[FFML] [Naruto] One Hundred Weeks - Chapter One: One Year Later

[Aaron Nowack]

Previous story available at
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2663204/1/One_Hundred_Days
Prelude to this story available at
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6942340/1/One_Hundred_Weeks

As always, any C&C is welcome.  Here we go!

One Hundred Weeks
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter One: One Year Later

***********************************************************************
Disclaimer:  Contrary to its status in several improbable alternate
universes, Naruto does not belong to me.  It belongs to Kishimoto
Masashi; I'm just borrowing it without permission.  However, the blame
for the actual text of this fanfiction is mine.  Also, zucchini.
***********************************************************************

[Week One]

        One year after their arrival in the Water Country, Yakushi
Kabuto met the crimson gaze of Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan unafraid.  Most
likely, the boy was trying to work some genjutsu on him, but the hidden
seals inscribed on the frames of Kabuto's glasses were more than
sufficient protection against the untrained effort.  For all the
techniques that Orochimaru could teach his apprentice, the uses of the
Sharingan were not among them.  Of course, if Orochimaru could teach
that, there would have been no need for the renegade Sannin to take
Sasuke as an apprentice.
        The past year of that apprenticeship had left its marks on the
boy.  Part of that was merely the passage of time - he was of an age
when changes came rapidly and had grown taller with remarkable speed,
beginning to gain the stature he would have as a man.  He was thin -
almost unhealthily so, much to Kabuto's continued annoyance - and pale.
One arm bore a snake tattoo openly, though Sasuke rarely used the
summons to which it granted him access.  The dark kimono he wore did not
hide the whole tracery of fading scars that told stories of training
accidents, of battle wounds, or of Orochimaru's occasional displeasure.
Kabuto knew a dozen medical techniques that he could have used to
prevent scarring.  He saw no point in using them on Uchiha Sasuke.
        Kabuto's master stood on a balcony overlooking the training hall
where his two servants faced each other.  "I'm not pleased with the
quality of information from your network of late."  Orochimaru's
statement was completely unnecessary, of course.  Kabuto was no
simpleton unable to grasp the reason for being ask to substitute for
Sasuke's usual punching bags during this morning's warmup spar.  He
supposed Tayuya could use the break, though.  Since he'd encouraged her
to resume her efforts to seduce the boy last month, Sasuke had picked
her as his opponent almost every day.
        As though their master's voice was a signal, Sasuke charged.
Kabuto wasn't foolish enough to engage the boy in simple hand-to-hand
with the Sharingan active, and used a smoke bomb to gain some distance.
A handful of senbon dealt with the shadow replication waiting for him to
emerge from the cloud.
        "It's hard to insert new agents into the Leaf now, since they've
increased security," he answered Orochimaru.  He formed seals.  "Katon:
Fire Dragon Blast!"  The stream of fire that spewed out of his mouth
forced Sasuke to break off his next attack, briefly illuminating the
usually dim training hall.  "Most of what we can get is second or third
hand," he continued as though he hadn't had to interrupt his response.
        Kabuto summoned a shadow replication of his own, which advanced
on his opponent while spitting a constant stream of small fireballs.  He
continued his report.  "We might have better luck over the next year, if
they start to trust the Hidden Music a little."
        Orochimaru laughed at the mention of the recently formed village
in Rice Field Country.  Those remnants of the Sound that had not fled to
Water Country to join Orochimaru had united with the rebel, Leaf-allied
clans to fight the Rock that had occupied much of their homeland.  "I
just received word that the Music will get one invitation to the next
Chuunin Exams."  Only a handful in that village knew that their leader
was loyal to Orochimaru.  "Tsunade-hime is far too softhearted."
        Sasuke finished dealing with Kabuto's replication, and the
medical ninja returned his full attention to the fight.  A half-instant
later, he dropped an active explosive tag where he stood and vanished.
He reappeared behind Sasuke's replication, which had been fighting his
own, and disrupted it with a single strike to the base of its spine.
The real Sasuke emerged from the stone floor a safe distance from the
explosive tag, which sparked and died without exploding.  "A dud," he
growled, sounding offended.
        Kabuto hadn't seen any need to waste a real tag when the dud
accomplished the same purpose.  "The Leaf are desperate for new allies,"
he commented to Orochimaru.  "There's rumors of every village from Cloud
to Oasis getting special invites."
        "Katon: Phoenix Flame Technique!"  A storm of small fireballs
escaped Sasuke's lips and converged on Kabuto.
        The medical ninja formed a seal with one hand.  "Fuuton: Vacuum
Technique."  There was a brief breeze as air fled the area in front of
Sasuke's attack.  With only the small amount of chakra Sasuke had
invested in them to fuel them, the flames died before they could cross
the airless pocket.  Then senbon Kabuto had readied in his other hand
dealt with the shuriken Sasuke had hidden in the flames.
        "I feel an urge to make the upcoming exams more exciting,"
Orochimaru said.  "After what the Rain tried to pull at Grass last time,
it's clearly become a tradition."
        "Tried is the operative word, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto replied
as he calmly hurled another set of senbon at his opponent.  Sasuke
expertly parried them with a kunai.
        "True," Orochimaru allowed.  "It would be nice if something
finally happened to push the Rock to declare war on the Leaf, though."
        Sasuke began to advance, only to stop as he noticed the wires
Kabuto had attached to his senbon.  Kabuto twitched his hand, and
animated them with his chakra.  The boy leapt back, forming seals.
"Fuuton: Desert Knives," he snarled.  Harsh winds cut sand out of the
stone walls, the growing sandstorm making it impossible for Kabuto to
control his wires.
        The medical ninja dropped them, forming his own seals.  "Fuuton:
Breakthrough Technique," he stated, letting out a breath that turned
into a powerful gust of wind.  The burst overwhelmed Sasuke's technique
and flung him back against the far wall.  Kabuto risked a glance up at
his master.  "The detente will end eventually," he said.
        "I grow tired of these half-wars," Orochimaru replied.  "They
were fun for a while, but I'm bored with foreplay."
        The sound of chirping birds warned Kabuto that Sasuke was
growing frustrated.  "Katon: Great Fireball Technique!"  Kabuto breathed
out a continuous torrent of flame, forming a giant fireball that
extended across the breadth of the training hall.  Sasuke was forced to
abort his attack, the bright light of the Chidori shining through the
fire for a moment before dying.  When the flames began to die, Kabuto
grinned as he saw the marking of Orochimaru's cursed seal spreading
across the boy's face.
        "I've heard some of your former associates are planning to make
an appearance at the exams," Kabuto told his master, as he used the Body
Flicker Technique to move behind his opponent.  He didn't get more
explicit, as Akatsuki was one of the few topics Orochimaru deemed not
suitable for his apprentice's ears.  The less Sasuke knew of Itachi and
his allies, the less chance of a futile attempt to escape and confront
his brother on his own.
        "That could be interesting," Orochimaru allowed.  "They've been
quiet for the past year."
        Sasuke dodged Kabuto's casual kick toward the back of his knee.
He spun about to face the medical ninja, but Kabuto had already regained
his distance.  Sasuke advanced, walking directly into the trap Kabuto
had prepared with a quick earth technique.  "So have we," Kabuto pointed
out.  "Everyone needed time to rebuild their strength or secure their
gains after the prior year."  Kabuto smiled as he watched Sasuke pull
himself out of the floor with his own earth element abilities.  "And
that just plays into our hands.  It'll only be a year and a half or so
until you are ready, yes?"
        Oddly enough, Orochimaru's plans to take Sasuke's body were, if
anything, a preferred topic in front of the boy.  Kabuto personally
wouldn't have risked scaring Sasuke into fleeing, but his master felt it
reminded the Uchiha of the simple devil's bargain he had made, and what
he stood to gain.  When the time came, Sasuke would give Orochimaru his
body.  In return, the renegade Sannin would use it to kill Uchiha
Itachi, in the likely event Sasuke did not accomplish the task before
then.
        "Approximately," Orochimaru said as Sasuke finished standing.
"Three years is the minimum, but the last transfer was hasty, and may
take longer to recover from.  I do not want to risk complications."
        "How long then?" Kabuto asked curiously.  It was unlike his
master to be overly cautious, but Kabuto approved in this case.  Perhaps
fearing another trap, Sasuke did not advance, waiting for Kabuto to
attack.
        "Perhaps an additional half a year," Orochimaru said.  Two years
from now, then.  "You're dismissed, Kabuto-kun."
        Kabuto nodded and turned to walk away, not sparing his opponent
with a glance.  Sasuke growled behind him, clearly eager to continue the
fight to a conclusion, but a year and a half of Orochimaru's training
had taught him enough that he didn't protest beyond that.
        "Good boy," Kabuto said, drawing another growl, and then he
left.  The smirk didn't leave his face for almost an hour.

***********************************************************************

        At the age of fourteen - almost fifteen - Haruno Sakura was far
from displeased with what she saw in the mirror as she waited for her
master to finish her early morning meeting.  It was not much like the
visions of an elegant kunoichi she had dreamed of in the academy a scant
two years ago, but she had discarded those fantasies.  A real female
ninja did not look much like the heroines gracing the covers of girls'
manga.
        The chuunin uniform she wore was not the elegant dress she had
dreamed of, and it would never be considered a fashion statement.  The
only bit of individual deviation she allowed herself had other,
practical purposes.  She wore a short-sleeved uniform shirt, even though
the dying winter's chill had not yet left the forests of the Fire
Country.  The lower parts of her arms were instead wrapped in bandages,
down to the fingerless leather gloves she wore.  First, these served to
cover the tattoo that marked her as a snake summoner while still
allowing easy access in battle.  Second, a simple technique could charge
the bandages with her chakra, turning them into weapons.
        She also lacked the ample, womanly curves of the manga heroines.
Unless one worked to cultivate it, there was no softness to a woman who
practiced taijutsu for hours every day, who burned physical energy to
form chakra for ninjutsu and genjutsu practice for hours more, and who
spent much of what time was left running messages throughout the village
for the Hokage.  Even though she ate amounts that would have horrified
any civilian woman, she was lean and hard, with precious little fat on
her frame.
        One place where Sakura compromised from her newer dream image as
a practical, non-nonsense ninja was in her hair.  Civilian woman, or at
least respectable civilian women, simply did not cut their hair short in
the Fire Country.  She'd had to grow her hair out to almost its old
length for an undercover mission at a minor daimyo's court a few months
ago.  On her return, she'd cut it, but only to slightly above shoulder
length - long enough to pass as a merchant or tradesman's daughter, but
short enough to not get in the way.
        The door to Tsunade's office opened, and Sakura tore herself
from her self-reflection to see who the Hokage had been meeting with
before the official start of business for the day.  As the heavily
bandaged, older man emerged, Sakura gave him a shallow but respectful
bow.  "Good morning, Shimura-sensei," she offered.
        Shimura Danzo smiled faintly at her.  "Ah, good morning, Haruno-
kun."  His hand twitched, and that was all the warning Sakura had.
        Sakura's own hands formed a seal.  "Release," she said softly,
before whatever genjutsu the man had activated could affect her.  There
was no force behind the attack, and the illusion shattered before it
finished forming.  "I haven't forgotten your lessons that quickly,
Shimura-sensei."
        The man's smile widened slightly, and Sakura grinned back at
him.  "Hokage-sama said to send you right in," he told her.
        "Thank you," Sakura said, and she slipped past the man into her
teacher's office.
        "Sakura," Tsunade said in greeting, but she didn't look up,
intently studying an open scroll on her desk.
        "Is something wrong, Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked as she shut
the door behind her.
        One of Tsunade's hands made a brief journey through the air.
"Of course," she said, "but not out of the ordinary.  The usual fun
stuff."
        "Mist or Rock?" Sakura asked.
        "Rumors that the Tsuchikage and Mizukage are going to hold a
meeting in the Valley Country," Tsunade replied.  "Probably nothing,
but..." She trailed off with a sigh.  In their weakened state, the Leaf
would be unable to withstand an alliance between two of the other great
powers, even with the Sand's support.
        "No training this afternoon?" Sakura asked.
        "Probably not," Tsunade admitted, "but I'll see if Shizune-chan
can free up some time to work with you a little on your first aid."
Tsunade set her scroll aside and searched through the stacks of papers
littering her desk for another.  "I have a new mission coming up for
you, anyway.  A-rank diplomatic, so you'll get good pay for little
risk."
        "An A-rank diplomatic?" Sakura asked, a little shock in her
voice.  That was an unusual combination.
        "The Sand will be holding the next Chuunin Selection Exams in
about a month," Tsunade said.  "I need to someone to head over and
represent the Leaf in the preparations, and probably to attend the
finals in my stead."  She smiled.  "Even if it weren't for the war, it'd
be a little offensive for me to show up when they still haven't picked a
new Kazekage."  She shoved a stack of papers over roughly as she
continued her search.
        Sakura blinked.  "Why me?  Isn't it offensive to just send a
young chuunin, also?"
        Tsunade sighed and stopped her search.  "You really don't
realize your position, do you?  You're my apprentice.  That means that
sending you is only a step below a personal appearance by me, even if
you are just a young chuunin.  Only Shizune would be more appropriate,
and I can't spare her."  She smiled.  "And you made a little bit of a
name for yourself in that mess at Grass too, so the Sand will be glad to
fill out your bingo book entry a little."
        Sakura flushed.  "I barely did anything," she said.  "Anko-
sensei just thought it was funny to give me the credit for those
snakes."
        Tsunade shuddered theatrically.  "Anko-sensei.  That's still
scary, girl."
        Sakura smiled.  "She mentioned she was thinking of trying for
full jounin again so she could get herself a team, since she did so well
with me."
        "Gods protect our poor genin," Tsunade whispered.
        "Seriously," Sakura said, "I'm no diplomat.  What am I supposed
to do on this mission?"
        "It's mostly ceremonial," Tsunade said, "and you'll act as point
of contact between the Sand and our teams once they arrive."  She smiled
again.  "I'm not throwing you to the wolves here.  I'm going to assign a
couple ninja with the right experience to back you up once I've finished
going through the duty rosters to see who we can spare."  She stared at
the mess on her desk, her face turning grim.  "If I can find the duty
rosters."
        Sakura laughed, then she turned serious.  "So what's on the
agenda for today, Hokage-sama?"
        Tsunade sighed.  "Go figure out where Shikamaru-kun is lazing
around this morning.  By the time you find him, I'll have this sorted
out and some messages for you to run.  While you're looking, see if you
can find where Shizune-chan hid my sake this time."
        Sakura smiled.  "Who says it was Shizune-sama?"
        She wasn't able to stop herself from laughing as she let
Tsunade's mock-glare chase her from the room.

***********************************************************************

        On maps, the western border of the Wind Country was rarely
depicted.  Cartographers usually showed the country extending far across
the harsh desert, the only limit being the edge of the map itself.  In
reality, the rule of the daimyo was concentrated in the towns and cities
of the gentler eastern lands, the lush river valleys that fed them, and
the roads that connected them.  The reach of the ninja of the Hidden
Sand was longer, as hidden fortresses and allied clan strongholds dotted
the desert, and perhaps their control, more than anything, defined the
true borders of the Wind Country.
        This evening, one year after the second time he left the Leaf
Village with Jiraiya on his training trip, Uzumaki Naruto was beyond any
of those borders, deep in the deserts where civilization had yet to
reach and only the nomads ruled.  As he stood on a rocky outcropping
overlooking an oasis currently occupied by the encampment of the Howling
Moon nomad tribe, he looked little different than he had a year ago.
Sure, the last of his favorite orange jumpsuits had be accidentally-on-
purpose burned beyond repair months back.  Sure, he had grown taller
like a weed, gained muscles from long and hard training, earned his fair
share of small scars from the same training, and of late tanned under
the desert sun.  A little maturity might have even snuck in there at
some point, though Jiraiya was loath to admit it.  Yet in all the
important ways, he was the same.
        There was the same mischievous glint in his eyes when he had a
plan.  There was the same open, friendly stance when he met someone new.
There was the same bright, excited grin as he stared down at his
opponent.  Finally, there was the same boastful pride as he promised,
"This time I'll win for sure."
        Jiraiya let out a bark of laughter.  "The day you make me bleed,
brat, is a long way away."  He smiled.  "But impress me enough, make me
sweat, and I'll give you the victory anyway.  I'm tired of fighting over
this."
        Naruto paused as he considered this.  "The same deal, even if I
don't make you bleed?" he asked carefully.
        Jiraiya smiled.  "The same.  Give me a decent workout, and we'll
go to the Chuunin Exams when Sand holds them."  He was planning on that
in any case, for multiple reasons, but the prize had proved a remarkable
motivator for the past week.  "If you can't, you have to study... let's
make it the First Tsuchikage's rebellion against the Cloud and the
founding of the Hidden Rock for tonight."
        Naruto's shadow replications erupted from the sand around
Jiraiya.  The Toad Hermit blurred into motion, grabbing one and throwing
it into a second, then jumping on top of a third.  He leapt away an
instant later, leaving a weak explosive tag behind.  A cloud of smoke
formed from the explosion and disrupted clones.
        The Naruto on the outcropping caught a kunai Jiraiya threw.  He
parried the second blade with the first, then sent it back Jiraiya's
way.  It bounced off the small boulder Jiraiya left behind as he used
the replacement technique.  The legendary Sannin reappeared behind
Naruto, casually slitting its throat with another kunai.  When the smoke
from the disrupting replication dispersed, it revealed a massive hand of
sandy rock reaching for the old ninja.
        One more kunai dealt with that, the explosive tag wrapped around
the hilt shattering the stone hand.  Jiraiya's expert senses followed
the trail from the dying technique to where Naruto - likely the real one
- knelt, one hand pressed on the ground.  "Grasping Hand Technique,"
Jiraiya commented.  "You haven't pulled that one out in a while."
        Naruto didn't say anything, and Jiraiya jumped away seconds
before more shadow replications emerged underneath his feet.  Another
Naruto was waiting for him as he landed, chakra spinning in one hand.
"Too slow," Jiraiya said.  "Fuuton: Breakthrough Technique."  The burst
of wind was just strong enough to fling Naruto away without hurting him,
and Jiraiya was glad for his caution when that Naruto used the
replacement technique to avoid the full force of the wind.  He could
usually tell which Naruto was real, but it could get tricky sometimes.
        Jiraiya followed his student, but now Naruto kept running.  "You
can't beat me that way," Jiraiya commented as he stopped rather than
move further from the encampment.  Perhaps the boy had set a trap out
there?
        The kunai came from behind him, and Jiraiya left behind a shadow
replication to die in his stead.  "Not bad," he admitted as he reversed
course, doubling back to find the real Naruto waiting for him, a clone
on either side.  The real one extended both hands, and the clones set to
work, hands dancing as chakra began to whirl.
        "Seriously?" Jiraiya asked, wanting to sigh.  He stopped short
of his student.  "I've told you before, that's a stupid attack."  Naruto
just grunted, and Jiraiya formed a seal before spitting out two small
fireballs.  Both clones vanished, and the chakra gathering in Naruto's
hands spun harmlessly out of control.  Jiraiya didn't let up, forming
more seals.  "Katon: Phoenix Flame Technique," he exhaled, and his
breath turned into a host of more fireballs.
        Naruto let out a breath of his own.  "Whirlwind Shield!"  A
storm of wind batted the flames aside, and Naruto retook the offensive.
"Fuuton: Zephyr Step!"  He jumped and the wind rose with him, hurling
him at Jiraiya with incredible speed.
        The Sannin just waited.  By the time Naruto reached him, the boy
was out of control, flailing wildly through the air.  Jiraiya reached
out, grabbing Naruto and depositing him on the sand safely, if ungently.
"You don't have the control for that technique yet, brat," Jiraiya said.
"We both know that."
        "Fuuton: Wind Shuriken."  The voice was feminine, and Jiraiya
didn't react fast enough to the unexpected intervention.  The blade of
wind scored a shallow gash across his cheek.
        Jiraiya rubbed at the wound as he looked sourly at his student
and the young nomad who emerged from behind a boulder.  "That doesn't
count," he grumbled.
        Naruto just grinned widely as he stood, nodding his thanks to
his friend.  "Which answer do you want?" he asked.  "The stupid one?"
His face suddenly darkened, becoming grim and emotionless.  "Ninja are
nothing but tools," he intoned.  "Aya attacked under my orders, as my
weapon, no different than the kunai in my hand."
        The woman sniffed.  "See if I help you next time," she stated.
        Naruto's expressionless mask cracked.  "I said it was the stupid
answer," he said, grin returning.
        Jiraiya sighed.  "Next you'll give me the teamwork lecture, I
suppose?  Spare me."  Green chakra flared around his fingers, and the
wound on his face was gone as though it had never been.
        Naruto laughed.  "I still made you bleed."
        Jiraiya shook his head.  "Aya of the Howling Moon made me
bleed."
        "Then maybe you have to take me to see the Chuunin Exams," Aya
replied.
        "And you can't leave me behind when you do," Naruto added.
        Jiraiya ignored him for a moment, turning his attention to the
girl Naruto had befriended over the past month.  He studied her for a
moment, although not in the way he was famous for.  For all that she was
a year or two older than Naruto, she was still too young for him, and
not that attractive even with a few years added mentally, and that was
discounting the crooked nose left behind from a training accident in her
youth.  Maybe if she did something with that short dirty blond hair,
wore something more flattering than a plain beige tunic...
        Jiraiya sighed, refocusing his attention.  "Why do you want to
go see the Chuunin Exams, girl?"
        Aya shrugged.  "I'm curious," she said.  "Naruto's talked so
much about how awesome the exams are."
        "I doubt that's it."  Naruto and her hadn't become more than
friends, had they?  Jiraiya would surely have noticed something like
that.
        Aya met Jiraiya's gaze for a moment, then turned away.  "If I
like what I see there," she said quietly, "I'm thinking of staying.  I'd
hardly be the first apprentice sand priest to run off and become a ninja
instead."
        Jiraiya glanced at Naruto briefly.  "Your master might never
speak to me again," he said slowly, "if he thinks my student's filled
your head with tales to make you abandon him."
        "Everyone knows Hiroto will be the tribe's next priest," Aya
said, her gaze on the ground.  "Master Nori isn't going to pick an
orphan girl over his own son."
        Jiraiya stared up at the slowly darkening heavens.  "Let me
guess.  If you stay here, you're most likely going to become Hiroto's
bride, but you don't care for him that way.  Naruto somehow got you to
tell him all about it, probably during that big fight you two had a
couple weeks ago, and he convinced you to get me to help you run away
and join the Sand?"
        Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed.  "You're
pretty good, Ero-sennin."
        "You're pretty predictable, brat," Jiraiya retorted.  He closed
his eyes briefly.  "Did it occur to either of you to just ask Nori for
permission?"  The two exchanged a glance, and Jiraiya sighed.  "Nori's a
good man, Aya-chan.  He doesn't want you to be unhappy."
        "I know," Aya whispered.  "I just..."
        "I'll talk to him," Jiraiya said gently.  "But he deserves to
hear this from you."
        "I know," Aya repeated, and when Naruto laid a comforting hand
on her shoulder, Jiraiya decided it was time to take his leave and
figure out how he was going to break this to his old friend.

***********************************************************************

        "You're late, Sakura-taichou," Sarutobi Asuma said, smirking
around a cigarette.  He was leaning against the village wall beside the
open gates.  Standing beside him was a purple-haired woman Sakura
vaguely recognized from having fought alongside her during the Mist
attack the prior year.
        Sakura jumped down from the roof of the guardhouse across the
street, landing before the two jounin.  "I suppose she was Kakashi-
sempai's student," the woman said, her eyes rolling.
        Sakura flushed with embarrassment.  "I'm sorry.  I was..."
Sakura trailed off.  There really wasn't any good excuse, even if she
had needed to ask Ino to check in on Naruto's apartment while she was
away.  Sure, the neighbors had never stooped to vandalism the whole time
she'd been living there, but she wouldn't put it past them.  They hated
Naruto so much, for such an absurd reason, and they weren't terribly
fond of her either.
        "Lost on the road of life, Sakura-taichou?" Asuma finished for
her.  He puffed contentedly on his cigarette.
        "Don't call me that, Asuma-sensei."  Sakura could feel her blush
deepen.  "It's embarrassing.  You're a jounin."
        "No can do, Sakura-taichou," Asuma said, fake regret shading
every word.  "As her personal representative, you're in command of the
mission by orders of the Fifth Hokage herself.  Who am I to contradict
her?"
        Sakura glared at the man.  "Doesn't that mean I can have you
jailed for insubordination?"  The female jounin laughed, and Sakura
turned to her.  "I know we've met," she said, "but I'm sorry to say I
don't recall your name."  Tsunade hadn't figured out who would be
accompanying her when she'd gotten her formal orders yesterday.
        The woman straightened and delivered a formal salute.  "Jounin
Uzuki Yuugao reporting for duty, Sakura-taichou!"
        Sakura stared at her, then buried her face in her hands.  "Did
Anko-sensei put you up to this?"
        "No, sir!" Yuugao barked out, drawing a groan from Sakura.
"Sarutobi and I came up with it all by ourselves!"
        The gate guards were snickering, and one of them walked over.
"Do you want us to take these two into custody, ma'am?" she asked
Sakura, her respectful tone ruined by the twitching as she struggled to
keep her mouth straight.
        Sakura just sighed.  "Let's just get moving," she said.
        "Yes, sir!"  Sakura didn't dignify the pair of jounin with a
response as she headed through the gates.
        The three ninja traveled together in silence for a short while.
"Are you still mad, Sakura-chan?" Asuma asked, chuckling, when it became
clear she wasn't going to say anything.
        Sakura glared at him.  "Not Sakura-taichou?" she asked.
        "It's not as much fun without an audience," Yuugao pointed out,
a smirk reappearing on her face.
        "Just remember who gets to write the mission report," Sakura
threatened.
        Asuma laughed.  "Thank the gods," he said.  "You will learn to
hate those things."
        Sakura sighed.  "I already do.  You don't think Hokage-sama
actually reads all of the D-rank reports herself?  Let me tell you, Gai-
sensei in prose is no better than in person."
        "He picked up a new genin team from the last class, I hear,"
Yuugao stated.
        Sakura nodded.  "He did.  How is your team doing, Yuugao-san?"
she asked, remembering that the woman had entered her team into the
Chuunin Exams when Sakura had passed.
        "We missed the last exams, since Hokage-sama only let a few
teams go to Grass," she answered.  "But I think we'll go all the way
this time."
        "Ino will never let Chouji live it down if he doesn't make it
this time," Asuma commented.  "He's one of the last genin from you
'Rookie Nine', isn't he, Sakura-chan?"
        "Shino and Kiba passed at Grass," Sakura agreed.  "That leaves
him and Hinata."  She shrugged.  "And Naruto, of course."  And someone
else, who she tried not to think about.  "Who's Chouji teaming with?"
Last she had heard, he was still working with another of the genin teams
from the class below them.
        "Daikoku didn't want to nominate his team," Asuma said.  "He's a
little overprotective, after what happened."  Sakura grimaced.  That
team had lost a member to a Rain ambush.  "Chouji's still looking for
teammates, but I'm sure he'll find some."
        "Are you thinking of applying for a new team when the next class
graduates, Sarutobi?"  Yuugao asked.
        Asuma didn't say anything, and Sakura looked back to see him
grimacing.  "I would," he said after a moment, "but Hokage-sama has
other plans for me.  I'll be heading east after the exams."
        Sakura grimaced herself, having delivered far too many mission
scrolls with those same orders, to join the frontline companies facing
the Mist.  The reports described the fighting as light, and compared to
the initial Mist invasion that had been repelled a year ago, it was.
That didn't mean that it wasn't war.
        She almost said, "Good luck," but stopped herself in time.  She
only wished that she knew what was the right thing to say in answer to
that.

***********************************************************************

[Week Two]

        The tendril of sand snared Naruto's shadow replication and
lifted it up into the air.  The sand whipped around, wielding the
captive replication like a club to disperse the other Naruto surrounding
it.  One Naruto, hanging back, began to run a circle around the sand's
reach.  The sand rope collapsed, then re-emerged beneath that Naruto,
snaking around his ankle.
        "Got you!" Aya said, kneeling a short distance away with one
hand against the desert sand.
        Naruto just grinned at her as he formed a seal.  "Fuuton: Zephyr
Step."  Aya's eyes widened, and Naruto flung into the air.  The sand
kept its grasp for only an instant.  Free, Naruto flew at Aya.
        She just watched as he passed her, slamming into a sand dune at
full speed.  Keeping her hand on the sand, she turned to face him.
"What's the point of that?" she asked.  Her other hand touched the
ground, and the sand enveloped Naruto.
        There was a puff of smoke.  "Underneath the underneath," Naruto
commented as he lightly tapped Aya on the shoulder from behind.  "Ninja
have to look for it.  There's more to a fight than just techniques."
        Watching them from a safe distance, Jiraiya began to laugh.  "I
never thought I'd see the day you were giving someone that lesson," he
said.
        "I would think so powerful a ninja as Naruto-san claims to be
could win against someone like Aya without resorting to trickery."  The
complaint came from Aya's fellow apprentice sand priest, Hiroto, who sat
beside the Toad Hermit.  Like most of the youth of their tribe, he
looked as though he could have been Aya's sibling, though one several
years younger.
        Jiraiya gave the boy a long look.  "I would think my old friend
Nori could raise a son who was less of a fool."
        Naruto helped Aya up, and turned to face his teacher and the
other boy.  "I would think so accomplished a sand priest wouldn't be
scared to spar with me," he said.
        "Naruto!" Aya exclaimed.
        "What?" he asked.  "Hiroto-san asked to come with us to the
Exams.  I don't know why, if he's going to be such an asshole."  He
stared at Hiroto.  "Put up or shut up."
        Hiroto stood.  "Very well.  I, Hiroto of the Howling Moon,
accept your challenge, ninja."
        Jiraiya sighed.  "You know, I had enough of brats brawling over
stupid pride a generation ago," he told the uncaring night sky.  "Come
over here, Aya-chan, there'll be no stopping them now."
        The girl glared at Naruto for a moment then stalked away.
Hiroto passed her as he walked toward his foe, and spared her a glance.
"I'll show you what your boyfriend is really made of and him what a real
sand priest can do."
        Aya turned her glare on Hiroto.  "If you're trying to convince
me to stay with the tribe, you're doing a piss-poor job," she said.  "I
changed my mind, Naruto, kick his ass!"  She stalked away toward
Jiraiya.
        As soon as she had passed, Hiroto knelt, shoving both hands into
the ground.  "Desert Wave!" he proclaimed, and the sand before him rose
up.
        Naruto sighed as he watched the sand advance.  "I've seen
better," he commented.  He waited until the sand was about to crash down
on him before acting.  His hands blurred into seals, then one thrust up
into an open palm strike.  "Fuuton: Gale Palm!"
        A spiral of wind erupted from his hand, ripping through the sand
wave like tissue paper.  Streams of sand flew everywhere, and the
weakened remnants of the wave crashed to the ground on either side of
Naruto.  Untouched, the ninja strolled through the hole his technique
had made in Hiroto's attack.
        The sand priest stared at his opponent in shock.  "But... but
your wind techniques suck!" he said.
        "My problem with wind, Hiroto-san," Naruto said, a grim smile on
his face, "is control, not power.  If I hadn't aimed upward, you might
be dead already."  He glanced behind the other boy.  "And Ero-sennin and
Aya-chan might be hurt."  Jiraiya sniffed loudly.  "If Ero-sennin was
stupider than usual and did nothing," Naruto added hastily.
        "Naruto," Jiraiya growled slowly.
        His student ignored him.  "My turn," he told Hiroto, and began
to slowly advance.
        Hiroto took a deep breath.  "I won't give you the chance!"  He
hurled two handfuls of sand into the air.  "Fuuton: Sand Needles!"  The
clouds of sand formed into long, thin lances that hovered a moment
before racing at Naruto.
        Naruto let out his own breath.  "Whirlwind Shield!"  A chaotic
storm of wind erupted before him, and the sand needles went flying in
all directions when they hit it.  Naruto held out a hand, and chakra
danced for a moment, then died.  "No, I don't want to kill you," he
commented.
        "Shut up!" Hiroto snarled, reaching for more sand.
        Naruto kicked at the ground, and a cloud of sand obscured him
for an instant.  When it faded, he was behind Hiroto, holding a water
bottle in one hand.  He poured it on his other.  "Suiton: Pressure
Bullet!"
        Hiroto's eyes widened, and then a globe of water slammed into
his backside, throwing him face first onto the sand.
        "No trickery involved," Naruto commented.  "Yield?"
        Hiroto sighed.  "I yield."
        Naruto offered him a hand.  Hiroto rolled over, and stared at it
suspiciously.  "What's underneath the underneath of this?" he asked.
"You want to become my friend, so you can steal me away from the tribe
also?"
        "I'm not stealing anyone from anyone," Naruto said.  "Aya-chan
can make her own decisions."
        "She never talked about leaving m- the tribe, until you came!"
Hiroto spat out bitterly.
        "What do you care about her?" Naruto asked angrily.  "All you do
is talk down to her because she isn't as good at those stupid sand
techniques as you are!"
        "Stupid..." Hiroto grimaced. "Those are the sacred techniques
handed down from generation to generation of sand priests!  The favor of
Lady-"
        "So what?" Naruto interrupted.  "I know a ninja with more
powerful sand techniques than even Nori-sensei.  Does that mean he's a
better sand priest or whatever than him?"
        "A ninja with more powerful sand techniques than Master Nori?"
Aya asked.
        Naruto looked up, and saw that Jiraiya and the girl had walked
up while he'd been talking with Hiroto.  "Yeah, my friend Gaara!" he
said with a smile.  "I'll introduce you when we're in the Sand Village!"
        "Your friend Gaara?" Jiraiya asked amusedly.  "Does he know that
you're friends?"
        Naruto was silent for a moment before answering.  "Probably.  I
think."  He glanced down at Hiroto and waved his still-outstretched
hand.  "You planning on getting up any time soon, jerk?"
        Hiroto grimaced and took Naruto's hand and let the ninja help
him up.  "This Gaara is more powerful than Master Nori?  I'll believe it
when I see it."
        Naruto just grinned at him.

***********************************************************************

        The attack on the small trade town along the great river that
gave the River Country its name came while Sakura and her nominal
subordinates were staying there.  Afterward, when there was time to
worry about such things, they determined to a reasonable degree of
confidence that this was mere chance.  The targets were the the river
boats tied up at the docks laden with trade goods and the local daimyo
who was worth a small ransom.  The presence of the trio of Leaf ninja or
the Sand squad on its way to escort them to their village was completely
unexpected.
        That evening, when she was writing a quick report for Yuugao to
take back to the Fire Country border with their share of the prisoners,
Sakura realized how bad the situation seemed on paper.  The opposing
force was a full platoon of Rain ninja - nine genin, three chuunin, and
a jounin commander.  Allied forces consisted of a dozen or so town
guards, completely useless, and one four-man squad of Sand consisting of
three genin and a chuunin commander, still an hour out of town at normal
pace when hostilities began.  Her own forces consisted of Sakura herself
and two jounin, separated about the town and unprepared for combat.
        In the heat of the moment, even if this knowledge had been
available, there was no time to consider it.  Sakura was walking along
the docks, keeping an eye out for the arrival of the Sand escort, when
she saw the bolt of fire rise into the sky from the outskirts of town
and explode into a brilliant, ruby red burst of fire.  Her eyes widened,
as she recognized the message of the simple signal flare: "We're under
attack!"
        That was when she realized that there was something off about
the nearby boats, that none of the docks workers had seemed to notice
the flare.  Sakura brought her hands together into a seal.  "Release!"
The boats were suddenly swarming with Rain ninja in white jumpsuits,
crewmen and workers lying dead or unconscious.  They didn't seem to have
noticed her, and Sakura took a moment to plan before acting.
        Strike fast, strike hard, and don't stop moving.  Those were the
rules for attacking superior numbers from ambush.  The thought of
retreating didn't occur to her.  Sakura's hands moved through seals, and
then she reached for her special kunai.  It was a gift from Ino's
father, a belated and far too expensive congratulations for becoming a
chuunin.  "Katon: Blazing Blade," she whispered, and her chakra ran down
the seals inscribed on the blade, surrounding it in a nimbus of fire.
        She took a deep breath, and jumped high into the air, above the
roofs of the nearest building.  With expert precision, she threw her
fiery weapon straight at one of the enemy ninja, near the center of the
crowd.  Her hands blurred into more seals.  "Kunai Shadow Replication
Technique."  Her thrown weapon became three, then nine, then dozens.
Each passed straight through one of the enemy ninja.
        Sakura smiled grimly as the enemies she attacked partially
dissolved into mist, large holes in their chests where her fire had
burned it away.  As she had thought, then.  She landed on the deck of
one of the ships in a crouch.  She didn't let the brief wave of weakness
from the chakra expenditure of creating so many shadow replications
show.  Her hands formed another seal.  "Mist Concealment Technique!" she
shouted.
        There was a brief moment of resistance as her technique
struggled against the enemies', but then the coils of mist began to
thicken, the clones dissolving as their substance was hijacked by
Sakura's technique.  Sakura didn't waste chakra maintaining the
technique, letting it drop as soon as the replications were completely
destroyed.  Then she jumped away, seconds ahead of a line of kunai,
explosive tags dangling from their hilts.  They detonated, and the ship
was wreathed in smoke.  That was when the civilians on the waterfront
street realized what was happening, and began to run.
        Sakura landed safely back on the dock, in front of the three
remaining enemies.  "Hey, Oboro," one of them said.  "It's that pink-
haired bitch again."
        Sakura rolled her eyes.  "You three?  Seriously?  Are you the
only genin in your whole country or something?" she asked.  She had
thought she recognized these ninja, from the Chuunin Exams the first
time.  Then from the Tea Country, and then from the Chuunin Exams the
second time.  What was it with these three?  Behind her back, one hand
filled with shuriken.
        She and her enemies attacked at the same time, her shuriken
flying at the same time as a kunai thrown from behind at her heart.
Sakura moved, throwing herself to one side and blurring into motion,
getting behind the three ninja in front of her and forming a seal with
one hand.  "Katon: Claw of the Fire Dragon!"
        Talons of fire extended from her other hand, raking the three
enemies.  There was a brief hiss of steam, and they dissolved into
water.  "Water replications, huh?" Sakura asked the empty air,
unsurprised.  So where were the real ones then?  Underground somewhere,
if past experience was anything to go by.
        She didn't waste any more time, taking to the air once more.  A
stream of water in the shape of a serpent slammed into the ground where
she'd been standing.  Sakura palmed and quickly swallowed a soldier
pill.  Energy filled her, and when she landed on the street she
channeled chakra to her feet and stomped.  The cobblestones shattered
under her shoe, and the earth opened up.
        Sakura wanted to collapse, her leg muscles burning from the
strain, but she stood strong as she watched her battered enemies pulling
themselves from the ground.  She formed a single seal with one hand,
summoning her special kunai back to her other in a puff of smoke.  It
caught fire as her hand wrapped around the hilt, river water evaporating
to steam in an instant.  "Had enough?" she asked.
        After a moment, the three Rain genin, unable to stand, raised
their hands in surrender.  That was when the chuunin in charge of their
squad tried to decapitate Sakura with her two-handed broadsword.
        Sakura ducked out of the way, her flaming kunai sliding along
the edge of her enemy's sword, deflecting it away from her.  The enemy
brought the heavy weapon back around, but Sakura had time to use the
Replacement Technique, leaving behind a barrel of salted fish to be cut
in two.  Sakura landed on a nearby rooftop and pondered her options.
        "Great Cutting Whirlwind!"  A wave of cutting wind cut the enemy
kunoichi in two at the waist and continued down the waterfront street,
sending barrels flying and shattering storefront windows.
        Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, letting flames surrounding her
weapon die and sheathing it before jumping to the ground beside the
source of the unexpected attack.  "Your arrival is timely, Temari-san."
        The fan user glanced at her, then at the three Sand genin behind
her.  "Tenma, Ryoichi, go secure those three."  She gestured with her
fan at the three Rain genin, who raised their hands again, staying on
the ground.  One of the pair gave Sakura a nervous glance as he passed
her, but Sakura ignored that for the moment.  "You're Haruno Sakura,
right?  What's the situation?" Temari asked simply.
        Sakura nodded.  "Seems to be a Rain raid in force," she said.
"There are two other Leaf with me, elsewhere in the town.  I haven't had
a chance to establish communication with them since the attack."
        Temari grunted, keeping an eye on her genin as they bound the
three prisoners.  "Are you able to fight?" she asked.  "Although I
suppose these three can't have been much if a wimp like you took them
down."
        Before Sakura could respond to that, one of the genin dealing
with the prisoners looked up.  "Temari-sama," he said nervously, "you
shouldn't -"
        "I've told you a dozen times!" the Sand kunoichi said,
exasperated.  "That story is bullshit!  I was there, okay?  She didn't
do anything!"
        Sakura wanted to groan.  At the Chuunin Exams a year ago, Rock
Lee had made some easily misinterpreted comments that had led the whole
Sand delegation into believing she had single-handedly defeated Gaara
during the Sand invasion.  It had been... useful, once or twice, but it
was embarrassing.  If Asuma or Yuugao - or gods forbid, Anko - were to
find out...
        "What story is this?" Sarutobi Asuma asked as he appeared behind
the two chuunin kunoichi, a bound, unconscious figure slung over his
shoulder.
        Sakura groaned.  "It's not important, Asuma-sensei."
        The jounin smirked, but his voice stayed serious.  "I've got the
enemy commander here," he said, shrugging his shoulder.  "The rest of
this lot are dead or gone.  Yuugao is scouting the area, but I think
we've put a nice scare into them.  They aren't likely to stop until they
hit the Rain border."
        "Oh," Temari said, sounding honestly disappointed.  "I guess we
missed most of the fun, then."

***********************************************************************

        The rest of the journey to the Sand Village passed without
incident.  Temari left the Sand's share of the prisoners with the guards
at the Wind Country border and set a hard pace for the remainder of the
distance.  It wasn't anything that Sakura and Asuma couldn't handle, and
a few days later they reached the sheer cliff-face that surrounded the
Sand Village.  Sakura had seen it in pictures, of course, but it was a
much more impressive sight in person.
        Temari led the way to the narrow pass cut through the rock into
the crater that contained her village, and there they were stopped by a
pair of uniformed guards.  "Names and business," one of them stated
formally.
        Temari looked a little irritated, but she answered without
apparent anger.  "Chuunin Temari of the Desert and her squad, escorting
Leaf representatives for the Chuunin Selection Exams."
        Now Sakura knew it was her turn to speak, and she stepped
forward, giving the guards a slight bow.  She silently prayed that she
wouldn't forgetting some counter-intuitive Wind Country custom and
offend someone.  "Chuunin of the Leaf Haruno Sakura, here as the
personal representative of the Fifth Hokage.  With me is jounin Sarutobi
Asuma."  Behind her, Asuma grunted.
        One of the guards glanced between the two Leaf ninja.  "We were
told to expect three Leaf ninja," he said, a slight suspicion in his
voice.
        "The other one had to head back to Fire Country," Temari said
bluntly.  "Are we done here, Kiro?"
        "How are we certain this ninja didn't double back and infiltrate
the country?" the guard replied.
        Sakura took a deep breath.  "Jounin Uzuki Yuugao returned to the
Fire Country with prisoners taken from the Rain," she said, trying to
keep her voice calm.  She did not need to cause a diplomatic incident on
her first day in the Sand Village.  "Your own chuunin should have sent
word ahead of this.  Is there a problem?"  She felt Asuma shifting
behind her, backing her up.  It was good to be reminded that she wasn't
totally alone here.
        "Umm," the other guard began, glancing at his companion.  "You
shouldn't antagonize our guests, Kiro."  His gaze returned to Sakura.
"They're our allies and more dangerous than they look."
        Sakura schooled her expression, desperately struggling not to
show her embarrassment.  What the hell kind of stories were the Sand
telling about her?  This was totally ridiculous.
        Kiro snorted, but after a moment he backed away.  He didn't show
any nervousness as he looked at Sakura, and she wasn't certain whether
or not to be thankful.  "Our allies, right," he said sarcastically.  "We
still will be watching.  At least those of us who remember Kazekage-sama
and haven't been listening to Otokaze's -"
        Temari growled, interrupting him.  "Neither my father nor
Satetsu-sama would approve of such a disgraceful display in front of
foreign ninja," she said, her fan suddenly at Kiro's neck and pushing up
his chin.
        The guard gulped, paling, and took a step back.  "My apologies,"
he said weakly.  Kiro then turned to Sakura and Asuma.  "In the name of
the Council of Elders, we welcome you to the Sand Village."  He bowed
slightly.  "Offer no harm and receive none."
        Sakura bowed back, recalling the correct reply from her lessons.
"We accept your hospitality."  Asuma echoed her an instant later.
        The other guard nodded, and the two stepped aside.  Her face
twisted into an unpleasant expression, she stalked into the pass.  "Come
on, then," she snapped at Sakura.  After a moment, she and Asuma
followed, Temari's genin taking up the rear.
        "That was a little troubling," Asuma whispered to Sakura as they
headed down the long, narrow pass.  She wouldn't want to try and fight
her way through it, Sakura decided.  "Sorry for not taking care of it,
but you have to be seen as the leader and me as the muscle."
        "I know," Sakura replied quietly.  "I hadn't realized there was
such strong anti-Leaf sentiment."
        Asuma grunted.  "Even if it was Orochimaru behind it, the Sand
weren't exactly reluctant to fight us."
        "I'll send a message to Hokage-sama, once we're alone," Sakura
stated.
        A few minutes later, they emerged into a walled courtyard, a
final line of defense before the village proper.  Sakura recalled from
her studies that it had only been tested once, at the height of the
Great War.  Over a hundred Leaf ninja had died to get to where she was
now standing.  Sakura didn't - couldn't - shudder, but she wanted to,
and she almost wished she hadn't done all that extra reading back in the
academy.
        Waiting for them was an old man in robes.  "Temari-san, welcome
home," he said with a nod at the Sand chuunin.
        She nodded back at him.  "Ebizou-sama," she said.  "This is
Haruno Sakura, the Fifth Hokage's representative, and her escort,
Sarutobi Asuma."
        The man nodded.  "I am Ebizou of the Red Sand, of the Council of
Elders.  Welcome."
        "Thank you," Sakura said.  She thought she vaguely recognized
the name from the histories.  What was he famous for?
        That was when the wave of killing intent swept over her.  Sakura
stiffened instantly, reflexively channeling her own power into a
protective bubble around her.  Behind her, one of Temari's genin
whimpered, feeling the killing intent intensifying as Sakura deflected
it from herself.  She heard Asuma drawing a weapon, but she couldn't
look away from the source of the killing intent.
        "Oh shit," Temari breathed.
        Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from swallowing nervously as
she locked gazes with her attacker.  She couldn't look away.  She
couldn't show fear, or he would pounce like the predator he was.  "Gaara
of the Desert," she said, struggling and failing to keep her voice from
wavering as she stared at the boy standing on the wall above.  He hadn't
heard those stupid stories about her beating him, had he?  This was bad.
This was really, really bad, and she was about to die for such a stupid,
stupid reason, and then Naruto was probably going to start a war with
the Sand and Tsunade would never ever forgive her and...
        The killing intent suddenly vanished.  One of Temari's genin
fell to his knees and retched loudly.  Impossibly, Gaara looked away.
"I hope there will be no need for unpleasantness, Sakura-san," he said,
his voice flat.  He was backing down?  This was too crazy for words.
This was insane.  There was no way that Gaara was scared of her in
slightest.
        "Holy fuck," one of Temari's genin - Tenma - said quietly.  "She
stared down Gaara."
        The Sand elder standing in front of Sakura finally reacted, and
she realized that the whole confrontation had taken only a matter of
seconds.  "What is the meaning of this, Gaara?" the elder asked,
sounding only mildly annoyed.  If the killing intent had bothered him at
all, he didn't show it.  Gaara just grunted and turned away, vanishing
from the wall.  The elder sighed.  "I apologize, Haruno-san."
        Sakura realized that Asuma still had his knives out.  "I...
understand, Ebizou-dono," she said, trying to regather her wits.
"Gaara-san and I have... met before.  There's no need for an apology."
Asuma grunted, but kept his own council.
        "The Hidden Village of Sand thanks you for your understanding,"
Ebizou said.  He glanced at Temari.  "Temari-san, please show our guests
to their chambers.  They'll be staying in the guest house off the north
wing."
        Temari nodded.  "Understood," she said, her voice flat.  She
looked back at her team.  "You three are dismissed.  Get Ryoichi cleaned
up and then go train or something.  Sakura-san, Asuma-san, follow me."
        A while later, the three arrived at the guest house, which
proved to be a two-story, well-appointed structure with far more space
than needed, and Temari had led them inside.  She had ignored Sakura's
one attempt at starting a conversation, clearly furious at something or
someone.  Sakura could only hope it wasn't her.
        Then Gaara came down the stairs and walked over as if he wanted
to join them.  Before Sakura could do or say anything, Asuma interposed
himself between her and him, knives at the ready.  "Back away, boy," the
jounin said flatly.
        Gaara stopped.  "I wish to apologize, Sarutobi-san.  That is
all."  Asuma didn't move out of the way.
        "You want to explain what the hell that was about?" Temari
snapped at her brother suddenly.  "That's going to give Tenma's crazy
stories a whole new round of life."
        "That was my intention," Gaara said simply.
        Sakura shook her head.  She knew the boy was crazy, but not that
kind of crazy.  "You want to tell me why, or am I too sane to
understand?" she asked irritably.  A half-instant later she realized it
might not have been wise to provoke someone as dangerously unstable as
Gaara.
        He didn't seem to care, remaining calm.  "I have two reasons."
Gaara said.  "One is of concern to you."
        "To Sakura personally or to the Leaf?"  Asuma hadn't relaxed a
hair.  Sakura belatedly moved a hand to hover over the hidden hilt of
her special kunai and checked for other potential hostiles.  She
couldn't sense anyone else.
        "Both," Gaara answered  Sakura blinked at that.  "There are
factions in the village opposed to the Leaf alliance."
        "And?" Asuma asked.
        "Hey, Gaara," Temari interjected, glancing around.  "That isn't
something we should be -"
        "There's a pro-Leaf faction," Sakura said.  "Led by someone
called Otokaze, it sounded like.  And an anti-Leaf faction, led by a
Satetsu.  We figured that much out at the gate."  Asuma sighed.
        Temari actually looked a little embarrassed.  "It's an internal
matter," she insisted.  "And under control."
        "Someone is considering assassinating you, Sakura-san," Gaara
said as though that were a perfectly normal thing to say.
        Then again, she was here as the Hokage's representative, not as
mostly ordinary chuunin Haruno Sakura.  Maybe it was normal.  "Oh," was
all Sakura said.
        "Care to explain how you know that?" Asuma pressed.  His voice
was calm, but Sakura could imagine he was getting agitated.  This simple
mission was becoming anything but, and he had to be wishing Yuugao was
here to provide more backup.
        "Simple," Gaara said.  "There were attempts to provoke me into
attacking her when you arrived."
        Temari started.  "Satetsu wouldn't dare!" she exclaimed.  "If
he's pulling that kind of move, we need to tell Baki-sensei, and Ebizou-
sama immediately.  This is practically treason!"
        "Baki-sensei knows," Gaara said.  "We can't tell Ebizou, because
I don't know if this was Satetsu's faction."
        Sakura blinked.  Was there a third faction in this mess, or was
there some backwards reason why the pro-Leaf faction would want to kill
her?  How come she hadn't been briefed on any of this?  Did the Leaf not
have any spies in Sand at all?
        Gaara turned to her.  "I apologize for not warning you, but I
wanted to move quickly to head off any attempts on your life by making
you seem a prohibitively dangerous target."
        "I... guess I understand," Sakura said.  Should she thank him?
This was too strange, and she needed time to think about it.
        Asuma finally relaxed slightly, but he didn't put his weapons
away.  "Temari-san," he said.  "You should pass on the warning that any
uninvited guests to this house are likely to end up dead."
        Temari paled.  "Understood, Sarutobi-san."
        No one said anything for a moment, and Sakura gave in to her
curiosity.  "You said you had two reasons for... what you did, Gaara-
san," she stated.
        Gaara looked at her a moment, as if pondering whether to answer
the implied question.  "It is... useful," he said after a moment, "for
them to think of me as having been beaten.  That is why I have never
corrected them."  Temari shifted, seeming a little uncomfortable.
        "But why me?" Sakura asked.  "Naruto actually did beat you."
        "No one here knows who Naruto is," Gaara said, and Sakura wasn't
sure whether he was hinting at Naruto's secret or not.  "It is easier to
build up a reputation that exists, however mistaken, than to create one
that doesn't."
        "Unless you have any other news for us," Asuma said.  "Sakura
and I need to talk in private."
        Gaara nodded, and vanished in a swirl of sand.  Temari sighed
and let herself out in more ordinary fashion.
        Sakura formed seals, activating a genjutsu to ensure they
couldn't be overheard.  "What do we do about this, Asuma-sensei?"
        Asuma didn't say anything, his weapons disappearing and being
replaced with a cigarette and lighter.  He busied himself with that for
a moment and took a long drag before answering.  "I'm not sure, Sakura-
chan.  I think you ought to send that message to Hokage-sama now, and if
you think your summons can find her, Yuugao also.  We're going to need
more backup."

***********************************************************************

        Naruto tried to train as much as he could as he walked along the
rough desert road with Jiraiya and the two apprentice sand priests
toward civilization and the Sand Village.  Of the styles of ninjutsu
Jiraiya had taught him or had taught to him, wind element had proved the
most frustrating to him.  Jiraiya had said he was simply too talented
with wind to be skilled with it, which made no sense at all but seemed
the best way to put it.
        His chakra took on a wind nature too easily, eagerly exploding
outward at the slightest prompting.  This was great for wildly causing
indiscriminate destruction, but that was not useful nearly so often for
a ninja as one might imagine.  With no control or subtlety - no
technique - to Naruto's wind attacks, any enemy dangerous enough to
require such strength would be more than capable of protecting himself
from it.
        So Naruto devoted himself to one of the first techniques Jiraiya
had tried to teach him on their journey, days after leaving the Leaf
Village for the first time.  He had yet to master it, and many months
ago Jiraiya had admitted that it would require far more chakra control
than Naruto had yet to do so.  Jiraiya's Whirlwind Counter, which Naruto
had derived his Whirlwind Shield from, could snatch an enemy's
projectiles from the air and send them back to their source.
        It wasn't actually a wind element technique, using unaspected
chakra.  Jiraiya's explanation for the hows and whys of this started out
boring and got worse as it went on, but the training method for the
technique was a great way to practice control on the move.  Naruto
supposed he looked a little ridiculous, walking along with all his
attention focused on a child's toy, a small pinwheel being jerked back
and forth by his chakra.  Each time, he tried to use less chakra to move
the pinwheel a shorter distance.  He wasn't very good at it, but he was
far better than he had been a year ago, when he simply couldn't muster
the fine control to move the pinwheel at all.
        Because of his focus on his practice, he didn't notice the smoke
on the horizon until Hiroto pointed it out.  "Is that smoke?"
        "Yeah," Jiraiya said shortly.  "It could be someone making
camp."
        "In the middle of the day?" Aya asked.
        Jiraiya didn't say anything, and Naruto grimaced before putting
away his toy.  "Want me to check it out?" Naruto asked.
        "Can't hurt," Jiraiya said, "but don't get into any trouble."
        Naruto was forming seals before his teacher finished the
sentence.  "Shadow Replication Technique."
        The clone raced off toward the smoke, and the four travelers
continued on their way.  "How's your practice going?" Jiraiya asked
after a moment.
        Naruto shrugged.  "I'm getting better, I guess.  But slowly."
        "Control's never going to come quickly to you," Jiraiya said.
"You had far too much chakra too early."
        "You've told me that a thousand times," Naruto complained.  "And
then you say that the only way to fix it is practice and -"  He cut off
suddenly.
        "What is it, Naruto?" Aya asked.
        "My clone just disrupted," Naruto said.
        "You can't have reached your range limit yet," Jiraiya said.
        Naruto shook his head.  "It was on purpose."  He concentrated
for a moment, sorting through fuzzy images in his head.  "The smoke
is... a caravan, bandit attack looks like."  He winced.  "Lots of dead
people.  And -"  He cut off again.
        "Naruto?" Jiraiya prompted.
        "You won't... I don't believe this," Naruto said.  "We need to
go there and take a look in person."
        Jiraiya didn't argue, changing course immediately.  He glanced
back at the pair of sand priests.  "Stay back if there's any trouble,"
he ordered.  "I don't want to have to explain to Nori how I got you
hurt."
        "Understood," Aya said softly.  Hiroto just grunted, but he
didn't complain.
        Naruto lead the way, picking up the pace as they went, and
several minutes later they reached the ruined caravan.  It looked like
someone had set off a few explosive tags in the center of it.  The
wagons were shattered, smoldering ruins, and bodies were scattered all
around them.
        Jiraiya knelt beside one, flipping it over.  "Sand ninja," he
said, sounding worried.  "Genin maybe."
        Naruto ignored him.  "Where was it?" he asked himself, and
headed around to the other side of the caravan.
        "Hiroto, Aya," Jiraiya said, "help me see if anyone's alive."
        "Ero-sennin!" Naruto called out.  "Get over here, now!"
        Naruto was still staring in disbelief at what he had found when
Jiraiya made his way over to him.  "What is it?" the older ninja asked.
        Naruto just pointed, and Jiraiya's face darkened.  Pinned to the
side of a mostly whole wagon by a kunai was a large scrap of black
cloth, perhaps torn from a cloak.  On the edge of it, there was the
beginning of a pattern just recognizable as a red cloud.
        "This doesn't make any sense," Jiraiya muttered.  "They've been
quiet for a year, why would they start moving again just to raid a
random caravan?"
        Aya approached the pair of ninja cautiously.  "They're all...
there's no one we can help," she said.  "Hiroto and I want to... have
to..."
        Jiraiya nodded.  "I understand.  Naruto, help them get the
bodies ready to bury, and help me tear this caravan apart.  There's got
to be some reason for them to strike here."
        "Them?" Aya asked as Naruto summoned a dozen shadow
replications.
        "It's better for you not to know," Jiraiya said.  "Trust me, you
don't want them interested in you."
        "Oh," was all Aya said to that.
        Jiraiya summoned his own shadow replications.  "I'm sure they
won't have left a trail, but I have to check," he told Naruto.
        Several hours later, the dead were laid to rest and Jiraiya had
convinced himself there was no sign of what the attackers had been
after, nor any obvious trail left behind.  "We could summon Pakkun and
ask him to search," Naruto stated quietly as they prepared to put some
distance between them and the caravan before stopping for the night.
        Jiraiya shook his head.  "Kakashi-kun only left us a couple of
scrolls," he said.  "We can't afford waste one frivolously.  Even if
Pakkun found something, we couldn't risk following it without backup."

        "Then what do we do now, Ero-sennin?"
        "That's a good question, brat," Jiraiya replied.  "I'll let you
know as soon as I figure something out."

***********************************************************************

[Week Three]

        Yuugao arrived in the Sand Village three days after Sakura and
Asuma, which was something of a relief to the pink-haired chuunin.
Asuma hadn't let Sakura out of his sight, and outside of a couple of
brief, largely pointless meetings with the Sand's examiners to discuss
the exams, he hadn't let her leave the guest house assigned to them.
Sakura understood, of course, but it had been a little stifling.  With
Yuugao there for backup and with three peaceful days behind him, Asuma
relaxed a little.  Perhaps, Sakura began to hope, Gaara's gambit had
scared off whoever was after her.
        When Temari had come by the guest house to let them know that
the foreign teams were expected to being arriving today and offer to
take Sakura to the gates to watch for them, she had leapt at the chance
even though the Leaf teams were still several days out.  After a quick
round of rock-paper-scissors, Yuugao had been picked to be Sakura's
bodyguard, and the three kunoichi headed for the gates.
        Now Sakura was leaning against the wall of the inner courtyard,
idly practicing fire manipulation with one hand as she watched Ebizou
give an introductory speech to the Grass teams, the first batch to
arrive.  By Sakura's count there were seven teams from that village this
time, unusually high given that the Grass had hosted the exams six
months ago.
        Temari was watching the small sparks of flame shooting from
Sakura's fingertips.  "You might make someone nervous with that," she
said dryly, "since you're such a powerful kunoichi."
        Sakura tried not to let her irritation show.  She knew Temari
was pissed about being forced to play along with Gaara's charade, but
she hadn't asked for this stupid reputation.  There was no need to keep
needling her about it.  She held the last spark for a moment, coaxing it
into a small flame, making her finger look like a bizarre candle.  "As
you say," she said after a moment, and let the fire die.  She wasn't
going to let the Sand girl get a rise out of her.  Not in public, at
least.
        "Hmph," Temari said.  "Maybe we ought to spar sometime."
        "Maybe," was all Sakura could say to that.  It would be
interesting, and she had no intention of letting herself get rusty even
if she was going to be stuck on this diplomatic mission for a couple
months.
        Ebizou finished and the Grass ninja began to head out of the
courtyard.  "Waterfall are next," Temari told Sakura and Yuugao, "and
then the special invites."
        Sakura nodded.  There were an unusual number of teams from non-
allied villages this time around, she'd gathered from Tsunade's
complaining.  Since the Sand were hosting, it was their choice who the
invites went to, and Tsunade had needed to fight a little to get some
sent where she wanted.
        The Waterfall weighed in at five teams, and not for the first
time Sakura considered how much an expression of trust the Chuunin Exam
system was.  There were already over thirty genin and twelve jounin
attending the exams, a sizable force, and that was just two of the
smaller villages.  It might only take a few more incidents to cause the
exam system to collapse.
        The Waterfall genin milled about while their jounin teachers
were handing in registration forms to Ebizou, and Sakura thought she
recognized one genin, a tall kunoichi with brown hair tied back in a
ponytail.  She pointed her team out to Yuugao.  "Weren't they at the
exams a year ago?"
        The jounin studied them for a moment, then nodded.  "I think so,
two of them anyway.  The third of that team passed."
        Sakura nodded and studied the team for a moment.  She thought
recognized the boy on the team, although the third member - a younger
girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, with light green hair - was new to
her.  The girl Sakura remembered - Maya, that was her name - noticed the
attention and waved at Sakura, tapping her male companion on the
shoulder and gesturing at her.
        Before anything else could happen, the jounin finished and
Ebizou began the next iteration of his welcoming speech.  Sakura sighed
and leaned back against the wall.  This could get boring, fast, although
she supposed it beat moping about the guest house waiting for someone to
attack.
        Temari stifled a laugh.  "The next batch should be more
interesting, at least."
        In time, the Waterfall left, but no one came to replace them for
a while.  Temari pushed away from the wall, walking over to Ebizou, and
after a moment Sakura followed.  Yuugao stayed against the wall.
"What's the holdup?" Temari asked the elder.
        Ebizou glanced at the pair of kunoichi.  "Waiting for more
security," he said.  Sakura realized that the tops of the walls were
slowly filling with more Sand ninja.
        "You don't expect something?" Sakura asked.
        "Of course not," Ebizou said, "but it never hurts to make a show
of strength."  He looked Sakura up and down.  "You might stick with me,
if you want," he said. "Might remind some of these that the Leaf are our
allies."
        Sakura nodded, feeling a little self-conscious in her Leaf
chuunin uniform as she took a position behind Ebizou.  Did his comment
mean he was part of the pro-Leaf faction after all?  Temari decided to
flank Ebizou's other side, and a few minutes later the ninja from the
non-allied villages trooped into the courtyard.
        In the lead were two teams from the newly founded Hidden Music,
although they had only one jounin between them.  Their forehead
protectors bore two notes, instead of the single note that represented
the Sound.  There was another familiar face on one of the teams, Fuuma
Sasame, a kunoichi who Sakura had met several times from one of the
first clans to rebel against Orochimaru.
        Sakura didn't recognize the forehead protectors, bearing a few
small circles, on the team that followed them, but she recognized the
man who seemed to be their jounin and one of the three genin.  Kitakami
Ichizo and Rui, a pair of sibling ninja from the Snow Country who Naruto
had met on his journey.  Sakura had met them in Rice Field Country, and
Rui had brought her brother to the Leaf Village so Tsunade could heal a
crippling injury Ichizo had suffered.  The Hokage had pushed to get an
invite extended to clans working to restore the Snow Village there,
hoping to gain an ally on the Rock's northern border.
        The next team was an unpleasant surprise, from the moment she
took in the uniform the jounin kunoichi in the lead was wearing.  "The
Rock?" she breathed quietly.  She could feel Yuugao straightening to
attention behind her.
        "Later," Temari mouthed at Sakura, and after a moment the pink-
haired girl nodded, trying not to let her discomfort show as she studied
the Rock team.  It took her a moment to recognize them as a team she'd
met in Rice Field Country.  She couldn't recall the names, but they had
been the Tsuchikage's students, and Naruto had trained with them in
Earth Country for a while.
        The Music jounin, a woman with long dark hair, approached Ebizou
first and bowed, holding out a stack of paperwork.  "Fuuma Kotohime, of
the Music, submitting two teams for the Chuunin Selection Exams."
        Ebizou accepted the papers and flipped through them.  "It looks
to be in order," he said, and Kotohime backed away, to be replaced by
the jounin from Snow Country.
        "Kitakami Ichizo, representing the Kitakami, Kakyuyoku, and
Rouga Clans of the Snow Country," he said, handing over the papers for
his team.  He smiled and nodded to Sakura, who nodded back.
        Then it was the Rock's turn, and Sakura studied the approaching
woman carefully.  She had short-cut dark hair, and seemed completely at
ease surrounded by potential enemies.  She almost tossed her papers at
Ebizou, thrusting them into his hands.  "Kazu Kurotsuchi, Rock," she
said bluntly. She glanced at Sakura.  "Who's the Leaf?  Thought we were
beating them here."
        "She's the Hokage's representative," Ebizou answered her.
        After a moment of expectant silence, Sakura bowed slightly.
"Haruno Sakura," she introduced herself.
        Kurotsuchi grinned.  "Pleased to meet you," she said
irreverently, "although I suspect you ain't as pleased to meet me."
        Sakura didn't think there was anything useful she could say to
that, so she kept quiet as Ebizou carefully examined the papers,
glancing at the three Rock genin as he studied them.  "It looks to be in
order," he said, and then he launched into a third variation on his
welcoming speech, although this one was a bit heavier on the warnings
about acting irresponsibly while guests of a Hidden Village.
        As no more arrivals were expected today, Temari led the two Leaf
away a short while later.  "So, the Rock," Sakura prompted as they
neared the guest house.
        Temari grimaced.  "Satetsu's faction favors an alliance with the
Earth Country," she admitted.  "They managed to convince the council to
offer the Rock an invite.  We're sending a team to the Rock's next exams
in a few months also."
        "Why wasn't Hokage-sama told?" Yuugao asked quietly.
        "Why do you think?" Temari asked back.  "If that faction gets
control, they aren't planning on us being allied to both the Rock and
the Leaf at the same time."

***********************************************************************

        "Hmm," the red-and-black cloaked figure said happily, "a little
bird told me interesting people were looking into my handiwork, and it
was right!"  The man lifted his bamboo hat off of his face, revealing a
head of blond hair tied into a ponytail and a marred Rock forehead
protector.  "Not who I was targeting, but interesting still!"  He let
the hat drop.
        Jiraiya stared up the sand dune at the man.  "I believe we've
met before, but I didn't catch your name at the time."  There was a puff
of smoke and a shadow replication appeared next to him, grabbing Aya and
Hiroto.
        "Hey!" the male nomad shouted in protest, but the clone ignored
him.  A sudden gust of wind blew sand in a swirl around them, and when
it settled all three were gone, leaving only the real Jiraiya and Naruto
facing their opponent.
        "I suppose I can introduce myself, hmm?"  The man smiled.  "I am
Deidara."  He bowed.  "Please enjoy my art," he said, and then the
ground underneath the two Leaf ninja exploded.  The cloud of dust and
smoke obscured the roadway.
        Jiraiya reappeared behind the man, chakra dancing in one hand.
"Rasengan!"
        "Too slow!" Deidara said, jumping away.  He extended one arm,
revealing a mouth on the palm of his hand, happily chewing away at
something.
        "Fuuton: Gale Palm!"  Naruto was below the man, a massive
windstorm erupting up at his target.
        Deidara seemed to be cut to shreds, but neither Leaf ninja was
particularly surprised when the pieces turned into white clay.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he watched the clay - apparently shaped into
small insects - slowly drift down toward him.  "Naruto!" he snapped.
"Underground, now!"
        The boy didn't ask questions, melting into the ground, and
Jiraiya followed.  Moments later, the clay spiders touched down,
carpeting the road and the adjacent sand dunes.  Then they detonated,
covering the battlefield in a sea of explosions.  As they died down, the
Akatsuki member reappeared down on the roadway, kneeling with both hands
against the ground.  "Doton: Sanctuary Breaking Technique," he declared,
and the earth rumbled.
        "Katon: Phoenix Flame Technique!"  A storm of small fireballs
converged on Deidara, and Jiraiya emerged from the sand dune he'd buried
himself in.
        The missing ninja kept his hands pressed against the ground, and
a wall of rock shoved its way up out of the road, blocking the flames.
He leapt atop the wall, landing in a crouch.  "You're still too slow,
hmm," he observed.
        Jiraiya smiled, forming a seal.  "You're too young."  Deidara
looked down, and saw the kunai that had been thrown behind the flames,
embedded in his wall.  An instant later, the explosive tags wrapped
around the hilts detonated.
        Deidara managed to jump away and down the road, but he landed
roughly.  Then he was flipping backwards, moments ahead of a line of
more explosive kunai.  "Hmm," he observed as he stared up at his
attacker.  "I'd almost forgotten about you."
        "You won't for long," Naruto promised, and then his shadow
replications erupted from the ground around the missing ninja.
        One kicked him up into the air, shouting "U-"
        Another was ready, a second kick driving Deidara higher "-zu-"
        Another, "-ma-"
        "-ki!"
        As the fourth clone connected, the final Naruto jumped from his
perch on a sand dune, appearing over Deidara.  "Naruto Combo!" he
finished, slamming his foot into the Akatsuki member.
        Deidara grinned as Naruto's leg sank into him.  "Boom!"  A
massive explosion consumed him and all five Naruto.
        The real one emerged from the ground below, staring up at his
handiwork.  "Not bad, hmm," he observed, but his face fell when he saw
that nothing was left behind.  "All clones?  How pedestrian."  He caught
the kunai Jiraiya threw at him, then his eyes widened as he saw the wire
attached to it.
        Jiraiya teeth clamped down on the other end of the wire.
"Katon: Dragon Fire Technique!"
        Deidara dropped the kunai, darting backward.  Two stone hands
emerged from the ground, clasping tightly around the Akatsuki member.
"Doton: Grasping Hand Technique," Naruto said from where he kneeled
further down the road.
        The hands shattered in an explosion, and Deidara fell to the
ground.  "Forced to injure myself with my own technique," he said sadly.
"I'm getting sloppy, hmm."  He fell to one knee, gasping.
        Jiraiya stepped forward.  "Maybe you should have thought twice
before taking us on."
        "This fight is already won, hmm," Deidara replied.
        "What do you mean?" Naruto demanded.
        "I merged some of my explosive clay with the sand before we
started, hmm."  Deidara gestured at the dunes.  "You've both been
swimming in it."  He smiled.  "But it would have been much too dull to
end it without having some fun first, hmm."
        "Damn it!"  Jiraiya began to form seals, but Deidara didn't let
him finish.
        The Rock missing ninja formed a single seal of his own, and both
of his opponents were battered by numerous small detonations.  Jiraiya
fell, still conscious but hurt, and Deidara stood, turning to look at
Naruto.  "Itachi-san and Kisame-san will have to find a new target,
hmm," he observed.
        On one knee, Naruto grunted.  "It isn't over yet," he growled.
Crimson chakra sparked briefly around him.
        "I think it is, hmm," Deidara observed.  Small spiders of white
clay emerged from the earth before Naruto, scuttling toward him.
"Please don't die; it would be inconvenient," the older blond finished.
        The ground in front of Naruto exploded, and the spiders
detonated in a chain reaction before reaching their target.  Deidara's
eyes widened, and he jumped away instants ahead of another explosion.
He landed atop a dune.
        A man in a Sand uniform, with spiky brown hair, appeared in a
crouch beside Naruto, helping him to his feet.  Wordlessly, the Sand
ninja thrust out his hand toward Deidara, and the Rock missing ninja
leapt away again.  The top of the dune he'd been standing on exploded.
        "I didn't know anyone in this country knew those kind of
techniques, hmm," Deidara said as he landed on another dune.
        "You're the one I am hunting, I believe," the new arrival said,
breathing heavily.
        "You aren't the one I was hoping for either, hmm," Deidara said.
        "Be sure to complain to our interrogation squad," the man
replied.  Not far away, Jiraiya had recovered and was standing.
        Deidara smiled.  "I don't think I'll be staying much longer,
hmm," he said.  "This is too much work for someone who isn't even my
target."  He knelt down, picking up his bamboo hat and replacing it on
his head.  "But first, your name?"
        "Otokaze of the Explosion," the Sand ninja said grimly, forming
seals.
        "I'll remember the name," Deidara promised.  "You have artistic
potential, hmm."  A massive explosion engulfed him, but to no one's
surprise when it died down there was no sign of the man.
        Otokaze staggered.  "Hey, are you okay?" Naruto asked,
supporting the man.
        The Sand ninja nodded.  "It takes a bit out of me to do that at
range," he admitted as he accepted Naruto's assistance.
        Jiraiya approached after summoning a shadow replication to scout
the area and ensure their attacker was gone.  "Your assistance was well-
timed."
        "You're the ones who buried the dead at the last attack site?"
Otokaze asked.  When Jiraiya smiled, he nodded.  "I thought as much."
He paused.  "You're Jiraiya the Toad Hermit."
        "Always nice to be recognized," Jiraiya said.
        Otokaze glanced to his side.  "Which would make you his
apprentice?"  He didn't wait for Naruto to answer.  "There's been a
number of attacks in this area," he explained, "by a ninja who seemed
too powerful to be wasting his or her time with such petty targets.  I
decided to hunt down this mystery.  Do you know what he's after,
Jiraiya-sama?"
        Jiraiya didn't glance at Naruto.  "No," he said simply, "but
you'd be best off dropping it.  This isn't something that's safe to be
involved with."
        "Heh," Otokaze said.  "I didn't make my name by playing it
safe."
        Jiraiya studied the man.  "I suppose not.  'Of The Explosion'
isn't a clan name I'd heard before."
        "You wouldn't have, Jiraiya-sama," Otokaze said, "since it isn't
one."  He smiled.  "That's the title I've earned with my original
techniques."
        Jiraiya's first shadow replication reappeared, bearing the two
sand priests.  He set them down and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
        "Is everyone okay?" Aya asked as she raced up to Naruto.  Hiroto
followed her, looking around in awe at the devastation wrought by the
battle.
        Naruto forced a smile onto his face.  "We're fine," he said.
"Just a little fight."
        Otokaze pushed himself away from Naruto, standing straight
again.  "I don't suppose you four are headed to the Exams, Jiraiya-
sama?" he guessed.
        Jiraiya nodded.  "That's right," he said.  "The brat I'm
teaching is Naruto," he said, and then he nodded at the two nomads.
"Aya and Hiroto, of the Howling Moon," he introduced them.  "I'm taking
them to see the exams as a favor to a friend."
        Otokaze bowed deeply.  "Then please allow me the honor of
escorting you the rest of the way, Jiraiya-sama," he offered.  Then he
smiled.  "I have to head back anyway.  There's no telling what kind of
mischief the council will have been up to while I'm not there to ride
herd on them."

***********************************************************************

        Sakura was not really a diplomat or a politician, despite
slightly more than a year of exposure to the daily work of the Hokage.
She was not comfortable in the role, even in the empty formalities she
had expected this mission to consist of.  To face down the ruling
council of the Sand and make clear the anger of the Hokage and the Fire
Country was far outside her element.  Yet so blatant a provocation as
the unannounced invitation to the Rock could not go unanswered, and to
let Asuma or Yuugao deliver the message would undermine Sakura's role as
Tsunade's personal representative.
        Therefore, despite her misgivings, it was Sakura who stood
before the Sand's Council of Elders.  Asuma - who apparently been in her
position years ago - had coached her thoroughly, and both he and Yuugao
stood at her back, silently providing support.  Even Temari had wished
her luck, surprisingly enough, though the Sand kunoichi had faded back
to the rear wall as soon as they'd entered the council chambers.
        Sakura wanted to throw up, but she didn't let herself show it as
she stepped forward to speak.  "In the name of the Hokage," she said
formally, "I would speak with this council."
        Despite the name, the Council of Elders did not only consist of
elderly ninja like Ebizou of the Red Sand.  Sakura recognized Baki,
Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara's teacher, seated at the far end of the round
table where the council met, opposite a single empty seat.  He gestured
at it.  "In the name of the Hidden Village of Sand," he said, "welcome.
Please, join us."
        "Thank you," Sakura said, and she took the seat.  She nodded in
recognition to Ebizou, who was seated a couple seats down on her left.
That was the only other familiar face at the table.  The elderly woman
seated on Ebizou's own left caught Sakura's eyes in a glare, but an
instant later a man on the right side of the table spoke.
        "How appropriate," he said, voice dripping with disdain, "that
Otokaze's seat would be taken by a Leaf ninja.  We shall hardly notice a
difference."  Sakura studied that man, certain that this must be
Satetsu.  He was younger than she expected, possibly only a few years
older than Kakashi, with a shaven head and a short, brown beard.  It was
hard to tell under the formal robes he wore, but he had the look of a
large, powerful man.
        Seated next to Baki, another young, bearded man leaned forward,
although long, black bangs peaked out from under his headdress to cover
one eye.  "Shall we ask the Rock jounin to join us and take your seat,
then, and dispense with all pretense, Satetsu?" he asked, confirming
Sakura's guess.
        The old woman who had glared at Sakura cackled suddenly.  "Keep
talking like that, Yuura-kun, and I'll expect your vote next time."
Sakura could feel the undercurrents of years of internal politics and
wished she had a cheat sheet.
        Baki laid one hand gently on the table, but the light tap echoed
like he had slapped it.  "We are before a guest," he chided, "and the
memory of our ancestors.  Do not disgrace either with such petty
bickering."  Everyone glanced at the stone statues of the dead Kazekages
that loomed over the table.
        "Fine," Satetsu said.  "Let's get this over with.  I think
Chiyo-dono and I can both agree on that.  Speak, ninja of the Leaf."
        Sakura didn't let herself swallow nervously.  "The Hokage wishes
to inform this council," she said simply, "of our intention to increase
the number of teams attending the Chuunin Selection Exams."  That would
take some doing to arrange, but Tsunade had promised it would happen in
the message she'd sent back with Sakura's snake.  "We will be sending an
additional eight teams, which will arrive a week after the first ten."
That would get them here only a day or so before the first exam was to
start.
        "Eighteen teams?" one of the councilors asked, her voice
strangled.  "That's not an exam delegation, that's an invasion force!"
        There was an awkward silence, and Sakura let herself smile
grimly.  "We apologize for the late notice," Sakura added, "but the exam
compact does allow for the delegation's size to be altered if
circumstances change."  Just like the compact allowed the Sand to invite
the Rock without informing the Leaf, she didn't bother to add.
        "That slug woman is as infuriating as ever," the old crone next
to Ebizou - Chiyo? - commented.  "Where the hell does she expect to find
those eight teams, hmm?" she asked Sakura.
        Did this woman really think Sakura would answer that, even if
she knew?  "That is not your concern," Sakura said firmly.
        Satetsu shifted in his seat.  "You are within your rights," he
said, sounding bored.  Sakura wondered if maybe this had been his plan
all along, to force Tsunade to escalate.
        "This council thanks you for passing on this message," Baki
said.  "Is there anything else you would like to say?"
        Sakura shook her head, but before she could stand Yuura leaned
forward, folding his hands in front of his face.  "I would like to raise
another topic," he said, "while we have the Hokage's ear."
        Baki glanced at Sakura, and when she nodded he said, "Speak,
then."
        "The criminal organization known as Akatsuki," Yuura stated
simply.
        Sakura couldn't stop herself from stiffening, and she heard
Asuma grunt behind her.  There wasn't much Sakura knew about that
organization other than what Naruto had told her, but that was bad
enough.  Sasuke's brother, the one who had murdered their entire clan,
was among its members, and Naruto was among their targets.  "You'll...
you'll have to be more specific," Sakura said weakly.
        "This council knows that Otokaze and I have been investigating
this group for some time now," Yuura explained.  "We have reason to
believe that the Leaf are also following their movements."
        He waited for a moment.  "I couldn't say," Sakura said
truthfully.  She certainly hoped Tsunade had someone keeping tabs on
them, but Sakura wasn't privy to that information.
        "I understand," Yuura said.  "But, with the permission of this
council, I would like to make a request to the Hokage for our villages
to share information on this common threat."  No one objected, although
Satetsu leaned back in his seat, looking at Chiyo as though waiting for
the woman to make the first move.
        "I... I am not authorized to negotiate such an issue," Sakura
said after a moment.  "I will pass your request on to Hokage-sama."
        "Thank you," Yuura murmured.
        "Anything else?" Baki asked, then waited a moment.  When no one
spoke, he inclined his head at Sakura.  "This council thanks you for
your presence."
        Recognizing the dismissal, Sakura stood and bowed respectfully.
"The Hokage and the Hidden Leaf thank you for hearing me," she said, and
then she backed away from the table.  She bowed once more and turned
away, heading for the exit, Asuma and Yuugao behind her.  Temari fell in
a few moments later.
        "Not bad, Sakura-chan," Asuma commented once they had left the
Kazekage's palace.
        Sakura was about to respond when she noticed a Sand ninja - was
that Kankuro? - leading Kurotsuchi into the building they'd just left
through another entrance.  The Rock jounin noticed her back, flashing
Sakura a menacing smile before disappearing into the building.
        Yuugao snorted.  "I wouldn't mind finding out what that
conversation will be about.  Maybe..."  She trailed off.
        Temari shifted uncomfortably.  "I'd have to report it if any of
you... you know," she warned.
        Asuma laughed.  "We're not so foolish," he said.
        "I don't know," Yuugao said thoughtfully.  "Sakura-taichou was
Anko-san's student for a while.  Who knows how much she rubbed off?"
Asuma laughed again, while Temari looked confused.
        Sakura just groaned.

***********************************************************************

        On the day that the original ten Leaf teams were to arrive in
the Sand Village, Sakura woke early.  The chill of the desert winter
night had not yet lifted, and Sakura gratefully accepted the mug of tea
Yuugao offered her when she came downstairs to the kitchen.  "Anything
happen during your watch?" Sakura asked.  Despite Sakura's offers to
take a watch herself, the two jounin insisted that wasn't her job on
this mission.
        The purple-haired woman shook her head.  "Breakfast came by
early like we asked," she said, gesturing at the platter on the kitchen
table.
        Sakura seated herself opposite Yuugao and took a few pieces of
flatbread.  She ignored the dip it came with, which she hadn't managed
to develop a taste for.  It wouldn't go to waste, since Asuma would
devour it all anyway once he woke up.  She ate in silence for a few
minutes, gathering her thoughts for the day ahead.
        She was shaken from her reverie as Asuma stomped down the
stairs.  "Good morning," he said as he accepted his own tea from Yuugao.
"Looking forward to seeing your team again?" he asked her.
        Yuugao smiled slightly.  "Who doesn't look forward to being
responsible for teenagers?" she asked.  Asuma chuckled.
        "Should I be offended?" Sakura asked, finishing the last of her
breakfast.
        Yuugao waved a hand vaguely.  "You're going to have to be
responsible for all of them," she said lightly.  "That'll add ten years
to your age before next week."
        "I'll feel a lot better this evening," Asuma observed.  "We'll
have nine more jounin to work with if anything should happen."
        Sakura bit at her lip.  "I want to say that if this Satetsu
hasn't tried anything by now, he won't," she said.  "It would have been
easiest to strike when we first arrived."
        "Probably," Yuugao said, "but we can't count on it.  He might be
planning to wait for us to drop our guard."
        Asuma sighed.  "Or there's some entirely different factor
driving his schedule that we have no way of knowing," he said.  "This is
politics, not a normal mission."
        "So, what?  We have to look underneath underneath the
underneath?" Sakura asked with a groan.  "Or underneath that?"
        Asuma shrugged.  "Or so far underneath you're back on top
again," he said.  "Politics."  The last sounded like a curse.
        There was a light tapping on the front door in a familiar
pattern.  Yuugao glanced out the window.  "Unlocked," she said loudly
after a moment.
        Temari let herself in.  "Morning," she said grumpily.
        "Tea?" Yuugao offered.
        The Sand kunoichi shook her head.  "Our scouts have spotted your
teams," she said.  "Less than an hour out."
        Sakura stood.  "Then I guess I should be going to meet them."
        Yuugao followed suit, then yawned.  "I guess I should volunteer
for escort this time," she said.
        "Have fun," Asuma said cheerfully.
        Yuugao and Sakura followed Temari out of the guest house and
down the winding streets toward the gates.  The streets were just
beginning to be clogged with civilian morning traffic.  Sakura idly
wondered how much faster progress they would make on the rooftops, but
in a foreign hidden village it was probably best to stay on the ground.
As they passed the dormitories where the teams taking the exam were
housed, a voice called out Sakura's name.
        The three kunoichi stopped, and Sakura looked around for a
moment before finding the source.  "Ah... Yuhara Maya-san, wasn't it?"
Sakura asked as the Waterfall kunoichi walked up, followed by her
teammates.  "And Chiba... Ichi-san?"  No, that wasn't right.
        The black-haired boy smiled.  "Not quite," he said, not seeming
bothered.  "Chiba Ikkei."
        "Sorry," Sakura apologized.  "Is Arata-san here?" she asked,
naming the third member of their team from a year ago.  She remembered
his name well, if only because Ino still insisted that he'd had an
incredibly obvious crush on Sakura.
        Maya shook her head.  "He's out east," she said vaguely.
        "Oh," Sakura said, taking her meaning easily enough.  Realizing
she was being a little rude, she introduced Yuugao and Temari before
turning her attention to the green-haired girl who stood quietly behind
the two other Waterfall ninja, staring at the ground.  "Who's your new
teammate?"  She had to be something special if she was taking the
Chuunin Exam at what looked like ten years old.
        "Ah... this is Fuu," Maya said, sounding nervous.
        The young girl looked up at her name, and Sakura did her best
not to show her surprise at the bright orange eyes the motion revealed.
A doujutsu bloodline?  The girl seemed surprised herself, as though she
had not expected to be included in the conversation.  "Is there someone
I'm supposed to kill, Yuhara-sama?" she asked cheerfully.
        "No!" Maya shouted hastily.
        "These are all friends and allies," Ikkei elaborated.  "We
aren't going to kill them."  Sakura heard shifting behind her, and
realized Yuugao had been ready to take action.
        "Then what should I do?" Fuu asked.
        Maya licked her lips nervously.  "Say hello to Sakura-san," she
said.
        The girl turned to Sakura and bowed deeply.  "Hello, Sakura-
san."
        Sakura wasn't really certain what to do, and wound up just
responding, "Hello, Fuu-san."
        At this exchange Fuu seemed to lose interest, returning her gaze
to the ground.  Maya laughed awkwardly.  "Ah... we shouldn't keep you
any longer, Sakura-san" she said.
        Sakura decided to let Fuu's strangeness go for now.  "All
right," she said.
        Temari grunted.  "Good, if we take much longer we'll be late."
        Sakura turned away from the Waterfall ninja and noted the
disturbed look on Yuugao's face, but this was neither the time nor place
to discuss matters.  The jounin apparently agreed, as they traveled the
rest of the way to the gate courtyard without conversation.  The Leaf
teams must have made good speed over the last few miles of their
journey, as they started filing into the courtyard only minutes after
Sakura and her companions arrived.
        Sakura used a minor ninjutsu to make her voice carry.  "Please
line up by team!  Jounin, please have your team's papers ready!"
Having had the chance to observe the other village's teams arriving the
week before, she wanted to make this as efficient as possible.
        "I'll go find my kids," Yuugao said, and Sakura only nodded in
response as she headed to the first team to ready itself.  Sakura didn't
know any of them, although like most of the teams they looked vaguely
familiar from seeing them about the Hokage's offices.  She introduced
herself and double-checked that the paperwork was in order before
sending them off to the waiting Ebizou.
        The first team Sakura knew more personally was Suzume Namida's
team, which had made it to the finals in the exams Sakura had passed.
She knew the two girls on the team - Uzuki Ami and Mitokado Fuki - from
before that, as both had been bullies back in her first years in the
academy.  In the little she'd interacted with them since graduating,
Fuki had seemed more mature and hadn't been a pain to deal with.
        "Oh, it's you, forehead girl."  Ami was another story.
         Sakura glanced at the jounin instructor, who gave her a slight
shrug.  It probably would be better for her to establish some authority
herself.  "Uzuki-san," she said calmly, idly wondering what precisely
the girl's relation to Yuugao was.  "By showing public disrespect to me,
you are disgracing Hokage-sama in front of foreign ninja.  Do it again
and your pay for the exam period will be docked ten percent.  Make a
note of that please, Suzume-san."
        "Understood, sir," Namida said.  It was weird having someone
who'd instructed her back in the academy saying that.
        "You... you can't do that!" Ami protested.  Her male teammate,
Inuzuka Shinta, buried his tattooed face in his hands.
        "Haruno-san is the Hokage's personal representative, and in
charge of our delegation here," Namida lectured.
        "Take care of this please, Namida-san," Sakura told her.  "I
have more teams to see to."
        "Yes, sir."
        Although Yuugao's team contained another of Ami's old cronies
from academy days - Toriichi Kasumi - she didn't cause any trouble.
None of the other teams had anyone Sakura recognized until she reached
the final team.
        "Sakura!" Chouji said in greeting.
        Sakura smiled.  "Chouji, Hinata-san, Kurenai-sensei, good
morning."  She hesitated, then said, "Shouldn't you have a third team
member?"
        "Hokage-sama said we would meet our third here," Hinata said
quietly.
        "That's... unusual," Sakura said, glancing at Kurenai.  The
jounin just smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
        That was when a very familiar voice called out, "Sakura-chan!"
        Sakura whirled about, speechless as she watched the boy run
toward her.  "N-naruto-kun," Hinata stammered, but Sakura had no ears
for the other girl at the moment.
        Naruto skidded to a halt in front of Sakura.  The two of them
stared at each other for a moment.
        "What are you doing here?" they said in unison.
        Slowly walking up behind Naruto, Jiraiya chuckled.  "Totally
worth the hassle of making sure neither of you knew," he said
cheerfully.  "Tsunade says happy early birthday, by the way, Sakura-
chan."  Sakura's mouth moved for a moment, but no words came out.
Jiraiya laughed again.  "I'll tell her you said thank you."
        Sakura shook her head to clear it, noticing the three people she
didn't know who had arrived with Naruto and Jiraiya, a ninja in a Sand's
jounin uniform and two young people in nomad clothing.  "Who are your
friends?" she asked.
        "Oh, this is -"  Naruto was interrupted as Kurenai coughed.
        "Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura asked the jounin.
        The woman held up three papers.  "I need to submit my team for
the exams," she said.  Hinata suddenly turned bright red.
        Naruto's eyes widened, glancing between Chouji and Hinata, and
then back to Kurenai.  "You mean," he began disbelievingly.
        "From Team Eight that I lead: Hyuuga Hinata," Kurenai stated
formally.  "From Team Four that Funeno Daikoku leads, with his
permission: Akimichi Chouji.  From Jiraiya-sama's special command, with
his permission: Uzumaki Naruto.  I renominate those three for the
Chuunin Selection Exam under my name, Yuuhi Kurenai."
        "Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked.  The Sannin nodded once, and Naruto
let out a whoop of joy.  "All right!"
        Sakura realized that everyone was looking at her.  "In the
Hokage's name, I accept the nomination," Jiraiya stage-whispered.
        After a moment, Sakura repeated after him.
        "Then it's official," Kurenai said.
        "Glad to have you on the team," Chouji said with a smile.
        "Let's... let's do our best, Naruto-kun," Hinata offered.
        "Of course!" Naruto declared loudly.  "No one's going to beat
us!"
        Jiraiya laughed.  "I certainly hope not, after I've been
training you," he said.  "Embarrass me and I'll make sure you don't get
any ramen for a year."
        Naruto's reaction to that threat was predictable.

***********************************************************************

Author's Random Ramblings

1) And there's the first chapter!  It's a bit shorter than the average
chapter of One Hundred Days turned out, I believe, but then again it
only covers three of one hundred weeks instead of seven of one hundred
days.

2) I took advantage of declaring myself an AU to make Fuu younger than
she appears to be in canon.  Why?  Partly, because I could and the idea
appealed to me, and partly to distance my version from any revelations
about her (or possibly even him, from my understanding) that might show
up in canon in the near future.

3) Thanks to everyone on The Fanfiction Forum who commented on the
partial drafts of this chapter.

4) Next time, in One Hundred Weeks, Chapter Two: The Games Begin,
Naruto's team faces the challenges of the first two exams, and Sakura
gets mired deeper in the politics of the Sand Village...

Draft Started: April 20, 2011
Draft Finished: May 11, 2011
Draft Released: May 12, 2011
Final Released: