[FFML] [Naruto] Dead Garden - Chapter Five: Missions

[Aaron Nowack]

Previous chapters available at:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7173680/1/Dead_Garden

Dead Garden
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter Five: Missions

***********************************************************************
Disclaimer:  Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not
actually me.  The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who
apparently actually is me.  The subjective experience existing only in
your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless
you are me, in which case... oh, forget it.
***********************************************************************


        "I've heard," Uzumaki Naruto remarked as Team Seven waited on
the outskirts of Otafuku Gai's main market square, "that genin teams'
first C-rank missions always go wrong.  I wonder what's going to happen
to us."

        Haruno Sakura shivered once, impulsively glancing around the
square even though she knew she would hardly find enemy ninja hiding
behind a fruit-seller's stall.  "Don't say things like that, Naruto-
kun," she said.

        "I wouldn't say always," Hatake Kakashi said, glancing up from
his copy of the original Gutsy Shinobi book.

        Sakura, for all that she was ranked last in her class in the
academy, was far from stupid.  "You mean they do go wrong."  Her hand
unthinkingly checked the hilt of the kunai hidden near the slit of her
red dress.  Uchiha Sasuke, standing a short distance away from the rest
of his team, looked up, for the first time showing interest in the
conversation.

        "Any mission can go wrong," Kakashi said easily, flipping to the
next page.

        Naruto crossed his arms.  "I sense a 'but' there."

        Kakashi closed his book.  "But," he said.  Then he shrugged.

        Sasuke grunted in... was it annoyance or realization?  Sakura
couldn't tell.

        "Hey, bastard," Naruto said.  "What's that supposed to mean?
It's too early in the morning for me to translate for you."

        Sasuke shot his friend a glare, but with a roll of his dark eyes
he spoke.  "Kakashi-sensei means that genin's first C-ranks go wrong
more often than ordinary.  Idiot."

        Kakashi's mask wrinkled.  "Two points for Sasuke-kun," he said.
"Second question: why?"

        "Inexperience," Naruto answered swiftly.

        Kakashi raised a finger.  "One point for a half-answer, Naruto-
kun."

        If the inexperience of fresh genin teams was only half the
answer, there was only one thing the rest could be.  "Because the
missions we're given are riskier?" Sakura asked, disbelieving.

        Another finger was raised.  "One point for Sakura-chan.  The C-
ranks believed to have the highest risk of complications are given to
either the most experienced or the newest genin teams.  And the
preference is to give them to the new teams over the veteran ones.
Final question: why would that be?"  He lowered his fingers.

        Naruto frowned.  "The experienced teams can best handle
something going wrong."

        "No points for stating the obvious."

        Sakura thought about it for a moment.  "Because... because fresh
genin teams have a jounin teacher with them!" she stated, realization
dawning.

        Naruto blinked.  "Of course!  If the Leaf Village is going to
waste a jounin's time on a C-rank, it might as well be the ones where
we're worried something might go wrong."

        Kakashi nodded.  "Excellent work, Sakura-chan.  Two points."  He
paused.  "Final class evaluations."  He pointed at Naruto.  "With one
point, dead last."  The blond boy pouted, but his eyes stayed bright,
and followed Kakashi's finger eagerly to Sasuke.  "Middle of the road at
two points."  The Uchiha just snorted and looked away.  Kakashi turned
his attention to Sakura.  "And with three points, our number one
student."

        Sakura flushed, and Naruto grinned at her.  "Congratulations,
Sakura-chan."

        "Don't mock me," Sakura muttered.  She wasn't stupid, she knew
that, but she also knew her real class ranking was no less accurate for
that.

        Naruto winced.  "I wouldn't," he said, and Sakura let herself
believe him and ventured a faint smile.  Sasuke snorted again, and
Sakura slumped.

        "In accordance with these results," Kakashi said, "Sakura-chan,
you'll be second-in-command on this mission."

        Sakura blinked.  "What?" she asked, panic and terror suddenly
gnawing at her insides.

        Sasuke took a step toward their teacher.  "The Hell?" he
demanded.

        Kakashi's eye wandered over to him.  "Is there a problem,
Sasuke-kun?"

        Sasuke's face twisted into an expression Sakura didn't like, but
all he said was, "No, sir."

        "Good," Kakashi said.  "We've still got a little while before
the client arrives, so we can get some practice in.  I want us to sweep
this market for enemy ninja."  Naruto chuckled, and Kakashi inclined his
head at him.  "Overconfidence can get you killed.  Sasuke-kun wasn't
wrong to worry that your followers could be enemies on your last
mission."

        "Yes, sir," Naruto said.

        "Sakura-chan, how should we proceed?" Kakashi asked.

        Sakura swallowed and tried to remember her academy lessons.
"Half-squads of two," she said.  "Circle the market in opposite
directions."  A tiny part of her wanted to seize the opportunity to be
alone with Sasuke, but she knew that with his current mood that was a
poor idea.  "Sasuke-kun, would you go with..." Sakura trailed off for a
second.  She'd intended to place him with Naruto and herself with
Kakashi, balancing the teams by matching the weakest combatant with the
strongest, but that would also put the real commander and the notional
second-in-command on the same half-squad.  "Kakashi-sensei?" she
finished.  "Naruto-kun with me."

        Kakashi nodded.  "We'll do clockwise.  Sasuke-kun?"  The dark-
haired boy grunted, but the grunt seemed slightly less irritable that
Sakura had expected, and he followed their teacher.

        Naruto smiled at her.  "Ready?" he asked.

        Sakura nodded, and they started making their way counter-
clockwise around the market square, which was beginning to fill with
morning customers.

        "Don't worry about the bastard, Sakura-chan," Naruto said.
"I'll get him into line if Kakashi-sensei doesn't."

        Sakura looked at him.  "You think Kakashi-sensei really meant
that second-in-command stuff?"

        "He had you plan this, didn't he?" Naruto replied.  "Sure, it's
a lesson or a test or something like that too, but I think he meant it."

        Sakura didn't really care for that idea, but she knew it would
be futile to try and change their teacher's mind.  They paused to let a
woman herding a trio of children cross their path.  "Does he hate me?"
she found herself asking.

        "Sasuke?" Naruto said.  "Nah.  He probably hates that he came in
second to you in the pop quiz, though."

        The only ninja they found on their transit were their teammates
making the opposite circuit and a genin Nara kunoichi haggling with a
merchant over a bolt of silk cloth imported from Earth Country.  When
they met Kakashi and Sasuke again back where they'd started, the jounin
pronounced himself satisfied.

        "Let's review," he said, "since our client seems to be running
late.  Our mission is to escort a merchant and his goods to the Frost
Country, where we'll trade them off to foreign ninja who will escort
them the rest of the way to their final destination in Lightning
Country."

        "We know," Naruto griped.  "We went over all this the day before
yesterday."

        "And I asked you to study the countries we'd be visiting,"
Kakashi said.  "What can you tell the class about the Hot Springs
Country, Naruto-kun?"

        "Borders the Fire and Frost Countries," Naruto answered.
"Shockingly, famed for its natural hot springs.  Hidden village, also
named Hot Springs.  Allies of the Cloud, but limited in size and largely
demilitarized as part of the peace treaties following the recent war
with Cloud."

        "Very good," Kakashi said.  "Frost Country, Sasuke-kun?"

        The Uchiha didn't answer for a moment, then said, "Cloud allies.
The daimyo is also the jounin commander of their hidden village."

        Kakashi nodded easily.  "So, we'll be going into two non-allied
countries with hidden villages.  Sakura-chan, what are the standard
procedures?"

        "In peacetime," Sakura recited from memory, "we are to wear our
forehead protectors visibly at all times.  We inform the native ninja on
entering and leaving the country.  We do not stray from our declared
travel plans.  We do not engage the native ninja unless attacked first.
We abide by those laws of the country agreed to in the compacts signed
with those hidden villages."

        "Correct," Kakashi said.  "And now I believe someone wishes to
speak with us."

        Sakura followed her teacher's gaze to a young woman hovering a
few feet away.  Sakura judged her to be perhaps fifteen or sixteen years
old, her light brown hair kept up in a coiled braid.  Her pink, long-
sleeved shirt and dark trousers were sturdier looking than what most
civilians wore in the Leaf Village.  The woman bowed to Kakashi before
introducing herself.  "I am Araimi, daughter of Keikan."

        Kakashi returned the bow, but not as deeply.  "Hatake Kakashi,
jounin of the Leaf."

        "My father is regrettably delayed," the woman said.  "He wished
me to ask if you would prefer to await him with our carts at the Five
Blossoms Inn."

        "Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked.  "What do you think, as second-in-
command?"

        Sakura flushed, but she answered.  "The mission scroll said we
were to meet here," she said.  "And Araimi-san's name and description
weren't in it as contact information, only Keikan-san's."

        Kakashi nodded.  "Correct," he said.  "I'm afraid we must wait
here, young lady," he said.

        The woman didn't seem distraught, instead smiling broadly and
clapping her hands.  "That's what Papa said you should say," she said.
"He'll be ten more minutes."  Her reddish-brown eyes looked at something
over Sakura's shoulder.  "Excuse me," she said, and then she slipped
past the four ninja with enough grace that Sakura thought she'd have
done well in the academy's taijutsu classes.

        Sakura half-turned to follow the other girl, and watched as she
approached a fruit-seller and moments later returned with a bag of fresh
apples.  Araimi pulled one out and took a massive bite as she rejoined
the ninja and stood next to Sakura.  As if on cue, Naruto's stomach
rumbled.

        "Please tell me you ate breakfast, idiot," Sasuke said.

        Naruto laughed.  "Ah, I sort of overslept just a little?" he
said, drawing a weary sigh from Sasuke.  Naruto took a step toward the
two girls, his eyes glancing at the bag of apples.  "So, Araimi-chan,"
he began, smiling broadly.  Sakura chuckled despite herself.

        Araimi pulled out another apple and held it out to Naruto.
"Would you like one, ah..."

        "Uzumaki Naruto," he introduced himself, taking the apple.
"Thanks."

        A third apple appeared in the woman's hand.  "No apples for me,"
Kakashi said before she could offer.

        Araimi nodded, and then she held it out to Sakura.  "You are?"

        "Haruno Sakura," she answered, and reflexively she watched for
the flicker of recognition and wariness to enter Araimi's eyes.  Nothing
happened, and Sakura realized that there was no reason for this civilian
girl to have ever heard of her.  Gingerly she took the apple, even
though she wasn't hungry, since it would be rude to refuse.  "Thank
you," Sakura said, before biting into it.

        Araimi glanced at Sasuke, her hand hovering over the opening of
her bag of fruit, but the boy didn't say anything.

        Araimi shrugged, then whispered to Sakura.  "I guess I'll just
call him Grumpy."

        Sakura giggled, then, mortified, glanced at Sasuke.  The boy
rolled his eyes, but Sakura thought she detected a hint of a smirk
before he turned away, scanning the growing market crowd for their
client.  "That's Sasuke-kun," she told Araimi.

        The brown-haired girl shrugged, taking another bite of her
apple.  "Grumpy-kun," she declared.  "I'm glad to see a kunoichi," she
said after another bite.  "The last few times Papa hired ninja, all we
got were boring old guys who wouldn't talk to me."  Another bite.  "Like
the apple?"

        Sakura realized she hadn't been eating, so she took a couple
bites herself.  "It's good," she said.  "Thank you again."  Naruto had
finished devouring his apple and was hunting for a trash can to throw
the core into.  Sakura looked up at Kakashi, and saw her teacher
standing at ease, his eye only occasionally glancing about to keep track
of his students.  He winked at her when he noticed her attention.
Sakura guessed that was an instruction to keep talking to the client's
daughter.  "You're interested in ninja, Araimi-san?"

        "Isn't everyone?" Araimi asked.  She finished her own apple,
even eating the core.  "And Araimi-chan is fine," she continued,
spitting out a mouthful of apple seeds.

        Sakura took another bite of her apple and swallowed before
replying.  "Then you can call me Sakura-chan," she said, trying to keep
her nervousness at the easy familiarity from showing.

        Araimi grinned.  "I think we'll get along just fine, Sakura-
chan," she said.

        A tall man with gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard emerged
from the crowd and drew near.  "I see you found our ninja, Araimi," he
said.

        The girl nodded.  "Yes, Papa, and they passed your little test."

        The man nodded back, then bowed to Kakashi.  "I am Keikan," he
said.  He held out a sheath of papers.  "My client registration, and the
export license as your village required for confirmation."

         Kakashi introduced himself again and flipped through the
papers.  "Seems to be in order," he said, handing the papers back.
"We're at your service, Keikan-san.  Lead the way."

        The man asked the genin for their names, and this time Sasuke
answered as well.  He then led them through Otafuku Gai to an inn on the
edge of town, where he and his daughter retrieved a pair of one-horse
carts, the beds covered with cloth.  "I assume you will wish to inspect
the cargo, Hatake-san?" Keikan asked.

        "It's usually wise," Kakashi said, "in order to avoid potential
misunderstandings."

        Keikan lifted the cloth covering of the first cart, revealing
rows of neatly stacked wooden boxes.  Kakashi picked one up, and
gestured for his team to drawn near.  Sakura's eyes glanced over the
engravings on the box's cover, seeing that it was a box of cigars.
Kakashi, however, drew their attention to the two slips of paper glued
over the side of the box, so it couldn't be opened without breaking
them.  "This one," he said, pointing at the first, red one, "indicates
that the Fire Country has collected taxes on the cigars' production."
He point at the other paper, which was gold.  "This indicates that the
taxes for export to Lightning Country are already paid."

        "It saves time," Keikan said, "as compared to paying at the
border."  Kakashi nodded, and set the box back into the cart.  Keikan
replaced the cloth covering, then moved over to the second cart and
uncovered it.  This one contained a few more boxes of cigars, but mainly
held what looked to Sakura to be traveling provisions.

        Kakashi inspected the seals on another cigar box, then nodded.
"Everything looks to be in order, Keikan-san," he said.

        The man nodded and returned to the first cart, sitting up behind
the horse.  "Araimi," he called.

        The girl jumped up into the same position on the second cart.
"Ready, Papa."

        Keikan nodded.  "Pushing the horses is counter-productive," he
told Kakashi, "so I keep an easy pace.  You shouldn't have difficulty
keeping up on foot, but there's space to ride also."

        "Sakura-chan," Kakashi said.  "Ride with Araimi-san.  Sasuke-
kun, with Keikan-san.  Naruto-kun, walk along the left flank a little
behind the carts; I'll take the right and ahead.  We'll switch positions
every two hours."

        As soon as everyone was in position, Keikan started off, and
Araimi made a soft noise and with a flick of the reins made her horse
follow.  She grinned at Sakura.  "Your teacher's nice," she said.

        "I guess so," Sakura replied.

        Araimi's smile widened.  "So, Sakura-chan, what's it like being
a kunoichi?"

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


        Early in the evening on the day Naruto's team left on their
first C-rank, the Hidden Village of the Leaf's Third Hokage called on
his mother at her home.  Ordinarily, Kushina would not have requested
such a visit; both of them knew that he would never refuse such a
request from her, but Kushina respected the demands on the Hokage's time
too much to abuse the privilege.  But with Naruto out of the village,
she would have had to ask for the Hokage to send someone to take her to
the Hokage Tower.

        Kushina knew it was foolish pride, but she hated to have to ask
such a thing, even as much as she hated the bitter jealousy she couldn't
help feeling when she watched Naruto train.  Twelve years was a long
time - it was the whole of her son's young life - but it was not long
enough for Kushina to accept being a cripple.  In her darkest, most
shameful moments, she still sometimes wished she had died instead, even
with everything she had to live for.  Minato would be disgusted, but no
more than she was with herself whenever she regained her senses.

        Kushina shook herself from her foul musings and opened her front
door to admit the Hokage.  She didn't spy any guards watching, and it
was possible that there were none.  The Uzumaki home was in the heart of
the Leaf Village, and even in his old age the God of Shinobi was more
than capable of defending himself.  "Thank you for coming, Hokage-sama,"
Kushina murmured as she wheeled herself out of the man's way.

        The Hokage stepped inside and shut the door behind him.  "Any
time."

        "This way," Kushina said, leading him toward her dining room
table.  "I've put tea on; it will be just a moment."

        The Hokage sat down patiently as Kushina made her way to her
kitchen.  Like the rest of her home, it was designed to account for her
disability, and she didn't need any help to make tea, at least.  She
busied herself for a few minutes finishing it, letting the familiar task
wash over her and keep her mind off of more serious matters.

        When she returned to the dining room, her guest had taken off
his outer robe and hat, hanging them on the back of his chair.  "Thank
you, Kushina-chan," Sarutobi Hiruzen told his friend as he accepted a
cup of tea.

        "It's a new blend," Kushina commented, "domestically produced.
I think it might rival Tea Country's."

        Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, taking a few sips.  "It just
might."

        Kushina drank her own tea, the warm liquid soothing her raw
throat.  "Any excitement today?"

        Hiruzen shrugged.  "I assigned Asuma's team their first C-rank
this afternoon, checking the supply caches along the southern coast.
They'll leave tomorrow, which will mean all three rookie teams are out.
Iruka-sensei is practically biting his nails, but maybe he'll calm down
once Yuuhi-san's team makes it back later this week."

        Kushina nodded.  "I don't think our teacher was any calmer back
in my day, not that we genin cared to notice."

        "Koharu was the same way with her kids," Hiruzen said.  "Some
things should never change."  He took another sip, smiling over the rim
of his cup.  "So what did you want to talk about, Kushina-chan?"

        Kushina decided not to beat around the bush.  "I told Naruto the
truth about his father."

        Hiruzen set his cup down.  "I see."  He was silent for a moment,
and then the Hokage spoke.  "I suppose we did just agree to wait at
least until he was a genin.  I might have waited a bit longer, but he's
a mature young man.  He won't go boasting of it, I'm sure."  The man
took another sip.  "How did he take the news?" Hiruzen asked.

        Kushina knew that her eyes were watering, and she didn't care.
"I wish I'd told him sooner," she said.  "It was wrong to deny him his
father for so long."

        "There's more reason than legal technicalities that we didn't
call him Namikaze Naruto, Kushina-chan," Hiruzen said.

        "I know," Kushina said.

        For a few minutes they chatted on inconsequential matters, until
they had finished their tea.  "It's been a while since we've had a
chance to talk in private," Hiruzen said, setting down his empty cup and
waving off Kushina before she could refill it.

        "Not since Naruto's graduation," Kushina said, her voice
cracking.

        Hiruzen's eyes stared into Kushina's.  "I know you too well,
Kushina-chan.  Go ahead."

        "What the hell were you thinking, Hiruzen?" Kushina shouted.
Then she doubled over, coughing.  Hiruzen waited for her to recover.
"Why did you put Haruno Sakura on Naruto's team?"

        "I hardly think," Hiruzen said, "that you would be one to object
to the demon girl being teammates with your son."

        "You know that's not it," Kushina said.  "Don't try to get out
of this with a joke."  With a shaking hand, she poured herself more tea,
then drank it as quickly as its heat allowed.  "I promised Takeru,"
Kushina said, "that I'd leave the girl alone.  You're making it
difficult."

        "That was," Hiruzen said, "as I'm sure you know, Kushina-chan,
entirely the point."

        "Kakashi-kun is starting to suspect," Kushina pressed, "that he
doesn't know all there is to know about what happened when Naruto was
born."

        "Entirely your own fault," Hiruzen said, "since you insisted on
telling the children that you killed Haruno Amaya."

        Kushina grimaced.  "It's my fault she's dead," she said.

        "You didn't kill her," Hiruzen stated calmly.  "You know that."

        "It wasn't my hand that held the kunai," Kushina said.  "That's
all."  Her hands clenched, so hard she feared her nails might draw
blood.  "Or would you prefer Takeru and I tell them the truth, Hiruzen?"
she asked bitterly.  "It's not just Haruno Amaya's blood on my hands,
old man, and you know it.

        "Every man, woman, and child who died on that day," Kushina
stated.  "Would you like me to explain that they all died because of me,
because I selfishly wanted a child of my own?  Should I tell Naruto that
that his own birth was the instrument of his father's death?  Should I
tell that poor girl that every burden she carries, every ounce of hatred
she struggles under, should be mine?  Do you want her to blame Naruto?"

        Kushina began to cough, and found she couldn't stop, doubling
over in her wheelchair.  Hiruzen poured her more tea, and Kushina forced
herself to drink between heaving coughs.  Slowly, she regained control.
"What were you hoping to accomplish, throwing the girl and me together?"

        Hiruzen sighed.  "Do you think I am blind, Kushina-chan?" he
asked, but he didn't wait for an answer.  "Do you think that it doesn't
hurt, to see you tear yourself to pieces watching Sakura-kun from a
distance?  Do you think that I do not feel guilt when I look at her,
that I do not wish to do whatever poor things I can to ease her
burdens?"

        "She hates me, as well she should.  How could making her meet me
-" Kushina began.

        "Kushina-chan," Hiruzen said.  "How can you even ask that
question?  Out of all the people in this world, only you can truly
understand what burden she carries."

        "I can only begin to understand," Kushina said.  "I didn't grow
up with this whole village knowing what I was," she spat out bitterly.
"She has."

        "Do you think I don't regret that?" Hiruzen said sadly.  "You
know there were too many witnesses; word spread too rapidly for anything
else.  All I could do was hope that the village would choose to honor
Minato's final wishes.

        "But even if you can only begin to understand, at least you can
begin.  I can't do that," Hiruzen continued.  "Her father can't do that;
Kakashi-kun can't do that.  Only you, Kushina-chan."

        Kushina looked away.  "I promised," she said tightly.  "I don't
go back on my word."  She almost had, once before, when Naruto had first
met Sakura, overjoyed that the hatred his peers had learned from their
parents hadn't infected him.  She wouldn't again.

        Hiruzen closed his eyes briefly.  "You asked me what I was
hoping to accomplish, forcing you to meet Sakura-kun, didn't you,
Kushina-chan?  I hoped to ease your own pain, by giving you a chance to
see that she was not as ill-treated as you might fear.  I hoped to
inspire you to seek reconciliation with her father.  I hoped Haruno
Takeru might, for the sake of his daughter, set aside some of his
bitterness and let you aid her.

        "Barring that, I hoped you would have the human decency to not
see foolish promises as more important than the girl in front of you."

        Kushina stared at the familiar wooden grain of the tabletop.
"Those promises... might be the only reason I'm alive today," she
admitted shamefully.  "Don't call them foolish so lightly."

        "Kushina-chan?" Hiruzen asked quietly.

        Kushina took a deep, shuddering breath, and then she began to
speak again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------


        When Uzumaki Kushina swam back into consciousness this time, the
first face she saw was Tsunade's apprentice.  "Kushina-sama?" the dark-
haired girl called softly, leaning over her.

        It was all Kushina could do to twitch her hand.  She couldn't
feel anything below her waist.  Above it, all she felt was pain.  She
felt cold and burning inside alternately, a cavernous, painful emptiness
that would never fill.  Her thoughts came slowly, struggling against the
clouds of pain and drugs.  "Shizune," she croaked out slowly in a rough,
cracking voice she didn't recognize.

        "You asked," the girl started, then faltered.  "You asked to be
woken up, when Haruno-san was ready to speak with you."

        Kushina shuddered, as much as she could in her casts and
bandages, and she turned her head to find her friend's husband at her
other side, staring at her with dead green eyes.  "Takeru-kun," Kushina
said.

        "The... the Third, Hokage-sama... he told me... is it true,
Kushina-chan?"  He grabbed one of her hands, but Kushina couldn't feel
the pressure through the cast.  "Tell me it's a lie."

        "Truth," Kushina whispered.  "All... truth."

        "Then you are... were... and all this... Amaya's death...
everything..."

        "My fault," Kushina said.  "S... sorry."

        Takeru released her hand, shaking with barely contained emotion.
"Damn it, Kushina-chan.  Don't you dare imagine 'sorry' is enough.  Damn
you."

        "Haruno-san!" Shizune protested.  The girl was too kind by half.

        Kushina tried to wave her off, but only managed to raise her
hand a little.  "Damn... me," she agreed.  If anyone deserved damnation,
it was her.

        "Do you know, Kushina-chan?" Takeru asked.  "What Hoka... what
Minato did to Sakura-chan?  Did to my daughter?"

        Kushina couldn't speak, her aching throat choked with tears.
She managed to move her head in a hesitant nod.  Another victim of her
selfish desires, another innocent she had wronged.

        "They tried to take her away from me!"  Kushina's eyes widened
in shock.  "A 'vital village military asset,'" Takeru snapped out.
"That's what they called Sakura-chan."

        "Sa... Saru... tobi," Kushina choked out.

        "Hokage-sama stopped them," Takeru said.  "But... you... you and
Minato... it's your fault anyone even tried.  Because of what you did to
her, they tried to steal my daughter from me."

        Kushina couldn't bear to look at him anymore.  "I..." she
started, but she couldn't get out what she wanted to say.  She knew that
she owed more than could ever be repaid.  "An... anything... I can..."
She struggled to get out each word, a racking cough forcing itself from
her lungs.

        "Kushina-sama!" Shizune shouted.  "Haruno-san, she's too weak.
You can't -"

        "Don't tell me what I can't do, girl!" the man roared.  "She
killed my wife!  She almost stole my daughter from me!"

        "Anything," Kushina said again, desperately searching for the
strength to speak.  "Anything you... want.  What... ever..."  Whatever
she could give.  Whatever pathetic restitution she could make before
Tsunade let her die.

        "What I want?" Takeru asked quietly.  "What I want is to walk
out of that door and see Amaya.  What I want is for that damned seal to
not be over my daughter's stomach.  What I want you can't give me."

        The man shuddered once.  "And I don't want anything you can
give.  Just... leave Sakura alone.  Let my daughter live a normal life."

        "I... promise," Kushina said.  It would be easy enough.
"Dead... soon enough."  Kushina looked away from the man.

        "Kushina-sama," Shizune breathed.

        Takeru grabbed her head, forcing her to look back at him.  "Damn
you, Kushina," he growled.  "Don't you dare die.  You don't deserve it.
You should have to see what you've done."

        Takeru released her suddenly, his next words soft.  "And don't
you dare leave Naruto an orphan, Kushina-chan."

        "Naruto," Kushina croaked, tears filling her eyes.  Her son.
Minato's son.  How could...  what kind of mother was she, to so eagerly
await death?

        "Live, damn you, Kushina," Takeru whispered.  "Promise me that
too."

        Kushina swallowed painfully.  "I promise."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------



        Hiruzen stared at Kushina in undisguised shock.  "You...
Kushina-chan, you never told me..."

        "Do you think I'm proud that I nearly let myself die?" Kushina
said.  "If I didn't already hate myself, that would be enough reason,
that I would have let Naruto grow up without a mother or a father."  She
looked away.  "It's another debt I owe Takeru that I can never repay."

        There was silence for a minute.  "Be that as it may," Hiruzen
said gently, "I ask that you consider something."

        "What?"

        "You hated Senju Mito-dono," Hiruzen said.  "I remember you
swearing you would kill her for picking you and taking you away from
your parents, your friends, and your village.  It took her a year of
trying before you would say a civil word to her.

        "But, now, would you rather have never met her, Kushina-chan?"

        There was silence again, and Hiruzen stood, putting his robe and
hat back on.  "Thank you for the tea, Kushina-chan," the Hokage said.
"Don't trouble yourself on my account; I can let myself out."

        He did so, and Kushina, lost in thought, didn't leave her dinner
table until she tired and had to go to bed.

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


        The first two days of Team Seven's first C-rank mission went
smoothly.  Keikan took them northeast through rich farmland along well-
traveled routes, and they passed more than one patrol of guardsmen
employed by the local lesser daimyo.  Although Kakashi warned them to
keep their guard up, Sakura found it hard to stay on edge.  It seemed
incredibly unlikely that any trouble would occur, although part of
Sakura recognized that if there was no chance of trouble a merchant like
Keikan would never have spent the money to hire a ninja escort.

        On the third day, after a rainy night, they left the farmland
behind and started their long ascent into the wooded hills and mountains
that stretched between the Fire and Lightning Countries.  The road grew
narrower, there were no more patrols, and they passed only a handful of
travelers.  In the geography classes in the academy, Sakura had learned
that these borderlands were only lightly settled.  In centuries past,
before the era of the hidden villages, raiding ninja clans from the
heights had driven settlers away; the not infrequent wars with the Cloud
alliance since had much the same effect.

        When it was her turn to ride beside Keikan, Sakura asked the
merchant why there was so little traffic along the road, if it was a
major route to the Lightning Country.

        "There's several reasons, Haruno-kun," Keikan said.  "Tariffs
with the countries in the Lightning Country's alliance are high, so it
only makes sense to move goods that are very valuable."

        "Like the cigars?" Sakura asked.  She'd never really looked at
them, but she didn't think they were that expensive.

        "We grow a lot of tobacco in this country," Keikan answered the
unspoken question, "so it's much cheaper.  Cigars will fetch at least
five times what they cost here anywhere in the north; these will go for
more since they're a quality brand.

        "The other main reason there's not a lot of traffic is that it's
a hard road through the mountains, particularly with winter coming.  If
there's a early storm, we could get stuck somewhere in Hot Springs or
Frost Country until spring.  Most trade during these months is by ship."

        "So why," Sakura began.

        "There's a company, Gatou Corporation, that's gained control of
most shipping in this region," Keikan answered.

        "And they're driving up the prices," Sakura said, puzzling
through the rest quickly.  "But you think that by moving the cigars by
land and not having to pay Gatou Corporation, you can undercut your
competitors who did move cigars by ship, even after what you're paying
us."

        Keikan smiled at her.  "You've got a good head on your
shoulders, Haruno-kun, maybe better than my daughter," he said, loud
enough that Araimi could hear from the cart behind them.

        "Papa!" the other girl protested.

        Sakura glanced back apologetically, but Araimi just grinned.
Seated beside her, Kakashi winked at Sakura over the cover of his book.
He was on The Gutsy Shinobi Returns, having loaned the original to
Araimi.

        Walking alongside Keikan's cart, Naruto laughed.  "We won't
trade her, Keikan-san."

        The merchant stroked his gray beard.  "What if I throw in first
refusal on the shipment of chakra-conducting kunai from Earth Country
I'll be bringing in next year?" he asked lightly.  "And I'll pay for
Araimi's apple budget for the first three months."

        Naruto looked thoughtful, and Sakura flushed.  "No selling your
teammates, Naruto-kun," Kakashi called out.

        "Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" the blond boy replied in a singsong
voice; Sakura imagined she heard Sasuke snort in amusement from the rear
of the small caravan.

        "Time for us to rotate," Kakashi ordered, and Sakura switched
places with Naruto.  She moved a bit more ahead than Naruto had been,
fearing that Keikan's conversation with the boy would continue to be
embarrassing.

        In the lead, she was the first to spot the stuck wagon, and she
immediately retreated and signaled for a halt.  "What is it, Sakura-
chan?" Naruto asked.

        "Covered wagon ahead about a hundred and fifty yards, around the
bend." Sakura said as she dropped back to them.  "It looks like it is
stuck in some mud."

        "How many people?" Kakashi asked quietly, walking up to Sakura
from his position in the rear.

        "I only saw one," Sakura said.  "He was trying to get the wagon
unstuck."

        "Do you think it is a trap, Hatake-san?" Keikan asked.

        "Could be," Kakashi said easily.  "What do you think we should
do, Sakura-chan?"

        Sakura winced at the reminder that she was supposed to be his
second-in-command on this mission.  "Umm... we can't really avoid him,"
Sakura said.  "Maybe... someone should covertly move ahead, check for
ambushers, while the rest of us approach and offer assistance?"

        "Just as I would suggest," Kakashi said gently.  "Naruto-kun,
you'll be with me in the trees.  Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan, you'll stay
with Keikan-san."

        "Yes, sir," the genin chorused, and a few moments later the
carts were on their way once more.

        There was no signal from Kakashi or Naruto, so they stopped
again when they reached the stuck wagon.  Sakura nervously glanced at
the cloth covering, wondering if it concealed a pack of bandits, but
when the swearing man struggling with the wagon looked up, Keikan
smiled.

        "Noboru, old friend," Keikan said cheerfully.  "It's been a
while, hasn't it?"

        The other man's face was hard, and his lips pressed together
tightly.  "Keikan," he returned.  Sakura glanced back at Araimi, and saw
that the other girl's face was carefully smooth.

        "Would you like some help?" Keikan asked Noboru.  "I have some
ninja with me; we should be able to get you out in a few minutes."

        "I can hardly say no," the other man said.

        Sakura and Sasuke moved up to help, and Keikan's estimate proved
accurate; with all five people pushing they were able to free the stuck
wheel without having to take the time to harness Keikan's horses to
Noboru's wagon.  Unfortunately, the wheel itself was badly damaged in
the process, and Noboru cursed freely when he saw it.

        "Bad luck, friend," Keikan said.  "Do you have everything you
need to repair it?"

        Noboru nodded.  "Thank you for the assistance," he said
begrudgingly.

        "Shouldn't take you more than a few hours to fix it," Keikan
said.  He glanced at the sky.  "Although I guess it will be night by
then," he allowed.

        Sakura resisted the urge to lick her lips.  She wasn't sure what
was going on, but Keikan was clearly baiting the other man.  One of her
hands moved slightly toward the hilt of a kunai.  She glanced at Sasuke,
and found him similarly alert.  The dark-haired boy nodded slightly.

        Noboru's lips pressed together even tighter for a moment before
he answered.  "You don't want to be stuck out on the road for the night
next to me... friend."

        Keikan nodded, returning to his own cart and gesturing for
Araimi to follow suit.  "It's best we head on our way.  Good trading,
Noboru."

        "Good trading," Noboru returned, and they left him behind.

        Once they were out of sight, Kakashi and Naruto returned, and
Kakashi jumped up onto Keikan's cart and seated himself beside their
client.  "Care to explain, Keikan-san?" Sakura heard him ask as she
returned to her lead position.

        The merchant chucked.  "Oh, Noboru?  He's... well, you
understand that when there are winners in the game of commerce, there
are often also losers, yes?  Years back, around the same time I met
Araimi's mother actually, we played against each other in some currency
speculation.  I won; he lost.  He's imagined we are rivals ever since."

        "I see," Kakashi murmured.

        "I didn't expect to run into him," Keikan said, "if that's what
you're asking."

        "Has this rivalry of yours ever turned violent?" Kakashi
pressed.

        "A few times," Keikan admitted, "but not for years, and never
with ninja involvement."  He shrugged.  "It's part of business.  He
stays within the lines most of the time."

        That comment left Sakura nervous, but the rest of the day's
travel passed without incident, and they camped early in an unmanned
roadside way station.  Sakura was drawing water from a deep well dug
behind it when a familiar voice called out, "We're coming in; don't
throw anything at us!"

        "Kiba!" Sakura heard Naruto shout out, and when Sakura came back
into the way station, the jounin Yuuhi Kurenai and her student Inuzuka
Kiba had joined them.  The jounin kunoichi stood by the front door,
discussing something quietly with Kakashi; Kiba had wandered over to the
open hearth, where Naruto was working on lighting a fire.  Sasuke stood
by the wall near them, and he nodded as Sakura drew near.

        Kiba looked up.  "Oh, Haruno," he said.  "Almost forgot you
graduated."

        Naruto shot a glare at the other boy.  "Don't," he hissed, not
quite quietly enough for Sakura to miss.  Sakura felt her cheeks turn
red with embarrassment.

        That was when Hinata came in through the front door.  "Naruto!"
she called out cheerfully, drawing a wave from the blond boy, as Aburame
Shino followed her inside.  "Sasuke-kun," Hinata greeted Sakura's other
teammate, who gave her a slight nod.  Her eyes met Sakura's, and the
pink-haired girl looked away.  "Sakura-san," she said, her voice a
little cold.

        Naruto coughed loudly, and Hinata looked at him, then sighed,
turning back to Sakura and giving her an only slightly warmer, "Hello."

        Sakura stammered out a reply, but fortunately for the next
little while everyone busied themselves preparing a large dinner, with
the newcomers pitching in some of their own provisions, and it wasn't
until everyone was seated around the fire eating that conversation
really continued.

        "So, what have you all been up to?" Naruto asked the other team.

        Seated beside him, Hinata smiled.  "Investigating some bandit
encampments that were cleaned out last year," the silver-eyed kunoichi
answered.  "We're on our way back now."

        "Did you find anything?" Keikan asked worriedly.

        "Not a thing," Kiba answered.  "Emptier than Akamaru leaves his
food bowl."  The small white puppy looked up from its own meal and made
a happy sounding bark.  Kiba smiled and barked back at his partner.

        "There were a few signs," Kurenai said, "that someone had come
back after the last teams went through, but that was half a year ago.  I
wouldn't expect bandit trouble, at least not on this side of the
border."

        Kakashi nodded in gratitude to the other jounin.  "Glad to hear
it," he said.

        "Disappointing is what it was," Kiba complained.  "I wanted some
action."

        "Kiba-kun," Hinata chided.

        "Sorry, Hinata-hime," the boy replied.  Kurenai let out a quiet
laugh.  The other member of the team, the silent Shino, adjusted his
dark glasses, but almost all of his attention remained on his food.

        Sakura ignored most of the rest of the conversation, which
mainly consisted of Naruto trading comparisons of their training with
Kiba and Hinata.  Araimi, sitting beside Sakura, was listening quietly,
clearly fascinated, and the two jounin just seemed amused.

        It was when the meal was just about finished when Kiba made his
proposal.  "Oy, Naruto," he said.  "You want to spar?"

        Naruto laughed.  "I already know I can kick your ass, dog-
breath!"

        "Now it's on," Kiba said, standing and cracking his knuckles.
"Cheer for me, all right, Hinata-hime?"

        "No promises," Hinata answered, smiling.

        Kiba placed a hand over his heart in mock pain, grinning.
Sakura glanced at their teachers, wondering if the jounin would
interrupt the incipient fight.  "It's not a bad idea," Kurenai said to
Kakashi instead.  "Our teams have mainly been training against
themselves since graduation."  Sasuke made a noise that Sakura knew
meant he was interested.

        Sakura's teacher nodded.  "All right," he said.  "Let's take it
out back and make it formal then."  His eye wandered over the genin.
"Naruto-kun will be sparring against Kiba-kun, it seems," he said.

        Kiba grinned.  "Damn straight."

        "I will fight Uchiha-kun," Shino said suddenly.  Sakura started
at the unexpected voice.  "Why?" the quiet ninja continued.  "Because I
wish to test myself."

        Sasuke nodded, accepting the challenge.

        Hinata looked over at Sakura.  "I guess that leaves you and me,
Sakura-san," she stated flatly.  Sakura swallowed nervously.  Her fear
must have showed, because Hinata sighed.  "Academy rules.  I'm not going
to use Gentle Fist on you," she said disgustedly.  "I'm not a bully."

        Sakura looked down in embarrassment.  "All right," she said
quietly.

        "Academy rules are a good idea for everyone," Kakashi announced.
"My team is still on a mission."

        "What are academy rules, Sakura-chan?" Araimi asked in an
undertone.

        Glad for the distraction, Sakura answered quickly.  "No weapons,
no strikes with intent to cause serious injury, no ninjutsu other than
the basic three."  At Araimi's blank look, Sakura added, "Replication,
replacement, and transformation."  Not that the last was much use in a
one-on-one spar.

        A few minutes later, everyone gathered out behind the way
station around a circle Kakashi had drawn in the dirt.  "Shino-kun and
Sasuke-kun first," Kurenai announced, drawing a grumble from Kiba that
was quickly hushed by Hinata.  Naruto's own grumble was only met with a
roll of Sasuke's eyes.

        The match was quick, as Sasuke demonstrated that his ranking as
top in the class in taijutsu had not been a fluke by pinning Shino after
less than a minute of fighting.  Neither used any ninjutsu.  The Aburame
didn't seem especially disappointed though, nodding respectfully to his
opponent and conceding the match.

        "Sakura-kun and Hinata-kun," Kurenai announced next.  Sakura
took a moment to steel herself, then stood and joined Hinata in the
circle.  Sakura licked her lips as she studied her opponent.  They might
both be genin kunoichi, and they both might wear their hair long and
unbound, but that was where the similarities between Hinata and her
ended, Sakura thought.

        Sakura had been dead last in the academy.  Hinata had been the
third-ranked kunoichi, but Sakura was certain that the only reason Ino
and Ami had placed ahead of her was Hinata's disinterest in the
competition in general and in the academy's taijutsu classes in
particular.  Even in those classes, though, Hinata had been well ahead
of her.

        It wasn't just in the ninja arts that Hinata beat her.  It was a
stupid thing to worry about at the moment, but Sakura knew that her own
looks - with her too-wide forehead and unusual hair color - were
charitably described as unique.  Hinata, on the other hand, was
classically beautiful, even making the Hyuuga's strange eyes look
attractive, and the lavender shirt and dark pants she wore showed off
just enough curves to demonstrate that she was more developed without
being even slightly immodest.

        "Begin," Kurenai commanded, and Sakura shook herself from her
musings as Hinata charged.

        The Hyuuga heiress's hands flicked through seals, a trio of
replications splitting from her form.  Sakura had just enough time to
glance down and check their shadows, letting her barely block the real
Hinata's strike.

        The replications vanished in puffs of smoke, and Sakura
countered.  Hinata leaned out of the way of her punch, then tried to
grab Sakura's arm and pull her into a throw.  Sakura managed to slip
loose of her opponent's grasp and swept into a low kick.

        Hinata danced out of the way.  "You've gotten better, Sakura-
san," she said, taking another step back.

        "I have?" Sakura asked.

        On the sidelines, Sakura saw Kakashi look up from his book out
of the corner of her eye.  "I'd be a poor teacher if you hadn't," he
commented.

        "You barely teach us any taijutsu!" Naruto complained.  "All you
do is give a couple tips, we do most of our sparring on our own, while
we're... waiting... for you..." Naruto trailed off, and Kakashi laughed.

        Hinata smiled briefly, and impulsively Sakura took advantage of
the moment of distraction, summoning a replication of her own and
closing with Hinata behind it.  The other girl disrupted the replication
with an open-palm strike, and Sakura attacked her other side.

        Hinata blocked Sakura's first punch, caught the next, and
countered, hitting Sakura in stomach.  Sakura broke free and stumbled
back, gasping for breath, and Hinata didn't press the attack.  A brief
moment of indecision passed on the Hyuuga girl's face, but then she
said, "That wasn't bad, but it was a little too obvious, Sakura-san.
With only one replication, try something like this instead."

        With those words, Hinata advanced.  Moments away from Sakura,
she created a replication, almost on top of herself, and the two Hinata
struck out in opposite directions.  Sakura dodged backwards, not able to
determine which was the real blow.

        Hinata had anticipated this response, the replication turning to
smoke even as she pressed her attack, forcing Sakura further back.
Unable to gain distance, Sakura tried counter-attacking.  Hinata went
for a throw again, and this time Sakura wasn't able to escape.

        Sakura landed well, rolling to her feet, but but the movement
took her out of the circle.  She stood as Hinata bowed shallowly to her.
After a moment, Sakura returned the bow.

        "That leaves Kiba-kun and Naruto-kun," Kurenai said.  The boys
eagerly raced into circle, and Sakura went back to her seat.

        Next to her, Araimi asked, "How do those... replications work,
Sakura-chan?"

        "Umm..." Sakura said, wondering how much theory to get into.
"They're a ninjutsu that creates a thin chakra shell in the shape of
your own image."

        "They have no physical substance," Hinata said as she -
surprisingly - seated herself on Sakura's other side.  In the circle,
Naruto and Kiba's spar started to degenerate into a rough wrestling
match.

        "As soon as they touch anything, the chakra shell disrupts and
the replication is destroyed," Sakura finished.

        "Oh," Araimi said.

        Sakura glanced at Hinata.  "Good... good match, Hinata-san," she
said.

        The other kunoichi nodded.  "You are getting better," she said.
There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Hinata continued,
"Naruto says that your father had a good reason for telling you to stay
away from him."

        Sakura looked away.  She really did not want to dwell on that
topic.  "We're friends now," she said.  She hoped.

        "And if your father says you can't be?" Hinata asked.

        Beside Sakura, Araimi shifted uncomfortably.  "I'm going to go
check on the horses," she said, leaping to her feet and leaving the two
kunoichi alone.

        Sakura stared at the ground.  "I don't know," she said.  "I...
really hope he doesn't."

        Hinata made an annoyed noise.  "My father forbid me to be
friends with you," she commented, "when we first met."

        Sakura swallowed.  "Oh."  If she had defied her father to make
those first overtures alongside Naruto, then... no wonder the other girl
had taken a disliking to her.  "I'm... I'm sure he had a good reason
also," Sakura said.  He did, but Sakura couldn't tell the other girl
what it was.

        Hinata looked at Sakura for a long moment.  "Don't make excuses
for him," she said, sounding annoyed.  "He's not the reason we're not
friends."

        "I know," Sakura said.

        "For whatever reason, Naruto seems to like you despite
everything," Hinata said.  "So, for his sake, truce?"

        Sakura had never really thought of the two of them as fighting,
just ignoring each other, but she wasn't going to say no.  "Okay."

        "Good."  Hinata glanced up at the ongoing fight.  "Once those
two finish their roughhousing, if you want we can work on your taijutsu
before we settle in for the night."

        "Thank you," Sakura said.  "I'd like that."

        Hinata, surprisingly, smiled.  "I hope you remember you said
that if we're both still sore tomorrow morning."

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


        The missing ninja waited in the trees for his prey to draw near,
one hand on the hilt of his massive sword.  He had observed them twice
before since their arrival in the Wave Country earlier this morning; one
did not survive for long as a missing ninja by jumping into fights
without preparation.

        The only real challenge should be the squad leader, at least a
chuunin by her armored jacket and a member of the Leaf's Inuzuka Clan by
her tattoos and canine companions.  He doubted she was a jounin; the
rest of the team was too old to need a teacher along.  Still, any
Inuzuka honored with three dogs was no one to discount entirely, no
matter that his bingo book didn't list her yet.  He knew what to expect
from her clan, though.  He'd killed enough of them.

        The genin ninja, he could only guess at, but they were in the
end only genin.  The youngest, the boy, didn't seem like much of a
fighter.  A half-heard bit of conversation between him and the squad
leader marked him as a medic.  The Leaf's standard training told medics
to stay out of fighting; he could be saved for last.

        The other kunoichi carried a sword of her own, though her
wakizashi was nowhere near the size of the missing ninja's blade.  It
was a backup weapon, he judged.  It was only a hunch, but he expected a
focus on ninjutsu from the woman.

        The final member of the team, the older man, carried several
good-sized sealing scrolls.  That made him a wild card; until he pulled
them out the missing ninja couldn't see what was inside.  He didn't like
surprises; that made the green-eyed man the second priority target.
Luckily enough, he was walking beside the chuunin Inuzuka when the Leaf
team and their charge came into view.

        The missing ninja didn't waste time on theatrics.  He moved down
from the trees silently, striking before the enemy could know he was
there.  One stroke of his massive blade beheaded the Inuzuka, cut down
the man with the sealing scrolls, and sliced one of the dogs in two.
Casually, he took one of the bridge-builder's legs with a twitch of the
sword as he brought it up for his next blow.

        There was complete silence.  The dead and the dying melted into
puddles of water, followed moments later by those enemies the missing
ninja had not yet struck down.  The missing ninja stood still a moment,
then shouldered his blade, chuckling to himself.

        "Water replications," he said, amused.  He guessed the genin
kunoichi was probably the water element user and stronger than he'd
guessed if she could make so many; her ability to control them so well
over a distance and the mere fact of his detection suggested she was a
sensor-type also.  He paused for a moment, straining his own senses
until he heard the faint sounds of the enemy fleeing through the woods.
They were moving away from the water, a wise decision even with a water
element user on their own team.

        The missing ninja chuckled again, more loudly.  "This just might
be fun," he commented, and then he headed into the woods after his prey.

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


        Sakura wasn't sore the next morning, after all, even after a
couple hours of being thrown around by Hinata before bedtime.  Even if
she had been, Sakura wouldn't have regretted it.  As the practice
session wore on, Hinata seemed to have forgotten that she was only
helping Sakura for Naruto's sake and started to act genuinely friendly.
In their final spar in the evening, Sakura had even managed to pin
Hinata; it was possible the other girl had allowed her the victory,
Sakura supposed, but even that, while a little embarrassing, was a rare
kindness.

        Sakura took her position on the rear cart next to Araimi as
everyone gathered in the morning.  The older girl yawned loudly.  "Do
you ninja always train so late?"

        The kunoichi shrugged.  "Not always," she said.  "You didn't
have to stay up and watch us."

        Araimi laughed.  "I don't get to see a show like that very
often," she said.  Araimi couldn't have ever seen any truly talented
ninja, Sakura knew, if she thought the display last night was
impressive.  "I wish I could fight like that," Araimi continued.

        "You're pretty graceful," Sakura replied.  "You would probably
be good at it."  Out of the corner, she saw Naruto and Hinata hugging
each other goodbye, the Hyuuga heiress gave Sakura a wave that the pink-
haired girl cautiously returned.

        Araimi shrugged.  "Maybe if I'd entered a ninja academy eight
years ago," she replied.  Then she laughed again.  "But I don't think
there are any ninja traveling merchants, anyway."

        The comment tickled a memory of a history text.  "There were in
the age of warring clans, I think," Sakura stated.  Wasn't there
something about that in the legend of how the original Akimichi had
joined the Sarutobi Clan's alliance?

        "Huh," was all Araimi said to that.

        Kakashi finished conferring quietly with Kurenai, and the female
jounin gathered her team and they set off down the path Sakura's own
team had ascended the previous day.

        Keikan, seated on the lead cart with Sasuke by his side, clapped
his hands loudly.  "If we make good time," he said, "we'll be at the
border crossing by noon.  Do you know if we're going to be given a
Hidden Hot Springs escort, Hatake-san?"

        Kakashi shrugged.  "It's within their rights," Kakashi said,
"but they didn't say one way or the other when they approved our travel
plans."

        "Do we have to pay them if they do?" Araimi asked.

        Keikan shook his head.  "We didn't ask for it," he said.  "It's
their own initiative if they provide one."

        "The escort would be to keep an eye on the foreign ninja,"
Sakura explained, gesturing at her forehead protector, "not to protect
us."

        A few minutes later, the small caravan was on its way.  An hour
and a half later, shortly before they would have rotated positions,
Naruto called out from the back.  "Horse and rider, coming up fast from
behind!  I think it's the guy from yesterday."

        Keikan gestured for the carts to stop.  "If Noboru's left his
wagon behind, something is seriously wrong," he said.

        Kakashi snapped out orders.  "Naruto!  Sasuke!  Defensive
positions, with me in the rear.  Araimi-san, Keikan-san, stay together
in one of the carts.  Sakura, guard the clients!"

        Sakura jumped down from her position next to Araimi, followed an
instant a later by the other girl.  She joined her father on the lead
cart, Sakura stood next to them, drawing a kunai and turning to watch
her teammates.  Could there be an ambush, even though Hinata's team had
just passed this way?  Her hand clenched tighter around her kunai.

        The rider - indeed Noboru - came to a halt as he approached the
Leaf ninja's defensive perimeter.  He had a black eye and was breathing
heavily.  He raised both hands, demonstrating that he carried no
weapons.

        "What happened?" Keikan asked loudly, worry in his voice.

        "I was attacked, early this morning," Noboru said.  "Not
bandits.  They torched my wagon, cargo and all, and didn't take
anything.  Figured I owed you a warning after yesterday, Keikan."

        "How many?" Kakashi asked brusquely.  "Any ninjutsu used?"

        "Three men," Noboru answered, nodding respectfully to Kakashi.
"I didn't see anything they needed to be a ninja to do."  He paused,
then added, "I passed another of your teams, after the attack.  The lady
in charge said to tell you she would sweep the area and that you should
contact her."

        Kakashi knelt, pressing one hand against the ground.  "Summoning
Technique," he stated calmly, and a massive, brown-furred dog appeared
from a cloud of smoke.

        Sakura started at the casual display of summoning ability.  She
knew her teacher was a jounin, of course, but it was quite another thing
to really see him use advanced ninjutsu.  As the smoke cleared, she saw
the dog was wearing a Leaf forehead protector like a collar.

        "Head back, along the road," Kakashi ordered.  "There's a Leaf
team, with an Inuzuka along.  Find the jounin teacher, assist her, and
carry back any message to me."  The dog barked once, then raced off down
the road.

        "Can I... accompany you the rest of the way to the border
crossing?" Noboru asked.  "I can pay; they didn't take my coin purse."

        "For that small a journey," Kakashi said easily, "the warning is
payment enough.  Assuming you don't object, Keikan-san?"

        "Of course not," Keikan answered.

        "Let's get moving," Kakashi said.  "No point in standing still.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, we're all on foot now.  I'm in the rear; Sasuke
in front.  Naruto, Sakura, take the sides.  Weapons ready."  Sakura
swallowed and adjusted her grip on her already drawn weapon.

        An hour later, Kakashi's dog returned carrying a rolled up
scroll gingerly in its mouth.  "It's taken care of," Kakashi said after
reading the message.  "They caught all three of them and will be taking
them back to the village for interrogation."

        "I don't understand," Noboru said.  "Why would they just destroy
my cargo and not take anything?"

        "Hence the interrogation," Kakashi answered.

        Noboru grimaced.  "I hope your torturers like giving pain," he
snarled.

        "They're good at their jobs," Kakashi allowed.

        Noboru didn't seem entirely satisfied at this answer, but he
settled back into his saddle.  "Everyone, keep your guards up, in case
they have friends," Kakashi ordered after a moment.  "Let's keep
moving."

        Despite the caution, they reached the border crossing without
incident.  It proved to be a decently sized town, and Keikan lead them -
minus Noboru, who offered his thanks and split off as soon as they
reached the town - to a large building on the northern edge of the town.
On one side of the entrance were banners bearing the signs of the Leaf
and the Fire Country; on the other was a Hot Springs banner.

        Kakashi and Keikan went inside to report the incident and
arrange for a cargo inspection respectively, when they came out Keikan
wore an angry frown, and although it was hard to judge with his face
obscured, Kakashi seemed a little irritated also.

        "We're going to be spending the night here," Kakashi told his
students.  "The Hot Springs want us to be escorted through their
country, since our route passes close to the hidden village, but the
escort hasn't arrived yet."

        "They won't even pay for the inn," Keikan complained.  "It's
unprofessional."

        Araimi spoke up, surprising Sakura a little since the other girl
had been unusually quiet since Noboru had arrived with his warning.  "If
we're stuck here anyway, do you want me to go to the market and get
fresh provisions, Papa?" she asked softly.

        Keikan nodded.  "Good idea.  You remember the inn we used last
time we came this way?"  When Araimi nodded, he continued.  "Meet us
there."

        "Sakura-chan," Kakashi said, "go with Araimi-san."

        The older girl smiled.  "I was just about to ask," she said, a
little cheer coming back into her voice.

        "Is something wrong?" Sakura asked her as they went on their
way.

        "I just don't like Noboru," Araimi said.  "My father doesn't
like to talk about it, but I think he was in love with my mother way
back when, and sometimes when he looks at me..."  The girl shuddered
once as she trailed off.  "I don't like to think about that."

        "I'm sorry," Sakura said.

        "Not your fault," Araimi said.  "Don't worry about it."  Despite
her words, a dark look passed over her face, and the brief brightening
of her mood ended.

        "Was there anything else you wanted to know about ninjutsu,
Araimi-chan?" Sakura asked, hoping to distract the other girl.

        Araimi gave Sakura a wan smile, then leapt at the new topic of
conversation.  "You said there were three techniques that academy rules
allowed last night, didn't you?  I only saw those copies."

        "The replications," Sakura agreed.  "The other techniques
allowed are the Replacement Technique and the Transformation Technique.
Replacement lets you swap places with an object to avoid an attack, but
it's hard to use unless you're a lot faster than your opponent."  It
felt a little weird to be lecturing on this sort of thing, doubly so to
a civilian, but none of it was secret and the fascinated look on
Araimi's face proved the distraction was working.  "I'm not very good at
that one," Sakura admitted.

        "And the... Transformation Technique?"

        "Lets you change your form to look like someone else," Sakura
answered.

        They reached the market, and Araimi busied herself with her
business there rather than continue the conversation.  The market was
smaller than any of the Leaf Village's main market squares, or the one
in Otafuku Gai, and half the square was empty.  "There are more
merchants here in the spring and summer," Araimi explained when Sakura
asked, "since there's a lot more traffic along this road then."

        Araimi made her final purchase - a large bag of apples - and led
Sakura out of the market through the empty side of the square.  "The
inn's down this way," she said, gesturing down the street as she
polished off the apple she'd grabbed out of the bag before slinging it
over her shoulder with the rest of the provisions.

        "I can take some of the bags," Sakura offered.

        Araimi shook her head.  "Nah," she said.  "Papa would say we're
paying you for protection, not to carry stuff."  She paused for a moment
as they reached an intersection.  "So... this transformation thing.  You
could make yourself look like me?"

        Sakura nodded.

        "Could you show me?" Araimi asked curiously.

        Sakura reflexively glanced about to see if anyone was looking -
transforming in the middle of the street seemed likely to draw too much
attention for comfort - but there were few people about at this time of
the afternoon.  She studied the other girl for a moment, then locked her
hands into a seal.  "Transform."

        Araimi's eyes widened.  "Wow," she said, stopping dead in the
street, then circling around the perfect copy of herself.  Sakura
shifted uncomfortably, and Araimi laughed.  "Do I really look like that
when I blush, Sakura-chan?"

        Sakura shrugged.  She didn't think she'd ever seen Araimi blush.

        "Can you just copy people, or..."

        Sakura searched for inspiration for a second, then reformed the
seal.  In place of Araimi's form she turned into a dark-haired girl,
based on what she imagined Hinata's teacher might have looked as a
child, wearing a blue dress she remembered admiring in a store window
before leaving the Leaf Village.

        "Wow," Araimi said again.  "That's really neat."

        Sakura started to nod, then froze as she heard someone draw
near.  A large man it took Sakura an instant to recognize as Noboru
emerged out of the narrow cross-street.  He stopped in front of Araimi,
taking a long swig from the dark bottle he held in one hand.  His eyes
glanced over at Sakura's transformed form without recognition.  "You,"
he said to Araimi as his attention returned to her, enunciating the
simple syllable with exaggerated care.

        Araimi stiffened, her hand tightening around the bags she
carried.  "Noboru-san," she said, her voice hard.

        "So cold," the merchant said.  "Come on, Araimi-chan, your papa
and I are old friends, right?"

        "You're drunk, Noboru-san," Araimi replied.  "You should go rest
somewhere before you disgrace yourself."

        "Of course I'm drunk," Noboru said, taking another long drink
that seemed to drain the bottle.  "Just lost my wagon, all my cargo...
going to set me back years."

        "I know," Araimi said.  Sakura took a step closer to the other
girl.

        Noboru stared at Araimi for a moment.  "I've been thinking," he
said slowly.  "It's awfully suspicious that those men attacked me, just
to destroy my cargo, when so many ninja were in the area, working for
your father."

        "Don't be ridiculous," Araimi said.  "Papa would never do such a
thing.  That's more your style, isn't it?"

        "Sir," Sakura began.  She glanced about, hoping to find a town
guard or at least an audience that might help diffuse things, but the
street was empty.

        "None of your business, girl," Noboru said, his eyes not leaving
Araimi.  He raised his bottle again, seemingly forgetting it was empty.
"Don't insult me again, Araimi-chan," he said.  "Your father and those
kid ninja aren't around to protect you."

        "You wouldn't dare."

        "I'll show you, you arrogant little..." Noboru trailed off, and
then he acted with surprising speed, breaking his empty bottle over
Araimi's head.  Sheer shock froze Sakura's muscles as the other girl let
out a pained cry, dropping the bags she carried.  Growling, Noboru
grabbed her and pulled her into the cross-street.

        Moments too late, Sakura recovered and unthinkingly gave chase.
It didn't take her long to catch the man, as he stood on the side of the
empty street, shoving Araimi against a clay brick wall.  One hand was
pulling Araimi's head back by her braid, torn out of its coil.  "Show
you and Keikan too what it means to mess with me," the merchant said.

        "Let her go!" Sakura demanded.  Her gut began to churn, anger
rising inside her, and for once she welcomed it.

        Noboru froze, then turned to look at her without releasing
Araimi.  "Who the hell are you, anyway?" he said.

        Only then did Sakura realize that she was still holding the
Transformation Technique, and in a puff of smoke she resumed her natural
form.  "Let her go," she repeated.

        Noboru's eyes widened in sudden fear, darting about.  "Fucking
trap," he moaned.  The fear seemed to sober him quickly, as he stood
straighter.  Sakura took a cautious step closer, and the man reacted,
whirling about and pulling Araimi in front of him.  She struggled
briefly, but stopped as the man placed a short blade at her neck.

        "Don't move, kunoichi," Noboru ordered.

        Sakura froze.  "Don't -"

        "Be quiet," Noboru said.  His fear seemed to vanish, replaced
with desperate determination.  "This is what's going to happen,
kunoichi.  You're going to let me leave.  Don't chase me; don't send
your teacher to chase me.  Any ninja gets even close, and..." He pushed
his dagger closer to Araimi's throat, nicking it and drawing blood.
Araimi whimpered softly.  "Understood, kunoichi?"

        One of Sakura's hands twitched over the hilt of a kunai.  Could
she draw and throw before this man could slit Araimi's throat?  Could
she risk hitting Araimi?  "Don't hurt her," Sakura growled without
thinking, almost not recognizing her own voice.

        "No one has to get hurt, kunoichi, not if you do what I say,"
Noboru said.  "Once I'm over into Hot Springs Country, out of your
jurisdiction, I'll let her go.  I'll leave her at the first town on that
side of the border for you to pick up, nice and easy.  No hard feelings,
and Keikan can remember what I could have done to her the next time he
thinks of screwing me."

        "I'll scream," Araimi said.

        Noboru laughed.  "Then I'll just kill you, girl.  Don't be
stupid."  He had to be bluffing, right?  But Sakura knew Araimi couldn't
take that chance.

        Sakura struggled to remember how the academy teachers had taught
her to handle a client held hostage, but it was hard to think through
the rage boiling inside of her.  She was pretty sure letting Noboru get
away with Araimi was stupid.  If he was this angry and desperate, there
was no way to be sure he wouldn't kill her, or... other things.  What
could she do?

        Something of her indecision must have shown on her face.  Noboru
pressed his blade against Araimi's throat again.  "The only way she
lives is if everyone does what I say, kunoichi.  Stop stalling."

        Sakura reflexively bared her teeth, but she took a step back.
"I'm going," she said, then kept backing away, keeping her arms in front
of her.  Her thoughts raced, but her usually agile mind came up blank.

        Somewhere in her things, back with the rest of her team, was her
personal notebook.  On the eighteenth page, she'd written a rule to
always protect her precious people.  Mizuki had taught her how important
that was.  Araimi was... she'd only known the other girl for days, but
Araimi was her friend.

        "Last chance, kunoichi," Noboru said.

        "Sakura-chan," Araimi said, her voice pleading.

        It was hard for Sakura to think.  Was she really this pathetic?
There had to be something she could do, but... tears filled her eyes.
"We won't let him hurt you," she promised the other girl, silently
praying the promise wasn't empty, and then she stepped out of the narrow
cross-street and out of sight of Noboru.

        She almost broke down right there, the shame of her utter
failure momentarily beating down the anger.  She heard Noboru dragging
Araimi away, heard a muffled cry as he hit her, and then something
snapped inside of her.  She was supposed to be a ninja, a kunoichi of
the Leaf.  She couldn't let this happen.  Her fury reignited.  She
wasn't going to let this happen.  This wasn't the academy any longer.
Hinata had said she had gotten better.  She had to prove it.

        Sakura took a deep breath, and then she raced up the side of the
closest building, hours of tree-climbing practice letting her scale the
wall without thought.  She raced along the rooftops overlooking the
cross-street, smoothly jumping to the other side of the street and
catching up with Noboru as he dragged Araimi into an alleyway.  The girl
still struggled, but only a little.  Sakura took another breath, and
with her gut twisting in rage and fear, she leapt down from the rooftop
onto Noboru's back.

        There was a moment of struggle that Sakura couldn't remember
clearly afterward.  Noboru's weapon went flying away, Araimi stumbled
into the side of a building, and Sakura was on top of the merchant.
That was all that mattered.

        She punched Noboru in the face, fury lending her arms strength.
"Araimi-chan is my friend," she snarled.

        "I surr-"

        Sakura punched him again.  "You hurt my friend."

        "Pl-"

        Punch.  "No one hurts my friends."

        Noboru groaned.

        "Understood, merchant?"  Sakura bared her teeth again.  One of
her hands twitched.  Someone like this didn't even deserve to live.  Her
insides were on fire.

        "Sakura-chan?" Araimi asked quietly.  "I'm okay."

        Sakura looked up.  Araimi was bleeding freely from a head wound,
but stood straight, her eyes clear.  Sakura took a deep breath, forcing
down some of the hatred raging inside of her.  She wasn't acting like
herself, she knew, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care.  But...
she knew what she was supposed to do.  "Araimi-chan," she said.  "Go to
the corner, yell for help.  Get someone to find Kakashi-sensei, then
come back here.  Don't leave my sight."

        Araimi hastened to obey, and Sakura returned her attention to
the man underneath her.  She grabbed his throat, and the man let out a
quiet frightened, moan.  "Are you alone?" she demanded.

        "Yes!" Noboru said.  "I'm... please don't -"

        "Shut up," Sakura said.

        Araimi ran back up to Sakura.  "I found a town guard," she said,
gesturing at a man behind her.  "His partner is getting Papa and Hatake-
san."

        "Is everything under control here, Kunoichi-san?" the guardsman
asked.  "Do you need any assistance?"

        Sakura took a deep breath before responding.  "Under control,"
she said tightly.

        The man held up a coil of rope.  "If you would," he said.

        Sakura nodded and stood, keeping one hand over Noboru's throat,
but the merchant didn't resist as the guard bound him.  Only then did
Sakura step away from the man.  She started to breathe heavily as
adrenaline fled, and her burning anger subsided.

        A few moments later, Kakashi and Keikan arrived, followed by
Naruto, Sasuke, and another guard.  Kakashi's eye swept the alleyway.
He nodded once.  "Good work, Sakura-chan," he said as Keikan embraced
his daughter, who started sobbing loudly.  "Report."

        Sakura tried to answer, but as the last of the anger died away,
she instead collapsed to her knees.  "S-sorry," she said, as what she
had said and done began to hit home.  Who would have thought, a part of
her wondered, that dead last Sakura would be the first member of her
team to see combat on a mission?

        "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, racing to her side.

        Sasuke was right beside him, and Sakura stared up at the Uchiha
in dull surprise as he offered her a hand up.

        She hesitatingly took it.  "Th... thank you," she said as she
stood, hating herself for the way she shook.

        "It's okay, Sakura-chan," Kakashi said gently, and when Sakura
looked up she saw only compassion in his eye.  "The first real battle is
always hard; it's okay.

        "Let's go back to the inn," he continued.  "Sakura, you can give
your report after you've had a chance to rest."

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


        A battle between a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the
Mist and a genin team, even an experienced one with a skilled chuunin
squad leader, should have ended in only one way.  In the mind of the
formidable missing ninja, there should have been a gap between the
opponents that could not be bridged with perseverance, teamwork, and
luck, no matter what pretty lies teachers might tell their young
students.

        The medic apparently had never bothered to listen to those
teachers, at least when it came to his role in battle.  The light-haired
boy charged the missing ninja with sudden, desperate speed in the
opening moments of the fight, landing a single, lucky blow to the
missing ninja's right shoulder.  The swordsman tossed the boy aside
instants later, but seconds after that he realized the severity of his
injury, when that whole arm turned stiff and numb, dropping his blade.

        By then it was too late to retreat, and the battle was joined in
earnest.  Four whirling tornadoes of claw and fang forced the swordsman
away from his weapon, the Inuzuka and her dogs transformed into
identical, bestial women.  The Replacement Technique sufficed to escape
the attack, but left the missing ninja even farther from his abandoned
blade.

        A storm of hurled kunai flew at the former Mist ninja from empty
air.  Even with one arm and weaponless, he was capable of slipping
between the daggers, even sparing the attention to penetrate the
genjutsu the green-eyed man had used to hide his presence.  The missing
ninja caught one kunai, and sent it back to its owner, but it bounced
off the case of the half-open sealing scroll the man held.

        The water replication that had taken the man's place resumed the
form of the genin kunoichi who had created it and darted forward,
grabbing the swordsman's massive weapon.  The missing ninja kicked at
one of the kunai on the ground, sending it flying straight and true into
the water replication's forehead.  From her position guarding the
bridge-builder, the real kunoichi winced.

        The four copies of the Inuzuka charged again, under cover of
another hail of thrown kunai, but the missing ninja had time to form a
seal sequence with his good hand.  The falling water that had been a
water replication became one once more, this time a copy of the missing
ninja.  It picked up the fallen sword and threw it through the air
before melting back into a puddle.

        The blade took one of the Inuzuka woman's copies in the back,
which turned back into a dog in a puff of smoke.  The missing ninja
slipped through the other three women, regaining his weapon and kicking
the still dog aside.

        "Kabuto!" one of the women snapped, fear evident in her voice.

        The medic, recovered from his brief exchange with the missing
ninja, raced toward the dog.  The green-eyed man threw five kunai,
explosive tags dangling, to force their opponent away.  One swing of the
massive sword batted the projectiles aside to detonate harmlessly in the
forest, but the missing ninja let himself move back regardless.  The
three women surrounded him, snarling loudly.

        The missing ninja brought his blade back to a ready position,
noting the ranged weapon user cloaking himself again and leaving an
ordinary replication behind, but giving no sign.  "I am Momochi Zabuza,"
he introduced himself.  "Perhaps you've heard the name."

        "We have," one of the woman growled.

        "Then you know you cannot win," Zabuza stated simply.  Green
chakra flared around the medic's hands as the boy tended to the injured
dog.

        "We'll see," another of the women stated.

        "I doubt it," Zabuza returned, and then he brought his good hand
together with the dead one and painstakingly formed a seal around the
hilt of his blade.  "Mist Concealment Technique."  Thick coils of mist
filled the battleground, concealing the swordsman from sight and
clouding the air with his chakra to shield him from the sensor-type.
"If you resist me, you are all dead."

        "Promises, promises," the Inuzuka woman - or one of her copies -
growled.

        Zabuza was silent as he moved past his foes, to where the water
element user stood guarding the bridge-builder.  With a single kick, he
sent the woman flying away from her charge, then he cut down the old
man.

        His sword blow only resulted in the sound of falling water as
the water replication disrupted, and the missing ninja's eyes widened.
Before he could recover, something slammed into his back, and as his
mist technique started to fade away, he tossed aside a large, snarling
dog, his sword gutting the beast.  "Your technique doesn't hide your
scent," the Inuzuka said as she cautiously drew near, her last copy at
her side.  The medic raced from the dog he'd been tending to the new
casualty.

        A flare of killing intent was the only warning Zabuza had as the
green-eyed man abandoned concealment and attacked, releasing dozens of
kunai from his sealing scroll and sending them at Zabuza in a constant
stream.  The missing ninja blocked some with his sword and dodged
others, but one struck home, embedding itself in his numb, useless
right arm.  The explosive tag detonated, sending him stumbling backward.
His foot struck a puddle of water left from one of the water
replications, and he was too slow to dodge when he sensed the chakra
flowing through it.

        The water erupted upward, forming the image of water element
using kunoichi, inside Zabuza's guard.  "It's over," the water
replication stated, burying her wakizashi in Zabuza's stomach before his
own sword blow decapitated her.

        Zabuza stayed on his feet, even blocking the next batch of
thrown kunai without moving.  "This grows annoying," he snarled.  The
older male genin's hands twitched, and the kunai turned in midair,
flying at Zabuza's back.  He leaned aside, one swing of his sword
severing the chakra-conductive wires.

        If the target wasn't even here, there was no point in fighting
at a disadvantage any longer.  "Haku!" the missing ninja ordered.  There
was a shimmering, and a boy dressed as a Mist hunter ninja appeared next
to the swordsman, supporting his weight.

        "I didn't sense anything!" the older kunoichi exclaimed,
confirming she was the sensor.

        "You're no hunter ninja, if you're aiding him," the ranged
weapons user commented, hand resting over another sealing scroll.

         "No," the boy agreed, forming a rapid sequence of seals.
"Hyouton: Blinding Ice Storm Technique."

        The air filled with countless, tiny blades of ice, scoring
bloody red lines along the skin of the Leaf ninja and reflecting the
noon sun into a sea of light, and when it was over both missing ninja
were gone.

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

Author's Random Ramblings

1)  Because claiming this kind of thing amuses me, I want to believe
that this is the first ever Naruto fanfic in which Sakura's father meets
Zabuza.  I've certainly never seen one before!

2)  Meaningless bonus points go out to everyone who caught the source of
inspiration for Keikan and Araimi.  And, yes, in my head the
implications about Araimi's mother are true, but that heritage isn't
going to play any role in this story.

3) As always, my thanks go out to everyone who commented on the drafts
of this chapter at The Fanfiction Forum and Space Battles.

Draft Started: April 12, 2012
Draft Finished: April 22, 2012
Draft Released: April 25, 2012
Final Released: