! I could be mistaken!"

"Haven't you been training with Neji-niisan's team? You must've seen the tracks one day," Hanabi was in full interrogation mode. I stayed absolutely still, but my frozen posture and wide eyes were sure to be a dead giveaway that she was hitting the nail right on the head. "The kaiten is only passed down orally. This can only mean that Neji-niisan figured it out by himself."

"No way…" Hinata gasped, holding her hands up to her mouth.

Damn it, I forgot the kids in this world are all fucking geniuses.

Of all the things I was not prepared for, it was for Hinata's seven-year-old little sister to deduce the truth with just a few vague questions.

Hanabi turned to her sister with a serious look in her eyes. "We have to tell otousama."

Hinata's eyes went wide. She jumped onto her feet and grabbed Hanabi by the wrist. "No!" she said, voiced hushed but urgent. "He'll get in trouble!"

"We'll get in trouble too if otousama finds out we knew and didn't say anything!" Hanabi hissed back.

"You don't understand, Hanabi-chan." Hinata looked her sister in the eyes and practically begged her to listen. "Please, don't tell anybody. I don't want Neji-niisan to get hurt."

Her face was grim. I knew there was only one thing she could be talking about - the Caged Bird seal.

Does Hanabi not know what it does? She had to at least know the branch members were given a seal, but maybe she didn't know how severe it was.

Regardless of how much she knew about it, it seemed to be enough for Hanabi to back down. "…Okay. Only because you said so, Hinata-neesama."

"That's a promise," Hinata said firmly.

Hanabi gave a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

I sighed in relief. Thank goodness Hanabi looked up to her sister.

"Ah, S-Satoko-san, that means you too…" Hinata added quietly, fidgeting again.

"Of course!" I gave a thumbs up. "It sounds serious, so I don't want to get anyone in trouble, either."

Whew. Dodged that bullet!

"Hanabi-sama! Hinata-sama!" We turned around to see a man entering from the main gates. "Are you two ready to leave- oh? Who's this?"

The young man looked at me curiously. I noticed that he didn't have anything covering his forehead that might suggest he had a cursed seal.

"Good morning, Kou-san," Hinata greeted with a short bow. "This is S-Satoko-san. She was my classmate in the Academy and is currently a member of Team 7."

"Ah, Satoko-san," he said, eyeing me knowingly. Whether it was because of Hinata or because I was the jinchuuriki was hard to say. Either way, he seemed indifferent, "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I greeted simply.

"Sorry we kept you waiting, Kou-san," Hanabi said. " Someone paid an unexpected visit and made Hinata-neesama faint," she said, staring at me pointedly.

"Aha, yeah…sorry about that," I said sheepishly. "I should get going, anyway. Thanks for your help!"

The sisters and their caretaker waved goodbye as I saw myself out. Just as I closed the gate behind me, I heard a commotion as I left.

"Ne, Hinata-neesama, is it true that you like Satoko-san?"

"E…EHH?!"

Ah… Sorry, Hinata-chan. You might end up getting teased even more than usual for that one.

I spent the rest of the day trying to make a perfect storage seal while hoping that no angry Hyuugas would come crashing through my door. Thankfully the day remained peaceful, so I decided it was safe to assume that all was well.

I really should've known better.

I knew from the moment I arrived on the training field the next morning that it was going to be a hard day. There was a chill in the air, and it wasn't just because it had rained at night, leaving the grass cold and dewy. The atmosphere was tense. One look at Neji told me everything.

His eyes were colder than usual - hostile, even. He gave no response when his teammates greeted him. In fact, he made it a point to brush past them and straight for the farthest training post.

"What should we do, Sensei?" Tenten asked quietly.

"I believe it would be best to give him some space. He may simply need some time to himself for now," Gai said. "I will speak to him once he has calmed down. The rest of you shall continue training as usual."

Tenten and Lee didn't look satisfied, but they nodded and did as he said. Sakura and I paired up with Tenten and Lee again. Sasuke was ready to go off on his own until Gai stopped him.

"Hold it right there, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke froze. Even from behind, I could tell that his face went blank.

Ohhh, I can't wait to see where this goes.

"Y…Yes?" he asked, hesitantly turning around.

"Until Neji has rekindled his flames of youth, I will be your partner for today!"

The colour drained from Sasuke's face. "Ah…N-No, I'm fine. I can train on my own."

"Nonsense!" Gai had already won the battle, but it sure was a treat to see Sasuke try and resist. "It would be cruel of me to leave you alone while your teammates get to test their abilities against each other!"

Sasuke's interest was piqued at the mention of testing abilities. He was hesitant, but eventually he conceded. "Hmph, fine. I've been wanting to see how well I'd do against a jounin."

"Splendid!" Gai exclaimed. "But first, we must ensure that we are properly warmed up. Let us begin with partner stretches!"

TIME TAKEN FOR SASUKE TO REGRET HIS DECISION:
0.2 SECONDS

"Oh, hell no- AGH!"

Gai wasted no time in hooking his arms with Sasuke's and pulled him onto his back.

"Tenten! Sakura! Lee! Satoko! Watch carefully and do as we do!" Sasuke made an undignified noise as he helplessly kicked his legs about. "Relax your shoulders, Sasuke-kun! Can you feel the knots in your muscles becoming undone?!"

"I feel like I'm gonna puke-!"

"You're being too rough, Sensei," Tenten sighed. "Here, Sakura-chan." She hooked their arms together and began to stretch in a much less chaotic manner.

"Whoa-!" Sakura gasped as Tenten leaned forward, lifting Sakura's feet off the ground. "I-I'm not too heavy, am I?"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I have weapons that weigh more than you," she answered simply.

"Let us begin as well, Satoko-san!" Lee said, already in position. I sighed and went along without complaint. Lee was overbearing, but at least he was still manageable.

Plus, I still got to laugh at Sasuke as he did his best not to tap out.

"This is the best day of my life," I said quite honestly while Gai tried to pull Sasuke's leg over his head.

Waa, his face is so red.

"I agree! With the support of a partner, not only do our stretches become more invigorating, but we are able to develop our bonds through skinship!" Lee proclaimed.

Sasuke practically choked, but it was hard to tell whether it was because of what Lee said, or if it was from Gai pushing him into a way-too-deep straddle stretch.

Hang in there, Sasuke… Hang in there.

I was in the middle of helping Lee stretch his legs when suddenly, an explosive sound snapped through the air.

Kr-KRACK!

All heads turned towards the sudden noise, to Neji standing before an obliterated training post. His shoulders heaved as he gasped for air and deactivated his Byakugan. Angry didn't even begin to describe the aura radiating from him.

The atmosphere turned heavy. Gai carefully put Sasuke back on his feet after having held him upside down for who knows what reason and rushed over.

I exchanged looks with everyone else. Sasuke was too busy draining the blood from his head to pay attention to his surroundings, but Sakura looked just as stunned and concerned as I was. Tenten and Lee seemed to exchange a silent message before Tenten spoke.

"Let's start our training," she said quietly. "Gai-sensei will handle it."

The rest of us paired off. I was about to get into position, but indiscernible yelling coming from Neji caught my attention. I looked back and saw him slap Gai away as he reached out.

"This is your fault!" Neji shouted. He pushed his way past and stormed off the training field.

My stomach sank.

No, it isn't.

Gai was about to go after him, but instead he looked on with a deeply furrowed brow and worrisome eyes. There were no ways to describe his expression as anything other than completely shattered. He took a deep breath to recover and returned to the rest of us with a half-hearted smile.

He gathered all of us and said, "It would be best if we ended training early today. You have all worked very hard today, so you deserve a break."

"Is Neji-san okay?" Sakura asked. Her eyes flickered towards the broken training post, which remained obliterated in a pile of splinters.

"I will have a chat with him," Gai reassured.

"We'll come too!" Tenten said.

Lee nodded enthusiastically. "Yosh! As his teammates and friends, we must be there to support him!"

Gai smiled, but shook his head. "Your compassion towards your fellow shinobi warms my heart, Tenten, Lee, but for now it would be best for me to talk to him alone." He clapped his hands together, ending the discussion there. "You are dismissed!"

Despite the tension, everyone did as they were told. I waited until the others were out of earshot until I approached Gai.

"Gai-sensei… Would it be possible if maybe…I could go talk to him?" I said quietly, averting my gaze.

Gai smiled the same smile as before. "Your concern is most welcome, Satoko-san, but as I stated previously-"

"I think it's my fault," I said quickly. Gai looked down at me, curious. I took a deep breath, pressing my thumb into the palm of my hand. "I went to the Hyuuga manor yesterday to ask Hinata-chan some questions."

It was the first time I'd seen Gai look so serious. "Questions about what?"

"About the Byakugan," I said, then added much more quietly, "and his secret technique."

Gai sucked in a sharp breath. "I see," he said. I had a feeling he was doing his best to remain calm in the face of my major fuck-up. I appreciated that. "And this is how the main family learned about Neji's kaiten."

I hung my head and nodded. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I just wanted to know more about him. I didn't know how serious it was."

I briefly explained how the conversation went down - only the parts that mattered, of course - and how Hanabi was the one who deduced that Neji must've learned the kaiten by himself.

"Someone must have overheard the conversation and reported it to Hiashi-san," Gai said, his expression grim.

I clicked my tongue. That fucking caretaker!

"Thank you for your honesty, Satoko-san," he said sincerely, "but because it is such a personal matter, I should be the one to talk to him. He is my precious student, after all."

"Please, Gai-sensei!" I bowed deeply and kept my arms planted firmly at my sides. "I don't want to run away from my own mistakes. Most of all, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if someone else was blamed for something I did on my own accord."

Gai was hesitant, but eventually he patted my head, signaling me to stand up straight again. I looked up and was met with a bright smile.

"Okay!" he exclaimed, giving me a thumbs up. "It would be rude of me to deny my beloved rival's precious student the opportunity to learn!" He patted my shoulder and added more gently, "I will put my faith in you, Satoko-san."

I grinned, giving a thumbs up of my own. "I won't let you down, Gai-sensei!"

Finding Neji was fortunately pretty easy. He didn't get too far, and we were close enough to town that there were a few people I could ask who pointed me in the right direction. I eventually found him on one of the bridges that went over the many waterways and canals that stretched all over Konoha. He looked far from approachable, but I forced myself to keep walking towards him.

I made my presence known with loud footsteps and greeted him cautiously. "Neji?"

He turned to see who it was. His scowl was instantaneous.

"Why are you here?"

"W-Well, it looked like you were upset, so…"

Oh god. I knew this wouldn't be easy, but it's also so much harder than I thought it'd be!

Neji was, simply put, a terrifying twelve-year-old boy.

"What right do you have to follow me outside of training? You're not my teammate. You have no business talking to me unless-" he cut himself off and scanned me up and down.

I gulped.

On the bright side, if I die here I won't have to deal with Orochimaru. Hell, maybe dying is what sends me back home.

His rage flared within a split second and I had no time to brace myself. He grabbed me by the collar and slammed my back into the railing, teeth bared as he accused, "It was you! "

Before I could even try to answer, he pulled me back just to slam me into the railing again. I coughed on impact and tried not to think about how terrifyingly strong he was .

"How did you know?!"

Think, Satoko! Play your cards right - you've only got one shot at this!

"I-I didn't! It was an accident!" I stammered, closing my eyes and shielding my face in defense.

SLAM.

"An accident?! "

Wrong answer, try again!

"I-I was trying to get to know you better!" I corrected. I took a risk and peeked. He was furious, but at least now he was giving me a chance to talk. "Our teams have been training together for nearly a month now, but we've barely ever spoken! I just wanted to find something to talk to you about so we could be friends!"

Neji loosened his grip, but kept me firmly held against the railing. "How does one with the intention of befriending me 'accidentally' expose a secret to the very people I was keeping it from?" He was seething, his glare piercing and deadly.

"I…I made a mistake," I answered honestly. "I thought if I knew what techniques you were practicing that day with your team, I could use it as an ice breaker."

"You had no business asking about me."

"I was careless," I admitted, trying hard not to make it obvious that I was in pain. "I'm sorry, I really am!"

"'Careless' doesn't even begin to describe what you've done!" Neji growled. His anger was down to a simmer now, but it was still boiling right at the surface. I had to pick my words carefully if I wanted to avoid a thorough beating. "You made me think that-"

He cut himself off abruptly, and for just a moment there was a crack in his voice that was like an arrow through my heart. His eyes wavered, but he quickly regained his composure and pulled at my collar.

"They could've killed me for this!" he yelled instead.

"W-What…? Why would someone kill you?" The reality of the Hyuuga clan was already a hard pill to swallow, but having to talk about it out loud, to one of the people directly involved - it was damn near suffocating.

Neji scoffed. "I'm surprised no one told you. Fine then." He finally released me and took a step back, untying his headband. "Since you're so intent on knowing more about me, let me explain to you the legacy of my clan."

If talking about it was suffocating, actually hearing Neji himself explain the nature of the seal was like drowning in a sea of awful feelings.

"Hinata-sama's father is my uncle. He and my father were twins, but because my father was born just a few minutes later, he was made a member of the branch family…"

He told me with sorrowful eyes how his father's seal was once used to punish him. He recounted, with bitterness dripping from every word, the day of Hinata's kidnapping, and how his father was used as Hiashi's body double in order to protect him.

I bit the inside of my cheek, tempted to tell him the truth of what really happened.

"This cursed mark, the Caged Bird seal, was created to ensure that the branch family would live for one purpose only - to serve as sacrifices in order to protect the main family. The only escape from this seal is death." Neji averted his gaze. His hands were trembling, knuckles white as he gripped his headband far too tight. "Because of this seal, I'm destined to be at the main family's behest until the day I die."

He was silent for a long moment, and so was I. Finally, I mustered up the courage to speak.

"I didn't know how serious it was to keep it a secret," I lied. "If I did, I never would have brought it up."

I wasn't the biggest fan of lying to people when it wasn't a bluff, especially not after it totally backfired on me just the day before, but any mention of the true reason I pried for information was out of the question.

Sorry, Neji, but you're going to hurt Hinata if you keep going down this path.

And I wasn't about to just let it happen without at least trying to do something about it.

"I'm sorry," I said again, this time bowing properly. My back was throbbing, but it was a small price to pay.

His glare softened. I was on the right track, somehow, or maybe he was finally starting to calm down.

"They would've found out eventually," he murmured. "It's not like I expected to keep it a secret forever."

"Why did you try learning it in the first place?" I asked. He was quiet, so I continued. "You said that everyone's born with their fate already decided for them, so there's no point in trying to change. If you truly believed that, then why would you learn a technique that's forbidden to you, especially when the consequences are so high?"

He clenched his jaw and gave no response, as if he'd never really thought about the reason. I suspected it might be the case.

"Those aren't the actions of someone who thinks they're bound by fate," I concluded. "They're the actions of someone who's trying to defy the fate that was determined for them."

His glare returned. Now he was getting annoyed.

"Don't talk like you know me. What do you know about fate?" he glowered. "What would you know about being trapped by an inescapable curse?!"

I couldn't help but crack a smile.

Thought you'd never ask.

"You know about what happened to the kyuubi that attacked Konoha not too long ago, right?" I asked innocently.

Neji nodded skeptically. "Shinobi are generally aware that it was sealed into a suitable host, making them a jinchuuriki, although only those in positions of power like clan heads are aware of who that is."

My smile grew wider. "I'll give you one chance to guess who it is."

Neji narrowed his eyes at me. "Impossible. How could someone like you be..." He stared at me skeptically and shook his head. " Impossible. "

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, it's not that unbelievable. Where d'you think my crazy stamina comes from? And how else would I not have any bruises after training with Lee?"

Neji looked off into the distance, as if his understanding of the world had been turned on itself. "The vessel for the chakra beast that attacked the village...is you ." He spoke as if saying out loud would help him accept it as truth.

I grinned. "Yep! Now will you take me seriously?" I asked half jokingly. I patted my belly where the kyuubi's seal was inscribed. "Just like it is with your cursed mark, the only way of escaping the kyuubi is death."

"…I didn't know," he said quietly.

"The seal and the kyuubi are just a facts of life," I said with a shrug, "but it doesn't mean we can't choose what to do with them."

Neji blinked, looking doubtful again. "What do you mean?"

I held my chin in thought and hummed to myself for a brief moment. Something clicked, and I dropped my fist into my palm. "Ah! It's like this..."

"Imagine you're trying to cook a dish. Someone gave you a bunch of ingredients and said, 'Make fried rice!' But maybe you don't wanna make fried rice. Maybe you want ramen!"

"You had better be going somewhere with this," Neji muttered, looking exceptionally unimpressed.

"Let me finish," I insisted, holding up a hand. "So you want to make ramen, but you look at your ingredients and you think, 'Ah…How am I going to make ramen if I only have rice?' So you lose hope, and you start to believe that your only option is to make rice in the end."

Neji stared at me in disbelief. "Are you comparing my cursed mark to fried rice?"

"I'm comparing your so-called fate of being a human sacrifice and my so-called fate of being a human weapon of mass destruction to fried rice," I corrected. "Anyway, so now you've given up and have accepted that your only option is to make rice. But here's the thing!"

I turned to Neji to make sure he was still following. He was, but he didn't look happy about it.

"What's stopping you from going out and buying your own noodles? Or from making noodles from scratch? Or from borrowing some from your neighbour? Who said you can't use the rice to make congee instead? Why does it have to be fried rice?"

I was really hoping that my point was coming across, because I didn't have anything else.

"Fried rice feels like the only option because it's the first option you were given, the easiest option to take, and because whoever gave you the ingredients only set you up for that one option."

I stared at my hands, as if I was holding all the options in front of me.

"Whether you throw out all the ingredients you were given and make something else from scratch, or if you use them to make something other than what you were told, or even if you make the fried rice after all - in the end, the choice is entirely up to you."

Neji stared at me for a long, long moment until he finally asked, "What the hell are you trying to say?"

I snorted. "What I'm saying is, fate doesn't mean jackshit so long as we have the power to choose."

He looked down at his feet, deep in thought.

"How could you possibly choose?" he finally said, keeping his eyes downcast. "Either you do what you're told, or you don't. And if you don't, you suffer the consequences."

"I never said it would be easy," I answered simply.

At least that much, I understood undeniably well.

Neji scoffed. "No, I suppose you didn't."

A gentle breeze rolled past, making me shudder from he chill. It carried the scent of this morning's rain and caused the leaves to flutter into the canal.

"What would you choose?" he suddenly asked, looking into the horizon. "If…you were told to make fried rice," he muttered hesitantly, "but wanted something else."

I hummed in thought. "Ah…"

I'd never really thought about it before, what I was going to do with this new life. I didn't want to accept that I'd be here permanently, but it was probably time to admit that I had no idea how I got here. I didn't even know where to begin searching for a way to get back. All I had time to care about so far was avoiding certain death and making sure my teammates didn't bring us to ruin.

What would I choose?

As a jinchuuriki, it seemed like the only option was to become a human weapon for the village, more so than any other shinobi. I could only imagine what that would mean for me and my future. Who knows how my power might be abused, and for what causes? I didn't want that to be any part of my reality at all.

As a shinobi, I was downright terrified. It had only been a few months, yet I've already witnessed numerous deaths and faced my own mortality more times than I cared to count. So long as I was put in the front lines, I'd have to experience more and more of a harsh reality that, quite frankly, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to accept.

The only thing so far that gave me peace of mind was studying fuuinjutsu. It was removed enough from combat that it didn't cause the same levels of stress, and it was grounded in concepts that I was already familiar with. Most importantly, it was the one thing that I'd been able to do with full confidence.

A rush of emotion overcame me all at once just then, and what I could only describe as a powerful driving force that pushed me towards my answer.

"I'd give the ingredients back," I finally answered, turning to Neji with a bright smile.

"I'm going to find a way to unseal the kyuubi." I declared it with such certainty that it didn't even sound like myself. "And once I've done that, I'll find a way to undo that seal of yours, too."

Neji stared at me, dumbfounded. And then he looked away to scoff. And then looked at me and scoffed again.

"What, don't think I can do it?" I challenged.

"I think you have high hopes for a mere rookie," Neji said, rolling his eyes. He added, quietly, "But…I wouldn't stop you if you tried."

I grinned. That was good enough for me.

For the first time since this morning, I felt a sense of calm in the air. Neji was quiet, but finally his eyes were relaxed and no long glaring at his feet. I couldn't say if our conversation would change anything for sure, but at least I could say that I tried. Most importantly, it didn't end with me getting hospitalized.

"By the way…" I started hesitantly, unsure of whether or not I should tell him what I was thinking of telling him. I ultimately decided it was better for him to know. "I know you might not believe it, but Hinata-chan is looking out for you."

Neji looked up with a spark of anger. "What?"

"The person I spoke to yesterday was Hinata-chan. Hanabi-chan was there, too. She was the one who figured out that you learned the kaiten, because of my careless line of questioning," I explained. "She wanted to tell her father, but Hinata-chan made her promise not to."

He kept quiet. The spark remained nothing more than a spark.

"I don't think Hanabi-chan fully understands what the seal is for, but Hinata-chan does. She said that she didn't want you to get hurt."

I held my breath as I waited for his response.

Don't make me regret this.

Neji exhaled slowly, deliberately controlling his breath. "I see." I could see his hands were clenched, but he soon relaxed them once again. "Thank you for telling me."

I flashed a smile. "No problem."

The sky was finally starting to clean, and the sun was right above us, now. It was getting close to our usual break time, and I was getting hungry.

"Let's get something to eat," I said, patting Neji's shoulder. I pushed myself off the railing and stretched my arms above my head. "Anything you want?"

Neji smiled despite himself. "Suddenly I'm craving ramen."

I arrived home just as the sun was setting with a bag of groceries and a belly full of ramen. I dropped my bag on the floor and immediately flopped into my bed. Despite having done little to no training, the day had been long.

Just as I was about to doze off, an unfamiliar voice echoed in my head.

[ So...you want to unseal me, hm? ]

Notes:

After credit scene:
Gai keeps his distance and entrusts the well-being of his student to Satoko. When there is no indication that their conversation has ended disastrously, he delightedly departs to attend to his other pressing matters.

He arrives at Kakashi's apartment with some takeout in hand. He makes his presence known with jangly keys and loud footsteps. He sets the food on the table and approaches the bed.

The lump that has been there since this morning has not moved.

It pains him to see his beloved rival in such a state, but the springtime of youth cannot wait forever. There comes a time when one must go forth and take it for their own! So with great determination, Gai grabs the corners of the shuriken-patterned blanket and yanks them off with full force, revealing the disheveled Kakashi underneath.

There is no time to be sulking! His students have waited long enough; it's about time he gets back to work!

Chapter 26: Behold! Our Overflowing Youth!

Summary:

Satoko does her best to make a good first impression on Kurama. Whether or not it worked, she'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, she gets the hang of fuuinjutsu and ties up some loose ends.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

[ So…you want to unseal me, hm? ]

My eyes snapped open.

[ High hopes indeed, for a rookie. ]

I kept my mouth shut. Maybe if I pretend not to hear him, he'd go away.

[ I'm talking to you, girl. I know you can hear me. ]

Oh god, was he reading my mind? Then again if he was, he probably would've had a lot more pressing questions, like why the hell I had memories of a whole other lifetime and why I knew about future events.

[ Hey! ]

I flinched. Clearly ignoring him wasn't going to work, so I gave in with a very hesitant, "Hello?"

[ About time. You should answer when someone is talking to you. ]

"S…Sorry. I was surprised," I said honestly. "Are you the Demon Fox?"

[ Who else would it be? ]

"Right." I turned so I was lying on my back and staring at the ceiling. Somehow it made it easier to think about how I should respond to the Embodiment of Hatred, Chakra Demon whose voice was resounding in my head. "Um."

[ You've got something to say? Spit it out! ]

"G-Gimme a sec!" I answered frantically.

There were very few things I was prepared to face in this world, and handling the Kyuubi was definitely not on that list. I didn't even think much about him until I got caught up in my conversation with Neji and somehow ended up made a bold claim. I really should've known the Kyuubi would have something to say about that.

I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. I only had one chance to play this right from the beginning. I figured my best chance was to do the exact opposite of what Protagonist did, which really left me with just one option.

Be polite.

"I was wondering…" I started carefully, blinking up at the ceiling, "…What's your name?"

The Kyuubi took a moment to respond.

[ My name, hm? ]

"Yeah. Mizuki-sensei called you the Demon Fox, and I know you as the Kyuubi, but neither of those are really names," I said. "You have one, right?"

[ Of course I do! ] He snapped, then said quietly, [ …It's Kurama. ]

"Kurama," I repeatedly thoughtfully, as if it was my first time hearing it. "That's a nice name. It's nice to meet you, Kurama-san."

Kurama grunted. [ Don't expect any pleasantries from me, kid. You've done nothing to earn my respect. ]

"Does that mean it's possible to earn your respect?" I asked with a faint grin.

[ Not with that cocky attitude, ] he grumbled. [ I've been watching you your whole life, girl. I know exactly how much of a failure you are. How do you expect to unseal me with that tiny brain of yours? ]

"Hey!" I turned onto my side as if I could actually turn my back to him. "I only just got started. I never said I'd figure it out in a day!"

[ As if you'd be able to figure it out at all! ] He sneered.

His whole gimmick was using negative emotions so Protagonist would depend on his chakra, so I suspected he was trying to get under my skin. Too bad for him, I knew exactly what kind of game he was playing. Even thought it was still incredibly annoying.

"Maybe you could help me instead of making fun of me," I said with a huff. "Doesn't sound like you're happy being sealed away."

[ Of course I want out, Kurama growled. [ But what makes you think I'd help the likes of you? ]

"Wouldn't it be the other way around?" I countered.

Kurama scoffed loudly. [ I don't need help from a brat like you - I can get out all my own! I'll devour you the second I see an opening! ]

I refrained from being a smartass because he definitely meant it.

I knew there weren't any serious cracks in the seal, but I also knew that the Chuunin Exams were coming up, and that the Forest of Death was the second time Protagonist unconsciously tapped into the red chakra. Nothing serious enough for the red chakra had happened to me yet, but it was hard to say if I'd be able to hold out against Orochimaru.

It wasn't going to be easy, but if I was going to avoid any potential casualties, I needed to get on Kurama's good side.

"I don't want to be devoured, though," I said honestly. "And it's not like helping me will do anything bad for you. Isn't there anything about the seal you can tell me, just to help me get started?"

I could feel Kurama rolling his eyes.

[ Fine, then. Consider it a reward for having the brains to ask for my name, ] Kurama said. [ The seal is called the Eight Trigrams Seal. ]

I couldn't help but grin widely. I knew being polite would pay off! It was the least of what he wanted from Protagonist.

"Awesome! And?"

[ That's it. ]

I blinked. "What?! That's all?!"

[ I said it's your reward for asking my name, so it's only fair that all you get is a name in return, ] he said, sounding terribly pleased with himself.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with just a name?!" And a name I already knew, no less!

Kurama's mocking laugh rumbled in my head. [ That's not my problem. Better get studying, kid. ]

"Aw, c'mon!" I whined, flopping onto my back once more. "And here I thought we were starting to become friends."

[ As if I'd ever consider a human my friend! ] Kurama scoffed. [ I'm done talking with you. ]

"Can't you tell me just one more thing?" I pleaded into my empty apartment. "How was the seal made? Who sealed you? C'mon, Kurama-san - you've gotta give me something!"

There was no response. I sighed and rolled onto my feet.

Off to studying it is, then.

Right after I took a much-needed shower.

Studying itself was the easy part. Not only could I make clones to read all the material on my behalf, but they could all study different things at the same time. The hard part was working up the physical technique needed to perform a new skill.

Using clones saved a lot of time and effort, but it didn't mean I could just kick back and relax. They were most useful for gathering intel and learning the theory behind performing a skill. For example, a clone could help me figure out the proper form needed to do a push-up, but I still had to do all the physical training myself if I wanted to develop the strength needed for a push-up.

The same went for fine motor skills or things that required muscle memory. A clone could help me study the proper ways to hold a brush and how much ink I should use, but I had to practice writing calligraphy myself if I wanted to improve.

Fortunately, I was always more of a crafty person. It took a while to get started, but now that I'd gotten used to handling a brush, I could say with confidence that my seals were looking good.

With a calculated flick of the wrist, I added the final stroke to my latest attempt at a seal and carefully set the brush aside.

"Now, the moment of truth…"

I'd made over a dozen attempts since Tenten first taught me the basics of fuuinjutsu. The progress was steady, but slow, and my patience was wearing thin. I triple-checked my work for errors as it dried and decided that this time, for sure, it was perfect.

I placed an orange in the empty space of the scroll - I'd learn my lesson early on that I should test all seals with a non-lethal item - and made a hand sign, focusing my chakra into the seal. I could feel it flowing into the ink and the paper, as if the seal was charging up before it could activate.

C'mon, c'mon-!

The orange disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving nothing but its corresponding character in the once-empty space.

"YES!" I punched the air and held the seal up into the air. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Oi, keep it down! You know we can't study when it's noisy!"

I turned my head to the three clones I'd made to study and huffed. "Can't a girl celebrate her achievements? A few months ago none of this was even a real science for us! I'm practically relearning the laws of the universe over here!"

"Hey man, so are we!" Number One said. "This Eight Trigrams stuff ain't easy you know. It has a component that's a shape instead of a character, which means we have to figure out how those work, first, and you know how much of a pain it is to find information in a library. Who knows how outdated these sources are!"

I sighed despondently. I'd been trying not to think too hard about how convenient it was to have the internet. I appreciated Konoha's traditional aesthetic, and the archives had their own unique charm to them, but it would really save some time if all I had to do was punch in a few keywords to get all the information I needed.

"At least we have a place to start. It really does look like syntax," Number Two said. "A lot of the graphemes are familiar, too."

"Too bad we're illiterate in Chinese," Number Three muttered. "Would've really helped with some of the kanji."

I sighed again. "Yeah, guess that's the next thing to study," I said, suddenly feeling exhausted. Even with the advantage of having clones on my side, the material I had to learn was never ending. "That's enough for today. Good work, guys."

I dispelled my clones and folded myself over the table as the information transferred back to me. I was too tired to go out at the time I started studying, which meant my clones were also too tired, so I had them read the books and scrolls I already had at home to see if they could find anything that might help decipher the Eight Trigrams Seal. It was mostly just detailed explanations of sealing structures, however, and nothing that mentioned the seal by name.

Guess I need to send some to the archives tomorrow.

After a good night's rest, the next morning started with some internal bickering.

"Do we still need to transform?" One asked. "Our only concern should be getting dispelled."

"But we don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Two said. "And even though the hate's gone down, we're still not exactly popular."

"Yeah, the last thing we need is to get caught up in an argument before we even reach the library," Three said.

"Play it safe," I agreed. "Maybe after a few more farming missions the civilians will start to warm up to us."

"As long as it doesn't involve shoveling poop again," One grumbled. "Alright, let's go!"

I waited until the clones were out of sight before leaving myself. The clones never got dispelled before, but they could never be too careful. With the likes of ROOT and who knows what other dark entities lurking about, I could never say with confidence how much I could do without putting a target on my back.

I arrived at the training grounds just as the sun was starting to peak over the canopy. It only took about three weeks, but I was finally getting used to meeting at such an absurd time and jumping right into Team Gai's warmup.

The older genin were already gathered and chatting amongst themselves. They were quiet, and I couldn't hear what they were saying. Sakura noticed me staring and gave me a look that said to mind my own business. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and theatrically looked up at the sky.

It didn't look like Neji was mad. His expression was in its natural scowl, but there was no animosity radiating from him like yesterday. I glanced his way in passing just as he happened to look at me and froze. We made eye contact for just a split second, but it felt like an eternity.

He greeted me with a curt nod and was the first to look away.

I'll take that as a good sign, I thought, relieved that there was no residual tension.

"Gai-sensei isn't here," Sasuke noted, scanning the training field.

"He probably has some business to attend to. It happens," Tenten answered nonchalantly. "We can get started on warm ups without him. Let's go!"

"He's been coming and going during training a lot lately," Sakura said as we all broke into a jog. "I hope it isn't anything serious."

"Worry not - I am sure he will arrive shortly!" Lee said.

I gasped, holding my fists up in excitement as I turned to my teammates. "Maybe Kakashi-sensei's back!"

"Then he definitely won't be arriving shortly," Sasuke drawled.

"I hope that's the case," Sakura sighed. "He's been gone for a really long time. At this rate we'll have trained with Team Gai for as long as we've trained with him!"

I made a face. "Geez, it really has been a while, huh…"

I almost forgot that it was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement. I'm sure nobody expected it to last this long. Gai had been keeping it interesting by mixing things up, but we were nearing the end of our third week together. I'm sure he and his team all wanted to get back to their regular training soon.

Damn it, Kakashi… What the hell happened to you?

"Oi, Satoko! Pick up the pace!" Tenten yelled.

I snapped out of my thoughts and saw that I'd fallen almost a full lap behind. "Right!"

I broke into a sprint to catch up. And of all people, I somehow ended up next to Neji. We did a full lap in silence before I couldn't take it anymore.

"H-Hey, Neji!" I greeted as cheerfully as I could and smiled wide.

"Good morning," he said. I didn't sense any lingering hostility, but it was hard to read what he might be thinking otherwise. Then again, Neji was always hard to read.

"So, uh…how are you feeling?" I asked carefully.

Neji closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He slowed his pace so we were further from the rest before responding.

"Good," he finally answered, glancing down at his feet. "I…spoke with Hinata-sama. It seems that what you said was true, that neither she nor Hanabi-sama were the ones who told their father."

I laughed nervously. "Of course! I wouldn't lie about that." I added more quietly, "And Hinata-chan wouldn't do something like that."

Neji nodded to himself.

"A word of advice," he suddenly said, startling me back to attention. "Be careful who you announce your ambitions to. You're in a tight spot because of who you are."

"Ah…Right." I looked forward, suddenly feeling warm. "You won't tell anybody, right? About what I said I'd do."

Neji scoffed. "I'm insulted that you think I'd betray a comrade."

I grinned widely. "C'mon, don't be so stingy - you can call me a friend!" I teased, bumping his shoulder.

Neji shoved me back, cheeks flushed. "Don't push it."

"Hey~ What's made you two so friendly all of a sudden?" Tenten asked, running up between us. "Anything you wanna share?"

Neji and I exchanged looks. He answered simply, "We were just talking about what we had for dinner last night."

I stifled a laugh as Tenten pouted, but was tactful enough not to press.

There was still no sign of Gai by the time we finished warmups. I could see the concern in his team's eyes, but we proceeded as usual and paired off.

"Your technique has greatly improved since we began, Satoko-san!" Lee complimented as we reviewed grappling techniques. "I have faith that you will be able hold your own against any one of us!"

"You think so?" I laughed sheepishly, somehow feeling embarrassed from the praise. I'd been trying hard to encourage myself this whole time, it was nice to hear it from someone with actual credibility for a change.

"Of course! Whether or not you could defeat us, however-" with a sudden burst of power, Lee easily flipped me over and pinned me down, "-is a different story altogether!"

I kept my neck tucked in as he'd taught and laughed airily. "Guess I've still got a lot to learn."

Lee grinned widely and helped me up. "A shinobi's training never ends!"

The first half of training was full of high-energy, but it quickly faded once it was time for lunch and Gai-sensei was still nowhere to be found.

In an attempt to distract myself from the increasingly bad vibes, I got Tenten's attention and showed her my seals as promised.

"No way!" Tenten exclaimed once she saw it. She turned to me with a bright smile. "You did it!"

I grinned. "Not bad, eh?"

"It's amazing! All the characters are right, and all the placements are perfect - it's important to get these parts right!"

"You say that about everything," I laughed.

"That's because every part of a seal is important!" she defended. "Seriously though, you've got a knack for this stuff. It took me months to design the seals I used for battle. You could really go far with this!"

I beamed. "Thanks!"

I'd only been in this world for a couple of months, and yet within that time I'd already experienced the full package deal of being a shinobi - kidnapping, murder, assassins, politics… Two months ago, I would've pissed myself at the idea of fighting a real shinobi in combat.

Now, I was still terrified, but at least I had a few tricks up to my sleeve thanks to Team Gai. I could read my opponents better, could throw a hefty punch in the right direction, and had a whole new skillset under my belt that was sure to take everyone by surprise.

I just had to make sure these new tricks were battle-ready in time for the Chuunin Exams; anything to give me even the smallest hope of surviving Orochimaru.

"By the way, I have something for you," Tenten said, fishing something out of her bag. "I was going to give it to you no matter what, but now you can think of it as a congratulatory gift for your first success."

She handed me a small bundle of paper. I fanned them opened and examined them. They were the same dimensions as standard sealing paper, but they looked and felt different.

"What're these?"

"The good stuff," Tenten grinned. "Standard sealing paper is made of mulberry which makes it pretty coarse, but paper made from soaking bamboo stems is a lot smoother and easier to write on."

"It's so soft…" I murmured, gently rubbing the surface with my fingertips. "And you're giving these to me?"

"Of course!"

I sniffed and pulled her into a hug with little warning. "Thank you so much, Tenten-senpai!"

"Hey, careful not to bend those; they don't come cheap, you know!"

I quickly pulled back and made sure the papers were still intact. "Are you sure you don't want me to pay you back? There's a lot of sheets here…"

Tenten scoffed and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it! I've got a special deal with the ojiisan who makes these. You can pay me back by using them to make even better seals," she said, patting my shoulder. "Besides, this is only the good stuff, not the great stuff. They're not even made with any elm."

"Wow, no elm? What a ripoff, " I joked, carefully storing the bundle in my bag.

Tenten rolled her eyes and laughed. "Maybe Ojiisan will give you some himself if you get good enough."

I tilted my head. "Who is this guy, anyway?"

"Ah… Let's see, how do I explain…" Tenten hummed, tapping her chin in thought. "He's basically one of Konoha's leading fuuinjutsu specialists, if not the only notable specialist we have. He lives on the outskirts of town, on top of the Hokage Monument."

I blinked, resisting the temptation to ask how the hell Tenten came to know such a weird sounding guy. "Is he like…a hermit, or something?"

Tenten shrugged. "I'm pretty sure he's an Inuzuka elder or something. He's super old and has like, fifty dogs."

As excited as I was to imagine that many dogs in one place, I was stuck on trying to imagine what the hell this guy could possibly look like. "That's… How old are we talking here?"

"I don't know, eighty? Ninety? He's so old. But he's healthy!" Tenten grinned. "Don't sweat it, he's a cool guy. He has great hair for a man his age."

"You do know that the more you describe him the weirder he sounds," I said, squinting at her. Whoever this guy was, he was starting to sound like a dog-themed Jiraiya. "Does he have a name?"

"Those of us who know him through fuuinjutsu call him Paper-jiisan," Tenten said nonchalantly. "The Inuzuka clan probably knows his real name, though."

I squinted harder. I guess it's about time I met Kiba again.

"Maybe I'll try paying this Paper-jiisan a visit sometime," I said. To be quite honest, I wasn't entirely sure that Tenten wasn't pulling one over me with an elaborate bit. "Once I'm sure he won't eat me or turn me into a dog, or something."

Someone that eccentric just had to be important. What if he was another misplaced character like Obito? I needed to know who exactly that hermit was if I didn't want to get blindsided by any more drastic changes.

"Yeah! He doesn't leave his home a lot, so it should be easy to meet him," Tenten said encouragingly. "His place is hard to miss. You'll know what I mean once you see it."

"For some reason I feel like I'll just be even more confused," I laughed wearily.

"Hey, you two," Neji called, interrupted out conversation. He stood with his hand on his hip, scolding us with his eyes from afar. "Let's get back to training."

Tenten waved her hand and stood up. "Yeah, yeah. Alright, Sakura-chan! Back to work! What do you wanna try next, the chain and sickle? How about the bō? Oh, or nunchucks-!"

There was a sudden shift in the air just then, and everyone's attention turned to the new presence. Lee immediately charged towards it to greet the newcomer with gusto.

"GOOD MORNING, GAI-SENSEI!" He stood at attention and saluted proudly, eyes glimmering and ready for Gai's instructions.

"Oh! Good morning, Lee!" Gai smiled brightly and posed as usual, but something was off. There was no spark in his eyes - no ding! when he smiled. We picked up on it immediately. Even Lee couldn't keep the energy going.

"Is something wrong, Gai-sensei?" he asked, dropping his arm.

"N-Not at all!" Gai insisted, doing his best to brighten his smile. "Just some…unexpected news, is all."

"Is it about Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, worried. "Did something happen during his mission?"

Gai's eyes were downcast. For the first time all month, he was at a genuine loss for words.

"Forgive me, dear students of Kakashi, for I have been withholding information about your sensei for quite some time," he said, bowing his head. "It is true that Kakashi was away for a mission, but in truth, he has been back for a week now."

"What?" Sasuke glowered. "Why hasn't he come back to train us yet?"

Gai looked us in the eyes. He knew that we deserved to know the truth, and was finally going to tell us.

"When he returned…he was not well," he said carefully. "He was not fit to teach and has been bedridden since his return."

"N-No way…" Sakura gasped. "Is he in the hospital? We need to see him!"

"Ah! Forgive my lack of clarity!" Gai said, shaking his head. He put on a reassuring smile. "He has not suffered any physical harm. Rather, he has…fallen ill, and it is taking longer than anticipated for him to recover."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn't possibly imagine how much it affected him to see Obito alive in the capital, but I definitely didn't expect it to take this much of a mental toll.

"This must be why you've been leaving so much during training lately," I said. "You were checking up on him, right?"

Gai nodded. "I have been doing my best to help with his recovery. I visited him this morning and hoped he would be well enough to get out of bed today, but…it appears that I was mistaken. He is still not quite ready to return."

I couldn't imagine seeing Gai upset until now. His voice was heavy with grief and his eyes were uncharacteristically hallow.

"I'm afraid I have exhausted all my options," Gai said, somber. "All we can do now is wait."

"Wait for what?"

All heads jerked towards the new voice that belonged to none other than-

"Kakashi-sensei…!"

"Kakashi-sensei?!"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

I could only keep myself together for exactly one second before I gave in and rushed into him with a crushing embrace.

"Sensei! You're finally back!" I ignored the tugging on the back of my collar and hugged him tighter.

"You're late, Sensei! We've been waiting for weeks!" Sakura scolded.

"Who's late? You're all just early," Kakashi countered, gently peeling me off his waist. "It's only noon."

"What took you so long?" Sasuke demanded, marching up to him with his arms crossed. The excitement was short-lived - he wasted no time going into Interrogation Mode. "You better have a good excuse for ditching us for a whole month."

"Maa…take it easy, Sasuke," Kakashi laughed sheepishly, holding his hands up in defence. "It's only been a few days."

"A few days?! You've been gone for weeks!" Sakura shouted, pointing at him accusingly. "Don't tell me you were just slacking off and lost track of time!"

Riding the momentum set by my teammates, I jumped onto the bandwagon and waved a finger in his face as well. "Yeah! I bet you took a vacation without telling us!"

"Wow, they turned against him in a blink of an eye," I heard Tenten comment wearily from behind us. "I guess even Kakashi-sensei is exhausting in his own way."

To be fair, he totally brings it upon himself, I thought in our defence.

"You all sure have a lot of energy, haha!" Kakashi laughed nervously, taking a step back. "And here I thought you guys would be happy to see me."

"Of course we're happy to see you," Sakura huffed, "but Gai-sensei said you were sick just this morning! We were worried it might be something serious, like a chronic disease or a chakra virus!"

"Aha…is that what he said?" Kakashi glanced over at Gai with a look that said What did you do? while Gai looked away as though he had no idea what Kakashi was talking about.

"And you always come and go as you please," Sasuke added. "Of course we'd think it's suspicious that you suddenly recovered in just a few hours. For all we know, you were faking it just so you could read one of your weird books."

It only took two minutes of our verbal tag-team for Kakashi to become utterly defeated. "Maa…the three of you really don't think very highly of me, do you…" He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Well, it is true that I wasn't feeling very well until recently, but…I guess you could say that a precious friend helped me pull myself together."

His gaze flickered towards Gai, and in just that one moment, he conveyed all that needed to be said with single, gentle smile.

Gai, having been rendered speechless from Kakashi's sudden appearance up until then, was of course instantly reduced to tears.

"Here we go," Neji sighed, shaking his head.

"OH! MY DEAREST RIVAL!" Gai pulled Kakashi into a crushing embrace that remained undefeated. Kakashi struggled to even pat Gai on the back in return. "HOW HAPPY I AM TO SEE THAT YOUR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH HAS RETURNED ONCE AGAIN!"

"Gai-kun, I can't breathe…!"

"I was starting to fear that your flame had burned out for good! It is only appropriate that we celebrate your joyous return with a challenge to get you back into shape! What'll it be? Wrestling? Rock-climbing? I'll even do an eating contest if you so desire, my rival!"

"M-My chest, Gai-!"

"Oh!" Gai immediately released our poor sensei and patted him down as though to examine him for any injuries while Kakashi coughed his lungs back into shape. "My deepest apologies, Kakashi! I simply could not contain my excitement, for I have missed you dearly!"

"Yes, yes," he sighed, patting Gai on the shoulder. He smiled fondly and said, "I missed you, too."

I couldn't help but smile to myself. "They really care about each other, huh!"

"If only they'd keep it down," Sakura sighed.

"How embarrassing," Neji muttered.

"WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF YOUTH!" Lee cried.

Sasuke took a step away from him and asked quietly, "Can we go now?"

"Not before we celebrate Kakashi-sensei's return!" I announced. I looked between my teammates and Kakashi, grinning deviously. They quickly caught on and locked onto the jounin.

Kakashi blinked. "Huh?"

Sasuke smirked. "It'll be the perfect way to show him how much stronger we got while he was gone."

"W-What?"

Sakura nodded enthusiastically and took a step towards him. "Nothing like experiencing it first hand!"

"Wait, h-hold on-! I'm not ready-!"

"GET HIM!"

Notes:

After Credit Scene:
Kakashi was expecting a warm welcome. He supposes that being assaulted by his genin is as warm a welcome as any.

He spent his absence worrying about many things, but their well-being was not one of them. He knew Gai would take good care of them. The many bruises and sore joints they gave him is proof that his faith was well-placed.

At least they didn't pick up any weird habits, he thinks. He might've cried if he came back to a team of green spandex.

Chapter 27: 21/2 Days

Summary:

Satoko seeks help from various people in her attempt to qualify for the Chuunin Exams and can no longer keep herself from acting her age.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

DAY 22

I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.

It was as though time had stopped, but the world continued to move around me. All I could do was watch helplessly as Orochimaru's disfigured body stretched longer and longer towards-

Sasuke stood frozen in place, hands trembling by his sides. Sakura opened her mouth to scream, but what came out instead was a desperate wail.

Please, just move…

Move…!

Move!

Tears welled in my eyes. A terrible ringing deafened me. My mind went blank.

I should've quit the Exams when I had the chance.

DAY 1

The good thing about Kakashi's return is that we were finally meeting at a reasonable time again. After three weeks of training with Team Gai, however, I'd become hardwired to wake up at sunrise. At least it gave me plenty of time to mosey along through my morning routine.

"Guess I've got nothing better to do," I mumbled, rolling out of bed.

There were a few bakeries and convenience stores open despite the time, so I grabbed some buns for breakfast and a bento box for lunch on my way to the training field. I was over an hour early so unsurprisingly, I was the first to arrive. I sat against a training post and ate my breakfast, watching the clouds roll by.

This must be how Shikamaru feels, I thought idly. Like an old man.

The morning air was crisp. Leaves rustled in the distance as a cool breeze rolled past, carrying the scent of grass along with it. Every day with Team Gai was loud and full of energy from start to finish, but today was quiet. It was nice to finally have time to myself and enjoy Konoha's always-perfect weather.

I must've dozed off after I ate because next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sound of my teammate's voices.

"-acting less like an idiot since we graduated," I heard Sakura say.

Are they talking about me?

"Everyone has to grow up eventually," Sasuke said. "Even a loser like her."

Jerk! Say it to my face!

"It's just so hard to believe she's the same annoying kid who skipped class and pulled pranks," Sakura said. "She's like an entirely different person."

Haha… Too close for comfort, Sakura.

"Being on a team and going on missions creates a high-pressure environment. Our options are to get stronger or become a burden. That's all it is," Sasuke answered simply.

"Right…" Sakura trailed off. "Um, Sasuke-kun…do you still think of me as a burden?"

There was a pause. I breathed quietly, careful not to alert them that I was awake.

"…You've become stronger," Sasuke finally said.

Oh, thank god.

Sakura sighed in relief for the both of us. "We all have!" I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Hn." It was just a grunt, but I could hear that Sasuke was hiding a smile behind it. And then it dropped. "Satoko, we know you're awake."

"Huh?"

I cracked my eyes open to see Sasuke and Sakura both looking down at me from the training post next to me. I grinned up at them. "What gave it away?"

"Your breathing pattern changed," Sasuke said. "And you smile without even knowing, Dobe."

"More importantly, you shouldn't eavesdrop!" Sakura scolded. "How long were you listening?!"

"Long enough to hear Bastard call me a loser," I huffed. I hopped onto my feet and brushed myself off. "Y'know, you guys can just tell me what you're thinking to my face - that you finally see how great I really am!"

My teammates gawked in response. In their defense, it was completely warranted.

"Yeah, right!" Sakura scoffed. "Two months ago you couldn't even make a single clone!"

"But now I can make hundreds," I said pointedly.

"Just because you're improving doesn't mean you're good," Sasuke countered.

"But you agree that I'm improving," I said, grinning at him.

Sasuke jerked away with a scoff but failed to hide his slight smile. "Don't get cocky."

I gestured victoriously. I'm counting that as a win for our friendship!

"Seems like you're all getting along as good as ever."

We all snapped our heads towards the new voice. It could only be one person, and yet we couldn't believe our eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei?!" we call exclaimed in unison.

"You're on time!" Sakura gasped, head darting between the jounin and the sun.

"What's going on?" Sasuke squinted, immediately suspicious of our sensei's sudden punctuality.

"Hey, is it really that big of a deal?" Kakashi sighed.

"Yes!" we answered in unison again.

"Ah… Fair enough." Kakashi laughed wearily. "I guess you could say I had a change of heart after our last mission." He looked down at us with his one eye and smiled. "I was starting to think you guys are worth taking seriously after all."

Or maybe you're just a little less depressed now that you know Obito's alive.

I liked to think it was both.

"About time you noticed!" I grinned, posing with my hands on my hips. "This better mean you're gonna teach us some cool techniques from now on."

Kakashi shrugged dismissively. "Maa, we'll see how it goes."

"You were gone for a long time, Sensei. Should we tell you what we worked on?" Sakura asked.

"There's no need. Gai provided me with detailed reports and I've already experienced the results first hand," Kakashi said, rolling his shoulder for emphasis. Apparently we actually did a number to him yesterday. "Starting today, we're going to build off that foundation and divide our training into two parts - independent training and group work."

Wow, he's actually getting into it.

I was expecting Kakashi to come back with his usual half-assed commitment, and while his laidback nature was still present, Kakashi himself was present . It was the slightest change in his energy, but it made all the difference - all eyes were on him, and for the first time ever, I felt excited about training under him.

"And here I thought we'd finally catch a break," Sakura groaned, dropping her head. "It's unlike you to keep us so busy, Sensei!"

"This is the first time you've bothered coming up with personalized training," Sasuke agreed.

Kakashi laughed. "Well, I have to make sure you're all ready for the Chuunin Exams, after all."

Sakura raised her head and Sasuke's expression grew serious. I bit my lip, instinctively worried just by the mere mention of it.

There was a twinkle in Kakashi's eye. "Got your attention now, hm?"

"What's our training?" Sasuke asked - or rather, demanded.

"Your primary goal for group work is developing your coordination as a team. That means timing your attacks well and covering each other's backs," he explained. "You've struggled with it in the past, but it'll be much easier now that you're all closer in strength and skill."

Sasuke and I glanced at each other wearily. I could still remember the heat of our accidental flour bomb. The image alone had certainly been burned into my memory.

"Your secondary goal is to develop combo attacks," Kakashi continued. "I heard you're all getting creative with your techniques lately, so I'm sure we'll be able to come up with at least a few."

I recalled using the Substitution Technique on Neji and laughed inwardly. Creative was one way to put it.

"What kind of combos will we make?" Sakura asked.

"It depends on what you guys are good at," Kakashi said.

My teammates and I exchanged looks.

"As long as it doesn't involve explosives," Sasuke said after a beat of silence.

I scoffed. "Of course it's gonna involve explosives."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He looked just like Neji when he did that.

Guess we picked up more than just new techniques from Team Gai.

"Let's save the brainstorming for later. I need to finish my briefing," Kakashi said, holding up his hand. "For your independent training, I'm going to give you all a test to complete. The rules are simple: complete your tests individually within the allotted time frame and you pass."

"How much time to we have?" Sakura asked.

"Three weeks starting today, or in other words, exactly twenty-one days," he said, holding up two fingers on his right hand and one on his left. "Your time ends at sundown on the last day."

Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. "And what happens if we don't pass?"

"Then I won't allow you to participate in the Chuunin Exams," Kakashi answered simply.

"Eh?!"

I did my best to act shocked despite being relieved - this could be the out I'd been looking for. Kakashi was obviously doing that thing where he pretended taking the Exams was an individual choice, which I could use to my advantage. All I had to do was fail my test and a whole plethora of problems would become irrelevant, or at least less of an immediate threat.

Assuming they passed their own tests, Sasuke and Sakura might be annoyed once they found out we had to register as a team, but it wouldn't be a direct fault of mine as far as they knew. I could give them a pep talk about how we'd be more ready for the next Exams anyway, and then rub it in their faces that it was better that we didn't participate in the upcoming one considering how horribly it goes to shit.

Instead, we'd be within the safety of the village. Orochimaru might not even try to go after Sasuke if he was within shouting distance from the Hokage and any lurking ANBU, and it would take care of the whole issue of him betraying the village and eventually trying to kill us all.

I came to a conclusion easily: the benefits of avoiding the Exams totally outweighed the costs.

"These Exams are no joke," Kakashi continued, dismissing our shock. "Genin from all the major hidden villages will be participating, many of who are much more experienced than you. You'll have to prove to me that you're truly ready if you want to participate." He crossed his arms. "I can't let you three go out there and embarrass me after all, let alone the entire village."

"Hey!" Sakura and I retorted, even though he totally had a point.

"Now that you know what's at stake, let me explain your tests," Kakashi said. "Sakura, I heard you have a knack for genjutsu, so your test will be to successfully use any type of genjutsu on me for three minutes without my knowing."

Sakura's face dropped. "Three minutes on you?! No way!"

"Certain types of genjutsu are more useful the longer you can keep them in effect. In practice they might be used for hours, or even days. You have the best chakra control, so I have faith in your ability to pull it off," Kakashi encouraged.

Sakura scratched her neck, embarrassed. "I guess…"

He turned to Sasuke next. "Your test is to successfully ambush me."

Sasuke smirked. "Is that all?"

Kakashi quirked his brow. "That's all."

I scoffed. Who's the cocky one now?

Finally, he turned to me. "And you, Satoko… I think you'll like this one."

Uh oh.

I made a face. "Somehow I doubt it, Sensei."

Kakashi smiled. "Your test is to find and capture all eight of my ninken."

NEVERMIND .

My eyes lit up and I punched the air in excitement. "YES!"

"I told you you'd like it," Kakashi said with a laugh. "Although we'll see how you feel by the end of the week."

"I get to play Hide and Seek with dogs!" I exclaimed, completely ignoring his warning.

He handed me a small notebook filled with blank pages and a small vial of ink. "You have to collect their paw prints in that book in order for your challenge to count as a success."

I held the notebook against my chest and bounced on the spot. "This is the best challenge EVER."

"This isn't a game, Satoko," Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "We had a hard enough time walking regular dogs, but these are ninken. They're trained combatants, just like us."

I was too busy flipping through the notebook to pay her any mind. Each page had a ninken's name in the corner and a little portrait underneath it. I'd completely forgotten about the Chuunin Exams and the concerns that came with them - all I cared about in that moment was how unbelievably cute it was that the notebook was clearly made by hand.

Either he made the notebook himself or he asked someone to make it for him. I didn't know which was true, but one thing was abundantly clear: I would die for that man and his dogs.

"Sasuke, your passing condition is to put a sticker on my back," Kakashi said, drawing our attention back to him. He held up a small sheet of a dozen stickers handed it to Sasuke, who was not at all charmed by the sparkly stars he was given. "I'll give you more when you run out," he said with a patronizing smile.

Sasuke clicked his tongue. If he wasn't motivated before, he certainly was now.

"Sakura, use this to time your genjutsu," Kakashi continued, holding up a stopwatch. He pressed a button and a high-pitched beeping resonated in the field.

PIPIPI! PIPIPI! PIPIPI!

He shut it off and tossed the stopwatch to Sakura. "That alarm will go off if it reaches three minutes."

"You mean when," she corrected emphatically, easily catching the stopwatch out of the air. Kakashi smiled innocently in return.

If there's one thing Kakashi's good at, it's making us wanna kick his ass.

"Is there a certain number of attempts we can make?" I asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "You can make as many attempts as you want every day between sunrise and sunset."

"Over twelve hours a day, seven days a week?" Sasuke scoffed. "You're making this too easy."

Kakashi laughed. "Maa~ As if I'd let a couple of hot-headed genin pull one over on me." He clapped his hands together and smiled down at us. "Oh, and one more thing," he continued. "You can only participate in the Exams as a team, so if even one of you fails the test, you'll all be barred from participating."

"What?!"

"Tch…!"

" Aw, come on!" I whined, pretending it was in response what he'd said.

Damn it, Kakashi! Say it from the start!

So much for taking the easy way out.

As much as I wanted to avoid the Chuunin Exams, what I wanted even more was to hold onto the progress I'd painstakingly made with Sasuke and Sakura. They only just started to see me in a better light, and nothing would make it burn out faster than if I was the only one to fail my test.

I needed our relationships to stay strong if I was going to reduce the chances of Sasuke walking the path of a future Kage Killer, and I had to keep encouraging Sakura if she was going to even get a chance at becoming the amazing kunoichi she was always meant to be.

Most of all, I needed to get along with my team so they would have my back when they inevitably found out I'm the jinchuuriki - even more so if I ever told them what I planned to do about it.

Now that my teammates knew the truth about the applications, the costs of failing the test far outweighed the benefits.

Guess I'll just have to give it my all.

Damn it.

After warmups, Kakashi had us practice our teamwork by attacking him all at once. Even though it was only our first time teaming up since the caravan mission, I could tell that our timing had greatly improved since then. Now that I had mastered the basic kata and what it meant to be on offense or defense, I could actually understand what my teammates were doing and react accordingly.

Even so, we were by no means perfect, and by the time Kakashi called for us to stop, we were all covered in dirt and bruises.

"That's enough for today," Kakashi said, dusting off his hands. It was, frustratingly, the only part of him that got dirty. "I won't be sticking around, so from here on out, it's up to you to figure out how you'll pass your tests."

"If you're not here then how are we supposed to make an attempt?" Sakura asked.

"Finding me is part of the test, of course!" Kakashi said.

Sakura's shoulders dropped. "Ah… Of course."

I guess he's still the same old Kakashi at heart, I thought wryly.

"Are the ninken already hiding?" I asked.

Kakashi nodded. "They'll scatter in the morning and return at sundown."

"Will they be changing locations throughout the day?"

Kakashi shrugged. "That's for you to find out."

I sighed, accepting my defeat this round.

Yep. Definitely still Kakashi.

"Any more questions?" he asked. We shook our heads. "Great! I have my own business to take care of, so I'll get going now. Good luck~" And with an irritably pleasant wave, Kakashi disappeared into a puff of smoke.

The second he was gone, I spun around and faced my teammates with ferocity. "You guys are thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

Sasuke and Sakura nodded firmly in return.

"Let's show him what we're made of!" Sakura cheered, punching the air with gusto.

"He should know better than to underestimate us by now," Sasuke said, complacent.

"Fuck yeah he should! LET'S DO THIS!"

DAY 2

As one would have it, we all failed to do much of anything.

I arrived last at the training grounds, contributing to the pitiful atmosphere by slumping my shoulders and dragging my feet.

I greeted my teammates with a half-hearted wave. "How did your first attempts go?"

Sasuke and Sakura both sighed in defeat.

I nodded solemnly. "Yep."

Even with all my clones scouring the village, not a single trace turned up in all seven hours of my searching yesterday.

I had twenty-one days to find seven ninken. That meant I had to find three per week on average in order to make it on time. Despite my endless hours of searching, however, there still wasn't a single trace of any one of them.

It had only been one day, but it was more than enough to give us a taste of how hard these tests were going to be. The village was huge, and the ninken could literally be anywhere. I could only imagine how much trouble Sasuke and Sakura were having with finding Kakashi just so they could even make an attempt in the first place.

Our mood improved after we got to take it out on Kakashi for a couple of hours, even if he did beat our collective asses in the end. What can I say: relentlessly teaming up against one's asshole of a sensei was pretty cathartic.

Too bad it did nothing to help us pass our tests. Our struggles continued on to the next day.

DAY 3

And the next…

DAY 4

And the next.

DAY 5

"God damn it!"

The sun had set, marking the end of yet another day of failing to accomplish much of anything.

Every day I unleashed several dozen clones onto the village while I went about my daily routine. They searched in pairs so that if they saw something, one clone could dispel itself to send the information back to me while the other stayed on the ninken's trail.

Each pair tried different a tactic so I could see which methods of searching were the most promising, from ambushing to searching for tracks. Some even transformed into dogs themselves to see if that would help. Unfortunately, knowing nothing about canine behaviour rendered that tactic pretty much useless. I had no idea how to trace them by scent, let alone track them by any other means.

It didn't help that Kakashi wouldn't give me any hints or indicate boundaries, either. The whole village was fair game.

I eventually called it quits and plopped myself down onto a telephone post. "I need help," I muttered to myself. A light bulb turned on just then. "Wait a second…!"

Who better to help me find dogs than someone from Konoha's very own dog clan? Besides, I'd also been meaning to ask him about a certain mountain hermit.

I assumed Kiba was already home considering it was evening now. All the scouting my clones had done provided me with a detailed mental map of Konoha, at least, so I was able to find his house with ease.

Luckily Kiba was hanging around the front garden when I arrived. He had a small duffle bag around his shoulder, looking like he was waiting for someone. Akamaru was nestled in the front of his jacket as usual.

Fuck, that's cute.

"Heya, Kiba!" I greeted from afar.

He looked up and tiled his head. "Satoko?" He squinted. "Whaddya want?"

Akamaru barked and growled suspiciously. I stopped in my tracks to show I wasn't a threat.

"Aw, c'mon, is that how you greet a friend?" I laughed sheepishly, scratching my head.

Kiba sniffed. "Heard you stirred up some shit at Hinata's place the other day. If you're here to beg for forgiveness, you ain't getting it!"

I held my hands up in defense. "No, no! Besides, I sorted that all out myself already, I swear!"

And why the hell would I beg for forgiveness from you?

Kiba crossed his arms and looked me up and down. "I guess Hinata mentioned something like that…" He stuck his hands into his jacket pockets and flashed a smile. "Well, you wouldn't be Satoko if you weren't wreaking havoc wherever you went, anyway!"

"Th…Thanks…?"

Akamaru barked again, this time sounding much more inviting.

"Anyway, what's up?" Kiba asked.

"I need your help with something," I started. "Kakashi-sensei's got me doing some kind of tracking exercise where I need to find all of his ninken around the village, but I have no idea how to look for them."

Kiba scoffed. "Your team must really suck if your sensei has you playing games," he taunted, scratching his nose.

"It's not a game, it's a test!" I snapped. "There's stakes involved, you know!"

"Oh yeah? What kind?" he asked, cocking his brow.

"You know, like…!" I paused for a moment, wondering if I should mention the Chuunin Exams or not. He might refuse to help in order to thin out the competition, so probably not. "Like he's gonna make me run laps with Gai-sensei if I don't complete it on time!" I lied instead.

Kiba grimaced. "You mean the big green guy with the eyebrows?"

I nodded vigorously.

"Oh, dude," Kiba said, shaking his head sympathetically. "That's such high stakes for such a lame test."

"C'mon!"

"What, it's true! Tracking ninken is easy; all you need to do is sniff 'em out!"

I gave him a look. "I can't do that."

"Oh, right." He shrugged and laughed it off. "Well in that case I'm all out of ideas."

Crap, I forgot he was idiot friends with idiot Protagonist.

"That was useless!" I cried, crossing my arms. "Fine, then can you at least tell me anything about the guy up on the Hokage Monument? Tenten-senpai said he's a fuuinjutsu master, but that he also has a bunch of dogs and is probably an Inuzuka. Maybe he can help me out instead."

Kiba's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's Yaeba-jiji! Yeah, he'd totally be able to help you out!"

Part of me was genuinely surprised to hear that this guy had an actual name. The other was surprised to hear that he was an actual person at all.

"Everyone in the clan knows him," Kiba continued. "He's the Inuzuka breeder. We all get our ninken from him when we come of age. Right, buddy?" he said, grinning down at his companion.

Akamaru barked happily and nuzzled up into Kiba's neck.

Damn it, that's so goddamn cute.

"Perfect! Thanks for your help, Kiba," I said, grinning. I nodded at his bag and asked, "What're you standing out here for, anyway?"

"I'm waiting for my mom and sister to go to the spa. They've gotta wrap up some work before we head out," he answered casually.

"Spa day?" I repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, we go every other week." Kiba flashed the backs of his hands at me and wiggled his fingers. "Gotta keep the muscles loose and these bad boys in tip-top shape!"

Upon closer inspection, I saw that Kiba's nails were perfectly manicured, albeit a little worn down and dirty from today's training.

"And the ninken are allowed inside?"

"Standard spas don't allow animal companions, but the one we go to does," Kiba said, scratching Akamaru's scruff. He barked in response.

Spa night with a dog…

I imagined Akamaru getting his tiny paws manicured and couldn't help myself. "That's so fucking CUTE!"

Kiba's cheeks flushed as he exclaimed, "It's serious business! Weapon maintenance is crucial, and a shinobi's body is their most important one!"

Akamaru barked feverishly in agreement.

I nodded along, failing to hide my smile. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean it isn't cute as hell. You even do it as a family! It's sweet."

Kiba pouted and looked away, muttering to himself, "Well the place does group discounts, so…" He snapped back at me with a glare and shoved my shoulder. "More importantly, get lost already! Don't you have dogs to find?!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" I laughed, defending myself from anymore oncoming attacks. "Thanks again for your help, and have fun at the spa!"

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, shooing me off. "Tell Yaeba-jiisan I said hi."

"You got it!" I left with a wave, which Kiba grumpily returned.

I would've loved to go to the spa or the hot springs myself, but alas, there was no time. Between training during the day and dog-searching in the afternoon, the evening was the only time I left to work on fuuinjutsu.

I sighed to myself and looked up at the sky. There's just no time for breaks, is there?

DAY 6

We were making steady progress with group training, so at least one thing was going well. Our individual tests, however, were a different story.

Sasuke had already emptied his first sheet of stickers and Sakura had yet to make it past thirty seconds. Kakashi made a point to give Sasuke two sheets this time before disappearing with a taunting laugh. I, of course, had also made no progress on my front, but hopefully that was about to change.

It's already been a week… I thought warily. Things have to change.

I decided it was time to see a man about a dog.

After my conversation with Kiba, it seemed like Paper-jiisan really was just some Inuzuka elder. I assumed Protagonist never met him since, from the sounds of it, nothing about Protagonist would lead him to a guy like Yaeba. Besides, he already had a weird old man, although there was no way in hell I was going on a three-year solo journey with that lecherous scumbag, godfather be damned.

The trek up the monument was long, but not as treacherous as it looked. I could've used chakra to take a more direct route, but I was worried any guards might think I was trying to pull a prank again. Now that I was a few months out of the Academy, I was really trying to crush my old reputation once and for all.

There was nothing impressive waiting for me at the top - just a big clearing with several trees surrounding it. I walked down a dirt path for a few minutes until I finally came across what had to be the old man's house.

Tenten was right: this guy had at least, like, fifty dogs.

Dogs of all shapes and sizes were roaming around within the boundaries of a wooden, picket fence. The gate was wide open, but they seemed well-trained and didn't try to venture outside. I figured maybe they didn't feel the need to - the fenced area was the size of a training field filled with toys and structures to keep them stimulated. There was more than enough space for them all to play happily within the confines of the fence.

That is, until they saw me.

The second I came into view, all heads turned to me with ears raised in alert. And when one started sprinting towards me, the rest of them followed.

"ARFBARKARFARFBARKBARKBJORKBORFARF-!"

"OH GOD-"

There was no time to brace myself; next thing I knew, I was being trampled to the ground and getting my face licked all over by the world's most friendly and adorable stampede.

"I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH HANDS TO PET YOU ALL PLEASE-"

A sharp whistle sliced through the air just then, followed by a booming voice. "SIT!"

And just like that, every single dog backed off, turned around to face the source of the voice, and sat down right where they were.

I blinked in awe, looking across the field of dogs and up at the elderly man standing across the field. There was no question about it - he had to be none other than the cryptic Yaeba-jiisan.

Holy shit…he really is old.

He gestured at me to approach him, so I did, carefully avoiding any paws and tails along the way.

Even from a distance, I could see that he had wrinkles for days. And, holy shit, he really did have great hair.

It was a silvery grey - paled from old age, unlike Kakashi's. It was impossibly thick, but it was tamed with braids upon braids that, even after all the twists and turns, reached down to his waist. His face was framed by two strands of hair decorated with beads and twine that really channeled Mountain Hermit energy.

His shriveled body was kept warm with layers of shawls and scarves. He held a wooden cane in his right hand, but it didn't seem like he actually needed it for support. His balance was sturdy and his posture was perfectly straight.

"Good afternoon!" he greeted cheerfully. His voice was warm and his eyes disappeared into a sea of wrinkles when he smiled. "I've been expecting you."

What?

"You know me?"

"Of course! Tenten-chan was so excited to tell me that her kouhai is interested in learning fuuinjutsu," he said, smiling brightly. He flipped his cane around and used it to gently poke my stomach. "And what kind of fuuinjutsu master would I be if I didn't know who's babysitting this guy over here?"

I held my stomach and blinked up at him, hesitant to respond.

He definitely wasn't some weird version of Jiraiya, and he didn't look like anybody else, but there was something about him that put me on edge. Maybe it was all the dogs that still remained seated, completely unmoving and waiting for his next command. Maybe it was the all-knowing glimmer in his squinty eyes.

Maybe it was the hair. He just had so much hair.

"No need to be afraid! It's not that big of a secret," he laughed, snapping me out of my daze. "After all, you came to ask about that seal, didn't you?"

"Oh! Uh, actually, I came to ask you about ninken," I said. As much as I wanted to know more about the Eight Trigrams Seal, I had more pressing matters at hand.

Yaeba-jiisan blinked, confused. "You came to ask me about…ninken?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah! I mean, don't get me wrong - I wanna know about the seal, too," I clarified with wild gesturing, "but right now this is more urgent! If I can't find all of Kakashi-sensei's ninken in less than twenty days, I won't be able to participate in the Chuunin Exams!"

"Ahh~ That's right, those are coming up pretty soon." The old man sighed gruffly, fiddling with the beads in his hair. "So you came here to ask me how to find them."

I nodded again. "Can you help?"

Yaeba-jiisan smiled wide. "Of course! But if I'm going to help you, then first you'll have to do a little something for me."

Should've seen this one coming.

"Alright… What do you need?" I asked hesitantly.

He spun around on his heel and suddenly yelled towards the other side of the property. "Shiho-chan!"

"Yes!" a frazzled voice called back.

A girl my age appeared from behind the house carrying a bag of fertilizer. She had long, light blonde hair tied into a low ponytail and grey eyes. Upon closer inspection, I realized she was the cryptographer who had a crush on Shikamaru, although clearly she had yet to make it to her destined profession. Without her iconic ripple-lens glasses, I wouldn't have recognized her if Yaeba-jiisan hadn't mentioned her name.

I guess her eyesight gets worse after she starts looking at ciphers.

"Who's that?" I asked, curious to know why she was gardening instead of decrypting things.

"Shiho-chan is one of my apprentices. I teach her fuuinjutsu and in return she helps me out with the chores," Yaeba-jiisan explained. He then turned to Shiho with a smile. "Can you get the kids back inside the fence?"

"Eh?!" Shiho grimaced. "Can't you just order them to return?"

"Ahh, but I don't want them to think I'm too bossy, you know?" He was straight-up pouting, which was just shameful for someone his age. "Don't worry, Satoko's here to help!" he said, tapping the back of my legs with his cane to usher me forward.

Shiho slumped her shoulders in defeat and set the fertilizer down. "Yessir…"

"This is the 'little something' you need me to do?" I asked, leering at him.

"It's only fair, isn't it?" Yaeba-jiisan laughed. "You're the reason they all escaped, after all."

"The gate was open! Of course they'd escape eventually!"

"Ah, but usually they don't," he said sagely. "And you're the one who came to me for help."

I joined Shiho in defeat. "Fine."

I should've just gone back to Kiba.

"You two have fun now!" And with that, Yaeba-jiisan disappeared into his house with a cheery laugh.

No wonder I had a bad feeling about this guy; he's a goddamn bastard!

But it's not like he was the first of his kind that I'd ever met - Kakashi was hardly any better.

"Is he always like that?" I asked once the door was shut.

"Yep," Shiho sighed. "Come on, I'll show you what to do."

As it turned out, half of what she had to show me was just running really, really fast.

"No, the other Doberman!" Shiho called, pointing at a different yet identical-looking dog.

"Where-? AGH-!" I stumbled over myself and collapsed onto the grass, causing a dozen dogs to scatter away from me. "Are you sure this is the right toy?"

"Trust me, the second she realizes you'd holding it she'll come running," Shiho insisted, holding a panting border collie in her arms.

"Isn't she blind?!"

"That's why you need to get close!"

Damn it, why wouldn't her favourite toy be squeaky?!

Finally, after having to use a couple of bursts of chakra for speed, I was able to get within the puppy's range. Whether it was sound or smell, I don't know, but something made her realize I had her favourite kunai-shaped toy. Just like Shiho said, she came scrambling towards me and crashed into my arms, knocking me down with her surprisingly powerful leap.

"Ow!" I coughed.

I kept forgetting they weren't regular pups, but rather companions being trained to fight alongside shinobi. Not only were they way stronger than the average dog, but their stamina was that much greater, too.

"You're lucky you're cute," I muttered, keeping a tight grip on the toy as she tried to steal it from me. I gently placed her within the fence boundaries along with Shiho's border collie and closed the gate behind them.

"That number twenty-seven," Shiho huffed, wiping sweat from her brow. "Only seventeen more to go."

I groaned. "Only."

So my count was a little off - there were only forty-four dogs out in the field when I arrived, but forty-four was still so fucking many to have to corral back into a confined area. Some of them were happy to scamper back in with the promise of treats, but others were much less cooperative. Thankfully, Shiho was a master dog wrangler who'd been working with them for over a year.

The idea was simple: every ninken had a favourite toy or game that we could use to lure them back to us. Shiho would point them out one at a time and tell me how to lure them. It helped to focus on one at a time, but it was clear that experience was the real advantage here. For every one I caught, she brought back three or four. Her tenacity was a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure.

"Alright, who's next?" I asked, rolling my shoulder.

"Melon-chan likes to play fetch," she said, pointing at the sole remaining corgi. "She gets easily distracted, though, so you'll have to try a few times before she remembers to bring the toy back to you."

"So it's about persistence, huh," I sighed, loading up on a few more weapon-shaped toys. "D'you think they'd come running towards us if we promise to give them belly rubs?"

"If only it were that easy," Shiho laughed. "Dogs are like people, especially ninken. They have likes and dislikes, favourite spots, places they like to go - it just takes some time to figure it out, is all."

I looked across the field at the scampering dogs and back at Shiho. "But how do you even figure out where to start?"

"A lot of it is trial and error," she admitted, "but it's pretty easy once you get to know their personalities. Some are more quiet and just want to lay in the grass all day while others love to go hiking. Their breeds are a factor, too - some dogs are made to hunt and some are made to be good company."

"It's a lot to consider, huh," I commented.

I'd never had a dog or any other significant pet growing up, so I had no idea what it was like to really learn about a specific animal. What Shiho said was insightful, however, and suddenly the few remaining dogs seemed much less intimidating.

The only problem was how painfully long it took. I tried using clones at first, but the puppies were so rowdy that they all got dispelled within minutes. Plus, too many humans running around made them exponentially more excited.

"Come on, just a few more and they'll be all safe inside," Shiho said encouragingly. "Remember to throw the toys far! Melon-chan loves dive for them."

"Got it!"

When we finally herded them all back inside, the sun was setting behind the monument. It cast long, dark shadows that reached for the other side of the village and illuminated the field with a fiery glow.

I collapsed onto the grass and stretched out my legs. I was definitely going to be feeling that in the morning.

"Thanks for your help," Shiho said, sitting down next to me. "I usually do this with the others, but they're busy cleaning out the back fields today."

"There's more than one field?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah. The fields get dirty, so we move the dogs around every now and then to keep things fresh for them."

"Smart," I hummed. "Are these the only dogs?"

"These are the only ones who are waiting to be matched with a shinobi," Shiho explained. "There are other dogs that live on the property with Shishou. They mostly hang out inside or out back."

I tried to see where she was pointing but could only see the house and the path that led to the back fields. "This place must be huge."

Shiho nodded. "Even I haven't seen it all myself yet. Most of it is just fields, though. Lots of gardens and crops so Shishou doesn't have to go into town often." She wrinkled her nose. "He says it's because of his back, but I think he's just lazy. Everybody knows he's spry for his age."

I laughed. "How old is that guy, anyway?"

"No idea," she answered immediately. "But once Hokage-sama stopped by to have a chat, and even he referred to Shishou as 'jiisan.'"

I gaped. "That's…pretty old."

Seriously. He had to at least be ninety, or even a hundred for all I knew.

The door creaked open just then. I sat and turned around to see Yaeba-jiisan come out with a cup of tea in hand.

"Oh~ Not bad for a newbie!" Without warning, he pulled out two bottles of peach tea from nowhere and whipped them at us with alarming speed and accuracy. They would've nailed me right in the head if Shiho didn't catch them. "Here, get hydrated before you go home. Good work!"

"Hey, I'm not leaving until you help me find Kakashi-sensei's ninken! We had a deal!" I shouted, sitting up just so I could yell at him.

The old man smiled. "Haven't I already?"

I frowned. "Alright, I'll bite. Whatever do you mean?" I asked, feigning politeness.

He smiled wider. "You're Kakashi's kid - you'll figure it out."

After giving it just a second's thought, the all-too familiar feeling of being secretly taught a lesson washed over me and I groaned.

God damn it, he fucking Mr. Miyagi'd me!

"Wrangling the puppies was the help," I grumbled. Shiho knowingly handed me one of the bottles. I snatched it out of her hands. "Right. Of course." I popped the bottle open and took an angry swig of tea. It was nice and cold, and deliciously sweet, but it did not make me feel any less sour. "Should've seen that one coming."

"Good luck with your training! Come back again when you're ready to learn some fuuinjutsu, haha!" And with that, Yaeba-jiisan disappeared back inside the house.

I flopped back onto the grass and glared at the sky. "God, what a fucking bastard."

Shiho laid herself down next to me and tapped her bottle against mine. "I'll drink to that."

The sun was gone by the time I said goodbye, but the day didn't feel wasted. I got a lot of useful information from Shiho - and I guess Yaeba-jiisan was there, too - so the next step was putting it all together to come up with a plan.

Time to turn some tables.

Now that I had an idea of how to go about the challenge, it was all about narrowing the search. Just like how I helped Shiho round up the ninken, I decided to focus my energy on one target at a time. It was much more efficient than sending out dozens of clones and hoping for the best.

My first target was Pakkun. He was the one I knew best, so it made sense to start with him. I spent the night prepping weapons that would help with his capture and making notes about his personality to help me deduce where he might go during the day.

Dogs are like people, I thought to myself, carefully dumping a bright, orange powder onto a square cloth.

The point of the exercise was obvious - tracking, sensing, and hunting. They were skills that would certainly come in handy during the Forest of Death where, in addition to terrifying forest creatures, I'd be using those skills to locate other shinobi.

Think of the target as if they were human.

Pakkun was basically just an old man trapped in a dog's body. He wasn't the type to wander far, so I planned to keep my search within a few kilometers of Kakashi's apartment. He was clever, so he wouldn't fall for a trap. He was confident in his abilities, however, so I doubted he'd put much effort into hiding. For him, sticking to the standard surveillance tactic was my best option.

I just need to be quiet about it.

I carefully sealed the pouch shut and tested its sturdiness with a few light tosses.

"Perfect," I said, satisfied with my work. "Pakkun won't know what hit him."

Now to make the rest.

DAY 7

I started my search first thing in the morning, hoping to find Pakkun before it was time to meet with the team. I was counting on him being an easier target in the early morning, when the streets were empty and he was less likely to be on high alert.

I retreated to the top of a water tank and carefully scanned the surrounding area. My clones did the same on rooftops around the block. For over an hour, I watched shopkeepers routinely open their stores for the day and early risers run their morning errands. The world was quiet and still until finally, the memories of a dispelled clone flashed in my mind.

There he is.

It was a rooftop with a bench and an overhang - the kind of place where Shikamaru often took naps and hung out with Chouji. On that bench was a small, brown lump wrapped in blue fabric bathing in the fresh morning sun. I closed my eyes and focused on the memory, pinpointing the location before I slid off the water tank and hustled over.

I didn't know any genjutsu, so I'd used a special soap and detergent last night to conceal my scent in preparation for today. It wasn't perfect, but hopefully my presence was hidden enough so I could get close and do my thing.

I held my breath and peeked over the rooftop from behind Pakkun. He scratched his ear idly and rested his head on top of his paws, completely unaware of my lurking. I carefully took out one of the bombs I made last night and rolled it in my hands.

It was now or never.

I whipped the bomb at Pakkun, but just the sound of it flying through the air was enough to make him turn around and jump onto his feet, ready to run.

"What the- uh oh!"

The bomb burst open right next to him and a cloud of bright orange powder flew in the air, causing him to break into a fit of coughs as he inhaled the substance.

"Ack, it stinks-!" He ran in a straight line to get out of the cloud as fast as possible, which was the smart move up until he ran straight into my arms. "…Damn it."

"YES!" I shouted, holding him up victoriously. A shimmer of powder rained down on me, but I was far too ecstatic to care. "Finally, I caught one of you!"

Pakkun coughed out the powder and sighed. "Ugh, I'm the first? The others are never gonna let me hear the end of it…"

I placed him on the ground and drizzled water onto him to help get the powder off. "Thanks for going easy on me."

"Can't say the same for me," Pakkun said, sneezing into the ground.

"Sorry, sorry! I had to make it quick, otherwise there's no way I'd be able to catch up to you," I said, hoping that flattery would make him feel better. It totally did.

"Hrmph! Well, I suppose I can't fault you for making the obvious strategic choice!" I shielded myself as he shook himself dry. "What is this stuff, anyway? It smells weird."

"Turmeric," I said, putting my water bottle away. "I did some research to make sure I was using something non-toxic, but turns out it's actually good for dogs! It's anti-inflammatory, and it can help with arthritis or gastrointestinal disorders-"

"Hey, I'm still young!" Pakkun barked, shoving his paw into my face. "My paw pads are still cute and pink, see?!"

"I see, I see!" I laughed, resisting the urge to squeeze his paw without permission. "Would you mind using that cute pad to give me your equally cute paw print?"

Pakkun sulked. "Alright, let's get this over with."

I wondered if ninken were the same as ninneko where getting their paw print taken was super embarrassing, but he seemed more bummed about the fact that he was the first to get caught. He even flipped through the pages of the notebook to see if they really were empty.

I pulled out the vial of ink and spilled a few drops onto the ground. Pakkun tapped his paw on the ink and stamped the page with a huff.

"There."

"Yes! Thank you!" I flapped the notebook until the page was dry before closing it. "Now, help me find the others!"

"Hah?" Pakkun looked up at me with his usual furrowed gaze. "What makes you think I'd do that?"

"C'mon, I can't find you all without help!" I whined.

Pakkun was the easiest target for me to go after first, but the other reason I picked him was so I could use him to get intel on the others. There was no way I could use their personalities to find them otherwise.

"That's just part of the test," he said defiantly, turning around to leave. "Well then, now that my job here is done, I'm going home-"

"I'll repay you if you do," I said quickly. Pakkun stopped mid-step. I grinned. "Is there anything you want? Meat? New clothes? A haircut? I hear there's even a spa that has special treatments just for ninken!"

Pakkun remained frozen for a moment. Then, suddenly, he shuffled backwards at the speed of light until he was in front of me again, looking up at me with a piercing gaze.

"Have you ever heard…" he started, voice low as if he was about to impart the world's deepest and darkest secret unto me, "…of Suna's Premium Spotted Desert Flower Extract shampoo and conditioner?"

I tried very, very hard to keep a straight face. "I…have not."

Pakkun's eyes blew open and I was immediately taken aback.

Oh god, what have I unleashed.

"The Land of Wind produces the number one hair products due to their dry and arid conditions. They're top brand is famous for having unparalleled restorative properties that leaves the hair soft and silky beyond compare!"

I leaned back, overpowered by the intense ferocity radiating from such a small pug. He perched his front paws on my leg so we were at eye-level as he went on.

"Kakashi hasn't been to Suna for a mission in months so he hasn't been able to buy it for me and I have no other way of getting my hands on it! There's no other shampoo that volumizes my fur as much as that one! IT'S THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER SHAMPOO IN THE WORLD!"

I stared into his dilated pupils as his voice echoed into the air. A bird cawed in the distance.

"Pakkun," I said gently, "I don't have time to buy you shampoo from Suna."

He sat back down and sighed. "Just take me to the spa and we'll call it even."

I beamed. "Deal!"

"About time you made your first catch," Sasuke said when I arrived at the field with Pakkun by my side. Sakura was leaning against the training post next to him. Kakashi had yet to arrive, but we were early, so it was fine.

"Hey, tracking ninken is hard!" I snapped. "And it's not like you're doing any better."

Sasuke scowled. "I'm getting closer every time," he retorted. "How about you, Sakura?"

Sakura sighed. "He sees through everything! I even tried casting a genjutsu before he woke up, but he saw through it immediately."

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "I've tried ambushing him in the morning, too, but he's always surrounded by his ninken."

"So you're the one we kept smelling every morning," Pakkun said, nose twitching.

God damn it that's so CUTE.

I needed to get a dog. Or a cat. Or anything, really.

"I'm starting to feel like we're screwed," I sighed.

There was a shimmer of chakra and a gust of wind, signaling Kakashi's arrival.

"Good morning~" he greeted lazily, thumbs hooked on his pockets. "Oh? Congratulations on your first capture, Satoko. I'm surprised Pakkun was the first to get caught."

Pakkun sulked into the grass. "I put up a good fight!"

"You were napping," I said flatly.

Pakkun huffed. "Is that how you repay me for agreeing to help you?!"

Kakashi tilted his head. "Help her? I didn't think you'd betray me like this, Pakkun." He didn't actually seem too bothered, though.

"I'm just following your orders and helping her train," he said, cleaning his face. I nodded furiously, worried that he might try to take Pakkun back and ruin my only hope of passing the test.

"I guess technically I never said you couldn't get help, even though it should go without saying…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. "Then again, it's starting to look like you guys might need a handicap."

I could feel Sasuke and Sakura's tempers flare. I was right there with them - anything to wipe that smug look off Kakashi's stupid one-eyed face.

"Maybe he'll give up the forms if we revolt," I said, looking our sensei right in the eye.

"We won't know unless we try," Sasuke agreed.

Kakashi's eye widened in alarm. "Hey now, could you guys not stage a mutiny right in front of me...?"

"Oh~ Would you look at that," Sakura said, looking up from her stopwatch. Her smile turned devious. "It's time to start training!"

"Hn, no need to say it twice!"

"Come on, not again! At least let me get ready-!"

"Hang back, I've got something!"

"What is that- SATOKO I SAID NO MORE EXPLOSIVES-"

Kakashi went home with orange hair that day.

DAY 8

Things went uphill from there.

DAY 9

Every day my teammates and I experimented with new formations-

DAY 10

-ones that utilized my handcrafted weapons-

DAY 11

-Sasuke's ninjutsu-

DAY 12

-or Sakura's proficiency in chakra control…

DAY 13

…And every night, Pakkun would tell me about his pack so I could come up with strategies to find and capture them.

DAY 14

I made more weapons-

DAY 15

-studied maps-

DAY 16

-scouted every district for places of interest-

DAY 17

-and as we neared the end of week three…

DAY 18

…I finally caught the eighth and final ninken.

I arrived at the training grounds with ink-stained clothes and an equally-stained Bull trotting alongside me. He left a trail of inky paw prints in the grass, but he hardly seemed to mind.

"What happened to you?" Sakura asked once she saw me.

I made a face. "Ever tried to wrestle a bulldog?" My teammates grimaced. "Yeah, exactly."

All the training with Lee certainly paid off, but I never expected to use the techniques he taught me against a dog.

I pulled out my sealing scroll to summon a new set of clothes and dumped water all over my hair to rinse the ink out. It was all water soluble, so it washed out with ease.

"Is he the last one?" Sasuke asked, glancing down at Bull.

I looked up from packing my things away and grinned. "Yeah!"

His expression quickly turned sour. "So you're the first of us to pass," he said with a scowl.

Damn, this again.

I tried to keep the energy up and offered gently, "Well, chasing down ninken and beating Kakashi-sensei are entirely different things-"

"I don't need your pity!" Sasuke snapped. "I need to get stronger; that's all there is to it."

My heart raced as I recalled every instance where he said those same words, all the way up until he left the village.

No. Not on my watch.

I steeled myself and clenched my hands into fists. "You're plenty strong already, Sasuke," I said earnestly. "You just need to get out of your own head, is all."

Sasuke frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Before I could elaborate, however, Kakashi arrived in a swirl of leaves. Bull immediately jumped onto his feet and sprinted over to him, tail wagging and ink spraying everywhere.

Kakashi greeted his ninken with a thorough head scratch. "You've worked hard," he said affectionately.

"Borf!"

"Go home and take a bath," he said, giving the ninken a final pat on the head. Bull barked again before rushing into the village. Kakashi looked at me next and raised his brow. "Do I want to know?"

"Oh, like you've never wrestled him before," I muttered. Kakashi hummed thoughtfully in a way that told me he absolutely had. "More importantly, check this out!"

I whipped out my notebook and opened it to the last page, revealing Bull's pawprint that was haphazardly smeared across two pages. Kakashi picked the notebook out of my hands and flipped through it.

"This is unexpected," he said, confirming each page for himself. He snapped the notebook shut and smiled down at me. "Congratulations, Satoko - you're the first to qualify for the Chuunin Exams!" He then added with less excitement, "Not that it'll matter unless your teammates pass, too."

I laughed stiffly, certain that Sasuke and Sakura were behind me looking annoyed and dejected respectively. "There's still plenty of time left," I said, trying to lessen the blow.

He was right, though - these turns of events have certainly been unexpected. We all knew I was the team's underdog and yet here I was, the first to pass while Sasuke and Sakura had yet to come close to making a successful attempt. It was a weird feeling, being the only one to succeed for a change. I would've felt proud of myself if it weren't for the fact that it left all sorts of bad tastes in my mouth.

I thought that my teammates' struggling would be exactly what I wanted: a chance to avoid the Chuunin Exams without being the one to hold them back. Problem was, it'd only cause a whole other set of problems if they didn't pass. Sakura would feel discouraged about her abilities as a shinobi again and Sasuke would take a huge blow to his already fragile ego.

The only way to ensure an all-round positive outcome was to make sure we all qualified for the Exams. Unfortunately, that meant the only way to ensure an all-round positive outcome was…to qualify for the Exams.

It's never easy, is it?

There would be plenty of other opportunities to drop out of the Exams, at least.

"Is three days enough, I wonder?" Kakashi said, shrugging dismissively.

I twitched. His habit of poking bears with sticks was never appreciated.

"It's plenty!" I retorted, threatening to smack him with the notebook. "Now brace yourself so we can kick your ass!"

"Hey now," Kakashi laughed meekly, hands up in defense. "Let's at least start with a warmup, alright?"

We ended group training in the afternoon like usual, sweaty and tired from a day's work.

"We'll keep working on the same formation tomorrow," Kakashi said. He pulled out his book, meaning he was about to leave. Before he did, however, he gave a parting glance to my teammates and said, "I heard all the other rookie teams are participating in the Chuunin Exams. It'd be a shame if you guys were the only ones to miss out."

And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving me and my teammates alone in the field. I turned around and approached them with an air of fortitude born from my insatiable desire to tell Kakashi to shove it.

"Don't let him get to you!" I encouraged despite knowing full well that Kakashi had already gotten to them. "We just need to come up with a way to beat him at his own game!"

"There's no 'we' in this," Sasuke said, crossing his arms. His mood had hardly improved since this morning, even after we caught Kakashi in a wire trap and nearly set him on fire. "These are individual tests."

"That doesn't mean we can't help each other out," I said pointedly. "I got help from Pakkun and Shiho-chan, after all! And I guess the old guy."

I'd mentioned Yaeba-jiisan to my teammates before, but I was pretty sure they didn't entirely believe the guy existed. Fair enough, really.

"That's different. We can't get help from each other," Sakura insisted.

"Kakashi-sensei never said we couldn't," I said, grinning wide. "He only said we had to complete the tests ourselves. That doesn't mean we can't help each other strategize!"

"We only have three days left, disregarding today. I don't know how it's going to make much of a difference now," Sakura said. She looked downcast as she murmured, "I'm not so sure anymore that I'm ready to take the Exams…"

Sasuke twitched. "I'm not going to be the only team that doesn't participate," he said firmly.

I nodded enthusiastically, hoping to deter away from Sasuke's intensity. "Yeah, we gotta show the others what we're made of!"

Sakura made an uncertain noise. "I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing even came close to working."

"Maybe all you guys need is a different perspective," I suggested. "We can strategize together! Three heads are better than one, after all."

"Not when the third one is yours," she said naturally.

It was just another one of her thoughtless remarks that she made instinctively, but for some reason when I opened my mouth to retort with the usual banter this time, no words came out.

My chest tightened and my heart pounded in my ears. It was the same old routine - one that I even saw coming - but something in me just ticked and I felt a burning knot twist in my gut.

It must've shown on my face, because suddenly Sakura grew quiet. "Satoko…?"

My heart was racing. I breathed slowly in an attempt to make it settle.

I was used to being treated like an idiot. I knew from the very start that, besides trying to survive as a shinobi, my biggest hurdle would be stopping myself from acting my real age. I was by no means a genius, but ten years made a huge difference on top of the fact that I had prophetic knowledge. I knew that I'd have to act more clueless than I really was, especially with Protagonist's reputation weighing me down.

And I knew Sakura prided herself in being the smart one, and that it was her instinct to use insults as a defense mechanism. I'd been working tirelessly to encourage her in the ways I thought might help. I'd learned not to push too hard or she'd push back harder. I knew that it was something that would get better as time passed.

But it had been three months of gritting my teeth and laughing it off. My patience had run out.

"Please stop saying stuff like that, Sakura-chan," I eventually said. My voice was so serious it startled even myself. I'd used that tone before, but never in that body - never with that childlike voice.

Sakura flinched, taken aback by my sudden change in mood. "S-Sorry, I was just kidding-"

"I know you weren't," I sighed, scratching my head. "I get it. I failed the graduation exam three times and when I finally passed, I was still ranked last. I get it. But now you're just being unfair. I've been getting better and better ever since. Even Sasuke defended me against Neji last time."

Sasuke averted his gaze. He did not want to get involved.

"I didn't mean to- I know you're an amazing genin now, too," Sakura said, voice tense.

I shook my head, dismissing her flattery. "That's not the point. You still think I'm stupid."

Sakura retreated into herself, shoulders stiff and eyes downcast. "No, I…"

"I know it's not easy to look past what you're used to seeing. I know I was a shitty student in the Academy," I said, shoving my hands into my pockets, "but it's not like anybody actually tried to help me get better, either. All the teachers gave up on me the second they pegged me as a failure."

All of them except Iruka, of course, but she already knew that. It went without saying.

"That really sucks, you know?" I muttered, staring past Sakura and at the training post behind her. "My grades were low because nothing we learned made sense to me, and nobody bothered to take the time to explain it in a way that did. I mean, just look what I've been learning now - I would've been considered a freaking genius if they taught us fuuinjutsu."

Sakura bit her lip. "That's true," she agreed quietly. "Satoko, I'm-"

"Let me finish," I said sternly, but without any malice.

She snapped her mouth shut. Even Sasuke was uncomfortably averting his gaze. I would've laughed at how miserably awkward he looked if I wasn't so busy scolding Sakura under the guise of an offended peer rather than a frustrated older sibling.

"I hated being in the classroom. Everything was about books and theories - nobody paid attention to what I was actually doing." I kicked at the grass, alternating feet, switching from toe to heel sporadically. "Yeah, maybe my pranks were dumb, but it was the only way I could think of that proved I could do something. They never tested us for the things I was good at, so I had to use my own ways to show them what I could do."

I couldn't help but laugh lightly as I said, "I mean, how many genin can outrun an angry hoard of chuunin? Or set up a pulley system to hoist themselves all the way up the Hokage Monument?"

Sakura was hiding her face behind her hair, but I saw that even she had cracked a smile.

"I was never stupid." I said quietly. "I just never got a chance to prove that I was smart."

I looked up, indicating that now I was done. Nobody said anything for a long time. I shifted my weight back and forth, gently swaying as the silence went on.

"I…I had no idea," Sakura finally said. She looked at me with a heavy gaze, her hands resting in front of her as she said with complete sincerity, "You're right; I keep treating you the same even though I've seen you change since we graduated. I'm sorry, Satoko."

I offered a forgiving smile. "Just…try to see me for who I am now, yeah?"

Sakura nodded firmly and returned the smile. "I will."

I breathed a deep sigh of relief and stretched my arms out. Thank god that went well.

Sasuke looked unbelievably relieved that that was finally over with. The tension in the air lifted and finally it was easy to breathe again…until a different kind of uncomfortable silence washed over us.

Shit, now what?

Sakura fidgeted with her hands. I avoided eye contact. Sasuke cleared his throat. We automatically looked up at the sound.

"…Let's get food," he said stiffly. His arms were firmly crossed like he had no idea what else to do with them. "We can talk strategy while we eat."

Oh thank god.

I nodded with enthusiasm. "Yeah, let's go!"

It was too late for lunch but too early for dinner, so we went to a nearby café called Oyatsumi. It was a cozy little restaurant with booth and bar seats, but they only served snack foods like dumplings and skewers instead of meals like noodle or rice dishes. In keeping with its theme, it was a place meant for small bites that only opened in the afternoon and didn't close until late at night.

Sasuke took a seat in an empty booth and Sakura swiftly claimed the seat next to him, leaving me to sit across from them. We ordered a few dishes to share and waited for them to arrive before getting down to business.

"I know we're here to work together, but it doesn't make the tests seem any less hopeless," Sakura sighed, twirling a stick of dango between her fingers. "I meant it when I said I've tried everything - I don't have any genjutsu left that Kakashi-sensei hasn't already seen. If nothing worked the first time, how is it supposed to work the second time?"

Sasuke made a face that said he was facing a similar dilemma. "I've memorized his daily routine by now. He never truly lets his guard down, even when he's eating." I opened my mouth to interject and he quickly followed up with, "No, I didn't see his face."

I clicked my tongue. "Damn it!"

"There must be something we're missing," Sakura said, chin in her hand.

"Kakashi-sensei loves including hidden lessons in his training," I agreed.

"These tests are supposed to determine whether or not we're ready for the Chuunin exams," Sasuke said around a veggie skewer, "which means he likely intends for us to use these skills during the Exams."

"Something to take with us into the Exams…" Sakura murmured to herself. I could hear the wheels turning in her head. Sure enough, after a few moments of deep thought, she looked up at us with wide eyes and an equally wide grin. "Remember what he said about my test? That when genjutsu is used in the field, it can be used for extended periods of time."

Realization dawned upon Sasuke and his gloomy expression turned smug. "We need to think about how these skills are used in the field," he said with certainty. He pointed at Sakura with his empty skewer and said, "A genjutsu is used to mislead the target, but you've been casting genjutsu one after another without thinking about when and how you should be using them."

"Right!" Sakura agreed. "Meanwhile you've been tracking Sensei and waiting for an opportunity to ambush him when in practice, the whole point of an ambush is to lure the target into it."

Sasuke nodded. "We've been so focused on the passing conditions that we forgot to consider why we were given these tests in the first place. They aren't just so Kakashi-sensei can see whether or not we're prepared for the Exams-"

"They're to give us a chance use our skills in the field and prepare us for the Exams in the first place!" I gasped loudly, slapping my hand on the table. The dishes clattered and I pretended not to notice when the server flinched.

"Exactly," Sasuke said. "We need to think of our test as if it was a real battle."

Sakura grinned with newfound determination. "We need to attack Kakashi-sensei as if he was a real enemy!"

DAY 19

Unfortunately, Kakashi made for a very powerful enemy.

After another day of failed attempts, we returned to Oyatsumi for round two.

"It didn't work," Sakura sighed, slumping into her seat in despair. "I tried to keep it subtle and used an auditory genjutsu to make him hear birds, but he dispelled it after about a minute and said the birdsongs I was producing were unnatural."

"Because of course he understands how to speak bird," I muttered, waiting for my takoyaki to cool before I tried to eat it.

Sakura shook her head. "I should've tried harder. Higher-ranking shinobi use birds to communicate all the time, and even we're taught how to identify plants and animals since first year. Any respectable jounin would be familiar with the sounds of local wildlife."

I made a sound at the back of my throat. "I guess."

She was right, though - my clones had been reading dozens of encyclopedias specifically because I knew nothing about the Land of Fire's biodiversity, and I didn't come this far just to die from eating a misidentified mushroom.

Sasuke's latest attempt also hadn't gone any better.

"I used clones to lure him into a trap, but that didn't work, either," Sasuke said, absently poking at a piece of mochi. "We need to try a different approach."

"What's there left to try?" Sakura sighed, dropping her chin into one hand and carefully swirling her tea with the other. "Are you guys sure about taking the Exams? They happen twice a year. By that time we'll all be stronger, and Kakashi-sensei won't feel like he has to test us in order for us to participate!"

I bit my lip. She usually kept her doubts to herself, so the fact that she was voicing them was telling. I wanted nothing more than to use her self-doubt to my advantage, but this dilemma wasn't about me and my fears - it was about Sakura and her self-worth.

I was worried that her insecurities would resurface but was unsurprised that they did. Kakashi had put on much more pressure than he did in canon, likely as a result of the change in events. It was nothing that would stop Sakura in her tracks, though. If she could talk herself into taking the Exams in canon, then all she needed now was an extra push from her teammates.

"You're the smartest one in our team - you're more than ready, Sakura-chan!" I encouraged.

I made eye-contact with Sasuke across the table, silently urging for him to back me up. His eyes were tense the way they got whenever he felt burdened. I gave him a look that fiercely reminded him to watch his mouth.

"Your ability to learn new techniques is the best on our team," he said with unexpected sincerity. "Don't let all your training go to waste."

Sakura lifted her face from her hands, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. "Sasuke-kun...!"

He quickly turned away, failing to hide his embarrassment. "B-Besides, we can only participate as a team!" he added hastily.

I laughed under my breath and threw him a lifeline. "Yeah, there's no harm in trying! And if we see what the Exams are like this time, we can better prepare for them next time!"

Sakura beamed. "Yeah, you're right!" Her smile softened as she looked down at her tea. "Thanks, you guys."

"That's the spirit!" I cheered, clinking my cup against hers. "Now, let's get to it!"

My teammates nodded in unison, ready to tackle the problem again.

This better be worth it.

"There has to be some way we can outsmart Kakashi-sensei, even with our techniques," I said.

"We've changed our way of thinking about the tests themselves…" Sakura trailed off, absently tapping her chopsticks against the side of her plate. "Maybe we need to change how we think about the techniques we're using."

Sasuke nodded. "Ambushing is about timing," he said thoughtfully, "and genjutsu is about committing to the illusion."

"Then let's come up with a way to use those traits to our advantage!" Sakura declared.

And so, armed with a small buffet of snacks and a wave of conviction, we went back to the drawing board.

DAY 20

But no matter what we came up with, we should've known that Kakashi would always be two steps ahead.

There was only one day left. We returned to Oyatsumi for our third and final round. Nobody said anything, but we all knew that if we couldn't come up with a plan today, then that was it.

"He knows our arsenals better than we do," Sasuke muttered, lacing his fingers together. "We'd have to come up with something completely knew if we want to catch him off guard."

"Too bad we've been exhausting all our ideas during group training," I sighed.

"We're too predictable to him," Sakura agreed.

We each picked a spot on the table to glare at while we brainstormed. The food arrived in the middle of our staring contest. I chewed on a piece of mochi in thought, but nothing was coming to mind. Despite the pep talk yesterday, the reality still held true - after twenty days of trying and failing, they've exhausted all their options by now.

I paused mid-chew and squinted at the table.

Or have they?

Sakura was right - we were too predictable. Kakashi of all people knew our arsenal of weapons and skills better than anyone else, and all we've been doing is coming up with ways to use them against him, which gave Sasuke and Sakura a huge disadvantage in terms of gaining the element of surprise.

But that didn't necessarily mean they'd run out of options.

"What if," I started, looking up from the table, "we thought about what he expects you guys to do, and then do to the opposite of that?"

Sakura crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. "He's expecting me to use a genjutsu and he's expecting Sasuke-kun to ambush him. How are we supposed to do anything other than what's required to pass?"

I shook my head. "No, I mean do the opposite of how he expects you to use genjutsu," I said, pointing my half-eating mochi at Sakura, "and how he expects you to ambush him," I said, pointing at Sasuke.

Sakura's frown deepened. "What are you trying to get at?"

Before I could elaborate, Sasuke snapped his head up like he just realized something. I saw a flash of internal turmoil in his eyes before he turned to Sakura and said, "We need to think more like Satoko."

Sakura and I both stared at him for a moment before uttering unison, "What?"

"We keep getting hung up on how things should be done, not how they can be done. All we know are rules and traditions, but…" He shook his head, hiding his exasperated smile. "Satoko always finds her own way to do things. She's a genius at finding loopholes to make things work in her favour."

I couldn't help but smile wide. "Yeah! My methods might not be conventional, but they still get the job done just the same."

Sakura gave me a doubtful look but didn't deny anything, which I counted as a win.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Sasuke interjected, holding up his hand. "Most of your ideas are still too reckless and inefficient to ever be used in battle," he said firmly, "but…it's like you said - we need to get out of our own heads if we're going to beat Kakashi-sensei at his own game."

I nodded enthusiastically. "Right!"

"Get out of our own heads and do the opposite of what he's expecting…" Sakura murmured to herself, gears churning. "He's expecting me to use genjutsu, so… Ah! I've got it!" Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked between us, brimming with confidence. "Kakashi-sensei never said I couldn't use other techniques during the test, right?"

Something clicked in my brain and I instantly knew where she was doing with this. "You can distract him with taijutsu or ninjutsu!" I exclaimed. "That way he'll be less likely to notice the genjutsu."

"Right!" Sakura nodded. "And Kakashi-sensei is expecting Sasuke-kun to ambush him while he's distracted-"

"-Which means he'll never let his guard down no matter what he's doing," Sasuke finished.

"So you need to create a scenario where he'll lower his guard no matter what," I said. I gave Sasuke a knowing look. "What's the one time he doesn't expect you to ambush him?"

He narrowed his eyes, fully understanding what I was getting at but not knowing where I was going with it. "…Right after I've ambushed him," he answered carefully.

"But you can't ambush him right after ambushing him. That doesn't make sense," Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded. "And I don't have any way to fake an ambush. I can't make clones for combat the way you can," he said, looking at me.

Sakura sighed, chin in her hand. "Satoko can't get directly involved, either, so it's not like she can just use her clones to help…"

The light in my eyes fizzled and I slinked into my seat. "Ah…right."

But I was definitely onto something - I could feel it.

We fell silent, each of us trying to put the pieces together into something coherent. I stared at the bonito flakes on our takoyaki, watching it sway gently back and forth as the steam evaporated into the air. I buried my face in my hands as I racked my brain, compiling all the ideas we came up with over the past few days.

Mislead him with genjutsu, lure him into an ambush, surprise him with the unexpected.

These were individual tests, each with their own unique passing conditions: cast a genjutsu for three minutes until the alarm goes off and mark Kakashi's back with a sticker. One purpose of the test was for us to use our own skills to pass. The other was to prove that we could use our skills in the field.

So then what was the last thing he would expect us to do?

We can't help each other directly, but…

I lifted my head from my hands abruptly and gasped, "That's it!"

Sasuke and Sakura jerked up, startled by my sudden exclamation.

"What if you weren't the one ambushing him?" I proposed, looking at Sasuke. Sasuke made a perplexed face. "I mean, what if he only thinks it's you?"

Sasuke and Sakura blinked. "What?"

I grinned. "Trust me, I've got an idea."

DAY 21

This time, we were ready.

We'd decided to bet everything on our final plan. Instead of making any attempts yesterday, Sasuke and Sakura spent all evening preparing for today while I provided support. It was a risky move, but we were betting everything on this last shot.

"It was unexpectedly peaceful yesterday," Kakashi said nonchalantly after we wrapped up our group training. "Don't tell me you've given up."

"Not a chance," Sasuke said.

"Our time isn't up yet," Sakura added. "You'd better get those application forms ready, Sensei, because we'll be filling them out in no time!"

Kakashi smiled. "I look forward to it." And with that, he pulled out his book and disappeared.

I turned to face my teammates with ferocity in my eyes. "Let's do this!"

They nodded back, eyes burning with resolve. "Right!"

It was late in the afternoon when we finally found Kakashi wandering around the marketplace. I wasn't going to intervene, of course, but I lurked in the corners so I could watch it all go down.

There was a tension in the air that went unnoticed by the civilians. I kept my hands balled up into fists in my pockets and help my breath. They had a few hours left until sunset, but they only had one more chance to pass.

Just do it like we practiced, I thought nervously. You've got this!

Kakashi strolled by, nose buried in his book and seemingly unaware of his surroundings. I kept my breathing shallow and followed him from the rooftops. He turned the corner and right on cue, a high-pitched beeping tore across the street.

PIPIPI! PIPIPI! PIPIPI!

Kakashi looked up from his book but kept his cool. He scanned the buildings, calmly searching for the source of the noise.

PIPIPI! PIPIPI! PIPI-!

And just as abruptly as it started, the alarm was silenced.

Kakashi was on guard now, his eyes darting everywhere in search for my teammates. Just then, a couple of smoke bombs rolled towards him and detonated at his feet. He didn't seem to be startled, but we weren't expecting him to be. Yet.

"Oh?"

Nearby civilians gasped at the sudden chaos and scattered, leaving more than enough space for combat. A dark figure darted out of the alley and disappeared into the cloud of smoke. I could hear the flurry of punches and kicks mixed with grunts and hissed swearing until finally, Kakashi emerged from the smoke with Sasuke in pursuit.

"I've got you now!" he shouted.

He swung his arms out, hands grasping at something in the air before he crossed his hands in front of him. Wires cut through the air and tangled around Kakashi's arms and legs, tapping him in place.

Despite being caught, Kakashi still didn't look impressed. "Out of ideas? You've been using this technique on me for weeks."

Sasuke dismissed him with a characteristic click of his tongue. He expertly powered through signature hand seals and sucked in a deep breath. "Fire Style; Great Fireball Technique!"

As expected, Kakashi escaped from the wires as ease, jumping back just as Sasuke exhaled. There was no fire, however - just a split second where Kakashi's attention was focused entirely in front of him instead of behind.

And within that fraction of a second, another dark figure emerged, swiftly followed by a distinct smack that signaled the successful placement of a star-shaped sticker on Kakashi's back.

Three…

He had barely even turned around by the time it had happened and when he looked down, Sasuke was smirking back at him.

"Gotcha."

"Eh?"

Two…

He stood in the middle of the street, stunned as he was trapped by the same student on both ends. That is, until the first Sasuke that attacked him disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Sakura standing in his place.

Kakashi blinked, bewildered. "A transformation?"

She smiled wide and casually pointed up in my direction. "One."

PIPIPI! PIPIPI! PIPIPI!

I jumped down from my hiding spot, holding up the stopwatch for Kakashi to see as I turned it off. "Exactly three minutes," I said, grinning victoriously.

Kakashi looked between us, trying to wrap his head around what the hell just happened. I could see in the way his expression changed that he quickly pieced everything together. His shoulders slouched and he sighed, defeated.

"I'm impressed," he said, turning to Sakura. "You used a genjutsu to conceal the sound of the alarm."

"I kept failing because my illusions weren't convincing enough," Sakura admitted. "Then I remembered: it's easier to hide something with a genjutsu than to create something."

"Then you transformed into Sasuke to distract me from the genjutsu," Kakashi added. Sakura smiled brightly and nodded. "Clever," he said, turning to face Sasuke. "And you took that chance to ambush me."

"The only time you wouldn't be on guard is if you thought I was already attacking you," Sasuke said.

Kakashi rolled his shoulder, laughing breezily. "Maa… You guys never fail to surprise me. But you know," he said, cocking his brow, "these are individual tests. You aren't supposed to work together."

"We didn't," Sakura said innocently, looking incredibly pleased with herself. "We passed our tests individually, just like we were supposed to! All I did was use my knowledge of Sasuke-kun's test to help pass my own. Right, Sasuke-kun?"

"Right," Sasuke said, hands in his pockets. He, too, was looking incredibly smug. "I had nothing to do with Sakura's test. I just used her distraction to my advantage so I could pass my own test. All we did was have good timing."

"And I came for moral support!" I said.

I could see Kakashi open his mouth under his mask. He was about to protest, but instead he rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "Ahaha~! The three of you sure are something else!"

My eyes lit up. "So does that mean…?"

Kakashi tucked his hands back into his pockets and smiled, his one eye being more than enough to convey his beaming pride. The way he looked at us told me it was more than that. There was a softness to the air around him that I hadn't felt in a long while.

"Congratulations, Sasuke, Sakura," he said cheerfully. "You both qualify for the Chuunin Exams."

"CHA!" Sakura punched her fist into the air and twirled on the spot. "We did it!"

Sasuke hooked his thumbs in his pockets and smiled besides himself. "Hn, about time."

"This calls for a celebration!" I declared. "Let's get Ichiraku! Sensei's paying!"

"Maa, fair enough. But only one bowl each, alright?"

"With extra meat!"

"And gyoza!"

"Hold on, I don't have that much cash with me today…"

"Hmm… I haven't had sanma in a while."

"Sasuke, not you too!"

DAY 22

We reconvened at the training field the next morning. Kakashi was already there, waiting for us with three application forms and a smile.

"Good morning~" he greeted cheerfully. "I'm glad you all arrived on time. If you want to participate in the Chuunin Exams, you'll have to submit these forms at the Academy in room 301 by 4PM today."

"Today?!" we exclaimed.

"Shouldn't we at least get a twenty-four-hour notice?" I complained.

"Well, that's why I gave you all a deadline for the tests," Kakashi said with a shrug. "And I didn't expect you to take this long to pass."

I glared up at him and pointedly snatched the forms out of his hands. "What matters is that we did!" I snapped, handing out the forms to my teammates.

I looked down at the form and read it carefully.

Chuunin Exam Nomination Form

The 33rd Biannual Chuunin Exams are to be hosted in Konohagakure of the Land of Fire. All participating genin squads must be nominated by their jounin squad leader prior to signing. Should you wish to accept this nomination and participate in the 33rd Chuunin Exams, please provide your name, signature, and ninja registration ID in the spaces below. This form must be submitted by all three members of your squad in order to participate.

Jounin instructor: Hatake Kakashi
Squad number: 7
Nomination date: June-

"WHAT." I tore my eyes off the page and gawked at Kakashi. "YOU NOMINATED US BEFORE YOU GAVE US THE TESTS!"

"Huh?!" my teammates gasped, quickly scanning their own forms to confirm for themselves.

"We could've participated in the Chuunin Exams no matter what!" Sakura shouted.

"So you were just wasting our time after all!" Sasuke accused.

Kakashi laughed nervously and took a step back. "Now, now, let me explain!" he said, once again holding his hands up in defense. "It's true that I already decided to nominate you three before assigning the tests, but," he said, pocketing his hands, "if I simply nominated you and left it at that, you would've felt pressured to take the Exams based on my decision. The main purpose of those tests was so you could prove to yourselves that you're ready and make a decision together as a team."

I blinked up at him, rendered speechless by his faith in us. I couldn't help it - my eyes began to burn and I sniffled, and then promptly threw myself into his torso.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" I wailed, hugging him with all my might. "You really do care about us!"

Kakashi gently pried me off and patted me on the head. "Of course," he said, looking down at us with a heartwarming smile. "You guys are my proud team, after all."

Naturally this only encouraged me to run back into Kakashi's arms for another hug, this time with my teammates in tow.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

"Oi- Satoko, you're bending my form!"

"We don't have time for this, we need to start preparing-!"

I blatantly ignored their protests and pulled them in tighter. Sakura felt good about herself, Sasuke relied on his teammates for help, and both of them were finally treating me as an equal. I had my doubts about passing the tests at first, but now I knew that it was all worth it.

Besides, I'd managed to get out of life-threatening situations plenty of times before - who's to say I couldn't do it again?

Notes:

Two fun facts for this chapter:

1. The chapter title is a reference to Kingdom Hearts 258/2 Days, hence the Day X format! Thought it'd be a fun way to pace this chapter, I hope it translated well :D

2. Oyatsumi is a pun that combines "oyasumi" which means sleep/rest/goodnight and "oytasu" which means between-meal snack/mid-afternoon snack, hence why it's only open in the afternoon and why it's a snack bar hahehuhehu

Chapter 28: Rookie Genin Attempts to Make Gourmet Inkstick

Summary:

Join Satoko as she and her friends make some homemade ink! No dehydrator necessary, but acquiring a human flamethrower is highly recommended.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I had a little over seven hours to pack, which meant I only had a little over seven hours to come up with a plan on how I was going to withdraw from the Exams without upsetting my teammates. I made a few clones to speed up the process on both fronts.

"The easiest way would be to just cheat really badly," One said, folding my spare clothes. "But then they might think you suck again, so…"

I clicked my tongue. "I'm starting to regret what I said to Sakura," I muttered.

As frustrating as it was to have her think I was stupid all the time, the reputation did get me out of a few sticky situations before. Now that I'd made a big fuss about it, however, I couldn't just go back to failing important tests all willy-nilly.

"You can't just give up, either," Two said, diligently preparing various bombs and explosives. "Not after you also gave a whole speech about, y'know, not giving up."

I groaned and dropped my head back. "I'm starting to regret that, too."

God damn it, why does trying to be a good person have to be so hard?

I briefly humoured the idea of dropping everything to become a series antagonist. It'd be nice to just do whatever I wanted without having to worry about what others thought about me, but as amusing as it was to picture myself as someone like Orochimaru or Madara, gallivanting my way through a destructive life, I'd never be able to endure the stress of constantly being hunted down by the ninja government. Life as the series protagonist was stressful enough as is.

Although it would be a lot easier to keep everyone alive, considering all I'd have to do is not go out of my own way to kill them myself.

"What if you sabotaged one of them?" Three suggested while bundling my shuriken and lining them up for sealing. "It's not like it has to be you who fails in order to get out of the Exams."

I tapped my chin in thought. "Maybe…but I don't think I could get away with it, and the last thing I need is for them to think I'm some kind of traitor."

"You could 'accidentally' lose your nomination form or something," Two said. "You don't have to be stupid to have bad luck."

"In that case, why don't we just destroy it?" One said.

"Oh." I crossed my arms and tilted my head. "I guess I could just do that, huh."

So I tore the form into tiny pieces, flushed them down the toilet, and called it a night.

I arrived at the academy an hour before registration started just like we'd agreed. My teammates were already there, but they were always especially early. I bounced up to them with a bright smile, ready to lie my way out of the Exams.

"Yo!" I greeted, jogging up to them as if nothing was wrong.

Sakura smiled and waved while Sasuke offered a curt nod.

"Do you have your form?" Sakura asked.

Show time.

"Of course!" I said without hesitation. I patted my item pouch and confidence. "Got it right here along with my scrolls."

"Great!" Sakura said, holding out her hand. "I'll hold onto it, just to be safe."

I tensed. "Aw, c'mon Sakura, I swear I have it!"

"I believe you!" Sakura insisted. "I just feel better knowing they're all in one place, that's all."

"She took mine, too," Sasuke said.

"Fine, fine," I sighed. I knew I'd look suspicious if I kept resisting, so I started fumbling around in my scroll pouch in search of the form I already knew wasn't there. "I've got it right-"

I made a face as I felt around my pouch. Sasuke and Sakura stared at me intently as I checked my weapon pouch, all my pockets, and even my shuriken holster. Of course, nothing even remotely resembling the form turned up.

I looked at my teammates, who looked back in disbelief.

"Don't tell me…" Sasuke started.

"…You lost it?" Sakura finished, voice tight.

I took a step back, holding my hands up in defense. "I-I swear I brought it with me! It must've fallen out on my way here!"

"Satoko!" Sakura yelled, grabbing me by the collar. "How can you lose something so important?! You should've sealed it away for safety!"

"I didn't wanna risk accidentally trapping it in a seal! We'd be equally screwed if something went wrong and I couldn't get it out!" I cried, prying her hands off me. "It's too early to panic yet, I'm sure we can find it if we look around."

"Then let's go, we don't have time to waste!" Sakura urged. "Give me your keys, I'll search your apartment."

"Shouldn't I be the one to do that?" I protested, although I was already handing them over.

"You should go look for Kakashi-sensei and see if you can get another form," she said.

I made a whining sound. "Fine, but don't make a mess!"

Fortunately there wasn't anything embarrassing or suspicious laying around, so I didn't really mind. What I didn't like was the idea of having to explain myself to Kakashi.

He's gonna judge me sooo hard.

"I'll search the streets," Sasuke said. "What route did you take?"

"I went through the east market," I said, gesturing in its direction. "Some of the shopkeepers were already opening shop so maybe one of them picked it up."

Sasuke nodded. "I'll ask around. Let's meet back here in ten minutes."

"Wait! Before we go," I said just a bit too loudly, briefly attracting attention from those around us, "I'm really sorry. I swear I was careful, but I still managed to mess things up."

My teammates were quiet for a brief moment, until Sakura put her hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"Let's just do our best to fix things," she encouraged.

"The sooner we start searching the sooner we can figure out a solution," Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded. "Besides, it's not like you lost it on purpose."

I made a conscious effort to stay relaxed as I smiled at them. "Thanks you guys."

I didn't regret my decision, but it still felt like shit to betray them.

"Alright, let's get going!" I cheered, and we quickly scattered in to search our own respective areas. My first stop - Kakashi's apartment.

I couldn't decide if I was lucky or not when I landed outside of Kakashi's window and saw that he was inside, reading a book at his table. He must've been killing time before he had to be at the academy himself. Too bad he had to choose to come home. I really didn't want to tell him about the form - if someone were to catch me in that lie, it'd be him - but at least now I wouldn't be letting my teammates down again by not finding him.

To no one's surprise, he noticed my presence immediately and looked over, cocking a brow when he saw me waving frantically at him to open his window.

"Open up! It's an emergency!" I shouted, trying to pry the window open from the outside. "I mean, nobody's hurt or anything, but it's still an emergency!"

Despite my urgency, Kakashi took his time setting his book down and meandering over to the window. He slid it open and took a step back so I could slip through.

"Shouldn't you be at the Academy?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I could say the same about you," I snapped back, but quickly calmed my temper. "I mean, we were about to, but then…" I bit my lip, looking down at my feet. "I…I lost my form."

Kakashi paused. "That's unexpected. I thought even you'd be able to hold onto something that important," he taunted. "Maa, maybe you weren't ready for the Exams after all."

"I am!" I huffed. "I just got unlucky, that's all. But there's gotta be a way for me to get another form, right? Don't you have any extras?"

"Us jounin are only given as many forms as we needed," he replied, shaking his head.

"You can't ask for another one?"

Kakashi shook his head again. "Submitting those forms is a bigger deal than it seems. One might even consider it to be a preliminary test of sorts." He smiled mockingly. "A shinobi who can't be responsible for important documents isn't exactly chuunin material, you know."

I frowned. "You're not saying all that just because you're too lazy to fill out another form, are you?"

Kakashi laughed shortly before donning a more serious expression. "That nomination form is my belief that you have what it takes to become a chuunin. It wouldn't look very good if I had to ask Hokage-sama for an extra form because you lost yours, would it?"

I sighed. "I guess not…"

And thank god for that.

"Maybe this will teach you to be more careful next time," Kakashi said, patting my head. "It's a shame, though - you three worked really hard…"

I scowled up at him, batting his hand away. "I was careful! And we still have time! We'll figure something out!"

"I suppose you three are always full of surprises," Kakashi murmured, "but there's really nothing you can do. They're all handmade so there aren't any spares to go around."

"Ugh, of course," I muttered. "Whatever, we'll think of something!" I hoisted myself up through the window and gripped the sill, ready to jump down onto the road but paused as a thought came to mind.

Even if I avoided the Exams, it wouldn't change the fact that Orochimaru was already lurking in the village and plotting his attack. I had to at least try to warn Kakashi somehow. I didn't know if it'd actually change anything - if the attack would get thwarted or if Hiruzen would survive - but I had to do something. Maybe if I could just foreshadow things a little-

"That form won't find itself now," Kakashi interrupted my thoughts, shooing me out the window.

"I'm going, I'm going!" I scrambled out the window and jumped down onto the street. "Thanks for your help, sensei! We'll make it into the Exams one way or another, just you wait!"

Kakashi leaned over the windowsill, waving down at me with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it."

I waved back at him before sprinting off to regroup with my team.

Damn it. It'll have to wait, then.

Once again, Sasuke and Sakura were already waiting outside the academy when I arrived. They looked at me expectantly but I shook my head.

"I'm assuming you guys had no luck, either?" I asked, not needing confirmation to know the form hadn't turned up.

Good. It should be wherever Konoha's sewage ends up by now.

"What're we going to do?" Sakura sighed, returning my keys. "By the way, you should've told me you had clones at home! They scared the crap out of me!"

"Oh yeah! My bad," I said apologetically. "Thanks for not dispelling them."

"Why do you keep them there, anyway?"

"They watch over things while I'm gone," I answered simply. "They also study for me."

Sakura blinked. "Study what?"

"Papers, inks, brushes…" I listed casually. "Y'know, fuuinjutsu stuff."

She nodded, looking like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, but said nothing more.

"More importantly, we need to figure out what to do about your missing form," Sasuke said. "We're screwed if we can't replace-"

"Sasuke~kun~!" a shrill voice suddenly called, causing Sasuke to tense up and Sakura to scowl.

I turned around and much to my surprise, saw a group I hadn't seen since graduation, the genin of Team 10 - Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji.

Ino quickly closed the distance and threw herself onto Sasuke, who sighed despondently and tried to wiggle out of her grasp.

God, it's like meeting Sakura for the first time all over again.

"It's been so long, Sasuke-kun!" she shouted with glee, only holding him tighter. "I'm so excited to see you again!"

"Get off him, Ino-pig! We don't have time to deal with you right now!" Sakura shouted, pulling her by the back of her shirt.

"Ew! Let go of me, Billboard Brow!"

"Not until you get your hooves off Sasuke-kun first!"

While Sakura and Ino played tug-of-war with my disgruntled teammate, I greeted Shikamaru and Chouji with a smile. "Long time no see, huh! You guys look great!"

"Yeah. Thanks," Shikamaru greeted simply. He gave me a once-over and squinted. "And you seem…different."

I grinned haughtily. "Of course! I'm not the same kid you knew at the academy."

Shikamaru scoffed. "Somehow I doubt it."

"You sure act the same," Chouji commented.

"Hey! I'll just have to prove you wrong, then!" I declared, then deflated with a sigh. "Too bad that won't be anytime soon, though. I don't think we'll be participating in the Exams with you guys this time."

"Huh?" Ino paused, blinking between me and my teammates. "Why not?"

Sasuke pointedly yanked his arm back and readjusted his shirt. "Satoko lost her form," he answered bluntly.

"Is that all? Lucky," Shikamaru muttered. "If I was stupid enough to lose my form, I would. These Exams are such a pain."

Ino scolded him with a pinch before turning to chastise me next. "Different my ass, you're as big of an idiot as ever! I can't believe you'd ruin Sasuke-kun's chances of taking the Exams!"

"Hey, I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Why don't you just get a new form?" Chouji asked.

I shook my head. "I already tried asking Kakashi-sensei for another one, but he said jounin are only given as many as they need. If we wanna get another form we'll have to literally make one ourselves."

Thankfully, Sasuke and Sakura looked dismayed by the mere suggestion.

"We're doomed," Sakura sighed, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"We still have some time before registrations close," Sasuke said with resolve.

"I'll help you Sasuke-kun!" Ino exclaimed. "I bet if we work together we'll be able to pull something together! Right, Shikamaru?"

Please say no.

"Ugh, don't get me involved," he grumbled.

That's right, don't get involved!

"They can just take the Exams next time. Why would we help our competition, anyway?"

"Because it's the right thing to do, obviously!" Ino insisted, looking only at Sasuke with a flirtatious smile.

Shikamaru scowled even harder. "Ugh."

Good, good… feel the hate... Let it control your reasoning..! Refuse to help us!

"Come on, it'll be fun~" she grinned.

"It'll be a pain," Shikamaru corrected.

Ino cocked her brow. "What, like you don't want to see whether or not we can fool the examiners?"

"Ugh." Despite Shikamaru's verbal disdain, there was a glint in his eye that made me nervous. "Fine, if it'll make you shut up already."

DAMN IT. And we were so close!

"You guys'll seriously help us?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, we're you're competition y'know," I added, hoping that maybe the reminder that we're supposed to be competing would change their minds.

"That's not important! What matters is I'd do anything to help Sasuke-kun~" Ino cooed before scowling at Sakura and adding, "Even if it means helping you too, Billboard Brow."

"Hey, it's not like we asked for it in the first place!" Sakura snapped, getting all up in Ino's face. "What's a pig brain like you gonna do, anyway? You're just doing this to get Sasuke-kun's attention!"

"Who the hell are you calling a pig?!" Ino grabbed Sakura's collar, a gesture which Sakura promptly returned in kind.

"You gonna try to tell me I'm wrong?!"

While Sakura and Ino went back to squabbling in the background, I looked at Sasuke wearily.

"You sure this is worth the hassle?"

Sasuke grimaced, but still nodded. "I'm not letting the last month go to waste. We still have a chance even if it's slim."

I patted him on the back. "Well, I can't say I'm not a little happy to see you optimistic for once." Ignoring the obvious discord between two of our teammates, I addressed Shikamaru cordially. "We appreciate you guys sticking your necks out for us, but Sakura-chan has a point - how are you guys gonna help us? Our only viable option is to make a fake nomination form. Won't that involve stealing a bunch of materials?"

Shikamaru furrowed his brow. "Maybe if it was a little quieter I could come up with a plan," he said, glaring pointedly at Ino and Sakura.

The two kunoichi immediately paused and let go of each other's shirts. While Ino huffed and stepped back in line with her teammates, Sakura rejoined our ranks and exchanged a puzzled look with Sasuke.

"No offense, but…" she started gently, "I thought Ino-pig would be the one with the ideas."

"Can't say I expect much from the guy who competed with Satoko for last place," Sasuke agreed.

Chouji laughed. "Don't worry, you can leave it to him!"

I briefly recalled the way Shikamaru killed two of Akatsuki's most dangerous members and the clever yet brutal methods he used to do so.

Yeah, no kidding.

"I'd be surprised if he can conjure up an inkstick," I muttered. "Kakashi-sensei said the forms are all handmade, so I bet they use some kind of special ink for it, too."

"Oh, that explains why it smells weird," Ino said, pulling out her own form. She gave it a couple of sniffs before saying confidently, "It's infused with iris. We have a bunch of floral incense at home in the shop so I can get some easy."

I blinked, dumbfounded. "Are you sure? You identified it that quickly?"

Ino flipped her hair. "You'd be surprised at what we're capable of."

Damn, this might actually go somewhere.

"Then we'll need to get our hands on that ink," Sasuke said. "One of us can steal it from the administration building."

"No, we don't have enough time for that," Shikamaru said. "It'll be faster to make one ourselves. The materials shouldn't be that hard to gather."

"How is that easier?" Ino hissed. "We don't know how to make an inkstick!"

My teammates faced me, prompting Team 10 to follow suit. There was no way I was talking my way out of this one.

Damn it.

"I can probably walk you guys through it," I confessed.

"You?" Ino blinked at me. "What would you know about- about anything?"

I sighed.

"Look, we don't have time to explain how awesome I've become since we've graduated so just- gimme your form," I muttered, gently plucking it out of Ino's hands. "Okay, listen; the two main ingredients in ink are soot and animal glue. Since the forms are all made by hand, that means at least we don't have to go and steal a woodblock, but it does mean we're going to have to forge it ourselves."

I examined the form, paying close attention to the ink itself.

"Oil soot and pine soot ink are the most commonly used inks for general calligraphy like this, but the ink's colour is warmer and it hasn't spread much so it's safe to say that it's the former. We'll still need to try a few different ingredients to see which result matches the best, though, so we should get some tung, soybean, and tea seed oil. Fortunately the paper isn't anything special - I can just get a few sheets from home."

I returned Ino's form and crossed my arms in thought.

"The main question is how we're going to make the inksticks. It has to be kneaded, shaped, and dried quickly enough that we have enough time to create the forgery at all, which…" I rubbed my neck and sighed. "I mean, my calligraphy's gotten better, but I dunno if it's good enough to make an exact replica. And to top it all off, we'll also need to forge Kakashi-sensei's handwriting."

It was silent for a long moment after I finished. I looked up to see Team 10 staring at me in silent disbelief.

"What? I said I've changed!" I huffed, breaking the silence. It was in my peripheral vision, but I was sure Sasuke and Sakura were having a rare moment of taking pride in me right then. "Now use that info to help us make a forgery!"

Shikamaru shook off his shock and went back to being disgruntled. "Yeah, yeah, just hold on."

He sat down heavily and closed his eyes, bringing his hands together to form his iconic thinking pose.

I'd never thought about it much until that moment, but it was really fucking weird.

"Uh… what's he doing?" I asked quietly.

"He's thinking," Ino snapped in a whisper. "Be quiet!"

I scratched my neck. "So we just…wait for him to be done?"

"I said shush!"

A brief moment passed until Shikamaru opened his eyes again and started writing in the dirt. "Alright, we only have about thirty minutes to do everything, so listen carefully…"

"Since Satoko has the most supplies, we'll use her place as our home base. Ino will get the incense from her shop while Chouji and I will get the oils from our clans. I can also supply animal glue made from deer hide."

"Great, we'll need a lot of it," I said.

The first thing I did when I got home was dispel my clones to make room for my incoming guests. While Team 10 was out gathering supplies, my teammates helped clean up while I pulled out some paper and brushes.

Shortly after we were done, there was a knock at the door. I invited Team 10 inside and we quickly got to work.

"Phase two, Sasuke will burn the oils outside. Sakura and Chouji will help him collect the soot."

"How much is a lot?" Sakura asked.

"We don't need to make an entire inkstick, at least," I said. "But enough that we can shape it into something and grind it."

"Make sure the flames are being disrupted by the slates while they're burning," I explained while getting Sasuke set up outside. "The dirtier the flame the more soot we'll get."

The set up was fairly straightforward. I sacrificed three small dishes that I didn't mind parting with and placed one type of oil in each dish. I then placed two bricks on either side of each dish so a metal slate could sit above them to catch the soot - high enough so the flame had space to burn, but low enough that the flame was burning right up against the slate and getting disrupted.

"Use these to brush the soot into the jars," I said, handing them some feathers that I'd apologetically collected from a bird on our way over. "Careful not to breathe it in."

"Why was any of this part of what you were studying?" Sakura asked, looking confused as she fiddled with a feather.

"Some specialists like to make their own inks." I was getting ready to try making some my own, too, which is why I had most of the equipment already prepared.

Leaving the three of them to it, I rejoined Ino and Shikamaru back inside.

"At the same time, Ino and I will prepare the incense and animal glue. Satoko, you'll use this time to prepare a drying rack for when the mixtures are ready."

Preparing the other two ingredients was much simpler; the incense just had to be burned and its ashes collected, and the animal glue melted in a double boiler. Ino and Shikamaru had things under control, so I focused on my own task.

I removed one of the racks from my oven and set it on top of a few more bricks to keep it a few inches off the ground, enough so that Sasuke could control the fire underneath. I then set a few empty glasses aside which I would put over the mixtures on the rack, that way the hot air would collect inside the glasses and dry the inksticks from all sides.

"Phase three is making the inksticks," Shikamaru said.

"The most important step is kneading and mixing," I explained. "We have to make sure the proportions are just right and that the mixture is smooth."

Following the recipe in one of my books, Chouji, Ino, and I mixed the ingredients together. We made three different batches, each one using soot acquired from a different oil. It was starting to feel a little like baking. If we were making the world's most disgusting cookies, anyway.

"How much time do we have left?" I asked.

I was still holding onto the hope that I could find a chance to 'accidentally' make a mistake and ruin everything. It was hard to find the right timing, though, because I didn't want to end up getting hated again either.

"Fifteen minutes," Shikamaru said. "They look ready."

I nodded in agreement.

"Once they're shaped and cut, Sasuke will use his ninjutsu to dry the inksticks faster than normal," Shikamaru said.

"Won't the high heat damage them?" Ino asked.

"They'll probably crack, but it doesn't matter for our purposes," I said. "We just need it to stay together enough to grind out enough ink."

We shaped each mixture in a rectangle, more or less, before cutting the sides down smooth. I brought them outside to where the rack had been moved and let Sasuke do his thing. Other than him, everyone else finally had a moment to catch their breaths.

"Wow, you really have changed," Chouji commented, peering into my fridge while he waited. "You actually have vegetables in here."

"Hey, get away from my food!" I griped, closing the fridge on him.

"I still don't believe it," Ino said, flipping through one of my books. "How did you end up learning so much about this stuff? You never studied like this in the academy."

"I finally found something I'm interested in, that's all," I answered, scratching my neck.

Not to mention all the extra hands I keep around the house nowadays.

"I just seriously can't believe it…" she murmured, picking up another book. "Even Shikamaru doesn't know much about fuuinjutsu."

"Speaking of Shikamaru, since when did he become smart?" Sakura asked, eyeing the infamously lazy genius. "I would've been surprised to learn you could follow a recipe, let alone come up with a coherent plan."

Shikamaru, who had made himself comfortable on my bed, simply rolled on his side to turn his back to us.

Chouji smiled, clearly proud of his best friend's abilities. "Shikamaru's always been smart. He just never bothered to do any of the tests properly because he hates putting in any real effort."

I tried not to laugh when Sakura's eye twitched in annoyance and Sasuke's otherwise steady flame flickered briefly outside.

Ah, the painful realization that one's hard-earned top scores could've been effortlessly challenged by a lazyass motherfucker who couldn't even care less.

"Shut up," Shikamaru grumbled into his arm. "I stand by that statement - none of this was worth it. We should've just gone straight to registration."

"Admit it, you're having fun!" Ino teased, poking his back. "Plus, we got to show off how amazing we are~"

"I'm done." Sasuke's voice suddenly came from the window, signaling that it was time to get back to work. He hopped back into my room and placed the three inksticks on the table. "Let's hurry up and finish this."

"The third and final phase is creating the actual forgery. I'll leave that part up to you, Ino."

"Why Ino-pig?" Sakura asked.

"Hmph! Worry about yourself, Billboard Brow."

While Ino made herself comfortable at the table, I quickly tested the inks with different brushes and compared them to everyone's nomination forms. The bigger the sample size the better, after all.

"Here, use the tung oil ink," I concluded, setting the other two inksticks aside to avoid getting them mixed up. "And this brush. How are we on time?"

"Eight minutes," Shikamaru said. "She'll be fine."

"Just leave it to me!" Ino declared, prepping her brush. "I'll get you into those Exams in no time, Sasuke-kun!"

I didn't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the swift and flawless technique that came out of Ino's brushwork. I hovered over her shoulder, watching every precise flick and tap of the brush that mimicked the style of the original nomination forms to a tee.

"And where the hell did you learn how to do that?" I asked, looking across Team 10 with a raised brow.

"I'm the Yamanaka clan heir. I do a lot of written reports for the clan," she explained nonchalantly. "On Daddy's behalf, of course."

"'Of course?' You forge clan documents?!" Sakura exclaimed, scandalized.

Ino laughed curtly, the conversation doing nothing to throw her off her rhythm. "Calm down, Billboard Brow. They aren't confidential or anything, they're just intel reports that get sent to certain individuals in the capital. Daddy doesn't always have time to write them so it's a good opportunity for me to practice. He approves them before they get sent out, anyway."

"I had no idea you were already training to be the clan's successor…" Sakura murmured.

Ino smiled despite herself. It looked different from the other smiles I'd seen from her today - sad, almost. "Yeah, well, it's not like you'd have any reason to know what I'm up to these days."

Tension spiked in the air and Sakura looked away. I looked at the ground to pointedly avoid making uncomfortable eye contact with anybody else.

"By the way, thanks for helping us. Seriously," I said, changing the topic in case the tension became more than just a spark. "We would've been totally screwed without you guys."

But it would've been fucking fine if you just left us behind, to be clear!

"Don't sweat it," Chouji said with a relaxed grin. "We may be opponents in the exams, but right now we're still allies."

Shikamaru nodded. "The fact that we're competing as separate teams doesn't change the fact that we're all representing Konoha. The same goes for all the visiting shinobi."

"Yeah, we need to show the other shinobi how strong we are as a group!" Sakura agreed. "We'll definitely return the favour sometime."

"We don't need anything from you, Billboard Brow," Ino scoffed. "Just don't get cold feet when you're handing in this form and put all our hard work to waste."

"As if we'd chicken out after coming this far," Sakura snapped. "But… I'm not going to lie, I'm a little worried about what will happen if we get caught."

"You'll probably just get scolded by the Hokage," Shikamaru said dismissively.

I laughed airly. "Shouldn't you worry a little more? You guys are like, super involved."

Shikamaru and Ino snorted simultaneously.

"We won't be the ones who'll get in trouble if you get caught, so it's fine," Chouji said cheerfully.

I grumbled. Right. Three heirs to Konoha's longest-standing and most loyal clans. As if they'd ever get in trouble for anything short of treason.

"And even if you guys do get caught, it definitely won't be because of my work." Ino grinned, admiring her calligraphy. She replaced her brush with a pen and with a few precise flicks of her wrist, Kakashi's handwriting had filled out the perfectly duplicated form. "Done!"

The form was still drying, so I simply admired it from afar. And damn, was it worth admiring.

When comparing it side by side, the main bodies of text looked nearly identical, all the way down to the spacing and kerning. To my own credit, though, the colours of the inks were indistinguishable to the naked eye and we kept adjusting the proportions until the smell of iris incense was just as subtle as the original.

"Wow," I couldn't help but mutter. "We actually did it."

Against all odds, there it was - a counterfeit nomination form. With my name on it. And Kakashi's name. And an empty spot in the corner of the page where it was still pending approval. I really didn't think we'd make it that far, but now that I was there, a part of me deep, deep down wondered if maybe, despite all that I knew, everything was going to be okay.

No.

I cleared my mind of overly optimistic thoughts.

There's no way we're getting out of this unscathed. I need to make sure that space stays empty.

"We haven't done it yet," Sasuke said. "Let's go, we only have a few minutes until registration closes."

"Oh shit, you're right!"

Maybe if I could just lose it again on our way to the academy-

Just as I was about to pick the form off the table, Sakura smacked my hand away and grabbed it herself.

"There's no way I'm letting you touch this," she said firmly.

Damn it.

I laughed nervously and conceded. There was no way I was going to be able to convince her to give me that form. And as she carefully tucked the form away with her own, so too did any ideas on how to avoid the Chuunin Exams slip away from my grasp.

All that was left to do was hope for a goddamn miracle.

We arrived at the academy with just minutes to spare. There wasn't time to exchange proper pleasantries - after another brief thank you and goodbye, Team 10 entered the academy first to avoid suspicion by being seen with us. We waited for as long as we could handle before rushing in ourselves and sprinting up to the third floor.

We were so focused on the time that we nearly crashed into the lone figure standing between us and the door.

"Oh? You guys finally made it."

"Kakashi-sensei!" we exclaimed in unison.

"You're pretty late," he hummed, stepping aside as we yanked the doors open.

"We know!" Sakura shouted, rushing inside.

"I thought one of you lost it," he said, eyeing me curiously.

"We found it!" Sasuke replied frantically, dashing in after Sakura and leaving just me and Kakashi in the hallway.

"Looks like you guys were able to find it just in time then. Congratulations," he said, patting my head. "Good luck in there."

I smiled wide. "Thanks, Sensei!"

"SATOKO, TEN SECONDS!"

"SHIT. Okay, see you on the other side!" I yelled, waving to Kakashi before hastily joining my teammates inside.

I slammed my hand onto the table, drawing far too much attention for my liking but too hyped up on adrenaline to care.

"Damn, a second later and I would've had to turn you guys away," the shinobi at the desk laughed. "Alright, lemme just see here…"

My teammates and I watched with bated breaths as the examiner looked over our forms one by one. Sasuke's and Sakura's forms were cleared first with ease, which left only mine.

I could feel my palms getting sweaty. I did my best to keep my shoulders relaxed and expression calm. I'd finally reached the moment of truth; the event horizon that determined whether or not I'd be able to escape the terrifying fate of the Chuunin Exams; my very last chance to make it out unscathed.

It was all in the hands of a lone desk ninja.

He gave it a quick sniff and held it up to the light. He was definitely taking his time, squinting at the edges of the paper and flattening it out on the table.

Please please please please please…!

Finally, in a very serious voice, he looked up directly at me and said, "I bet you thought I wouldn't notice, hm?"

I could see Sasuke and Sakura tense up in my peripheral vision. Meanwhile, I was about to throw myself a god damn party.

C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon-!

"This is, without a doubt, the nicest form I've ever seen!" The desk ninja's face lit up with a smile that stretched across his entire face. "I can't believe you've had this for an entire month! It looks absolutely pristine!"

My teammate's shoulders dropped in relief and while my stomach dropped along with them.

Oh, FUCK off.

"I don't want to jinx it, but I'm serious - if the Exams don't go well, you could always find a job at the administration office. We'd be so happy to have someone as responsible as you!"

I pointedly did not look at either of my teammates. I could feel their glares burning into the sides of my skull. I smiled, stiff, pretending not to notice.

"Y'know, you two should really follow your teammate's lead," he said to Sasuke and Sakura before ogling my nomination form again. "Man, not a single wrinkle or tear! You're really setting a great example."

"H-Haha, it's nothing, really..."

"Anyway, everything looks more than great," he said, happily stamping my form with a big, red APPROVED. "You can take these numbers and join the others. Good luck!"

We took our numbers, turned around, and immediately sighed heavily in unison. Finally, we could let go of all the stress that we'd accumulated over the past hour.

And then Sasuke and Sakura punched my shoulders on both sides.

"Ow!" I yelped, rubbing my arms. "I know I deserve it, but still!"

"You're lucky this worked or you'd be dead!" Sakura hissed in a low whisper.

"I know, I know!" I cried. "At least now we can finally relax…"

"No, this is when it really begins," Sasuke murmured, surveying the room through his bangs.

I followed his gaze and landed on the other genin that filled the room. There had to be over a hundred of them, each one looking more terrifying than the next. I'd forgotten that it was usually more seasoned genin who participated in the Chuunin Exams, which meant they were older and stronger on average.

Most of them would get eliminated in the first round, at least, but there would be plenty of strong genin that moved onto the second.

And somewhere lurking among them would be Orochimaru.

Notes:

After Credit Scene:

Kakashi considers what his students told him - that they had lost a form and then later found it right before the registration deadline passed. Something was clearly suspicious, he thinks. Curious, he takes the route back to Satoko's apartment and lands outside on the rooftop, unnoticed, and peeks inside.

As usual, there are three clones, each doing something different to help further Satoko's training and studies. He sees nothing out of the ordinary and is about to leave until a breeze picks up some soot off the roof tiles and blows it into his face.

Perplexed, Kakashi takes a closer look at what the clones are doing and realizes they're cleaning up after what must have been quite the messy project. Broken pieces of inksticks, ashes, and bits of animal glue are strewn across the table. A pile of black-stained dishes sit in the sink. There's a dirty brush on the kitchen counter.

One of the clones sees Kakashi in the window and freezes. It hides the broken inkstick behind its back and waves nervously. Kakashi smiles innocently and waves back. The clones quickly gather and play a game of rock paper scissors. The loser dispels itself. Kakashi takes it as his cue to leave. What a pleasant surprise, he thinks. His team is much more resourceful than he thought.

Chapter 29: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

Summary:

Satoko goes into the written test feeling one way and comes out feeling another.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I looked past my teammates and into the sea of genin, knowing that somewhere in there was Orochimaru in disguise.

There has got to be another way for me to get outta here…

Maybe if I got lucky, Sasuke would get caught cheating. He didn't have the Sharingan to help, so he might try to resort to less subtle methods of gathering information.

Or maybe Sakura would reject the tenth question. I remembered the way she almost rejected the question for Protagonist with the intention of protecting his dream of becoming the Hokage. Maybe she'd do the same for me, too.

But I haven't been talking about becoming Hokage nearly as much as he did.

The biggest problem with both of those outcomes was that they both relied on chance. I needed to come up with some way to guarantee ourselves a way out, but...

I thought back on the effort we put into making sure we qualified for the Chuunin Exams and the effort we put into making the fake form. Even the threat of being stuck as genin didn't feel like a good enough reason to throw it all away, especially because I already knew that neither Sasuke nor Sakura wanted to reject the question for their own sakes. No matter how I might try to reason with them afterwards, it'd feel like a betrayal through and through.

In the end, it all came down to dumb luck.

Dumb luck that Sasuke might mess up; dumb luck that Sakura would reject the question; or hell, dumb luck that maybe Orochimaru didn't even exist in this world. That maybe in this world he's actually an amnesiac living a peaceful life divorced from all things shinobi-related, just like Obito.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

That was all I could think to do - wait and see, and hope really, really hard that I got lucky.

"Took you guys long enough."

I saw Kiba approaching us with Akamaru tucked into the front of his jacket like usual. He was scratching Akamaru behind the ears with freshly manicured nails, short but sharpened to lethal points.

"It's been a while!" I greeted him with a smile and waved at Akamaru, which he returned with a short bark. Shino and Hinata came up behind him, nodding curtly and waving shyly respectively.

It didn't occur to me until I saw them all together that it was my first time seeing them as a team instead of individually. I already knew from the way they spoke about each other that they were close, but seeing them standing so comfortably around each other spoke volumes. Hinata especially looked at ease despite being just a couple of feet away from me - her shoulders were relaxed and although she was fidgeting with her hands, she wasn't shying away behind her teammates.

"We were starting to wonder whether or not you guys were coming!" Kiba laughed. "S'been a while since we've all gathered together. Would've been a shame if you guys missed out on all the fun," he said, looking back at the loitering Team 10.

"Looks like you barely made it," Shikamaru said, failing to hide his amusement despite his bored drawl and characteristic slouch.

"I was starting to get worried, Sasuke-kun~!" Ino said, smiling only at him.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, so were we. Guess Kakashi-sensei's lateness can be contagious sometimes."

The six of us shared a moment of understanding and said nothing more of it. There was no reason to incriminate ourselves after the fact, after all.

Memories of a dispelled clone returned to me just then, showing me the image of Kakashi peeking through my apartment window and spotting my clones very conspicuously cleaning up the evidence. I tried not to let my nerves show on my face. I wasn't too worried, though - I highly doubted Kakashi was going to tell anybody that we cheated our way in. If anything, it was perfectly in the spirit of the first test.

We should be given extra credit, really.

"It looks as though everybody has gathered," Shino addressed, face hidden behind his jacket collar. "It is nice to see you all. Why? Because although we are meeting as competitors, to reunite with former classmates is a welcomed occasion."

"Ugh, only you'd be able to turn a nice sentiment into a lecture," Kiba grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"You are mistaken, Kiba. A lecture is educational, whereas I was simply remarking on-"

"OH! A most splendid surprise!"

We didn't need to look to see exactly who was bouncing up to us next. My teammates and I exchanged knowing looks while Lee weaved his way through the crowd and landed firmly before us.

"As I was saying, a lecture is-"

"Sasuke-kun! Satoko-kun! Sakura-chan!" Lee unknowingly interrupted with high spirits. I smiled warily between him and Shino, but his pace was unshakeable. "It is a great pleasure to see you all again! What a true honour it is to be participating in these Exams alongside you as rivals!"

"A lecture-"

"I am most excited to see what new techniques you may have developed since we last met!"

"Forget about it, man. You can't beat him."

"…"

Sorry, Shino. Better luck next time.

"Hey you guys!" Tenten smiled brightly once she and Neji arrived at a more leisurely pace.

"Senpai!" I went in for a hug, which she received with a crushing force that knocked the wind out of me and encouraged me to tap out.

Tenten freed me with a laugh and patted me on the back with calloused hands. "Sorry, guess I should've warned ya first."

"No worries, s'all good-!" I wheezed, coughing my lungs back into shape. "I take it you've been working out?"

She rested her hands on her hips, sparkling with pride. "Of course! You should see how fast I can knock down a punching bag these days."

"Indeed! We have been training with utmost vigor!" Lee proclaimed.

"And youth?" I offered wryly.

Lee was positively beaming at the mere mention of it. "OF COURSE!"

Neji rolled his eyes. "Don't encourage him."

"Ah! H-Hello, Neji-niisan," Hinata greeted shyly. "G-Good luck with the E-Exams."

Neji acknowledged her with a polite nod. "You as well, Hinata-sama."

It was relief to know that they seemed to be on relatively good terms; Hinata being the first to greet him spoke volumes. I felt confident that there wouldn't be any attempts at basically-fratricide anytime soon.

Not on Neji's part, anyway. Sasuke's actual-fratricide, on the other hand, was still a work in progress.

Neji turned back to us, apparently now done with pleasantries and reverting straight back to being an ass. "I'm surprised your sensei let your team participate so soon. Perhaps his vision is a little short-sighted after all."

My lips twitched into a smile as I rolled my eyes. "You know full well what we're capable of."

"Exactly, which is all the more reason I'm surprised."

I groaned theatrically. "Is being annoying the only thing you trained in for the past month?"

Though I'll admit, I walked right into that one.

"It appears to have been more training than anything you've done," Neji countered, amused.

"Alright, that's enough outta you," Tenten scolded, although she was clearly enjoying the exchange. She turned to me and asked, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

I gasped. "Oh, right! You're probably already familiar with Hinata-chan's team, but those guys are Team 10, led by Sarutobi Asuma; Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino," I said, pointing to our partners in crime.

"That explains why there are so many rookies this year," Neji noted, eyeing them carefully. "Your generation appears to be full of clan heirs."

"Nothing to get excited about," Shikamaru sighed. "And to whom do we owe the pleasure?"

"Hyuuga Neji," he said with a smirk and equal amounts of feigned courtesy. "This is Rock Lee and Tenten."

"We graduated the year before you," Tenten said. "Our sensei is Maito Gai."

"Ohh, that's why he looks like that!" Kiba exclaimed, referring to Lee. "Hey, didn't I see you guys doing laps with the Uchiha once?"

Sasuke's cheeks flushed and I burst out laughing from the sudden reminder.

"I'm glad we weren't the ones who trained with them," Chouji murmured. "Right, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru scratched his neck. "No kidding."

"Yeah, heard you ran all the way into the sunset," Kiba added as an afterthought.

"Shut it, Inuzuka!" Sasuke hissed.

I doubled over with laughter despite Sakura's attempts to keep me quiet. "Oh man, I almost forgot about that-!"

"Hey, you guys ought to keep your voices down."

That voice alone was enough to make me abruptly shut my mouth. I straightened up and acknowledged the intruder with an annoyed glare.

Ah, there he is. That motherfucker.

The white hair tied into a ponytail, those circle-framed glasses, and that incredibly punchable face - there was no mistaking it. It was the first sign of trouble and the future pain in the ass: Yakushi Kabuto, in the flesh.

What a tool.

"You lot are all genin, right?" Kabuto gestured at the rookie teams while looking very unimpressed. "This isn't a field trip, you know."

"Who the hell are you?" Ino asked, equally unimpressed.

God damn it Ino, don't initiate contact with this creep!

I would've preferred to just leave and drag my team along with me - the other genin had already naturally dispersed, the traitors - but I also didn't want to be openly suspicious in his presence. Kabuto was a bona fide creep and I wanted nothing to do with him, but he was also terrifyingly strong. The last thing I wanted was to give him a reason to single me out.

"My name is Kabuto," he answered simply.

Ew.

"You kids need to be more aware of your surroundings."

Gross.

"Everyone's on edge, waiting to take the Exam. I wanted to give you a heads-up before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you."

Absolutely repulsive.

Cautionary tales aside, I couldn't resist the urge to get at least one jab in. "Like we needed you to tell us that. Isn't the whole point of these Exams to beat the crap out of each other?"

He scoffed. "Rookies like you always think you already know everything…"

Slimy piece of shit asshole.

I promptly tuned him out, staring off into the sea of genin out of a desire for literally anything else to look at except his stupid face.

Upon doing so, I realized that despite being incredibly annoying about it, he was right - several of the other genin in the room were eyeing us and murmuring amongst themselves. I tried not to make direct eye contact with anyone as I continued ignoring Kabuto in favour of scanning the room for familiar faces. I was much more willing to risk picking a fight than giving that creep the light of day.

A stark of red hair in my peripheral caught my attention but when I looked over expecting to see Gaara, I was surprised to see a different redhead instead.

Isn't that Karin?

I forgot she participated in these Exams when she was still a shinobi from Kusagakure, which meant there was little I could do in the ways of keeping her away from Orochimaru. It was hard enough protecting Konoha's shinobi from him, let alone anybody from outside the country.

I didn't have high hopes, but still I made a mental note to try interacting with her before the Exams ended. It was better than nothing and maybe the butterfly effect would work in my favour.

"Are you saying this is the second time you've applied?"

"No- seventh. Twice a year for…"

I only vaguely registered the polite conversation Sakura was having with Kabuto but felt no need to try and participate. It was a good time to find my bearings and locate the second featured guest of the Exams.

I spotted the real Gaara on the other side of the room. He was standing with Temari and Kankurou, the three of them quiet and keeping to themselves. I tried not to stare too much, but it was hard not too - I needed to figure out a way to get through to him unless I wanted to deal with the constant threat of an unhinged Gaara looming over me.

At least the fight would be out in the open with more readily accessible backup.

Assuming everything went according to script.

Which they often did not.

I tuned back in just in time to hear Kabuto say, "The least I can do is give you kiddies some vital intel on what you're in for with these… ninja info cards."

"HA!" I blurted without thinking. All eyes turned to me and I quickly broke into a fit of coughs, pretending I choked on my spit. "Sorry I- HACK- choked on my- aHEM- spit. Please, do continue."

Sakura and Sasuke momentarily denounced me with their eyes before focusing back on Kabuto's - pfft - ninja info cards.

"What do they do?" Sakura asked, curious.

Kabuto kneeled on one leg and set his cards down. "They look blank, but they actually contain information that's been sealed within. For example…"

There was nothing in the cards that I didn't already know, but I did recall that the reason the Sound nin attacked him was because of his shoddy information about Otogakure, so I happily sat back to enjoy the show.

Dear Universe - if you let just one thing play out as normal, please let it be this.

Because if I was going to have to deal with Orochimaru and Kabuto, it was the least the universe could do for me.

Kabuto picked out a card and flipped it over. He placed his finger on it and with just a pulse of chakra, a map and graph appeared on the card.

"This one shows how many applicants each hidden village sent to participate in this session of the Chuunin Exams," he explained. "I also have cards that contain information on individual applicants. If you have someone you have a particular interest in, I could share whatever data I've collected."

Wait, are all these cards just seals containing information?

The flicker of chakra and familiar puff of smoke was enough to lure Tenten over like elm paper on a string.

"I'm more interested in the cards themselves," she said, peering at them from over my shoulder. "Mind if I take a closer look?"

Kabuto nodded. "Be my guest, although you might not find much. The information can only be unsealed using my own chakra."

Tenten smiled to herself, reaching around me to grab a few cards from the top of the deck. "That just makes me even more curious."

For all his narcissism, mad scientist tendencies, and nonsensical decision to raise an army of zombies just for the hell of it, what Kabuto had was a unique seal that I also admittedly wanted to look at more closely.

I silently thanked Tenten for asking to see them and gratefully reaped the benefits.

Maybe I'll get lucky and find something useful.

Our positions now swapped, I leaned over her shoulder to examine the cards with her. The blank side had nothing to suggest there was invisible ink so it was nothing of interest, but I took a card and inspected the backside closely.

It was just as I remembered - orange with a green border, and in the middle, a white circle with a black border that had the kanji for "shinobi" printed inside. The character itself didn't look like any seal I'd studied, but it was the only part of the card that could possibly be a seal at all. If it was, though, I still couldn't figure out how it worked. As far as I could tell, it was just a design meant to identify which cards belonged in the deck.

I held the card up against the ceiling lights to see if it revealed anything, but was unsurprised when it didn't. I couldn't wrap my head around how Kabuto managed to seal something like an image. Sealing text wasn't a foreign concept - for example, some scrolls with confidential information were sealed but the text would flow out onto the page once unlocked.

Even if that were the case with the cards, however, a seal that contained textual information would unravel on the same side that the seal is written on. So if the kanji really was sealing the images printed on the card, it should've been on the face side rather than the back.

Just to see what would happen, I put a spark of chakra into the kanji character. Nothing appeared on the card; what I noticed instead the unexpected, faint buzzing of chakra against my fingertip.

Chakra?

I ran my finger cross the back of the card. It wasn't completely new - all of my seals gave off a similar kind of energy when activated, but this one was different. There was a quality about the chakra that made it feel charged, almost. It was a new sensation that I'd never felt from any of my own seals so I was clearly still missing something.

"Mm," Tenten hummed thoughtfully, returning the cards to the deck. "Pretty cool! Thanks for letting me see 'em."

Whatever thoughts she had about the cards she kept to herself, as I did with mine. It was obvious that we had an interest in fuuinjutsu, but there was no reason to announce exactly how much we knew. Or didn't know, in my case.

"Find anything interesting?" Kabuto asked, his smile irritating and his face especially punchable.

"Only that it's interesting," Tenten echoed with an easy smile. "How about you, Satoko?"

She reached for my card to return it for me but I shooed her away. "M'not done yet," I muttered.

"No need to strain yourself over it," Kabuto taunted.

I scowled and pulled the card closer to my chest. He seemed more than willing to let me agonize over the card, so I let him let me take my time.

Can't wait for you to get beat the shit out of, asshole.

"What can you tell us about the other villages?" Neji asked, attention focused on the data on the map.

Yes, keep him busy! Distract him enough and maybe we'll get to see him bleed, too!

Kabuto gestured at the columns rising out of the map on his card. "Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, and Oto…"

I scrutinized the card with the map as he pointed to each country. What was more confusing than anything else was the fact that there seemed to be holographs projecting out of the card. Now I didn't know a lot of things about the world I was in, but I did know for a fact that it wasn't a god damn sci-fi.

The only way any sort of semblance of holograms had ever been shown in the series was when the Akatsuki communicated with each other across distances, but those were bodies of chakra that were essentially just fancy-

Genjutsu. I recalled Sakura's qualification test, hiding my expression behind the card to avoid showing that I just figured the fuck out of Kabuto's stupid seals. It's easier to hide something with a genjutsu than to create something.

Rather than sealing images into a card, it was a genjutsu concealing the images that was being sealed. Or rather, the chakra being used for the genjutsu was being grounded to the single kanji seal on the back.

That explained why the images appeared instantaneously, why I felt chakra buzzing in the kanji, and why the seal and the contents could be on opposite sides of the card. It also explained the holographic bars. They were likely just another genjutsu added on top of the pre-existing image of the map.

Fuck you, eat my ass!

I made my discovery just in time too because right as I returned his card and started listening again, Kabuto was just getting to the good part.

The part where he gets his sorry ass beat in front of the whole entire room.

"I don't know much about Otogakure," Kabuto lied. "It's part of a new, small nation, so intelligence on it is lacking. Every other competing village is well-respected, however, and is home to their own powerful shinobi."

"So everyone here is…" Sakura murmured, glancing nervously between him and the other genin in the room.

Kabuto nodded. "That's right. Every one of them are elite, hand-picked shinobi: the best genin in the world."

Here it comes…!

The only warning we got was a light breeze before Zaku jumped into the air and threw two kunai at Kabuto. He dodged them easily but was greeted by Dosu, who readily attacked Kabuto with his amplifier.

Kabuto appeared to dodge that, too, but just a split second later and his glasses shattered from the sound.

Hope you don't have eye insurance, asshole!

"What kind of attack was that?" Sasuke asked himself, eyes narrowed in focus.

"His nose probably got grazed," Shikamaru offered as a simple explanation. "Serves him right for acting all superior.

And now for the cherry on top-

Another moment later and Kabuto suddenly keeled over, emptying his stomach all over the ground.

HELL YEAH, SERVES YOU RIGHT!

But no matter how elated I was to see the man suffer, it was still very gross.

"Oh, fuck that," I gagged, turning away from both the sight and smell.

"Kabuto-san!" Sakura gasped. She was about to run to his side, but I caught her arm and pulled her back. "Satoko?"

"You saw what those guys did to Kabuto," I murmured, forcing my grin into a frown. "Better to keep a safe distance."

Which was partially true, but mostly I just didn't want anybody giving Kabuto a helping hand. That guy could choke on his own vomit for all I cared.

"But…"

"Look, he's fine," I said, nodding at Kabuto. He was already back on his feet and doing a great job of pretending to look shaken.

Sweet, sweet catharsis. I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes in a silent prayer. Thank you, Universe, for this wonderful gift.

The genin were murmuring to themselves now, everyone speculating on what kind of attack was used or how pathetic Kabuto was - ha, loser - or how it was better not to get involved.

And then suddenly, a huge cloud of smoke appeared at the front of the room and a booming voice roared, "EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin, forgetting how abrupt and unannounced Ibiki's entrance was.

Guess playtime is over, huh.

The smoke cleared, revealing the tokujou and his legion of exam proctors all dressed in the same khaki uniform.

"My name is Morino Ibiki," he introduced firmly. "I'm the proctor and Chief Examiner for the first part of the Exam."

Ibiki went through the motions - threatening Team Dosu with disqualification, establishing "no fighting" rules, and more threats of disqualification for breaking said rules. He then told us to get our numbers, report to our seats, and that the first part of the exam was a written test.

"Written test?" Sakura repeated, looking at me with worry. Sasuke followed suit, casting a doubtful look.

"I'll be fine!" I reassured them with confidence. "Seals aren't the only things I've been studying lately."

My teammates didn't look entirely convinced even though they took my word, more or less.

"If you say so…" Sakura sighed. "Just don't freak out, okay?"

"I won't," I said with a nod.

And if I did freak out, it certainly wouldn't be from the test that I already knew the real answer to.

"Yeah, don't ruin this for us," Sasuke added.

"I won't!"

"I mean it," he said. Sasuke held my gaze for a firm moment before breaking away and adding quietly, "We're trusting you this time."

My chest tightened. Damn… why'd you have to go and say that?

"I mean it, too," I said with a smile. "I'll be fine."

One by one, we all got our numbers and sat at our assigned seats. Only then, surrounded by unfamiliar genin with the exam sheet in front of me, did the reality all finally come crashing down. The Chuunin Exams were finally, really happening.

I could feel my anxiety rising through my arms and into my throat as the joy of seeing Kabuto on his knees was replaced by the familiar feeling of fear and regret for having let my team make it so far.

The countdown to Orochimaru had officially begun.

I sighed deeply, forcing myself to calm my nerves.

Here we go.

I was a little bummed that I wasn't seated next to Hinata, but it was no surprise. There was no way I could've perfectly matched up the timing so that we'd get seated next to each other. I was, however, surprised to see Karin sit down next to me instead.

Didn't expect to get a chance to talk to her so soon.

Unlike her older self, she was a quiet little thing who kept her head down and shoulders curled in. Short red hair blocked me from seeing her matching eyes and dull brown frames. She must've felt me staring because she glanced at me through her bangs just long enough to hug her arms close and turn away.

I didn't notice before, but now that she'd drawn attention to them I could see all the scars left from people biting her to heal themselves. I kept from wincing, not wanting to make her any more self-conscious than she already was. I'd be lying if I said I paid much attention to Karin before, but it was hard not to now that she was sitting right next to me and looking positively miserable.

Her mother must've already passed by now, I thought solemnly, trying to recall the timeline of her history.

Forced to heal Kusa shinobi by letting them bite her, sent to the Chuunin Exams just to heal the other two shinobi who were sent with her, returning to her village only to get attacked and saved by Orochimaru of all people, who lied to her by saying that nobody would touch her anymore but then of course just used her for her power all over again… Poor girl had never known autonomy on any level.

I chewed my lip in thought. Unless I planned on kidnapping her during the Forest of Death, there wasn't much I could do to save her from it all.

Oh yeah, isn't she an Uzumaki?

It was never really mentioned from what I remembered; Protagonist certainly had no idea. Part of me wondered if even Karin knew of her own lineage. If her mother was seeking refuge in Kusa, it was possible that she changed her name and never told Karin of her origins.

That in itself opened up a lot of other questions, like what exactly did people think of the Uzumaki clan? And what were the other survivors up to?

I shook my head, stopping myself from dwelling too much on it. I had to focus on Karin.

I doubted there were many ways for her life to get worse if all I did was introduce myself to her so worst case scenario, I did nothing and her life trajectory stayed the same. It only took Orochimaru an empty promise to recruit her so me being nice was most likely just fine.

And if my name really did mean anything to her, then it'd be her choice if she wanted to do something about it.

"Hi!" I greeted her quietly and extended my hand. "I'm Uzumaki Satoko. What's your name?"

Karin froze, keeping her eyes down at first. She tucked her hair behind her ears and adjusted her glasses before looking up, eyes wide with surprise.

Hm.

She blinked and pointed at herself. "Me?"

I nodded, holding my hand out closer to her. "Yeah! I like your hair. It's really pretty."

"Oh! Thank you." Her cheeks flushed and her eyes darted between me and the desk, unsure of where to look. Belatedly, she hesitantly shook my hand and just barely managed to smile back. "I'm Karin. I, uh, like your hair, too."

"Thanks!" I grinned, tugging at the blond locks that I'd only recently started getting used to.

No mention of her surname, I noted.

She could've just as easily been hiding it for her own reasons so I didn't think too deeply about it. She was living in Kusa as a refugee, after all. Either way, I'd only find out later if introducing myself would end up changing things for her - if I ever got to find out at all.

"Papers face down until I give the signal," Ibiki said, cutting our conversation short.

Karin immediately tensed, posture at attention and eyes straight forward. I tapped her shoulder so she could see when I gave her a thumbs up and said, "Good luck, yeah? Let's do our best!"

She avoided eye contact but nodded. "Yeah! Um, good luck to you too," she whispered, paying attention to what Ibiki was saying again.

"There are a few big rules for this test…"

I sat back in my seat with a sigh. It wasn't much, but maybe if I got lucky, it'd be enough.

I hope you turn out alright, Karin. I really, really do.

The written test was easier than I'd anticipated. I'd planned on sitting my way through the first forty-five minutes and then just answering the tenth question correctly, but it turned out I actually was able to answer some of the other questions in the meantime.

The first question was a cipher. It wasn't exactly easy, but I had a penchant for puzzles and had studied various writing systems for my degree - not to mention the full completion of every Professor Layton game under my belt - so I was able to work it out eventually.

The second question was also surprisingly straightforward despite how wordy it was.

The parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy shinobi, A, could throw a shuriken from the top of a tree measuring 23.3 feet in height… I skimmed the rest of the question and rolled my eyes. Blah blah blah, solve for x, got it.

It was easy enough to understand, but I had to scrape the bottom barrels of my mind to recall enough about parabolas in order to put an answer together.

Of all the reasons I could have to use the quadratic formula, I can't believe I'm using it for a god damn ninja test. And to think, I once complained that I'd never have a real world application for it. Although whether this counts as the "real world" is still up for debate.

The better part of me told myself to take a page out of Shikamaru's book and nap, but I was too restless for that. I needed something to do to pass the time and I'd always been curious about what kind of questions were actually on the Chuunin Exams anyway. Turns out a lot of my high school and post-secondary education could be at least partially applied to most of them.

Even if I hadn't already known how to answer the tenth question correctly, and even if it wasn't a trick question, I was pleased with the discovery that I likely would've been able to keep enough of my points to avoid disqualification the old fashioned way.

Thank god for my disproportionate academic experience compared to all these kids.

And thank god that any information I wasn't supposed to have learned as a fresh genin could be explained away by the fact that I used my clones to study just about everything around the clock.

"Number 92, you're out!"

I jolted at the sudden voice and the startled rise of the genin whose number was called.

Looks like people are starting to figure out the true nature of this test.

I vaguely recalled certain parts of math like trigonometry and some basic physics being taught in the Academy, but the truth of the written exam seemed evident - most genin wouldn't be able to answer them. Any useful knowledge I happened to know was probably the kind of math that shinobi learned as they gained more field experience to support it.

I glanced around the room, eyes shifting between the proctors that were seated along the sides. They watched us with unwavering intensity and focus that made me hesitant to even scratch my face. I couldn't tell who they were looking at or what exactly they were looking for, which made it all the more nerve-wracking. There was no warning, just the sudden announcement that someone was disqualified.

I looked ahead a few rows ahead of me and zeroed in on Sasuke. His posture didn't indicate any suspicious activity, but he wasn't exactly answering the test, either. He was definitely thinking of something. Of what, though, I couldn't tell.

"Numbers 50, 43, and 21 - you're all disqualified!"

The genin next to Sasuke got up just then and slumped off, cursing under their breath. During the small disruption, Sasuke ran his hand through his hair and sat back in his seat. He dropped his hand into his lap and spun his pencil with the other. A nervous response, I thought, until the abandoned exam sheet next to him fluttered gently against the table.

I blinked, staring between the exam and Sasuke. He looked completely nonchalant, but after a few moments he brought his hand back onto the desk as though he was just being restless and went straight back to answering the questions without so much as a flinch.

It took me a second before I was able to piece it all together.

Substitution, I thought idly. Clever bastard.

Too clever to get disqualified for it, either.

Damn it.

"Number 103 and 14, fail!"

I could see Karin getting nervous as more and more numbers were being called out. I took a peek at her test and saw that she'd only written a few words at best for only some of the questions. She was so intelligent and sharp when introduced in canon that it was jarring to see her struggling.

Considering her main purpose for being here was to support her teammates, it was possible that she never actually received any real shinobi training. Kusa could've just slapped a headband on her and shipped her here along with her temporary teammates.

There has got to be something else I can do for her, I thought. My heart ached at the idea of her going back to her village only to be used again.

I compared my test to Karin's. It wasn't perfect, but I'd certainly answered more questions than her. Maybe it would really change something if I could help her cheat. It was more than simply just introducing myself, and it was certainly miles more than nothing.

Problem was, I didn't come prepared to cheat. I had some ideas on how to if I wanted to, of course - most of them involved planting transformed clones throughout the room and getting them to dispel information back to me after being disqualified - but since the plan ended up being not to pass, I didn't actually set anything up.

I should've known even that wouldn't go according to plan. Now I had to think of something on the spot and actually not get caught by all those watchful eyes.

Okay, what else do I have besides my clones?

I frowned at my test in thought. There wasn't much I could use in the context of a written test. Bombs were out of the equation for obvious reasons and I didn't have any small, compact scrolls like Kankurou had to sneakily pass any information along.

I thought about tearing a corner off my test and creating something similar to Kabuto's sealing cards. If I could write down the answers, conceal them with a genjutsu, then slip it to Karin for her to unseal then maybe I could transfer information that way. It was hardly the most subtle method, however, and it created at least three different ways for me to get caught.

Alright then - if none of my skills are any good, then what about hers?

There was only one thing that came to mind with regards to Karin's abilities: she was a sensor, through and through. Maybe I could send her a message with some sort of chakra signal.

Coded languages such as field shorthand and this world's equivalent to Morse code were things that I knew, partly thanks to Protagonist's vague memories and partly things that I studied up on while familiarizing myself with the world. I'd also briefly touched on codes when studying fuuinjutsu since a lot of the characters used for seals were either coded kanji or different writing systems altogether.

The issue wasn't the language, however, but rather the means of communication.

Anything I tried to do with my chakra had a chance of being picked up by any of the proctors. I didn't have the best understanding of how subtle a shift in chakra had to be for it to be nearly undetectable, nor was my control precise enough to create any shifts that could only be detected by a natural born sensor sitting right next to me.

Simply put, sending chakra into the room was out of the question.

I picked at the tips of my fingers, recalling the way the seal on Kabuto's card buzzed under my fingers. I wondered if there was any way I could reliably recreate that sensation while also making physical contact with Karin in a way that wouldn't alert the proctors or freak her out.

Making contact from the waist up was automatically crossed off the list. It'd be way too easy for the proctors to see me nudging her with my elbow or touching her arm with my hand, but there weren't a lot of options from the waist down. I wasn't going to put my hand anywhere near her legs and I highly doubted she'd appreciate me touching her with my foot, either.

I, for one, would literally rather die than have a stranger touch me with their bare-ass feet. But I could live if it was just a knee.

I was fairly confident that focusing chakra to that part of my body wouldn't be that much more difficult than focusing chakra to my feet for tree-climbing. The question was whether or not I could do it without getting caught.

Unless I used this as an excuse to get disqualified…?!

I had more than enough experience having my chances ripped out of my desperate hands. Maybe, finally, I could follow through and bring it all the way home to safety.

"Number 32, disqualified!"

"What?! What proof do you have? You couldn't possibly watch this many students at once!"

I instinctively looked up at the commotion just in time to see one of the proctors slam the genin into a wall to firmly demonstrate that their calls weren't up for discussion.

I gulped and looked back at my sheet.

Right.

Despite for what I thought was a very good reason, I still didn't entirely want to get caught. Sasuke's words came back to me as a painful reminder of what was at stake.

We're trusting you this time.

But maybe if I got caught while trying to help Karin escape her miserable future of being used and manipulated, I could say I was trying to send a message to Sasuke and Sakura. Except for that…

Don't ruin this for us.

I still really didn't want to take two steps back and risk tarnishing my newly established reputation with my teammates. Just as Sasuke and Sakura worked really hard to pass, I worked really fucking hard to earn their respect. I wasn't about to give it up that easily.

I looked at Karin.

But I really want to help her.

I looked across the room to Sasuke, and then past him to where Sakura was seated.

But I also really, really don't wanna take two steps back.

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

No matter what… I still. Really wanted. To help Karin.

I closed my eyes and exhaled until I could feel my lungs burning for air. It wasn't likely that I'd get another chance to help her whereas if I really wanted to, I'd still have at one more chance to quit the Exams before entering the Forest of Death by failing to submit the waiver.

When deciding between one certainty and one uncertainty, it only made sense to pick the former. And if my decision ended up biting us all in the ass, at least I was still able to help someone, even if it was just a little bit.

When I inhaled again, I'd made my choice.

Okay.

I kept my eyes closed and focused chakra down to my legs, careful not to create any sudden spikes that would alarm any proctors. I practiced pulsing it a few times to make sure I could actually maintain the control and felt my knee to see if it actually produced a physical sensation.

It didn't buzz the way the seal did, but I could feel my chakra from within by body like a misplaced heartbeat. Deciding it was good enough, I very gently tapped my leg against Karin's. I gauged her response - minimal, as she simply shifted her leg away just a bit - before nudging her again, this time with a touch of chakra.

Karin reacted more visibly this time. She stopped writing and twitched her head, keeping herself from looking at me. After a moment's pause, she reciprocated by touching her knee to mine while keeping her eyes firmly on her paper.

I kept my eyes down and smiled under my hand.

H-E-Y, I spelled out, checking first to see if she could even interpret the code in the first place.

It was subtle, but I could feel the pulse of her chakra respond with a simple, H-I.

N-E-E-D H-E-L-P?

A pause. Then, W-H-Y?

I W-A-N-T T-O, I answered simply. That was our fifth message and none of the proctors had called out either of our numbers, so I took it as a sign that we'd be safe to continue. O-K-A-Y?

Another pause - shorter this time - before I received, O-K-A-Y.

I flexed my hand, heart pounding with both excitement and worry that my plan had worked at all. I had no idea if helping her would actually result in any significant changes, but it was better than nothing.

More often than not, it was the best I could do.

By the time forty-five minutes had passed, I was able to pass on most of the answers I had to Karin. I was in the middle of spelling out the equation I used for the eighth question when Ibiki whistled loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, time's up! Get ready for the tenth question!"

I pulled my leg away from Karin's and relaxed my chakra. Suddenly the room felt quieter again, as if the strain of controlling my chakra had been creating a white noise in my brain.

"But before we get to the question itself, I'm adding one more rule."

Ibiki explained the new rule about choosing whether to accept or reject the tenth question. If we rejected it, we'd be able to try again next year. But if we accepted the question and got it wrong, we'd fail and never be allowed to take the Exams ever again.

Naturally, his new rule caused an uproar, but it was quickly silenced with his piercing gaze and fierce command on the room. Even though I knew the truth behind the question, I kept my breaths shallow and desperately wanted to avoid drawing attention to myself.

Head of T&I for a god damn reason, clearly.

Once everyone had settled again, it was finally time to choose.

"Those who choose not to accept the question, raise your hands. You'll leave the room once your number has been confirmed."

The air in the room grew heavy. I spared a glance at my teammates again. Now was when it all came down to luck.

I focused on Sakura, knowing that there was no way Sasuke was going to reject the tenth question. I sure as hell couldn't - not with Sasuke's stupid voice guilt tripping me into keeping my hands firmly under the table.

We're trusting you.

That god damn bastard.

I burned holes into Sakura's back, hoping that somehow she'd feel my desperation and raise her hand; that somehow she'd get the message that she was my last and final hope.

Please, Sakura…!

Other genin in the room started raising their hands. Their numbers were called out and their teammates were disqualified along with them. Our numbers thinned one by one and with each team that left, the air grew thicker.

It's okay Sakura, we won't be mad…!

Her shoulders trembled. I sucked in a deep breath, watching with unblinking eyes as she slowly raised her hand.

Just hurry up and-!

She tucked her hair behind her ears and sat up proud, shoulders squared and chin up high. Her tremors were gone.

And just like that, we passed.

Ibiki made his closing remarks with a smile and no lack of bravado. It took every ounce of willpower not to cause a scene and walk out right then and there.

"The tenth question was a choice between two options that were both difficult and dangerous. It was an unfair, no-win set of options. So why did I present them?"

His voice was just a distant murmur as I was too busy being torn about our results to pay much attention. It was a good thing, of course. But it was also a very bad thing. And for the life of me, I couldn't decide whether or not the goodness of this thing outweighed its badness.

"Let's suppose you successfully become chuunin. You're assigned to steal a vital document, but you have no intel and the territory is laden with traps. Do you accept the mission, or reject it to protect yourself and your teammates?"

It was hard to try and weigh anything against Orochimaru, really. But if he was going to hunt Sasuke down for his Sharingan, he'd get to him one way or another…

"A chuunin can't get away with only accepting safe missions. No matter how dangerous the risk, there will be missions that you can't decline."

…Because ultimately it didn't matter where I was. Orochimaru was going to come for Sasuke. There was no avoiding it, and that was the real issue at hand.

"Those who can't gamble with their own fate, who would trade today's certain risk for tomorrow's uncertain future, never taking the chance that lies before them make weak and easy decisions… They don't deserve to be chuunin at all."

At least this way I'd have intel about when and how he'd strike. It gave me a chance to prepare in an environment where my teammates would already be on guard. Escaping the Forest of Death and trying to avoid the encounter would only create more variables for myself.

"A shinobi must demonstrate valour that inspires those around them and help them overcome their fear. This is the skill that we value most in a chuunin squad leader."

In an environment where we would already be in constant danger, I could at least talk my teammates into practicing some healthy paranoia. Returning to the safety of the village could actually put us at a disadvantage because I'd have no way to convince them of a real threat.

"By choosing to accept, you answered the insoluble tenth question correctly. If you keep that spirit, you'll be able to conquer any of the doubts and difficulties you'll face."

I made my decision with newfound resolve. No more hesitation, no more what ifs, and no more relying on dumb, stupid luck.

We'd face that lion head on and go right the fuck through it.

"With that, you've all passed the first hurdle. Part one of the Chuunin Exams is now officially concluded. I trust you'll all fight the good fight and keep pressing forward till the end!"

At least that way, nobody could say I didn't try.

Notes:

After Credit Scene:

Ibiki approaches the door and knocks twice before entering. Inside are the twenty-nine jounin sensei of Konoha's participating teams, gathered to hear the results of the first test.

All chattering comes to a halt. Ibiki greets them curtly and begins to share the results: 18 out of the initial 51 participating teams remain, 9 of them from Konoha. He names the teams one by one. All of the rookie teams have passed.

Kurenai sighs a breath of relief. Asuma smiles around his cigarette. Kakashi hums thoughtfully.

Gai crashes into the room late - he had been running laps outside the building to help calm his nerves, acutely aware of how poorly his team would react to failing. He apologizes boisterously for his tardiness before rushing up to Ibiki's side, sweat dripping from his forehead as he asks for news on his precious students. Ibiki leans away and stiffly informs him that yes, his team has passed as well.

As Gai cries tears of joy upon receiving such glorious news, Ibiki distributes each team's test answers to their respective jounin.

Kakashi reads Sakura's test results first: full marks, with a note stating that she didn't cheat at all. Her answers had come from her own knowledge. Unsurprising, Kakashi thinks, as she had the highest grades in her graduating class.

Sasuke's test has one point deducted and a note that says he used a substitution technique to switch his test with those of the disqualified genin around him. Clever - and according to Gai's notes on their time spent training under him, inspired.

He doesn't expect much from Satoko's test, so is surprised to see that she had answered nearly every question in full with only two points deducted. What comes as a greater surprise is the note stating that she wasn't collecting information. Rather, she was sharing it with her neighbour - a non-Konoha genin, even - by sending messages through coded chakra signals.

Interesting, Kakashi thinks. He tucks the tests away into his vest and wonders exactly how often she sends her clones out to study, and why.

Full credit to AwayLaughing for the grounded genjutsu headcanon for Kabuto's ninja info cards, what would I do without u ; ^ ;

Extra bonus content on my dedicated tumblr for this chapter:
- the actual math I did to solve the second question of the exam
- a delete scene of Satoko yelling at Ibiki about passing

Chapter 30: Three of a Kind

Summary:

Satoko makes a proposal.

Chapter Text

Aside from Anko's exuberant entrance, the transition between the first and second test proceeded with little to no fanfare. She gathered the remaining participants outside the Academy and after giving brief instructions to follow her and the other proctors, we set off for the Forest of Death.

It was located halfway across the village on the north-east side of the village outskirts, so the trip would take a while yet. It worried me to know that the hospital was so far away given what was to come, but at least our lengthy trip to the Forest gave me time to think.

I started with the obvious: one way or another, Orochimaru was going to attack my team.

Escape wasn't an option. My teammates wouldn't see a reason to escape until after Orochimaru attacked, but by then it'd be too risky to try evading him. If we did, there was a chance that we'd come across other enemy teams or run into an ambush set up by Orochimaru's fake teammates.

Or both.

Warning Anko before we entered the Forest was unfortunately not a viable option, either. My only real chance of doing so was to cause a stink the way Protagonist did so that Anko might throw a weapon at me and then Orochimaru might be the one to retrieve it using his horrible tongue.

It was a shaky method at best and it attracted too much unwanted attention. The last thing I needed was for other teams to paint a target on our backs.

Like that guy from Rain, I thought dimly.

Even if I did manage to alert Anko, I'd need a reason to explain why I could tell that the somewhat creepy Kusa genin was a real threat, which I didn't. It wasn't worth the risk.

So the only surefire way to have a reason to involve Anko was to have Orochimaru remove his disguise and reveal his true self to us.

Which he did only after Sasuke had set him on fire and burned half his face off.

Alright, fine, I thought with conviction. Fire it is.

It felt like eons had passed since this morning when Kakashi handed us our nomination forms. An hour ago I would have happily faked an injury in a last-ditch effort to drop out of the test.

Now, however, as I ran alongside my teammates and straight towards the Forest of Death, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the best thing I could do for them was expose Orochimaru for the threat he was while we had the chance.

But for all that he was one of Konoha's most powerful enemies, destroying his disguise wasn't the hard part, no - the hard part was stopping him from marking Sasuke with the cursed seal.

Not that any of this is particularly easy.

Assuming everything went according to plan and we managed to burn away his disguise, we'd then have to escape mid-battle and run back to Anko. In that case, all the initial risks of escaping would become a problem again.

My team had improved our skills considerably in the past two months of arduous training, but I hesitated to say it would be enough to handle two objectives when Orochimaru was involved.

I briefly considered splitting up - if just one of us escaped, the other two could keep him busy until backup arrived - but quickly dismissed the idea. It would make all three of us too vulnerable.

And Orochimaru could easily break through and kill the messenger before they even made it to Anko.

My heart skipped a beat and I nearly missed a step. The mere thought of it alone was enough to send a shiver down my spine and I grasped at nothing, urging my hands not to tremble.

Stay calm. I breathed deep and steeled myself. Think. What are my options?

If getting backup in the middle of the fight was impossible, then I needed to have backup ready before it even began.

Ah, but…

The only help I could feasibly recruit was the rest of Konoha 12, but I wasn't about to drag them into a fight against the infamous Snake Sannin, especially not when they had nothing to do with him originally. No way in hell was I going to carry that on my conscience.

So then maybe…

There were two main issues: the first was that my team couldn't risk trying to divide and conquer. The second was that I couldn't bring anybody else into the fight. But if any of them found out that Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha, there was no doubt that they'd alert Anko on their own accord.

Wait, that's it!

I didn't need to get backup; I needed to get a witness.

If I could somehow ensure that at least one of the other teams would see Orochimaru without his disguise, then all my team had to do was hold out until Anko stepped in to stop the battle. I had no way of knowing how long that would take, but it was the only chance I had to ensure that the battle didn't end with Sasuke getting bit.

And I was going to hold onto that chance for all it was god damn worth.

Now all I needed to do was figure out a way to establish a reason to maintain long-distance contact with one or more of the other teams under the guise of something completely unrelated to the future events with which I needed their help circumventing.

It never gets easier, does it?

The Forest of Death, otherwise known as Training Ground 44, served as a partial border to the village. The rest was marked by the river that flowed through it.

It was surrounded by a field around three kilometers wide, and around that field was another ring made up of training grounds 40 through 49. Whereas the Forest was bordered by a steel fence, the other training grounds were sectioned off naturally with trees.

My team usually stuck to training ground 7 - numbers 1 through 20 were reserved for genin teams and assigned to respective team numbers to make things easier - which was located further west, so it was my first time seeing the other side of the cliffs. I didn't expect them to go on for so long, disappearing far out into the horizon.

When we arrived, I looked back towards the village and saw that it was appropriately hidden among the trees. The closest building was the tournament stadium that would be used for the third round of the Exams, and even that enormous thing had completely disappeared.

"It looks pretty creepy…" Sakura murmured, uneasily.

"That's putting it lightly," I said. The forest made me feel claustrophobic just from looking at it.

The surrounding fence did little to stop the trees from growing outside the barrier, shedding a blanket of leaves that covered several of the fields outside. Sheets of moss sagged from the trees while vines strangled the branches above. The canopy was so dense that shadows stained the forest floor, preventing new growth from reaching the air above. There was hardly any visible ground - just a thick layer of roots and substrate.

If the Forest was sentient, it would be proud to know that it lived up to its name - there wasn't a single aspect about it that didn't reek of death.

Anko took her position at the front of the group and clapped her hands once to get everyone's attention. "Alrighty then, let's get started! I'm only gonna say this once, so listen carefully."

Her explanation was the same as I remembered: bring both scrolls to the tower within five days. The one detail that I made particular note of was the fact that we'd be picking our own starting gate. I wasn't sure how I could use it to my advantage just yet, but surely it would be useful one way or another.

Anko finished her explanation with words of encouragement - "Don't die!" - and before long, I was holding a death waiver in my hands.

Fucking great.

The morbidity of it all was the least of my worries, however; the booth where we'd be exchanging our forms for the scrolls was done being set up, teams were starting to form a line outside it, and I sat watching with no idea how to get my plan started.

I scanned the field in search for the other three teams, contemplating my options.

If I can just get their attention somehow…

Most of the participants were keeping to themselves, but I noticed some of the older Konoha teams hovering around each other. I assumed they must've been classmates in the Academy and were just as excited about competing against each other as mine.

Approaching the rest of Konoha 12 wouldn't look too suspicious in comparison - the question was whether I should try contacting them now or later.

I spotted Team 8 gathered near a large boulder that was nearly twice their height. It blocked their line of sight to Anko and concealed them somewhat from the other teams.

Shino's gaze was fixated on the boulder, but it was clear that he was talking to Kiba who nodded along, petting Akamaru who sat in his lap. Hinata was conversing as well despite the fact that her eyes were downcast.

Poor girl must be beyond nervous, I sympathized.

Team 10 was lounging about in the open, having made themselves quite comfortable on the slight incline that was located several feet in front of the booth.

Shikamaru and Ino were laying in the grass while Chouji sat next to them eating snacks. He reached over Ino to offer some to Shikamaru, assuming Ino wouldn't want any. Shikamaru turned him down with a languid wave. I could practically hear him drawling through the gesture.

Stocking up on calories, I noted, and absently wondered exactly how much Chouji needed to eat in order for his clan's technique to be effective. No wonder food is such a concern for him in there; taking away his snacks would be like taking away Tenten's weapons.

I found her team last. They were located the furthest among the three teams, but still close enough that I could get their attention if I yelled.

Lee was alternating between stretching and jogging on the spot while Tenten sharpened the kunai knives that she kept directly in her pouch. Neji was seated next to her, back completely turned to me and unmoving.

Meditating, I determined, recalling our first week of training together with some fondness, mostly annoyance. Worst first impression ever.

I checked the booth to gauge how much time we had left. The line had only just started to form and a handful of teams were meandering over to join. I looked back at the K12 and wasn't surprised to see Team 10 still lazing about.

What did strike me as odd was how Kiba and Lee hadn't dragged their teams over and instead were patiently waiting for the others to hand in their forms, first.

And that's when it hit me.

Oh my god.

My eyes blew wide, darting between each team as I recontextualized their behaviour: Shino was watching something on the boulder, Hinata and Neji were keeping their eyes hidden, and Chouji was interacting only with Shikamaru.

Because Ino wasn't lounging at all.

Those sneaky-ass motherfuckers were all cheating.

Every single team, with their god damn fancy-ass clan jutsu, was spying on the booth and finding out exactly which team had which scroll and which member was holding onto it.

I bit my lip and crinkled the edges of my waiver, containing the excitement of my revelation.

Oh, I know exactly how I'm gonna get this plan started.

"Are you done signing yet?"

I jerked my head up to see Sasuke standing over me. He was holding his hand out expectantly.

"Huh?"

Having not processed what he said, I instinctively took his hand thinking he was offering to help me up. And he was just about to - his grip was tight and his arm flexed, ready to tug - until he caught himself and immediately jerked back, smacking my hand away with a flustered scowl.

"Your form, Dobe! Give me your form!"

"Oh, right!" I shook out my stinging hand. "Still could've helped me up, jerk."

"Hurry up!" he snapped, and I tried not to laugh much at his reddened face.

Before he could get more upset, I hastily signed the form and passed it to him. "You guys ready?"

"We were waiting for you," Sakura huffed, taking the two forms out of Sasuke's hand and gathering them neatly. She clearly didn't want a repeat of the nomination form incident. "Let's go before the line gets too long."

She was just about to leave until Sasuke stopped us with a firm, "Wait." He looked down at me, gaze intense. "What were you thinking about this whole time?"

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You've been quiet ever since we left the Academy," he elaborated. "I thought you'd be more excited about passing the first test."

"Of course I was excited!" I answered quickly. "I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it. We still have a long way to go, after all."

"That's true," Sakura agreed. "Still, you looked super serious on our way here. Are you sure you're alright?"

"You need to tell us if something's wrong," Sasuke said firmly, and it was almost sweet until he added, "otherwise you'll just be a liability to us."

I clicked my tongue and said, "Of course that's the only reason you'd care about my well-being."

He dismissed my comment and pressed further. "You were looking at the other teams. Don't tell me you're scared to fight them."

"That's not it at all!" I huffed and lied easily. "I was thinking about how it'd be nice to have a group dinner sometime. Y'know, once this is all over."

"I can't believe you're thinking about food at a time like this," Sakura sighed, shaking her head.

"C'mon, it'd be fun! I bet even Sasuke can't say no to a good barbecue," I said, grinning cheekily at him.

He scrutinized me with a furrowed brow but I refused to let up on the act. Finally, Sasuke rolled his eyes and started heading towards the booth with Sakura following suit.

"You might not be stupid, but you're still an idiot, Dobe."

"Hey!"

The line moved at a slow but steady pace, giving me enough time to think of a way to communicate with the other teams inconspicuously. When it was finally our turn, I passed one final glance across the other teams before we entered.

You guys better watch closely.

There were two chuunin inside - a redhead and a brunette. The redhead handed us our scroll while the brunette marked it off on a list. The bug they swatted off their clipboard did not go unnoticed.

"You have three minutes to discuss who gets the scroll," the redhead said.

Coincidentally, we received a Heaven scroll just like in canon. I tried not to take it as a bad omen and examined it carefully.

"Is there something weird about it?" Sakura asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," I murmured, squinting at the kanji label to see if I could discern what kind if ink was used.

Inspecting the scroll was mostly just a cover to buy myself some time to plan my words carefully. I needed to grab the other team's attentions without making it obvious that I was up to something.

God I hope this works.

"Y'know, I was serious before," I started carefully. "A group dinner is the best way to destress after something like this."

"We're not wasting time on this conversation," Sasuke warned.

"I'm just saying!" I brushed my thumb over the kanji. There wasn't any buzzing or any other indication of containing the seal that I knew was inside. "We should plan our celebration meal while we're still sane. I mean, what if all we have to eat in there is shit like- I dunno, like moss? Or bugs?"

I held the scroll up as I said this, pretending to examine it from a distance while I looked past the scroll and straight towards the boulder from which Hinata was watching behind.

"Bugs are a good source of protein. We're probably going to rely on them once in a while. And hurry up! " Sakura said, flicking my head with a sharp snap. "We don't have time to be talking about this right now."

"Ow- I'm hurrying, geez!"

I injected my chakra into the paper, but still nothing. The only chakra I could feel was the pea-sized amount used to keep the end of the scroll in place, preventing it from falling open on its own.

"It's just that all we got to eat before the Exams were snack foods," I said. "I haven't even had ramen in like, two whole weeks!"

"We're not getting ramen," Sasuke said firmly. Then annoyed, "Are you done yet?"

I dismissed him with a wave. "It doesn't have to be ramen," I said, holding up the scroll like a telescope. I aimed it in Neji's direction as I enunciated clearly, "It could just be like, I dunno, some really damn good fried rice for all I care."

"You have two minutes left," the redhead yawned, leaning back in their chair. "You're not gonna find anything interesting unless you open it, which you aren't allowed to do, so just hurry up and pick someone to carry the damn scroll."

"We're still thinking!" I snapped. "About the scroll and what to eat. Maybe we should get sushi…"

"Focus, Satoko!" Sakura chided. "And quit talking about food, you're making me hungry! Dieting is hard enough as is."

The brunette rolled their eyes at that.

"Shinobi don't diet," Sasuke said instinctively. "You need calories to develop muscle mass."

I spotted a smile behind the cracks of the brunette's fingers, but they didn't look up.

Figured as much.

"Bastard's right, Sakura-chan. I found all sorts of great restaurants while I was tracking Kakashi-sensei's ninken," I started, giving the scroll a couple of light tosses, "and there was this one place that did this super awesome-looking marinated pork belly that comes from this specially bred pig that only eats acorns! Apparently it makes 'em more tender."

Having received no obvious response, I held the scroll in front of my face as if I was sniffing the ink, peering over it and straight down at the brunette.

"I bet it's a great source of protein! Way better than bugs. We should go after training some time," I continued. "They even have this funky bone broth that they make out of deer antlers . I didn't even know you could do that!"

Finally the brunette reacted, eyes flickering up at me just long enough for me to quirk my brow before blinking away.

About time.

"One minute," the redhead sighed.

"Just seal it already!" Sasuke hissed, snatching the Heaven scroll out of my hands. "Give us the spares."

"Okay, okay!" I cried, holding my hands up in defence.

I was done anyway, geez.

"Anyway, let's totally invite the other teams once we're outta here," I concluded while pulling out three scrolls. They all contained the exact same storage seal so whatever I sealed inside, my teammates would be able to access with their own scrolls. "It'd be nice if we could get them to meet us somewhere. I've got so much to talk about!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What makes you think they'd wanna come anyway?" She snatched the scrolls and handed one to Sasuke. They both slipped them into the pouches, safe and secure.

"Well then, if they don't come," I started, swiftly glancing between the brunette and the two Hyuugas out in the field, "I'll just cause a huge scene and pester them until they do."

I punctuated myself with a smile. The brunette twitched in their seat.

That oughtta do it.

I sealed the Heaven scroll into my storage scroll and tucked it away.

"Finally," the redhead groaned, shooing us out of the tent. "Next!"

Those guys better not leave me hanging.

Team 8 was the first to get their scrolls, but they waited until Team Gai exited the booth before making their way over to us with a combination of casual greetings and nervous fidgeting. I ignored my teammates' demands for an explanation and instead kept my eye on Team 10, who were one of the last teams to enter the booth.

They arrived soon after, looking a mix of disgruntled, curious, and annoyed, but with only minor complaints from Shikamaru.

Team Gai was the last to arrive despite being the second to get their scroll, intentionally arriving out of order to make our gathering look less like a strategy meeting. They were relatively nonchalant about the whole matter except for Lee, whose very presence was loud even when his steps were silent.

Our meeting point was the cluster of trees far from the other participants. We did our best to look casual, claiming different branches and spots of shade under the guise of killing time before the test began.

While the other teams got comfortable, my teammates seemed ready to snap the branch I was sitting on right out from under me.

"Explain," Sakura demanded, making it evidently clear that we hadn't planned this meeting together. She and Sasuke were both under the branch I was seated on, the two of them leaning against the tree side by side.

"Wait, this was all you?" Kiba asked, squinting at me suspiciously from the branch next to mine. Hinata was standing under him, half-hidden behind Shino who was situated in front of her. "Alone?"

I opened my mouth but found myself stuck deciding how to respond. Although my reputation was better among my teammates, there were still plenty of others who had yet to witness my uncharacteristic development from Dead Last to Relatively Decent.

I decided the best response was to drop my chin in my hands and blow a loud raspberry.

The road to redemption is a long one.

"How the hell did you," he said, adding even more emphasis by gesturing at me, "realize we were all watching the booth?"

"I have eyes, you know!" I griped. "I'm observant."

"I've sat next to you in class for years, dude," Kiba said, still incredibly doubtful. "You don't observe shit."

Before I could get wrapped up in a circular argument, Sasuke blessedly ignored Kiba in my stead and said with a frown, "That's what you were thinking of before."

Sakura gasped, realizing something else of her own. "Is this why you kept talking about food?!"

I quickly jumped onto the topic change before Kiba could say anything else. "Yeah! It wasn't exactly subtle, but I didn't know how else to get everyone's attention."

"I nearly blew my cover just to tell you to shut up," Ino said, rolling her eyes. "And by the way, you can only get deer antler soup from the Nara clan."

"Wait, it's an actual thing?" I asked, genuinely surprised. "I just made it up because you didn't react when I was talking about pigs!"

"Excuse me?!"

"It's medicinal," Shikamaru explained before Ino could really lash out. "Can we just get on with whatever this is already?"

"Yeah, why didn't you tell us you were planning something?" Sakura demanded, frowning up at me from next to Sasuke.

"I knew you guys would need convincing, but so would everybody else," I said, nodding my head towards the other genin. "I thought it'd be easier to just get it all over with in one shot."

"And what exactly are we here to be convinced of?" Neji asked from the neighbouring tree.

I grinned wide. "Teaming up, of course!"

The protests were instantaneous.

"Hell no! We don't need help from you losers." Kiba's rejection was loudly backed by Akamaru's barking.

"We'd attract too much attention if we travelled in such a big group," Sakura said more logically, frowning at my idea.

"Seriously? You annoyed us all into coming here just for some stupid alliance? What a waste of time," Ino huffed. She linked her arms with Chouji and Shikamaru's and threatened to leave. "C'mon, let's go make our own preparations while we still can!"

"I wasn't done yet!" I said quickly before she could get up. "All of you were spying on the booth, which means all of you know what scroll each team has and who's holding it."

"So what, you want us to share our information?" Shikamaru assumed. He waved his free hand in front of his face. "Not gonna happen."

I huffed. "That's not-"

"I'm inclined to agree with Shikamaru-kun," Shino said. "Why? Because we are enemies during these exams, and sharing our knowledge with the enemy is unwise."

"Well no-"

"Yeah, don't get me wrong, Satoko," Tenten said, smiling at me from her seat on the branch above Team 10. Neji stood next to her, leaning against the tree while Lee sat on her other side, farthest from me. "Normally I'd love to do a friend a favour, but this is different."

I tried not to flip out and said more loudly, "If you guys would just let me finish -"

"It's not a bad idea," Sasuke interrupted, shocking everyone into silence with his unexpected agreement.

I blinked down at him, my frustration swiftly replaced with surprise. Sasuke remained unfazed, as though agreeing with me in front of other people was something he did regularly.

Holy shit- that's like, what, two days in a row? I am on a roll.

"Whether you show us your scrolls now or later won't change your target options," he said, arms crossed. "Rather, it would speed up the process and we could get this test over with by the end of the day."

I snapped out of my shock and nodded furiously. "Exactly!"

"Oh, I get it," Sakura said, tapping her chin. "If we show each other our scrolls now, those with opposite scrolls can pick gates that are close together and fight each other the moment the test starts."

I swung my legs out, excited that my teammates were getting it. "Yeah! I mean, why spend five days in that hellhole if we can get it over with in just a few minutes?"

"It'll be troublesome if we aren't given a break between tests again," Shikamaru considered reluctantly. "We could conserve energy this way."

"I didn't pack many rations…" Chouji agreed, worried.

There we go!

"But then again," Sakura considered out loud, "what if one of us is the only one with a different scroll?" She pushed herself off the tree, alarmed. "What if we're the only ones with a different scroll?!"

Damn it Sakura, no!

"It's a gamble," Sasuke said, looking up at me with a smirk. "That's the true nature of your proposal, isn't it?"

Yes!

I smiled wide, reflecting the glint in his eyes. "I thought you might like it."

He always has been a sucker for challenges.

Sakura wasn't nearly as enthusiastic. Sasuke was on board, however, so she couldn't say no. Breaking that particular habit was still a work in progress, but I was willing to use it to my advantage just this once.

"Gotta admit, that does sound like fun," Kiba said. "S'too bad we've got the same scroll 'cause I would've loved kicking your ass!"

Hm… I can work with that.

I pointedly ignored the taunt and said instead, "We can work together, then. It'll be easier to steal scrolls from other teams if we gang up on them."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "For the last time, we don't need help! But now I've got a proposal of my own," he said with a sharp grin, looking across to the next tree over. "We could race to see who can take their scroll, first."

Oh?

I followed his gaze to Team Gai, each one of them looking their own version of smug.

"A most passionate offer," Lee agreed with a firm nod, "but unfortunately we must decline! Although our goal is to acquire both scrolls, our desire is to challenge ourselves against strong opponents."

"What'd you say?!" Kiba growled.

Neji folded his arms and raised his chin. "He said that we would never demean ourselves by taking a scroll from any of you."

"That is not what he said," Tenten corrected, although her smile betrayed her.

"Watch it, jackass!" Kiba barked. He looked back at his teammates for defence. "You gonna take this, Hinata?! I bet you could kick his ass any day of the week!"

I tensed. Dude, touchy subject!

The only thing that stopped me from changing the subject was the fact that Neji didn't immediately look like he wanted to kill someone.

"I-It's okay, K-Kiba…!" Hinata stammered, tugging on his sleeve. "Satoko-chan is r-right; if we work t-together, we can pass more q-quickly."

"Man, but that'd be so boring!" he whined, pulling his arm away from Hinata. Akamaru barked twice again.

Neji scoffed. "As if fighting you would be any less of a bore. Even a mere goat would pose more of a challenge than all of you."

My brow twitched at his words. So Team Gai's the only one with an Earth scroll, I noted thoughtfully.

Shikamaru groaned. "Don't drag us into this."

"Yeah, as if we'd ever team up with Billboard Brow," Ino scoffed.

"Like we need your help anyway, you pig!" Sakura retorted on cue.

"Who do you think got you here in the first place?!"

"Alright then, new proposal!" I announced before they could ruin my progress with their bickering. My original idea of forming an alliance clearly wasn't working, but Kiba had inspired a new offer that they might find more appealing. "We all work together to find a team with the opposite scroll. Then we all converge on that team and see who can steal the scroll first!"

Fuck teamwork, I should've thought of this in the first place.

"Why would we do that? You guys don't even have any sensors on your team!" Kiba countered.

"I spent all of last month playing hide and seek with eight different ninken across the entire village and Sasuke and Sakura spent that same month hunting down our bastard of a sensei every goddamn day," I countered without missing a beat. "You think we didn't learn a thing or two about tracking?"

Kiba sniffed, reluctantly taking my point. "Fine. But we're still way better at it than you! What's stopping us from letting you eat our dust?"

Seriously?! You're still gonna be difficult about this?!

"He has a point, Satoko," Sakura said. "This is starting to get too complicated, and it's still disadvantageous to travel in a big group."

Oh, for crying out loud-

"We don't have to move together," I answered hastily. "We can use Shino's bugs to keep in touch. They can guide us to each other if one of us encounters an enemy team, right?"

Shino simply nodded.

"I still don't see why we should bother," Ino said.

God damn it Ino-

"Think of it as a trade off." I held one hand out and continued, "Sure we'll be fighting each other to steal the same scroll," I extended my other hand, "but we'll find targets three times faster than if we worked alone."

"And?" Kiba pressed.

"And." I clapped my hands together, smiling wide. "This way it'll be more fun."

"So in exchange for having an easier time locating an opposite scroll…" Sasuke trailed off, quirking his lips.

"We partake in a little friendly competition," I finished with a nod, looking between the two other rookie teams, "and we determine exactly which one of us really is the strongest."

Just like that, the air changed.

Ah, petty competition - it's a siren's song for these kids.

"We're in!" Kiba declared. "Only because I can't wait to see the look on your face when we steal a scroll right out from under you, haha!"

"Us too!" Ino said, pulling her boys up onto their feet with her. "I'm gonna wipe the floor with that giant forehead of yours, Sakura!"

"Not if I cut off that little piggy tail of yours first!"

"Aw man, now I kinda feel left out…" Tenten pouted. "Oh, how about this! Last team to pass has to treat the rest of us to dinner!"

"And first one to pass gets to choose where we go!" Ino added.

"Lovin' the spirit, but I don't wanna risk bankruptcy over this," I confessed.

"Losing team's sensei pays!" Sakura declared. I promptly reached down to high-five my teammate, which she met with great enthusiasm.

Tenten grinned. "Deal!"

"How's that fair if our teams are working together?" Kiba countered, then quickly realized what he'd set himself up for and hastily backtracked with, "Wait, no, shut up-"

"That's what makes it fair," Neji said before Kiba could finish, looking very pleased with himself.

"AGH!"

As the genin erupted into a mix of laughter and excited chatter, I sighed in relief knowing that everything had ultimately worked out the way I needed. A four-way competition wasn't how I'd intended to set things up, but it was all the same in the end.

For the first time since handing in my nomination form, I allowed myself to feel hopeful.

Once all the teams had exchanged their waivers for a scroll, Anko informed us that the exam would start in thirty minutes at the sound of an alarm. After exchanging goodbyes and good lucks with the others, my team followed our assigned proctor to Gate 34.

Nobody else had a preference, so fortunately I was able to pick a gate that landed us closer to the village from the start. We were already far from the village and with the forest having a diameter of twenty kilometers, I wasn't going to let us get any farther than necessary.

Team 8 and Team 10 picked Gate 30 and 37 respectively with the intention of staying far enough to cover more ground, but close enough that we could reach each other easily. Team Gai had gone on ahead, choosing a gate that was further away to avoid crossing paths.

"How are these things supposed to help us, anyway?" Sakura asked, examining the bug that had landed on her finger.

After all was said and done, Shino didn't really explain how his insects worked beyond reassuring us that they'd help us find each other when necessary. He simply left a couple dozen of his insects with each team, most of them disappearing under our clothing while one or two stayed stuck on the outside.

Despite Sakura's distaste for the bugs, she tactfully kept any complaints to herself and let Shino place his bugs on her. I liked to think I did just as good of a job at hiding my own unease. I didn't exactly hate bugs, but I was still relieved to find that I couldn't feel them crawling on my skin.

"The scouts will alert other teams if we make contact with a target," Sasuke explained. "Shino likely tagged everyone with females so the males will be able to track the other teams by scent."

"How do you know so much about Shino's bugs?" I asked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "How can you know that he was using them to spy on the booth but not know how they work?"

"I know how they work!" I snapped. "I'm just wondering how you know, Bastard."

"Because I've been 'studying' since the beginning, idiot. Of course I know."

"Hey, what's with that tone?! It's real studying that I do, y'know!"

Without warning, Sakura grabbed our ears and tugged sharply, eliciting a simultaneous Ow! from us both.

"Honestly, do you guys have to do this right now?" She then turned to me. "Satoko, have you dispelled your clones yet? It always takes you a minute to process their memories."

I gave Sasuke one last glare before nodding. "Good call."

I made a one-handed tiger seal and with a small pulse of chakra, the two remaining clones in my apartment dispelled. The memories from both of them returned simultaneously and I closed my eyes to take in the information.

They played in my head like two dream sequences overlaid on each other. It wasn't so much overwhelming as it was confusing, since I had to focus to tease them apart and file them away accordingly.

All the memories were accessible to me once my clones dispelled, but if I wanted to really acquire the knowledge then I had to take the time to revisit them one by one. It could take hours or even days until the memories were properly salient, depending on how dense the memories were, and it took a hell of a lot of brainpower to get through them all.

I limited my clones for this reason. I'd learned the hard way that having too many of them gathering a high capacity of information and memories could give me a killer migraine for a whole damn week if I wasn't careful.

This time was quick and easy, however. It was mostly memories of cleaning up the mess we'd left behind earlier and doing other chores like folding laundry - nothing important, as I'd intentionally kept them from doing anything that might distract me from the exams.

Once I was done, I blinked sluggishly, pulling myself out of my daze.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked.

I shook my head clear and smiled. "Yeah, I'm good!"

With all our preparations made, we turned towards the Forest of Death and braced ourselves.

There was nothing else left between us and Orochimaru - just a single gate and what I estimated to be around fifteen minutes.

The gate came down in a flash. All it took was an alarm and Anko's blaring voice, and then I was running alongside my teammates through the monstrous trees, determined to close the distance between ourselves and the others as much as possible before the encounter.

The fifteen minutes would turn out to have been gratuitous, however, because Orochimaru would only need seven to find us and just a second more to start his attack.

Chapter 31: Day 22

Summary:

Team 7 faces off against Orochimaru. Satoko hopes that their training pays off.

Notes:

this chapter uses work skins! it's not super important, just a little extra formatting to distinguish certain parts of the chapter from others if you'd like to turn it on.

edit: the work skin is now compatible with dark mode! if it's still unreadable then you can turn of work skins at the top of the page, you'd only be missing out on a grey background for flashbacks it's nbd

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

DAY 22

Knowledge of the future meant very little in the face of death.

It revealed itself in a surge of chakra and a blast of wind. The forest came down on me from every direction, tearing me to shreds in a single breath. Terror spilled from my wounds and ate me up from within. I gasped for air. Coughed up bile instead. Grasped for purchase and found none.

My head snapped back with the force of a kunai and suddenly I returned to my senses between Sasuke and Sakura with my body intact, but petrified.

Orochimaru held out three kunai, real this time - one for each of us, just like his illusory threat had foretold.

A searing ache rose from my stomach, desperate to claw its way out from under my skin. It climbed up through my chest and into my throat, dragged across my tongue until all I could taste was fear.

[ Is that all it takes to scare you?]

Kurama's voice resonated all the way down to my fingertips, his presence scraping at the back of my skull.

[ If you can't save yourself then why don't I lend a hand?]

Death and destruction overtook my vision. I saw my teammates illuminated with flames, stark against the ashen sky. Kurama would help me, I was sure - just as I was sure that he would leave nothing left for me to save.

[ Come on, brat! It'd be pathetic to die this easily!]

I looked past the smoke and met Sasuke's gaze. His pupils were dilated. He reached for his weapon holster. His fingers twitched.

It was all the assurance I needed.

Thanks, Kurama-san.

I swallowed the pressure with a weighted breath, and once again my vision was clear.

But I've got this.

Three kunai flew towards us. Sasuke drove his into his leg. We grabbed Sakura and ran.

DAY 1

"Let's get started with our training, shall we?"

"First I'd like to see exactly how much you've improved," Kakashi said, reaching into his pouch. Out of habit I expected him to pull out his book, but instead he held up four bells. "I thought this might be a good way to do that."

The oh-so familiar jingle of his silver bells rang in the air, and I turned to my teammates with a wry smile.

"I think the more bells he has, the harder he's about to kick our ass."

"Don't worry, these aren't all for me," Kakashi laughed. "Your objective is the same as before: steal my bell before the alarm goes off. This time, however, you'll all be wearing one too."

He tossed one to each of us and attached his own to his pouch.

"The bells represent our lives, so you have to wear yours at all times. When I steal your bell, you'll be eliminated for the rest of the round. When all three of you lose them, that's the end of the exercise and we'll start over."

"He always says when," Sakura huffed while attaching her bell.

"I mean, he's not wrong," I admitted with a sigh, doing the same.

"I know, but it's still rude!"

"I assume that means the exercise ends when we steal yours, too," Sasuke retorted, his own bell jingling by his pouch.

"Exactly," Kakashi smiled. "The purpose of this exercise should be clear - take out your opponent while protecting each other. We'll keep repeating the exercise when you succeed in stealing my bell, and without any deaths on your side."

I kicked the dirt and grumbled, "Now you're just makin' fun of us."

DAY 22

With Sakura in tow, we disappeared into the forest's overgrown trees. Their branches were enormous, each one as solid as a concrete pillar with a circumference that could be measured in meters. It was more than wide enough to provide room for all of us.

Sasuke and Sakura settled with their backs pressed against its mossy trunk while I kneeled across from them. The trees made for great cover, but still we kept our breathing shallow and our voices low, desperate to stay hidden for as long as possible.

"Sakura, you with us?" I asked gently.

With a shuddering breath, Sakura's eyes came back into focus and she nodded. "Y-Yeah, I put up a concealment genjutsu. That should buy us some time," she gasped, hands trembling as she untangled her fingers from the tiger seal.

"And I left some clones behind," I said, the faint buzz of their chakra signals informing me that they were still active.

As disorienting as it was to regain their memories, a moment of headache was a small price to pay for a security alarm against Orochimaru.

"Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, eyeing the kunai in his leg. He tugged it out with a grunt and put it away.

"S'fine, it's shallow," he answered curtly, dressing his wound.

Sakura nodded. "What do we do now?"

"We need to escape," Sasuke said, eyes darting back and forth as he remained on high alert. "We… We need to give up our scroll. It's the only way to get rid of her."

He reached for his pouch but I grabbed his wrist and reminded him firmly, "I don't think she's the type to let us go even if we surrender."

"You don't know that! She's still a participant. Her goal is to pass the Exams like the rest of us—" Sasuke tried to pull his arm away but I held on, steadfast. "You idiot, let go!"

"Listen to me!" I hissed, digging my nails into his skin. I couldn't let go, not of the one chance I had at revealing Orochimaru's true identity. "She wasn't looking at us like we're opponents; she was looking at us like we're prey. She won't let us escape that easily," I argued. "The others will be here in just a few minutes."

"Forget about the stupid competition, this isn't the time to show off!" Sasuke tore his arm away and grabbed his storage seal before I could stop him again. "This person's way out of our league! Or are you just too stupid to be scared?!"

"I'm fucking terrified," I admitted without an ounce of hesitation, "but the one thing that's keeping me together is the fact that you guys are here with me."

Sasuke froze, his fingers just moments away from unravelling the seal.

"We can do this." I smiled wryly. "We have to. 'Cause I mean, what other choice do we got?"

Sasuke blinked, surprised. His lips parted to say something, but closed firmly again when he couldn't find the words.

"I'm scared too, Sasuke-kun, but…" Sakura started, voice strained. "If we can't fight now, then all our training would've been for nothing, right? We wouldn't just be letting ourselves down - we'd be letting down Kakashi-sensei, too, and even Gai-sensei, and our senpai!"

I nodded fiercely. "Let's show 'em all that they were right to take us seriously."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. Then, he returned the sealing scroll to his pouch and pushed onto his feet.

"Satoko, Sakura… I'm sorry. I thought that I needed to survive no matter what, all for the sake of my ambition…but I was the one being stupid."

He turned around with an extended hand and when I looked up at him, his eyes were clear.

"If I can't even put my life on the line in a place like this…" He winced just slightly when he stood on his injured leg. "Forget being a chuunin, I couldn't even call myself a shinobi!"

It was an easy choice. Sakura and I grabbed his hand and he hauled us both up with ease.

Sasuke smirked. "Sakura, tie your hair. It's time to get serious."

She was already wrapping her hair into a tight bun as she spoke. "Explosives can be harmful to your allies in close-quarters…" Her expression turned into a devilish grin. "…But this forest is huge. There's no need to hold back."

My teammates turned to me, and I smiled wide.

Our chances of survival were undeniably low, but Sasuke had fought Orochimaru in another world once before. Even without the Sharingan, this time he had me and Sakura. That had to count for something.

And if it didn't already, then I was going to make it count.

Suddenly, my clones were dispelled and hazy memories of their deaths returned to me. I gave my teammates a nod, and that was all they needed to know that our time had run out.

"Let's give 'em hell."

DAY 1

After our first attempt, Kakashi called for us to stop. He landed a few feet away from us, his bell hanging untouched on his waist while he held up the three of ours.

"Not bad," he acknowledged, looking pleased. "Your instincts and reflexes are all sharper now; you've been naturally positioning yourselves on the field in a way that supports each other's attacks. You've made a lot of progress this past month."

"Clearly it's still not enough," Sasuke grunted.

Kakashi nodded. "Understanding and keeping up with your teammates is only one part of attacking as a group. The effectiveness of your teamwork also depends on your opponent's skill level and the size of your arena."

"In a larger arena, a skilled opponent will run circles around you, preventing you from surrounding them and attacking at once. In a small arena, a skilled opponent will use your allies as shields, once again preventing you from attacking simultaneously. In other words, a skilled opponent will turn a group battle into a series of individual battles instead, making it easy for them to pick you off one by one."

I crossed my arms in thought. The idea of "shrinking" arenas by overwhelming Kakashi with my clones crossed my mind, but when I did that during the caravan mission, it was a major headache to process all their memories after they all got dispelled.

Even if memories weren't an issue, having too many clones would just cause confusion for my allies - another major drawback that we also experienced at the time.

And if the arena were too small, there usually wouldn't be much we could do to make it bigger. Any real-world scenario would involve being in a place that we either shouldn't or couldn't destroy, like a building or a cave.

I sighed and furrowed my brow. "It kinda sounds like we just…need to get better at group combat."

Kakashi hummed approvingly.

"Remember, the main purpose of our group training is for you to improve your coordination as a team. A good strategy can give you the upper hand over a tough opponent, but it's meaningless if you aren't good enough to pull it off in the first place. Plus, the better your strength and skills, the better your group tactics will be, and eventually…"

He tossed our bells back to us and we caught them out of the air with a gentle chime.

"…Even the three of you could beat one of me."

DAY 22

Orochimaru's snake found us just moments after my clones dispelled and went straight for Sasuke. We were ready, however - while Sasuke lured it into the open, Sakura got into position.

I raced through the branches, keeping the snake in sight at all times. Maneuvering through the oversized trees wasn't unlike chasing ninken across rooftops and balconies, and I quickly circled around to attack from behind.

Sasuke remained composed as he fended off the snake with shuriken. They were thrown with purpose, two at the eyes and three more into its mouth to tear it up from inside.

The snake collapsed onto a branch and I wasted no time chucking a Molotov at its writhing body. It was an upgraded version designed for proper combat, made with a palm-sized spherical bottle and a fuse that lit up with chakra in a way similar to explosive tags.

The bottle shattered on impact, instantly dousing the snake in fluid and flames, and the snake's body quickly stilled.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" I whooped, admiring my work from a safe distance.

A hoarse laughter came from the snake and I froze.

"What an interesting choice in weaponry."

The underside of the branch cracked open.

"The effects of oil bombs are long-lasting due to its fuel, and the use of oil makes it difficult to smother its flames. Despite its destructive power, however, there is a simple reason why they are not so commonly used…"

Orochimaru emerged from the branch, stretching up and around from behind the snake until he was facing us once again, completely unharmed.

"One mistake and the fire will engulf you, too!"

I didn't even see him weave the signs, just the resulting jet of water that ignited as it passed over the snake's corpse, carrying the grease fire straight towards me. The heat crashed over me and seared my eyes, but I stood my ground.

After countless hours, days, weeks of training, this was nothing.

I formed the signs in a flash - tiger-boar-ox-dog-snake - and replaced myself with the burning snake corpse.

My surroundings changed in a heartbeat.

Behind, the sound of inflamed water crashing into the snake. In front, Orochimaru's piercing gaze, unblinking.

It must have been the adrenaline, or maybe being subjected to Orochimaru's foreboding genjutsu actually broke me and I've already lost my mind, because a rush of pure thrill coursed through my veins when I caught a glimmer of shock in his eyes and punched him square in the jaw.

I was expecting the battle to be painful, exhausting, terrifying—

But I wasn't expecting it to be fun.

Orochimaru braced himself against it and snatched my wrist out of the air, sweeping me off my feet in an instant. I kept my eyes locked on him, using the momentum to rotate my body perpendicular to him and swing my legs around to attack his vulnerable side.

He let go of my wrist and used that same arm to block against my kicks. My feet hit the ground and I pulled him into full-blown combat.

Instinct and muscle memory guided me through each strike. Every dodge was met with a follow-up attack, every block an opportunity to create an opening and land a hit. There was no room for uncertainty - not anymore.

I attacked relentlessly. Pressured him with blow after blow. Backed him into the tree inch by inch until suddenly, his eyes sharpened.

He coiled up tight and the second I blinked he launched an attack on my left, forcing me to dodge sideways and stumble over his foot.

He kneed me in the chest and tried to knock me off the branch, but I held on with chakra; I slid down to the underside of the monstrous thing, ran across it upside down, and emerged from the other side all in one breath.

Our positions now switched, the tree trunk was quickly closing in behind me and he showed no signs of letting up.

Relax your shoulders.

I blocked with my arms, absorbing each hit with gritted teeth and clenched fists.

Keep your stance wide.

I pushed back against a spinning kick, wincing as his heel scraped down my forearms and into my thigh.

Lead with your leg.

I shifted my weight forward, slid my left foot behind me, followed through with an elbow strike aimed at his solar plexus. He leaned back to dodge and kicked my arm from below, forcing it away and exposing my entire front as one big target.

He fanned out into a low stance and drove his heel towards my ribs—

They'll break on impact, puncture my lungs—

It happened so fast that I couldn't keep up, couldn't dodge, the panic returned all at once—

I'll die suffocating on the forest floor, and then who'll protect Sasuke from Orochimaru, the mark, himself—?!

"SHANNARO!"

DAY 7

I was way past keeping track of how many attempts we've made, but with each passing day I could feel us improving. Most attempts ended in a total party kill, but each time we'd all survive a little longer, execute our techniques a little better until today, we finally managed to survive until the alarm went off.

Granted, two of us were "dead" by the end and we've yet to even touch Kakashi's bell, let alone steal it, but progress was progress. I was happy to take even the smallest win.

It did encourage Kakashi to introduce a new objective to our training, though. Now if two of us went down, the not-a- complete -failure condition was for the last survivor to bring their fallen teammates to safety.

It wasn't exactly encouraging, but at least we were getting good at grabbing each other and hauling ass.

After our latest run, Kakashi called for our lunch break. My teammates and I regrouped, taking a well-needed rest and falling into our routine of reflecting on our latest attempts.

"I've noticed something," Sakura said after downing half her water bottle. "I've been getting just as many bruises as I did when I was training with Lee. It hurts like hell!"

I couldn't help but laugh despite Sakura's dismay. "That just means you're able to put up a good fight, right? And you're getting really good at those chakra punches!"

Considering the results of the tree climbing exercise and how quickly Sakura learned to walk on water, on top her training with Neji and how his whole thing was channeling chakra into his hands to beat the shit out of people, it wasn't a big leap for me to take inspiration from the future and suggest that she tried redirecting chakra to her hands, too.

"Yeah, I guess," Sakura sighed, rubbing her wrists, "but I'm usually the first to go down. Maybe we can try switching our positions? I know Sensei said our abilities are more equal now, but I think Sasuke-kun is still the best overall when it comes to close-ranged combat."

While Sasuke and I nodded in agreement, it was clear we were already thinking the same thing.

"My ninjutsu works best at a distance," Sasuke said. "We wouldn't be able to make as much use of them if I prioritized fighting at close-range."

"Not to mention the way you use weapons," I added. "Honestly I'd love to trade places too, but until I can use fuuinjutsu in combat or we learn ranged ninjutsu ourselves, what we've been doing so far makes the most sense. It's like Kakashi-sensei said - we just gotta keep doing it to get better at it, and eventually you'll be the best overall!"

I gave Sakura an encouraging smile, which to her credit was returned, just not with as much energy. Her wariness made me think if there was anything new we could try, and after recalling our joint training with Team Gai, an obvious answer came to mind.

"Why don't we try the substitution trick again?" I proposed.

Sakura immediately balked. "You want me to wrestle Sensei to the ground?"

"Not exactly. If I use it on you, maybe I could take some of your hits. Sasuke might have better finesse, but I'm definitely the sturdiest!"

For all that I appreciated Team Gai for helping me increase my overall strength and skill, I was most thankful for having the fear of getting hurt fully beaten out of me.

Sakura furrowed her brow in thought. "That's true…and it would throw him off at least for a split second, that's for sure."

"A split second's all I need," Sasuke said.

I clapped Sakura on the shoulder and grinned. "That's the spirit! We set 'em up," I turned to Sasuke, "and you knock 'em down."

DAY 22

It was an all-too familiar sight, the pink ball of chakra and fury that was Haruno Sakura crashing down from above.

She drove her fortified fists into the base of Orochimaru's neck in a single, gravity-driven strike and sent him lurching into the branch. The wood cracked on impact - not nearly at the level of earth-shattering craters that she might one day be capable of, but certainly nothing to scoff at - and I shielded my eyes from the dust and splinters.

The debris cleared. There was a shallow scar in the branch where Orochimaru once was, replaced by an amalgamation of white snakes slithering away.

Sakura was quick to get back on her feet, but he was already behind her. She wouldn't have time to dodge.

Don't think, move!

Five hand seals was all it took and I swapped places with her. No time to block - caught the force of Orochimaru's downward kick with my shoulder. The distinct pop of a dislocated joint hammered against my ears and I shouted through the throbbing pain that shot up my neck.

Sakura made her move without wasting a step.

She pushed chakra into her feet and burst past me towards Orochimaru, her fist just barely grazing his stomach as he dodged backwards. She closed the distance with her next step and attacked the moment Orochimaru landed, putting her whole weight into her reinforced strike.

Just as it seemed like it would hit, Orochimaru blocked her attack and countered with a kick. It sent her stumbling backwards, giving Orochimaru the opening to close the distance and finish her off, but I knew this time I wouldn't have to worry.

Thunk thunk thunk!

Three kunai stopped Orochimaru from taking a single step further, and that brief moment of pause was just enough for me to suck in a deep breath and pop my shoulder back in with a curse. It was still tender, but the residual pain was nothing I couldn't fight through.

The important thing was that Sakura was safe.

The downside, however, was that now Orochimaru knew where Sasuke was.

He turned to face the direction where the kunai came from and immediately I whipped a handful of my own at Orochimaru's back to remind him who to focus on.

As Orochimaru easily sidestepped my attack, Sakura rushed him from the front yet again. As she did, we made eye-contact over his shoulder. It said everything that needed to be said.

Set 'em up.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Sakura lunged forward with her fist raised. Orochimaru got ready to counter, but right before Sakura's attack landed, I swapped places with her again, leaving Orochimaru bracing for a frontal attack that wouldn't come.

Which left his back wide open.

Sakura's momentum drove her forward in the air. She struck him right in the back with a satisfying crunch, but the satisfaction was short-lived. Orochimaru didn't even need a full step to recover before he pivoted on his heel, angling himself so he was facing both of us.

We fell into the rhythm of it with practiced ease, taking turns drawing his attention and creating openings for each other so we could keep landing hits. None were enough to leave a mark and we were just barely able to keep up, but it was enough to keep him focused entirely on just the two of us.

Attack. Flank. Swap.

Our substitution strategy had worked well the first two times, but on our third attempt, he grabbed me by the wrists before I could make the swap and threw me right into Sakura, sending us both crashing into the branch.

Without so much as a parting glance, Orochimaru turned to target the one he came here for.

Except in the split second it took for Sakura and I to make it a safe distance away, bursts of fire rained down from above and flew straight towards him.

Knock 'em down.

"Fire Style; Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

It was fast enough that Orochimaru couldn't evade the attack; he could only smother the flames with a burst of chakra and reveal the kunai and shuriken hidden within, now flying off course from the chakra blast. There was a flash of amusement in his eyes, but I knew it wouldn't be there for long.

With perfect execution, Sasuke maneuvered the weapons with wires and turned them right back onto Orochimaru again.

I committed the image of Orochimaru's surprise to memory and untangled myself from Sakura while Sasuke continued to lash his weapons at Orochimaru from every direction. He was dodging them with ease, whizzing through the air as they flew past him.

Until Sakura lunged towards him and with chakra in her feet, slammed her heel into the handle of a kunai and propelled it straight at Orochimaru's head at a blinding speed. Even with the chakra boost, he was already moving to dodge it.

Which he would have if I hadn't done the exact same thing.

Easier to hide something.

At the very last moment, Orochimaru saw through the genjutsu and caught my concealed kunai in his mouth. No blood was drawn, but it would do just fine.

Everything that followed transpired in a single breath.

Sasuke breathed fire, and the flames raced down the wire straight towards Orochimaru's face. I threw a flour bomb at his feet. Sakura and I scattered. The flour ignited and the resulting explosion blasted me with a wave of heat, even from a distance.

We regrouped in the shadows and watched the dust clear, determining the success of our attack.

All that remained was a dripping mud substitution.

Damn it.

DAY 19

The day after my conversation with Sakura, there was a notable difference in our synergy. Whether it was technique or strategy, it used to be that Sasuke and Sakura would preemptively pick up the slack where they assumed I was lacking, and I'd let them.

Now, I could feel myself slotting into the openings they left for me, and without realizing I'd started taking the lead in our attacks more often, too. It was the slightest shift in rhythm, but it was as if a weight had been lifted.

Of course Kakashi felt it too. After just our first attempt, he signaled us to pause and gave us a calculating look.

"Hmm… did something happen yesterday?" he asked, holding his chin in thought. "You haven't been secretly training with Gai-sensei behind my back, have you?"

I scoffed and waved my hand. "C'mon Sensei, have a little more faith in us than that! We just had a good talk, that's all."

"You don't have to talk around it, Satoko," Sakura said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's not like it's a secret that I looked down on you."

I stiffened at her candor, but damn if I wasn't going to respect it. She sighed and turned to Kakashi, hands fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

"It's embarrassing to admit, but… I thought it was enough to have Sasuke-kun acknowledge me and for you to take us seriously. I should've realized that I needed to start taking Satoko seriously, too."

"It wasn't just you," Sasuke muttered to Sakura, then addressed me. "It's…hard not to see an idiot when I look at you."

I snorted out a laugh. "Wow, thanks."

"But," he pressed on, a faint flush in his cheeks, "it'd take an even bigger idiot not to see that you're stronger now."

I relished the warmth in my chest and beamed at Kakashi. "See? Told you, we just had a good talk."

Kakashi smiled in return. "Maa, my little ducklings have grown so much in such little time. It could almost make this old man cry."

"Gross, Sensei. Don't make it weird."

DAY 22

I didn't bother leaving clones behind this time. There was no way Orochimaru would fall for the same decoy twice, and if he dispelled them then it'd only distract me.

Still, as we hid under the cover of branches and vines, he didn't immediately show up and wipe us all out. He was clearly toying with us, but so long as it gave us time to plan our next move, I was more than happy to take advantage of it.

"How are we on chakra?" I asked.

"I don't think I can keep it up much longer," Sakura admitted. "Sorry, I—"

"You did good, Sakura," Sasuke cut in. "We'll end it with the next attack. We need a new plan."

I furrowed my brow in thought.

The objective was to melt away Orochimaru's disguise, but if we stuck to the same formation, Orochimaru would pinpoint Sasuke's location the moment he used his fire and target him instead.

The issue wasn't so much our lack of ability - I was sure we could set up a trap that utilized my Molotovs in place of Sasuke's ninjutsu, that way we could attack from all directions and keep his location hidden. No, the issue was a lack of time.

I was just as sure that before we finished setting up the trap, Orochimaru would decide to intercept us before we were ready. The best I could do was focus on our main objective and, once the clock started ticking, count on our allies for the rest.

Instinctively, I touched my hand to the back of my neck and felt the reassuring itch of a kikaichuu beetle against my fingertips.

I could only hope that they got the message.

"No, we just need to modify the one we already have," I said. "Hit her with the unexpected like we did against Kakashi-sensei yesterday."

"Right…" Sakura looked deep in thought. "She's already learned our attack pattern, so if we diverge from it, it might be enough to catch her off guard."

"I have an idea, but even if it works," I said, turning to Sakura, "I doubt it'd give you any more than a second to land a hit."

Sakura flexed her hand and grinned. "That's fine. A second's all I need."

This time, I went first.

Attack.

I broke out of the foliage and charged towards Orochimaru who stood waiting on one of the larger branches, knowing full well that he'd turn around at the last moment to block my surprise attack.

"Changing things up, are we?" Orochimaru taunted, stepping back as though taking a walk in the park so that my punches and kicks were continuously out of range.

I didn't waste my breath responding. I couldn't afford to, not when his eyes were locked solely on me, reading and dodging each of my attacks with precision and ease.

But that didn't matter. I only needed to hold his attention long enough for Sakura to sneak around and attack from behind.

Flank.

"Or perhaps not," Orochimaru mused.

He grabbed my fist out of the air to throw me down and in the same motion, turned to block Sakura's attack with his other arm. Falling into our old pattern, Sakura took over and made sure Orochimaru was too busy to stop me from getting away.

I watched them closely while making my way to the opposite end of the branch, waiting for the exact moment that Orochimaru countered an attack and reared up to go on the offensive.

Sakura braced herself to take the hit.

Swap.

Orochimaru knew to anticipate it. There was the slightest shift in his footing - a mere fraction of a fraction of a second where he looked the wrong way at the wrong time. It was all Sakura needed to rear up with a chakra-laced fist and punch Orochimaru square in the jaw, just like she promised.

Substitution was mostly about who has more chakra. Even against Orochimaru, I knew I had him beat.

I finished my hand seals and channeled all the chakra I could muster to reach out for Orochimaru. I expected resistance, a battle for control over the jutsu to force it to take hold…but to my surprise, there was none.

Like lifting a too-light object with too much force, my overabundance of chakra launched me forward through space and threw me right into Sakura with how much momentum I came out of the swap.

Just as I suspected, we were playing right into his hand. But at least he was playing right into ours, too.

A blood-curdling scream and black smoke filled the air. I untangled myself from Sakura and scrambled onto my feet just in time to see the shadow of Orochimaru's convulsing figure engulfed in flames. The grotesque splat of a disguise melting away was the sole indicator of our success.

The timer starts now.

Orochimaru stood before us, charred and unmoving, but not posing as any less of a threat. As the flames dissipated, his true form revealed itself, and with it came a low, grated laugh.

"I'm impressed," he rasped, smoke escaping his lips. "It takes a clever mind to pull off the tricks you did. Your sensei should be proud."

With a marred and deteriorating hand, he reached up and clawed molten flesh from his face.

"But I've grown impatient, and the two of you just can't stop getting in the way."

A flash of panic rushed through me and I yelled without thinking, "Sasuke, run—!"

Orochimaru struck me with a piercing gaze and I was paralyzed in an instant, as though steel ropes were tying me down. I could only dart my eyes around to see that Sakura was paralyzed, too, and Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

Shit, stupid paralysis…!

"Tempting me away from your friends, hm?" Orochimaru said, looking up to where Sasuke's fire had come from. A predatory grin spread across his lips and his pupils narrowed into slits. "Very well then. Let me grant your wish!"

He disappeared up into the canopy, far past beyond what I could see with my limited range of motion. The sounds of combat immediately began, and without a direct line of sight, I could only hope for the best.

C'mon, Sasuke - you just gotta hold out!

Orochimaru wouldn't kill Sasuke, I knew, but there was little comfort to be had in that. He could only last so long without his Sharingan. All I could do until then was try to break free from the paralysis.

"Sakura, are you okay?" I asked, thankful that we could still talk.

"Yeah, but I can't move either," she said, straining against the jutsu. "I think it's the Temporary Paralysis technique. It's strong, but it's still just a D-rank. I think I can get out."

"Good, then I'll leave it to you."

DAY 21

Kakashi didn't give us a deadline for our group training, but it was the last day to succeed in our individual tests to qualify for the Exams. Just like he'd said, the stronger we got overall, the better we could execute new formations and maneuvers.

Improvement was quick in the beginning, but after hitting our stride a few days ago, we quickly hit a plateau. Since then, the majority of our attempts ended with the alarm going off - no captured bell, and always with at least one loss on our side.

Today, however, was different.

Today the alarm went off, and we didn't capture any bells.

But neither did Kakashi.

"FUCK YEAH!" I cheered, punching a fist into the air. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Sure I was celebrating while laying flat on my back and completely exhausted, and sure my teammates were right there with me, but none of that mattered in the face of our accomplishment - we survived.

"Great work you three," Kakashi said with genuine pride in his voice. "You're really coming together as a team."

I turned to face my teammates and grinned. "Guess the day we kick his ass isn't too far off now, huh!"

"We're still nowhere close to taking his bell," Sakura sighed, but failed to hide her smile. "But I guess I am starting to feel like it'll be possible some day."

"High hopes aren't enough," Sasuke said despite his own hint of a smirk. "I won't be satisfied until we win."

Kakashi laughed. "You're not strong enough to beat an opponent like me just yet, but you could certainly hold your own. At the very least, I'm confident you'll have a fighting chance against any opponent you might face during the Chuunin Exams."

I couldn't help but smile. After surviving against Kakashi, just for that one moment I felt like maybe we could survive Orochimaru, too.

DAY 22

"Got it!"

In my peripheral, I saw Sakura shake free of the jutsu and quickly tapped her fingers to my arm to dispel me, too.

"You're the best, Sakura!"

I immediately started scanning the canopy to see if I could spot Sasuke. There were some trails of smoke and signs of damage, but nothing that'd help me provide immediate backup.

"Agh—!"

Just then, his blurred figure came crashing through the trees and slammed into one of the many branches weaved before us. Blood sprayed from his mouth and he coughed violently as he was painfully winded.

"Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura leapt to Sasuke's side just as Orochimaru landed a few feet away from him, and I flanked Orochimaru from behind.

"Impressive skill for your age," he said, watching closely as Sakura helped Sasuke shakily get back on his feet. "It's marvelous fun, having you show me your tricks. You really are his brother, aren't you?"

Sasuke's eyes widened at that. He was beaten and bruised, could barely keep himself upright, but of course the mere mention of his brother would be enough for him to keep fighting.

"Who the hell are you…?" Sasuke growled. His attention rapt, he pushed Sakura aside and took a step forward. "What do you know about Itachi?!"

"My name is Orochimaru. I know a great deal of your clan, but I have little interest in an imperfect Uchiha. However…" Orochimaru's gaze flickered back to me, and a cold chill ran down my spine. "…If I helped awaken your Sharingan, perhaps then you'll be worth my time."

The air grew thick with an unbearable pressure - a forecast of dread that I once felt from Kakashi, but this was different. If Kakashi's killing intent was something I could feel, then Orochimaru's was one I could see.

Sharp, slit eyes; a gaping maw; a promise of death.

"Satoko!"

"No—!"

I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.

It was as though time had stopped, but the world continued to move around me. All I could do was watch helplessly as Orochimaru's disfigured body stretched longer and longer towards—

Sasuke stood frozen in place, hands trembling by his sides. Sakura opened her mouth to scream, but what came out instead was a desperate wail.

Please, just move…

Move…!

Move!

Tears welled in my eyes. A terrible ringing deafened me. My mind went blank.

I should've quit the Exams when I had the chance.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, success."