[FFML] [Naruto] Dead Garden - Chapter Six: Encounters

[Aaron Nowack]

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

Dead Garden
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter Six: Encounters

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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.
***********************************************************************

        When Naruto awoke, he was alone in the room he was sharing with
Sasuke.  Dim light filtered in through the narrow, high window, but not
enough for it to be past dawn.  He sat up in the not particularly
comfortable bed, rubbing wearily at his eyes.  It had not been a restful
night, not after what had happened yesterday.  The thought of that shook
the last of the sleep from his mind, and he rose and silently dressed.

        After he finished tying his forehead protector around his head,
he paused and touched the disheveled, thin sheets on top of Sasuke's
empty cot.  The other boy's body heat still lingered; he'd only woken,
or at least left, shortly before Naruto rose.  Naruto noted that Sasuke
had taken his things.  Since that seemed a wise decision, Naruto
followed suit, packing away the dirty clothing he'd worn yesterday
before heading out in search of his friend.

        The hallway outside was dark and silent, and after locking the
door to his room behind him, Naruto lingered a moment outside the next
door.  Araimi had insisted on sharing a room with Sakura, and he could
hear both girls' quiet breathing.  Relieved of his almost baseless
worry, Naruto continued, not pausing at the sound of Keikan's snoring
from the third room.

        He found Sasuke in the inn's common room, poking at a bowl of
some sort of hot cereal.  It wasn't a typical food in the Fire Country,
but when a tired-looking young man emerged from the kitchen and plopped
a bowl down in front of him with an explanation that it was paid for,
Naruto found that it was filling, and sweetened enough to make it
pleasant to eat.

        "Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked Sasuke without introduction.  The
jounin had announced, after his private debriefing of Sakura, that he
would take watch for the entire night.  His voice had been firm enough
that Naruto had bit down his instinctive protest.

        "Outside," Sasuke said.  He stirred his breakfast, not bringing
the spoon up to his mouth.

        "You should eat," Naruto said, then took his own advice.

        "I know, idiot," Sasuke said, but he only took a couple bites
before he returned to stirring.

        Naruto didn't need to ask to know the other boy's thoughts.
They were much the same as his own.  "We should have been there," he
said quietly.  "So Sakura-chan wasn't alone."

        Sasuke didn't nod, but he didn't protest either.  That was as
good as agreeing with him.

        Naruto's grip tightened on his spoon.  He couldn't leave it at
that, not for this.  "I promised her father she'd be safe," he said.
"Help me."

        Sasuke blinked, and it took him a moment to answer.  "You really
are stupid, idiot," he said, and he actually sounded a little angry.
Naruto didn't say anything, and after a moment, Sasuke grunted.  "I
remember the bell test," he said finally, grudgingly.

        Ninja who don't take care of their comrades are worse than
trash.  Naruto wasn't about to forget that lesson either.  "Sorry," he
apologized.  Then he took another bite of breakfast.

        Sasuke mirrored the motion.  "At least it was just a drunk
civilian," he said.  "Even dead last -"

        "Don't call her that," Naruto hissed, and this time it was his
voice that showed anger.  "A drunk civilian's still more than we've
fought on this mission."

        Sasuke's knuckles were white around his spoon, but after a
moment he grunted again.  "Even she," he said, almost as though there
had been no interruption, "wasn't in any danger."

        "It was a drunk civilian this time," Naruto said.  "Next time?"

        Before Sasuke could say anything, the front door of the inn and
opened, and Kakashi walked inside.  "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," their
teacher said in greeting, seating himself at the table they shared.
"I'm glad you're up.  I think it's best we have a little talk before
Sakura-chan and the clients join us."

        Naruto set his spoon down in his half-eaten breakfast.  "You
don't need to tell us," he said.  "She shouldn't have been alone."

        Kakashi sighed.  "Did you think I was about to lecture you about
that, Naruto-kun?" he asked.

        "Yes," Naruto answered.

        "If anyone's at fault for that," Kakashi said, "it would be me.
I could have sent one of you with her and Araimi-chan."

        "Why didn't you?" Naruto asked.

        "Because there was no threat I anticipated that she couldn't
handle," Kakashi said.

        "You knew?" Sasuke asked suddenly.  Naruto followed the train of
thought, then clenched his fists.  Kakashi could be a bit of a bastard,
but he didn't think he'd deliberately send Sakura alone if he'd known
Noboru would attack.

        "Of course not," Kakashi said.  "I was aware of the possibility,
but considered it remote."  He sighed again.  "It's difficult, isn't
it?" he asked.  "That she was in danger."

        "Yes," Naruto answered.  Sasuke just let out a hard noise.

        Kakashi nodded easily.  "Who is Sakura-chan?" he asked.

        Naruto blinked.  "Our teammate."

        "And?" Kakashi prompted.

        There was silence for a moment.  "My friend," Naruto said, but
he didn't think that was what Kakashi was looking for.

        Kakashi's mask wrinkled into a smile for just an instant.
"Sasuke-kun?" he asked.

        Sasuke opened his mouth, then shut it.  Naruto was grateful for
that, as he didn't think he'd like whatever first came to Sasuke's mind
to describe their teammate.  The other boy sat back in his chair and
crossed his arms.  "A kunoichi," he said finally.

        "Indeed," Kakashi said.  "She's a ninja of the Leaf.  Do you
understand what that means?"

        "She's going to be in danger again," Naruto said after a moment.
He hesitated, "But she still shouldn't have to be alone."

        "She shouldn't have to be," Kakashi said, "but she will be.  And
so will you, and so will Sasuke-kun."

        "But -" Naruto began to protest.

        "As your teacher," Kakashi said, "it's not my job to keep you
out of danger.  It's my job to make sure you can handle it.

        "That's part of what it really means to take care of your
comrades."  Kakashi smiled through his mask again.  "Now, don't worry
too much, boys," he said as he stood.  "That said, I'm not going to let
anyone on my team get hurt."

        Kakashi left and vanished up the stairs, heading for their
rooms.  Naruto had managed to finish his bowl when he returned, Sakura
and the clients trailing him.  Keikan went to go prepare the wagons for
the day's travel, Kakashi following him, while Sakura and Araimi made to
join the boys.

        Naruto forced a smile.  "Good morning, Sakura-chan," he said.

        The pink-haired girl returned the smile, though faintly.  "Good
morning, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly.

        Naruto remembered his manners and wished Araimi a good morning
also.  Sasuke just stood and left, leaving his half-finished bowl
behind.  Naruto wanted to hit him when he watched Sakura's eyes follow
the Uchiha's retreating back.

        Araimi crossed her arms.  "Asshole," she commented.

        Sakura flushed.  "Araimi-chan!" she protested.

        "Bastard," Naruto agreed.  Araimi giggled, and Sakura's face
turned a brighter shade of red.  Naruto gave her a crooked smile.  "It's
true, isn't it?" he asked.  He'd heard that response from Sasuke too
many times, when he told him to knock off the "dead last."

        Sakura shook her head, but her faint smile returned.  Moments
later, the man from the kitchen brought out bowls for Araimi and her,
and the girls set to eating.

        Naruto watched them quietly.  He wanted to ask Sakura if she was
okay, but if they weren't talking about what had happened yesterday, he
wasn't comfortable raising the subject himself.  Eventually, he
awkwardly excused himself, and he didn't see either girl again until
they gathered together to leave the inn.

        When they reached the border crossing, their escort from the
Hidden Hot Springs was waiting for them, and proved to be a short man
with spiky brown hair.  The forehead protector with the three lines of
his village was tied around his waist like a belt.  "Sorry I'm late," he
said, without providing any explanation for the delay.  "I am Tora."

        Naruto wasn't able to stop himself from snickering as he
imagined the foreign ninja with a red bow over his right ear like the
cat they'd recovered so many times.  Sasuke rolled his eyes, Sakura gave
a small smile, and even though he didn't move a muscle, Kakashi somehow
managed to seem amused.  Tora blinked.  "Is something wrong?" he asked.

        "Nothing, nothing," Kakashi said easily, stepping forward with a
folder of papers in his hand.  "I think our client would appreciate if
we got going without further delay."

        "You're a wise man, Hatake-san," Keikan stated.

        Tora took the folder, flipped through it, then handed it back to
Kakashi.  "Looks fine, I guess," he said.  "Let's go, then."  Naruto
almost gaped at the man.  He hoped the Leaf's border guards were more
thorough when inspecting visiting foreign ninja.

        The day's travel passed without incident, Tora generally
trailing a few steps behind Kakashi, although he occasionally wandered
over to walk beside one of the genin for a while.  Their ordinary
position rotation kept Naruto away from Sakura, but he wasn't sure what
he wanted to say to her anyway.

        A few hours after noon, Keikan stopped the wagons at a fork in
the road.  "I was planning on pushing on," he said, "but after yesterday
I think we could use some relaxation.  There's a small hot springs
resort, not too far down that way, that's run by an old business partner
of mine.  Since it's the off-season, it should be cheap enough."

        "That sounds nice," Araimi said.

        Kakashi shrugged.  "It's your decision," he told the client.
"Tora-san?"

        "What?" the Hot Springs ninja asked.

        Kakashi was silent for a moment, then explained, "It's a
deviation from our declared travel plan."

        "I guess," Tora said.  He shrugged.  "I don't have a problem
with it."

        With that endorsement, Keikan led them down the left fork, and
about an hour later they reached the resort.  When they were settling
into their rooms - only two this time - Kakashi vanished briefly, then
returned.  "Since we're stopping early," he told his students, "we can
do some training.  Follow me."

        He lead them to a small, private walled hot spring, and without
ceremony walked out onto the water.  "It's similar to the tree-climbing
exercise," Kakashi said.  "You just have to keep up a constant flow of
chakra."

        Naruto frowned.  It didn't sound too difficult.  Gingerly, he
stepped out onto the surface of the hot spring... and with a loud splash
fell into the steaming water.  Sasuke snorted, but he was there to give
Naruto a hand up.  "Thanks," Naruto muttered.

        "Well," Kakashi said, "I think you have the idea, probably."  He
pulled out another of those stupid Gutsy Shinobi books - how many of
them were there, anyway?  "I'm going to go keep an eye on Keikan-san and
Araimi-san.  You three practice this until dinner-time."  The steam
whirled around him, and he was gone.

        "Lazy bastard," Naruto complained.

        Sasuke shrugged, then slipped out of his shoes and tested the
water with one foot.  It slipped underneath, and he pulled his foot out.
"It's harder than it looks."

        "Tell me about it," Naruto said, trying to wring out his clothes
a little.  "We're all going to get wet," he said, before taking off his
shirt and tossing it aside.  If Sakura wasn't there, he'd have
considered stripping to his underwear.

        The kunoichi, meanwhile, had been staring at the hot water all
the while, but made no move to test her ability.  "I'll... be right
back," she said, backing out of the spring.

        Sasuke blinked, but didn't say anything, testing the water
again.  His foot might have held up for an instant before dropping under
the surface.

        "What's Sakura-chan doing?" Naruto wondered aloud as he followed
Sasuke's cautious example, rather than replicating his first experiment.

        "Who cares?" was all Sasuke said in response, which Naruto
didn't dignify with a response.

        When he heard Sakura return a few minutes later, he turned to
look at her, and the answer to his question was obvious.  She'd done her
long hair up into a rough bun and changed into a red one-piece swimsuit.
She blushed, and Naruto realized he was staring.  "Ah, sorry, Sakura-
chan," he said, glancing away.  "I was just wondering how you knew to
bring a swimsuit."

        "Oh," Sakura said.  "I just... well, we knew we were going to
Hot Springs Country, so I thought we might..."

        "Visit some hot springs," Naruto said, laughing.  "Smart,
Sakura-chan.  I wish I'd thought of that."

        "Stop flirting with her," Sasuke said irritably.  "We're here to
train."

        Sakura's eyes widened.  "S... Sasuke-kun, we aren't... I
mean..."

        Naruto hit Sasuke in the back, sending him stumbling onto the
water.  He stayed on top for a second before dropping under the water.
"Don't say stupid things, bastard," he said.  Sasuke just pulled him
into the hot spring in response, and the next several minutes were
unproductive.

        When they were done, Naruto was glad to see that Sakura seemed
less embarrassed.  "I guess we do need to train," he said.  "Our lazy
teacher probably hired that Tora guy to watch us and tattle if we goof
off."

        "Should be worried about him goofing off," Sasuke said.  Naruto
had to agree with that statement.

        "Do... do you have any tips for this, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked,
still not having touched the water.  Naruto shared what little he'd
learned so far, with a couple interjections from Sasuke, and then the
three genin set to work.

        It took Naruto a while to get into it, though, distracted by
Sasuke's comment that he'd been flirting with Sakura.  He didn't think
he'd been, but that thought, and her in a swimsuit... Naruto hadn't
really noticed in the academy, as she'd clearly wanted nothing to do
with him, but... he had to admit, Sakura was pretty cute.

        Naruto shook his head to clear it, before a dunk in the hot
water could do it for him.  That was not an appropriate line of thought
to be having about a teammate.  He centered himself, tried not to look
too much at Sakura, and devoted his full attention to mastering this new
skill.

        Kakashi came to get them a few hours later.  By that point, all
three of them had managed to stay on top of the water for at least two
minutes at a stretch.  As they followed their teacher to get changed for
dinner, Naruto wasn't able to keep a smile off of his face.  He put one
arm around Sasuke's back.  "So," he said, "what do you think about
today's training, dead last?" he asked the other boy.

        Sasuke just glared at him.

        Sakura, who had lasted a few seconds longer than Sasuke on their
last set of attempts, stopped in her tracks.  "Naruto-kun, please...
don't."

        "But," Naruto protested, then sighed, releasing Sasuke.  "All
right," he said.  "You owe Sakura-chan one, bastard.  You're lucky she's
so nice."

        Keikan and Araimi joined them for dinner, although Tora was
nowhere to be seen.  Keikan's business partner, who also ate with them,
proved to be an old woman who traded a number of impenetrable - at least
to Naruto - stories about successful and failed trades.  Araimi
whispered explanations to Sakura throughout the meal, but Naruto
honestly didn't care enough to listen to them.

        Afterward, they all went to the large public baths in the back
of the resort to relax before going to bed.  Sakura and Araimi vanished
into the women's side.  There were only a few other customers in the
men's side.  When they spotted the ninja's Leaf forehead protectors,
which Kakashi had ordered his students to keep on, the civilians
migrated to the far side of the bath from the newcomers.

        Kakashi's eye passed over the fleeing men dismissively, then
settled into the bath, his back to the dividing wall separating them
from the women.  Naruto had to admit he made an odd sight, with his
forehead protector slung across his missing eye and still wearing his
cloth mask.  As Naruto entered the bath himself, though, he wasn't able
to keep his eyes off of what had really attracted his attention to his
teacher: the pale, jagged scar that crossed his chest.

        "It looks worse than it was, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said casually,
apparently not offended.

        Naruto looked away anyway.  "Sorry," he said.

        "Is that..." Sasuke started, then he cut off, not willing to
continue the question.

        "No, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, "this one's from much later."
What was that about?  Kakashi leaned back, staring up into the sky.  "It
was probably not far from here, actually."

        Since Kakashi seemed willing to discuss it, Naruto wasn't able
to stop himself from asking, "How did you get it?"

        "Hmm," Kakashi said, "I suppose I got it cutting a lightning
bolt in half."

        Keikan, a short distance away from the ninja, snorted.  "You
must be kidding, Hatake-san."

        Kakashi glanced at him.  "Well, that's what they told me I did
afterward," he said.  "I couldn't say myself."  He laughed.  "My own
memory of the event is a little blurry."  One hand traced the scar
briefly.  "You should have seen the other guy, though."

        From behind them, there was a sudden, loud splash, and then
feminine laughter.  Kakashi's eye winked.  "Sounds like Sakura-chan and
Araimi-chan are having fun," he said, his voice much lighter.

        "I'm glad," Keikan said.  "It should help Araimi put yesterday
behind her."  He frowned.  "Hatake-san, is it... appropriate, for me to
give your girl a bonus or something?"

        Kakashi shook his head.  "I'd have to tell her to turn it down,"
he replied.  "Her actions were well within the duties you're paying us
for."

        "I suppose," Keikan said.  "Still..."

        "I think," Naruto said, "that if you just thanked her, it would
mean a lot to her."  Both adults looked at Naruto for a moment.  "What?"
he asked.

        Kakashi sighed.  "Naruto-kun is right, I imagine," he said.

        "It seems insufficient, but if that is all I can do," Keikan
said, then he shrugged.

        Naruto leaned back against the edge of the bath, his eyes
briefly glancing up to the starry sky above.  The merchant's last words
echoed in his mind.  "All I can do."  What had he done to help Sakura
after her experience the past day?  Not much, he thought.  Sakura had
clearly not wanted to talk about it, and Naruto had unconsciously leapt
at the excuse.  Was that taking care of your comrades?

        Loud, almost choking laughter came over the dividing wall.
Naruto thought it might be Sakura's, but he realized he wasn't sure.  He
didn't think he'd ever heard Sakura laugh like that back at home.

        That thought sent his mind down other dark paths, and he fell
into a silence that - even though he realized it matched Sasuke's broody
best - he couldn't bring himself to break.

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        There were only a couple of other guests in the woman's side of
the baths, a pair of girls who looked about Araimi's age.  Araimi
unhesitatingly led Sakura over to them, and Sakura tried to hide her
instinctive nervousness as they drew near.  She never went to the public
baths in the Leaf Village if she could help it; there was far too much
opportunity for someone like Ino or Ami to pull cruel pranks.  Most
likely, any adults who noticed would have looked the other way for
anything short of real injury.  Sakura knew that from long experience.

        The other two girls' eyes went to Sakura's forehead protector,
obscured by her bangs.  They stiffened briefly, but they didn't make any
more extreme indications of wariness.  "Good evening," the taller of the
two said.  "You are?"

        Araimi nodded.  "I'm Araimi," she said.  "This is Sakura-chan,"
she told the girls as she gestured at Sakura.

        "Eimi," the girl who had spoken earlier introduced herself.  "My
friend is Kasumi."

        The other girl, a dark-skinned redhead, grinned widely.
"Sakura-chan, huh?" she asked, stressing the honorific.

        Sakura hoped her blush might be attributed to the heat of the
bath.  "Pleased to meet you, Eimi-san, Kasumi-san," she said,
reflexively falling back on the polite formulation.

        Eimi bowed slightly in the water.  "Likewise, Sakura-san," she
said.  There was a slightly awkward silence for a moment, then she
commented, "You have an... interesting hair color."  Her hand
unthinkingly brushed her own short, black hair.

        Sakura shrank back, almost reflexively, but there was no mockery
in the other girl's tone.  "I suppose," she said quietly.

        Kasumi chuckled.  "She supposes," she said.  "Are you a ninja
also?" she asked Araimi.

        Araimi shrugged.  "Sakura-chan's team is guarding my father and
me," she said, "on our way to Lightning Country."

        "Ah," Eimi said.  "I see."

        It felt weird, how calmly the two girls were taking Sakura's
presence.  Sakura had to remind herself that they would never have heard
of her, had no reason to see her as anything other than an ordinary
kunoichi.  Was this what it felt like to be normal?

        "Does you hair run in the family?" Eimi asked Sakura suddenly.
Her pale cheeks reddened as Sakura started in surprise and Kasumi
laughed.  "I'm sorry, Sakura-san," she said.  "My mother is a
hairdresser, and I work with her sometimes.  I've just never run into
natural pink hair."

        "My... my mother had the same color hair," Sakura said quietly.

        "Had?" Araimi asked, her voice almost as soft.  Sakura really
didn't want to talk about that, but she nodded.  "That's something we
have in common, then."

        Sakura searched for a change of subject.  "You said your mother
is a hairdresser?" she asked Eimi.  "Does she work here?"  She could
probably use a haircut, Sakura thought to herself.

        "What?" Eimi asked.  "No."

        Kasumi laughed again.  "We're on vacation," she explained.

        "Oh," Sakura said.  "I thought it was the off-season."

        "This place is still open, isn't it?" Kasumi said.

        "It's cheaper now," Eimi commented.  She studied Sakura's hair
for a moment.  "You'd like a trim?" she asked hesitatingly.

        "I didn't mean," Sakura started.

        "It... it would hardly be any trouble to do once we're done
bathing," Eimi said.  "If you don't mind an amateur."  Kasumi snickered.

        Sakura's father usually cut her hair himself.  "I... then, thank
you."

        "If you're offering," Araimi interjected, gesturing at her own
hair.

        "Sure," Eimi said after a moment.

        They bathed in silence for while, then Kasumi spoke suddenly.
"Seems a shame to be wasting this big, empty bath just sitting around,"
she said, then she sank into the water.  She kicked off against the wall
of the bath, then shot off toward the other side of the bath like it was
a swimming pool.

        Araimi grinned widely and headed off in pursuit, kicking up a
storm of water.  Sakura raised her hand to shield her eyes.

        When she lowered it, Eimi commented, "I've never seen a Leaf
forehead protector before."

        Sakura realized she had brushed her bangs away from the sigil.
"I guess you would mainly see Hot Springs ninja here," she said.

        "Yes," Eimi agreed.

        Kasumi and Araimi had reached the opposite side of the bath,
near the dividing wall separating them from the men's side.  Somehow,
the conclusion of their race had seamlessly transformed into a half-
wrestling match, half-water fight.  Beside Sakura, Eimi sighed, her face
buried in the palm of her left hand.  Sakura had to smile at that.

        There was a loud squawk as Araimi gained the upper hand and
forced Kasumi under the water.  The short girl sputtered as she came
back up, making Araimi laugh.  "Oh, now it's on," Kasumi said, cracking
her knuckles.

        Sakura tensed, then forced herself to relax.  The dark-skinned
girl wasn't Noboru.

        "Kasumi!" Eimi snapped loudly.  "Behave!"

        Kasumi glanced back at them.  "What?"  Eimi just gestured at
Sakura.  "Oh," Kasumi said, and then she backed away from Araimi.

        The sudden awkwardness was a little disconcerting, but still...
it wasn't anything like back home.  Any ninja would have inspired the
same.  That, Sakura thought, was easy enough to bear.  "Thank you," she
told Eimi.

        The other girl nodded, then turned turned to the stairs leading
out of the bath.  "Would you like that trim now?"

        Sakura nodded, and followed Eimi out.  After drying herself some
and wrapping herself in a towel, Sakura seated herself on the edge of
the bath, where she could keep an eye on Araimi and Kasumi.
Fortunately, nothing untoward was going on.

        Eimi knelt down behind Sakura, pulling a pair of scissors out of
a blue bag she'd gotten from her things.  "Always prepared, huh, Eimi?"
Kasumi asked from the bath.

        Eimi ignored the question.  "How much off?" she asked Sakura.

        "Umm... maybe an inch," Sakura said.

        "Here?" Eimi asked, pressing her hand against Sakura's back to
demonstrate.  Sakura nodded, and Eimi set to work.  An unfamiliar girl
with a sharp blade at Sakura's back made her instincts scream, but
Sakura forced herself to calmness.

        A few minutes later, by which time Kasumi and Araimi had left
the bath and were drying themselves,  Eimi murmured, "Just about done.
I don't have a mirror, but..."

        "I'm sure it's fine," Sakura said.

        Kasumi started to laugh, almost choking.  "Kasumi!" Eimi said.

        "I'm... I'm sorry," Kasumi said.  "But... it's just so
hilarious."

        "Kasumi -"

        "Come on, how can you keep a straight face?" Kasumi said.
"You're... you're giving a Leaf ninja a haircut!"

        Sakura stiffened, reflexively throwing herself away from Eimi
and toward Araimi before she could even examine the reason for her
action.  The moment's thought as she got to her feet gave her no reason
to regret her response.  "Araimi, behind me!" Sakura hissed.  The other
girl obeyed, her eyes widened.

        Kasumi doubled over, still laughing.  "Didn't... have a... clue
-"

        Eimi sighed as she stood and walked over to her friend's side.
She left the scissors on the ground beside her bag.  "This is why you
didn't get the promotion, Kasumi," she said, burying her face in her
palm once more.

        "What's going on?" Araimi asked Sakura quietly.

        Kasumi straightened, clearly having heard the question.  "We
might as well introduce ourselves for real now, Eimi," she said.  She
bowed formally, as though she weren't nude.  "Tenrai Kasumi," she
stated, "genin of the Hidden Cloud."

        Eimi sighed, but she added.  "Ogushi Eimi, chuunin of the Hidden
Cloud."

        Sakura struggled to keep her fear under control as she backed
toward the exit, gesturing behind her for Araimi to run for it.  She
took a deep breath, then shouted, "Kakashi-sensei!"  A tiny part of her
was humiliated at crying for help, but it was easy to force down.  This
was the right thing to do.

        It was actually Naruto that responded first, suddenly appearing
atop the dividing wall.  "Sakura-chan!" he shouted.  "What's wrong?"
Then his eyes widened.

        Sakura was still wearing a towel, but the other girls were nude.
Araimi almost dove the final feet into the changing room.  Eimi turned
bright red, a color that had to match Sakura's, awkwardly trying to
cover herself.

        Kasumi, on the other hand, just laughed.  "You know," she said
conversationally, "I always wanted to do this."

        Then she let out a girlish shriek and shouted, "Pervert!"

        Several chaotic minutes later, everyone was dressed and gathered
in a private dining room, though no one seated themselves.  Kakashi
stood blocking the door, his arms crossed and his eye locked on the
Cloud ninja, standing on the far side of the room keeping the table
between them.  Eimi and Kasumi had been joined by a pale-haired,
spectacled boy who stood slightly behind his apparent teammates.

        "I'm Kakashi," the jounin finally said.  He didn't introduce any
of his team, or Keikan and Araimi.  His firm orders to keep quiet, a few
moments before the meeting, were enough to stop any of them from
volunteering.

        Eimi started to step forward, then seemed to think better of the
idea.  She wore a white Cloud armored jacket over a black shirt and
trousers.  "I am Ogushi Eimi," she introduced herself again.  "My
teammates are Tenrai Kasumi and Nii Hikaru.  I apologize for the
incident."  She paused, then her eyes swept the Leaf ninja.  Out of the
corner of her eye, Sakura saw Naruto look away, his face reddening, but
it was Sakura who Eimi's eyes rested on.  "Your student can confirm that
we made no hostile moves to her or your client."

        "Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

        She forced herself to keep standing straight under the weight of
everyone's attention.  "O-other than hiding their identities, yes," she
said.

        Kasumi laughed.  "If you couldn't tell we were kunoichi, it's
your own damn fault, Sakura-chan."  She mockingly stressed the familiar
suffix again.  Rather disconcertingly, she wore a red dress not too
different from Sakura's own.  Alone of her team, she didn't wear her
forehead protector properly, instead using it to tie her hair back into
a long ponytail.  She was also the only one of her team to carry a
weapon openly, a large hammer on her back.  "Seriously -"

        Eimi raised a hand, and the dark-skinned girl cut off.  "I admit
that we did so," the chuunin said calmly, "because we were not told to
expect Leaf ninja in the area."

        "You're in command?" Kakashi asked.

        "Until our teacher rejoins us," Eimi said.  She hesitated, then
added, "He could be here as soon as tonight."

        "So I'd best not start anything, hmm?" Kakashi asked lightly.
Eimi grimaced, and Sakura couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for
the Cloud kunoichi.  Kakashi was a jounin, after all, and Sakura doubted
she'd handle being interrogated by a Cloud jounin nearly as well.

        Kakashi didn't wait for an answer, and his next question was
serious.  "What are your intentions toward us?"

        "We have none," Eimi said.  "What are your intentions?"  Her
voice almost cracked on the question.  Her male teammate adjusted his
glasses.

        Kakashi made a thoughtful sound. "I suppose -" he began.

        That was when the door burst open, almost hitting the jounin in
the back.  There was a puff of smoke, and the chair he'd left behind
with the Replacement Technique went flying over the table.

        Everyone moved at once.  Kasumi leapt onto the table, smashing
the chair out of the air with her hammer.  In a blur of motion, Sasuke
intercepted her, a spinning kick forcing the redhead back.  In the back,
Eimi's hands flicked through seals.  The boy, Hikaru, intercepted a
thrown kunai aimed at her with a blade of his own; it was only when she
was reaching for a second that Sakura realized that she'd thrown the
first weapon herself.  The familiar burning in her gut started to
kindle.

        "Stand down!" Kakashi roared, a quick, controlled flare of
killing intent backing up the order.

         He stood not two feet from where he'd vanished.  Kneeling in
front of him, arm twisted behind his back and Kakashi's kunai at his
throat, was a half-dressed man Sakura took a moment to recognize as
Tora.  His Hot Springs forehead protector dangled from his other hand.

        "Stand down," Eimi echoed weakly, her hands disengaging from the
seal they'd stopped on a second later.

        Kasumi took a step back, then jumped down from the table, but
she didn't lower her hammer.  "Who the hell are you?" she asked Tora.

        Sasuke also backed away, but didn't leave the table.  Sakura
looked around, and found Naruto standing in a corner over Keikan and
Araimi.

        "I'm the - the Leaf's escort," Tora finally stammered out.  "I
heard there was an incident with... ah... Cloud... umm..."

        "Next time," Kakashi said, moving his kunai a fraction of an
inch away from the Hot Springs ninja's throat, "perhaps try knocking
first."  He paused, then added as though it had just occurred to him,
"And, perhaps, maybe try not seducing the maids when you're on a
mission."  Sakura thought about Tora's state of undress, and felt her
cheeks heat.

        Kasumi chuckled.  "Unless that is the mission?" she asked,
slipping her hammer back onto her back.

        Kakashi's mask wrinkled.  "I think we're done here," he said.
"Unless Tora-kun would like us to provide formal reports for him to take
to his superiors?"

        "Ah... no, I think... I don't need..." Tora trailed off.

        Eimi nodded once.  "Thank you for your understanding, Kakashi-
san," she said, and then she led her team out of the dining room.

        Kasumi paused by the exit, half-turning and grinning at Naruto.
"If you liked the free preview, five hundred ryo will get you another
show.  Double it and I'll throw in Eimi also."

        For once speechless, Naruto just gaped at the dark-skinned girl
as Eimi, clearly mortified and turning an unhealthy shade of red, pulled
Kasumi through the door.

        Kakashi shut the door behind them with his free hand.

        "Could I... maybe... stand up?" Tora asked.

        "In a moment," Kakashi said.  "Keikan-san, I apologize for this
incident."

        The merchant shook his head.  "I don't see anything for you to
apologize for, Hatake-san.  I have no complaints on that front."

        "I'm glad to hear it," Kakashi said.  "Naruto?"

        "Wha- oh," Naruto said.  His face smoothed as he bowed to
Araimi.  "Araimi-san," he said, "I apologize for..."  He visibly
struggled for some polite way to finish the statement.

        "It's... nothing, Naruto-san," Araimi said.  "You were just
trying to protect us."

        Naruto glanced at Sakura.  "Umm..."

        Sakura self-consciously covered herself, then forced herself to
drop her arms.  She hadn't really been naked then, much less now.  "It's
my own fault, Naruto-kun," she said.  It had been her cry for help,
after all.

        "You did exactly as you should, Sakura-chan," Kakashi
interjected.  Casually, his kunai lightly prodded Tora's throat, and the
other man gulped loudly.  "I'm going to have a brief chat with Tora-kun
here.  Take Araimi-san and Keikan-san back to our rooms.  Double watches
tonight.  Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, take the first watch.  Sasuke-kun and
I will take the second."

        "Yes, sir," the three genin answered reflexively.

        When they reached the rooms, Keikan paused outside the door.
"Could I speak with Sakura-kun alone a moment?" he asked.

        Sakura nervously followed him through the door, not able to stop
herself from wondering if she'd done something wrong.  "Keikan-san?" she
asked when the merchant didn't speak at first.

        The man bowed deeply to her, making her take a surprised step
back.  "I just wanted to thank you for protecting my daughter yesterday
and just now."  He straightened.

        Sakura swallowed not sure how to respond.  "It is what we're
here for," she finally said.  "Any of us would have done the same."

        "I'm sure," Keikan said, "but it was you who did so and that
matters to me."  He bowed again, though not as deeply.  "Thank you."

        "You're welcome," was all Sakura could think of to say in
response, and she let herself out.

        Not too long afterward, Naruto and Sakura were standing outside
the pair of rooms where the rest of their party slept.  The hot springs
resort was quiet, but there were still occasional noises from someone
walking the halls.  The one time someone had come down their hallway, it
proved to be one of the resort staff doing a routine check.  By the time
Naruto broke the awkward silence that hung between them, Sakura had
stopped drawing her kunai at every sound.

        "Do... do you want to talk about what happened?" Naruto said.
"Yesterday, I mean."

        Sakura swallowed.  "No."  What was there to say?  She'd - barely
- managed to do her job.  Her fists tightened.  Noboru should never have
been able to threaten Araimi.  And today, with the Cloud kunoichi... if
they'd truly been hostile, what would she have been able to do?  She
didn't think Keikan would have thanked her for what would have resulted.

        "I just want you to know... I'm your friend," Naruto said.  "If
you want to talk about it, I'm here.  That's all."

        "Thank you, Naruto-kun," Sakura said, and she forced herself to
smile, though she knew it looked weak.

        Naruto smiled back, and the two were silent for several minutes.
Then, Naruto spoke again.  "Man, Kiba and everyone are never going to
believe me."

        "Huh?" Sakura asked.

        "You know, about..." Naruto trailed off, scratching at the back
of his head.

        Sakura realized what he meant, and looked away from him, hoping
to hide her own sudden embarrassment.  "Oh."

        "It's like something out of a manga, you know?" Naruto said.
"The only part that was missing was the part where I get beat up."  He
paused.  "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

        "I wouldn't," Sakura said.  Even if she had been angry at
Naruto, even if he had done something to deserve anger, what good would
hurting one of the few people who seemed to like her do?

        "You're right," she added after a moment.  She'd read similar
stories enough times to be familiar with it.  "This isn't a manga,
though."

        Naruto laughed softly.  "It can happen in real life too," he
said.  "Apparently one of the only times the Legendary Sannin's Jiraiya-
sama feared death was when he peeped on Tsunade-hime."

        Sakura had to choke off her shocked laughter to avoid waking
someone.  It was just so absurd to think about real heroes like those
two acting out a scene like that.  Her hand over her mouth, she
unwillingly made an embarrassed sound.

        "I reacted the same way when... when I first heard the story."
Sakura could easily guess that he'd been about to say who had told him
story, but chose not to think about that.  Naruto forced a chuckle
before continuing.  "Promise not to tell Tsunade-hime about today?  That
might make it harder to get her to take me as her apprentice."

        Sakura found herself smiling.  "I promise," she said, not that
she could imagine ever talking to someone like the legendary Tsunade
about something like that.  "You want to be her apprentice?"

        "I told everyone my dream when we became teammates, didn't I?"
Naruto asked.  "I'm going to become a great medical ninja, greater than
even Tsunade-hime."  He grinned suddenly.  "It couldn't hurt to learn
from her along the way."

        "It's a good dream," Sakura said, but then her mind turned to
what she'd said herself on that day.  She didn't have a dream, not like
Naruto did.  In years past she'd always thought that she wanted to
become a great kunoichi, a hero that no one would hate, but even before
she'd learned what she was she'd never been able to believe it would
happen outside of idle fantasies.  Now she knew that the Nine-Tailed
Demon Fox would never be a hero of the Leaf Village.

        Naruto didn't seem to notice the dark path her thoughts had
taken.  "It's a lot of work is what it is," he said.  "If I'd known
before I started how much Shizune-neechan wants me to learn before
she'll teach me even a single first aid technique..."  He laughed.  "And
her tests are as hard as Iruka-sensei's."

        The scarred teacher's written tests had been, by far, the most
challenging back in the academy.  The scores Sakura had received on them
were some of the only parts of her academy results that she could take
pride in.  "You passed those," Sakura reminded Naruto.

        "Shizune-neechan has two grades: perfect and failure," Naruto
replied.  "'There's no partial credit in the hospital,' she says."  He
grinned again, fiercely.  "But I'm not going to give up."

        Sakura had given up on her dream.  But... she wanted to be more
like Naruto, she realized.  And... she was glad that she'd been able to
protect Araimi as well as she had.  She wanted to be able to do things
like that, to live up to her rule to protect the people who were
precious to her, to not just be someone who had to be protected.  Her
mother had once been dead last, her father had said.  Maybe Haruno
Sakura might never be a hero like Haruno Amaya had been, but she might
still become a great kunoichi.

        "Thank you, Naruto-kun," she said, not realizing she'd said her
thanks out loud until Naruto replied.

        "For what?"

        Sakura shook her head.  "Nothing," she said.  A sudden impulse
made her add, "If you need help studying for those tests..."  She
trailed off, wondering if the offer was presumptuous.

        "A study partner would probably be a big help," Naruto said.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan."

        Silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable one, and
when Sakura went to bed after Kakashi and Sasuke relieved them, it was
with a lighter heart than she'd had in some time.

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


        Despite, or perhaps because of, the caution Kakashi enforced,
the next days of travel passed peacefully.  Tora gave the Leaf jounin a
wide berth, and had started to wear a pair of metal claws on his hands,
but that was the only hint remaining that anything untoward had occurred
at the hot springs resort.  The journey further up into the mountains
would have been easy, even pleasant, were it not for the weather.

        The only saving grace was that it wasn't cold enough yet for
snow.  They'd last seen the sun as it rose when they left the resort.
Well before noon that day, the skies were covered with gray clouds that
hadn't lifted since.  A bitterly cold wind swept down from the peaks of
Frost Country, looming on the northern horizon.  Constant drizzling kept
them from drying even slightly in between short, intense downpours.
Only a ninjutsu of Kakashi's allowed a fire when they camped in the
evenings.

        Sakura no longer had any doubts why these roads were poorly
traveled during these months.  When they had to stop for a third time
this afternoon to free one of the wagons from the mud, she almost felt
like she understood Noboru.  Even Tora pitched in, as eager as everyone
else to reach the way station where Keikan planned to stop for the
evening.

        Their success was rewarded only by a burst of heavy rain.
Sakura drew her heavy cloak close to her as she trudged atop the mud
alongside Araimi's cart.  It didn't help much, but it was better than
nothing.  The thick brown cloth allegedly was waterproofed, but whatever
resistance its maker had invested in it was long since overwhelmed.  She
hoped the cloth covering the bed of the wagons, or at least the boxes
with the cigars inside were better protected.  She wasn't sure, but she
imagined soaked cigars wouldn't sell nearly as well.

        The rain dwindled back into a drizzle after a few minutes.
Shortly afterward, Araimi drove her wagon over a large, shallow puddle,
and Sakura was close enough that the splash washed over her feet.  She
momentarily lost control of the variation on the water-walking technique
she was using and sank an inch or so into the mud.  Sakura wasn't able
to stop from sighing as she pulled her feet out and started the flow of
chakra again, only slightly slowing in her progress.

        "Change positions," Kakashi ordered, jumping down off of
Keikan's cart.  Naruto took his place, while Sakura replaced Sasuke
riding beside Araimi.  "Sorry about splashing you there, Sakura-chan,"
the brown-haired girl said as Sakura seated herself.

        "Don't worry about it," Sakura said.  It wasn't like she'd been
dry to start with, after all.  She yawned, weariness settling into her
bones now that she was no longer moving.  She was low on chakra, too,
but it wouldn't be long before her reserves started to refill.

        "I won't tell if you nap," Araimi said.

        Sakura just gestured at Kakashi, who had taken Sakura's old spot
next to their cart.  The jounin chuckled loudly enough that the girls
could hear him.

        That said, Sakura did rest as much as she could, though she
didn't dare shut her eyes, even for an instant, for fear of
unintentionally slipping into sleep.  She fantasized about a warm bath
for a while.  Had it really only been a couple days ago that they'd been
relaxing at a hot springs resort?

        Sakura was shaken from her musings by a loud howl in the
distance, further up the road.  It didn't sound like a dog.  "Wolves?"
she asked.  At least they wouldn't attack a large group of humans,
though.  Right?

        "No," Araimi said, something odd in her voice.  "That's no wolf.
Kakashi-san -"

        "I know," Kakashi interrupted her, then launched into a quick
set of orders.  "Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, off the carts.  All three of
you, weapons ready."

        "Yes, sir," Sakura replied unthinkingly as she slipped back onto
the ground, drawing a kunai.

        Kakashi was already gone, moving up to the front of the group
and calling Tora to him with a sharp, unmistakable gesture.

        The Hot Springs ninja complied.  "You recognized -" he began.

        "I fought in the war," Kakashi said shortly.

        "Oh."  Tora paused, and as if to fill the silence the howl
returned.  "We're not that far from the village," he said.  "He's
probably just letting one out for training."  Tora didn't sound quite
convinced of his own words.

        "I was under the impression that we killed that contract's last
holder," Kakashi said.

        "A summoning contract?" Naruto, who had fallen back to guard the
other side of Araimi's wagon, asked softly.

        "It must be," Sakura said, glancing about.  The sparse woods
that surrounded the road suddenly seemed far more ominous.

        "Ah," Tora began nervously, then he shrugged.  "Well, it's not
my fault, I guess.  There was an apprentice."  The... whatever it was,
howled again.  Was it getting closer?  "Like I said," Tora continued,
"he's probably just training with one of them."

        Howls filled the air, coming from all directions.  "Or more than
one, I guess?" Tora finished weakly.

        "They're hunting," Kakashi said grimly.  "Keikan-san, we need to
find a defensible position -"

        The next howl came from close behind, and Sakura turned to face
it.  Standing on all fours on top of a boulder by the edge of the road
was a creature that was almost an oversized dog.  Its hide was leathery,
though, and its head horned and armored with protruding bone.  Green
fires burned where its eyes should have been, and Sakura imagined she
saw wisps of steam rising where stray rain drops crossed them.

        "Tora-kun," Kakashi stated.  "It's from your village."

        The Hot Springs ninja hesitated, but when Kakashi made an
annoyed sound, he stepped forward.  While he did that, Kakashi spoke
orders in a soft voice.  "Keikan-san, Araimi-san, off the wagons.
Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke.  Defensive formation around them.  Be ready."

        As they obeyed, Tora stood in front of the creature.  He raised
his hands, and Sakura wondered if he even remembered he had metal claws
strapped to them.  "Easy, boy.  Or girl.  I... we're all friends here,
right?"

        For just a moment, everything was still.  Then the creature
roared loudly.  More distant howls answered, and it leapt at Tora.
There was a burst of smoke, and the dog-like monster mauled a piece of
deadwood.  Tora reappeared on top of one of the wagons.  Killing intent,
or something much like it, poured out of the beast, and with a loud
snarl it turned toward the genin.

        Sakura didn't even see Kakashi move.  One moment he stood
slightly behind the defensive formation, the next he was past the
creature, leaving behind a kunai embedded in a fiery eye socket.  Sakura
had a bare moment to notice the sparking explosive tag dangling from the
hilt.  Then there was a crack like thunder, a spray of blood, and the
beast was no more.  Furious howls filled the air.

        "Back on the wagons," Kakashi ordered.  "We need to reach that
way station as soon as possible.  Pull the wagons alongside each other,
so I can touch them both at once."

        While Keikan and Araimi obeyed, Naruto asked, "What the hell was
that?"  Sakura realized the blond boy was shaking slightly.

        "Demon hound," Kakashi answered.  "A pup."  The creature Kakashi
had killed had easily been the size of the dogs Sakura had seen the
Inuzuka using.  How big did they get?  "They're smart, vicious.  The
bite is venomous, and the older ones can use ninjutsu.  And they hunt in
packs.

        "Don't even move, Tora-kun."  The last was tossed off suddenly,
without even a pause to foreshadow the change of subject.

        The Hot Springs ninja froze.  "I swear, I have no idea why
they're hunting us," he said.  He raised his hands again.  "It attacked
me first, remember?"

        "We're ready, Kakashi-san," Keikan said.  The muddy road was
barely wide enough for the two wagons to travel side by side.

        Kakashi grunted and moved to stand between the two wagons,
turning his back to Tora.  Sasuke silently stepped to stand between him
and their teacher.  Kakashi ignored both of them and reached out,
touching the sides of the wagons.  As one, they rose out of the mud,
standing atop it like it was dry and hard.  Was he using the mud-walking
technique through the wagons?  The amount of control it would take to
channel chakra like that, without damaging the wheels... it was
unimaginable.

        "Aw man," Naruto groaned.  "Why didn't you do that six hours
ago, Kakashi-sensei?"

        "Shut up, idiot," Sasuke growled.

        "Enough," Kakashi said.  "Let's move."  How long could the
jounin keep up the wagons out of the mud?  Sakura imagined not for long,
so she hurried to follow as Keikan and Araimi started the wagons moving,
Kakashi easily jogging between them, keeping his hand on their sides.
Naruto took the lead, while Sasuke and Tora trailed behind.  Kakashi
gestured, and at his command Sakura moved up to join Naruto.

        The wagons were moving fast, and it was a little tough for
Sakura to keep pace.  Even with her unnaturally quick recovery times,
her chakra reserves were still low, and she tired quickly.  Her legs
burned, and she almost stumbled, but she forced herself to keep moving.

        That was when the attack came.  Monsters came out of the
gathering twilight, and even the brightly glowing green flame of the
demon hounds' eyes gave only an instant's warning.  One leapt at her,
fanged jaws snapping.  She dodged instinctively, a thrust from a hastily
drawn kunai forcing the beast away.

        Sakura moved to stand back to back with Naruto, while the demon
hound started to circle, killing intent leaking out it as it snarled.
She used the moment of respite to survey the battlefield.  Sasuke and
Tora were fighting another of the monsters.  Keikan and Araimi were
huddled down in their wagons, two smoking demon hound corpses lying in
the mud nearby.  Kakashi stood not far away, staring into the gloom.
He'd raised his forehead protector and... was that an eye under there?
Before Sakura could take a second look, her teacher vanished in a blur
of motion.

        Sakura didn't have time to consider the matter, as the demon
hound circling her and Naruto attacked again.  This time, Naruto met it,
scoring a line along its side with his own kunai.   The demon hound
recoiled, springing back on legs that suddenly seemed jointed backward.
Sakura swallowed as she watched the creature's flesh writhe, the skin
knitting itself back together.  That was a little close for comfort.

        "The next time it comes at me," Naruto whispered.  "I'm going to
take a fall.  Keep it off me for just a moment and I'll snare it."

        Thunder rolled in the distance, the rain picking up.  The demon
hound came at them low, snapping at Naruto's legs.  The blonde boy
dodged away, then slipped in the mud at Sakura's feet.  The monster
leapt at its fallen foe.  Sakura was there to meet it, kunai in hand.
Her blade plunged deep into its chest.

        The demon hound exploded into dark, rancid-smelling smoke that
made Sakura's eyes water.  There wasn't any time to wonder if this was
replication, replacement, or even ninjutsu at all.  The demon hound was
darting past her, still after the prone Naruto.  There was no time for
thought at all.

        She tackled it, bowling the hound over.  Her weapon glanced off
its bony, armored head, the force jarring the kunai from her grip.
Green, fiery eyes glared at her for a fraction of instant, and then
somehow the monster was on top of her.  Claws raked her gut, and fangs
sought her throat.

        Fear and gathering fury lent Sakura strength, letting her force
the head away with her bare hands.  Its mouth sank into her shoulder
instead, ripping and tearing.  Light-headed, Sakura clawed at the
hound's leathery underbelly with her nails, she thought for a moment she
was drawing blood.

        "Chakra Chain Snare!" Naruto roared, and an ethereal chain
wrapped around one leg pulled the monster away.

        Sakura resisted the insane instinct to leap forward and press an
attack on the hound.  Her head swam with pain and frustrated rage,
burning radiating out from her navel.  The beast was frozen, straining
against the short chain but unable to move.

        "Kill it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.  It took effort for
Sakura to recognize and obey the order

        Her good arm groped in her well-organized pouch, finding an
explosive tag Naruto had made.  She reached out, pressing the tag
against the demon hound's throat and pouring as much chakra as she could
manage into it.  "Away," she croaked out, and took her own advice,
pushing herself backward as best she could.

        Naruto released the monster, jumping away.  Before the hound
could attack, the explosive tag detonated.  The edge of the blast caught
Sakura, sending her skidding in the mud.  She landed on her wounded
shoulder, and lost herself in a haze of pain.

        Then Naruto was standing over her.  "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?
Hold on!"  Sakura forced herself to take a deep breath and calm her
raging insides while Naruto rifled through his medical kit.

        Killing intent spiked.  "Naruto-kun -" Sakura started.

        Kakashi was standing over the two of them, parrying a massive
scythe with a kunai.  Facing him was a large, silver-haired man in a
dark cloak.  A bolt of lightning lit the skies, and the Hot Springs
forehead protector the man wore around his neck caught the light,
revealing the line gouged across the sigil.

        "Leave the children out of this," Kakashi warned.

        The man smiled.  "But kids scream so nicely.  Your brats had
some good ones, by the way, Tora-chan."

        The fear and panic in Tora's voice was obvious.  "H-hidan-
taichou?  You -"

        "Not your commander anymore, Tora-chan," the silver-haired man
interrupted.  "As of this morning, there's no more Hidden Village of Hot
Springs."  He smiled mockingly.  "I guess."

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


        "Are you done, Takeru-san?" the light-haired medic asked the
other man as he emerged from the dark and silent home of Tazuna the
bridge-builder.

        The green-eyed genin nodded once.  "We just need to arm the
outer traps as we leave," he said, "but the inside is done.  The next
time any chakra other than mine is used in there, the whole house will
blow."

        "Tazuna-san might be a little displeased if that happens," the
younger man said with a laugh.

        "Then he should have thought about that before putting genin up
against one of the Seven Swordsmen."

        "You think we should abandon the mission?"

        "I wish," Takeru replied as the two started to make their way
through the woods to their well-hidden camp, "but Hana-taichou is right.
They'd assume we were going for backup, and we'd have to fight them to
get out of the country anyway."

        "If we're lucky, Zabuza doesn't have a medic to fix his arm.
That would give us the advantage when we find their hideout."

        "We can't count on luck, Kabuto-kun."

        "I know."

        The older man forced a laugh.  "I'll be glad to have you on my
side in the exams with that kind of move, though."

        Kabuto's laugh was less forced.  "Do you have any idea how lucky
I was to make that work?  There's good reasons chakra scalpels aren't
considered useful in combat.  My father would scold me for even thinking
of trying that."

        "It worked," Takeru replied.

        "True enough."  The pair walked in silence for a while.  "I
didn't recognize the seals your traps used."

        "I've had... reasons to study the art as best I can," Takeru
answered.  "I can make a few non-standard seals."

        "Custom seals?  That's impressive."

        "Hardly.  The designs aren't original," Takeru said.  Kabuto
raised a curious eyebrow, but his teammate didn't elaborate.

        A few minutes later, they reached their camp, and ignored the
sullen civilian family clustered in the center as they gave their
report.  "Good work," the chuunin commander told her subordinates.  "If
Tsubaki gives the all-clear when she gets back, we can really get to
work tomorrow."

        "Did they have any trouble, Hana-taichou?" Kabuto asked,
gesturing at the pair of injured dogs resting at the woman's feet.

        Hana shook her head.  "I won't feel comfortable until we get
this one to a hospital, though," she said, lightly stroking one of her
companion's heads.

        They heard their last teammate approach almost a full minute
before she walking into the camp, trailed by a third dog.  "I swept the
bridge and the town," she announced.  "No sign of any ninja.  I think
the enemy must have gone to ground."

        "Are you sure, Tsubaki-chan?" Takeru asked.  "You didn't catch
that fake hunter ninja before."

        The genin kunoichi grimaced.  "I can't guarantee it, but I got a
good taste of that Haku's chakra when they fled, and today I wasn't
being distracted by a monster like Zabuza."

        "That's as good as we can expect," Hana said.

        "Does that mean I can restart work on the bridge?" Tazuna
ventured.

        Hana shook her head.  "Not unless you want to end up dead.
Momochi Zabuza is a master assassin.  We can't defend you out in the
open like that."

        "But you just said -" Tazuna silenced himself after a glare from
Takeru.

        Seated next to his mother, the bridge-builder's young grandson
curled up into a ball.  "We're all going to die."

        Takeru's glare turned to him, and Kabuto sighed.

        "All right, then," Hana said, clapping her hands once and
drawing her subordinates' attention.  "Good work today, everyone.  We'll
take single watches tonight so we'll be well rested."  She grinned.
"Because tomorrow we hunt."

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


        "What do you mean?" Kakashi asked the silver-haired man - Hidan.
Uchiha Sasuke ignored his teacher, inching closer to the confrontation
and fighting down familiar fears that he didn't - couldn't -
acknowledge.  Hidan's scythe still hung over Naruto and dead last, his
teammates, even though Kakashi's blade blocked it.  He had to... what
could he do?  He'd felt the edge of the man's killing intent, and even
that mere taste of its inhuman power reminded him of that night.
Sasuke's limbs trembled, and not from the exhaustion of the Great
Fireball Technique he'd used to kill the demon hound moments ago.

        Hidan's smile widened as he answered the Leaf jounin's question.
"I mean that I got tired of that piece of shit village wasting space.
So I killed them all."

        "A-all?"  Tora's voice cracked.

        "All I could find," Hidan said cheerfully.  "I had time to play
some at the academy.  Do you want to know how your brats died?"

         Tora screamed in loss and rage, and then he he was flying at
Hidan.  Kakashi stepped out of the way, and the two Hot Springs ninja
collided.  Tora somehow wound up on top, and still screaming he plunged
his metal claws into Hidan again and again.  That didn't stop the other
man from laughing and tossing Tora aside before standing, weapon still
in hand.

        Sasuke forced himself forward to join his team, even as Hidan,
still laughing, engaged Tora, lazily swiping the brown-haired man with
his scythe.  Tora screamed again as he caught the blade between his
metal claws, a howl that sounded no more human than that of the demon
hounds.  With another laugh, Hidan broke through Tora's block, sending
him stumbling back a few feet.  The tip of the scythe ripped Tora's
shirt, but Sasuke couldn't see if it drew blood.

        Kakashi glanced back at Sasuke, and he couldn't stop himself
from stiffening, frozen, as the crimson Sharingan stared at him.  "All
of you," he said seriously.  "Your priority is to guard Keikan-san and
Araimi-san.  This fight is out of your league.

        "Keikan-san, we may have to abandon the wagons."  Kakashi didn't
wait for the merchant's subdued acknowledgment, instead moving to join
the battle.

        Sasuke reached where Naruto knelt over Sakura, tending her
wounded shoulder.  "How is she?" he demanded, glad his voice was steady.

        "I think the bone is broken," Naruto said shakily.  "I gave her
a generic anti-venom since Kakashi-sensei said the bite was venomous,
but -"

        "Let me up," Sakura said quietly.  "I'll heal, since..." She
trailed off.  Her regenerative bloodline limit.  How fast did it really
work?

        Naruto shook his head.  "Sakura-chan, it's not healed yet."

        "But -"

        "Know your limits," Sasuke interjected.

        Sakura quieted instantly.  Naruto grunted, then said, "Help me
with these bandages, Sasuke.  We need to keep the wound clean."

        Sasuke obeyed, but he glanced at the wagons to find Keikan and
Araimi still in the lead one.  "We need to get into defensive
positions."  Where was Hidan?  His eyes swept the battlefield, barely
able to pick out two forms clashing repeatedly, too quickly to follow.
Kakashi and Hidan?  He couldn't imagine Tora moving like that.

        As the rain started to die down a little, Naruto and Sasuke
moved Sakura into the wagon next to the clients.  While Naruto climbed
up next to her and whispered to Araimi instructions to make sure Sakura
didn't move her wounded arm, Sasuke scanned the area again.  They
couldn't afford to be caught off guard.

        "Boo," the silver-haired man said from his position on the back
of the wagon.

        Sasuke started to whirl about, only to freeze as killing intent
flooded around and through him.  Hidan's scythe was at Sakura's neck.
Keikan and Araimi were toppled over, still.  He couldn't tell if the
civilians were breathing.

        "I said to leave them out of it," Kakashi growled as he appeared
a dozen paces away, but he didn't move any close.  Tora stepped forward
out of the twilight gloom behind him, only to be stopped by Kakashi's
outstretched hand.

        "That's hardly any fucking fun at all," Hidan complained.  He
pressed down on Sakura's injured shoulder.  She screamed once.

        "Chakra Chain -"

        "No," Hidan stated, casually catching Naruto in the stomach with
the butt of his scythe.  The blond doubled over, stumbling backward and
falling off of the wagon, next to Sasuke.  Why couldn't Sasuke move?  He
wanted to, but his trembling arms wouldn't draw a weapon, his shaky legs
wouldn't step toward the man.  Hidan smiled.  "We have a volunteer for
first casualty," he observed, stepping over Sakura to stand on the edge
of the wagon.  He started to raise his weapon.

        Sakura snarled, a sound Sasuke couldn't comprehend as coming
from the pink-haired girl's throat.  She grabbed onto the scythe with
both hands, and started to pull.  Hidan just laughed, but then,
impossibly, the weapon moved, almost slipping from his grasp.

        "The he-" Hidan began, and then there was a blur of motion.  The
scythe went flying.  By the the time it landed, Kakashi had Hidan pinned
against the trunk of a tree, two kunai nailing his hands to the bark and
a third across his throat.

        "You're far too dangerous to let live, Hidan," the Leaf jounin
proclaimed.  "Farewell."  His hand jerked.  Blood sprayed, and Hidan's
monstrous killing intent vanished.

        Feeling like a puppet with his strings cut, Sasuke almost
collapsed, but instead he managed to help Naruto stand before checking
on the others.  Sakura was sitting up, but her eyes were closed and her
face twisted into a grimace as she clutched at her shoulder.  Keikan and
Araimi were breathing after all.  Hidan must have planned to use them as
hostages if necessary.  Somehow, they'd all survived.  No thanks to
himself.  Damn it.

        Kakashi took a step back as Hidan's corpse slumped over, held up
by the daggers pinning its hands, and with a shaking hand lowered his
forehead protector over his Sharingan eye.  He started to turn away.

        "He's not dead!" Tora shouted, charging Hidan.  He raised one
his hands, metal claws aimed straight at the other man's eyes.  "Die,
monst -"

        With a sickening ripping sound, Hidan pulled his right hand free
of the kunai and raised his arm to push the attack aside.  The claws
sank into the tree trunk seemingly without resistance.  There was a loud
crack, and the top of the tree started to lean aside. Hidan laughed.
"Blood Lance."  A stream of something - was it blood? - flowed out of
his hand, forming a short spear that plunged into Tora's chest.  The
brown-haired man staggered, a gurgling sound coming from his mouth.

        Laughing madly, Hidan freed his other arm and raised it.  His
scythe flew into his outstretched arm.  With a twitch, he used it to
block a kunai Kakashi threw, sending the weapon to bounce harmlessly off
the tree.  Already weakened by Tora's attack, it gave way at the slight
push, the top falling to the ground with a thunderous crash. "I think
you'll be more useful as a sacrifice than you ever were as a ninja,
Tora-chan," Hidan commented.

        "Monster," the Hot Spring ninja managed to say, spitting blood
in his face.

        Hidan didn't respond, cutting the injured man down with one
strike from his scythe.  He knelt over the corpse, pressing one hand to
his bloody chest.  "Summoning Technique."

        The demon hound that emerged from the cloud of smoke was easily
twice the size of the one Sasuke had fought earlier.  Snarling, it
interposed itself between a charging Kakashi and its master, forcing the
Leaf jounin to back off.

        "I should be less surprised than I am," Kakashi said.

        Hidan stood, rubbing at his slit throat.  "A little thing like a
blade wasn't going to penetrate my defense."

        "You can control your own blood," Kakashi observed.  "Harden it,
use it as a layer of armor under the skin."

        "You're pretty good, to figure it out that quick, Sharingan
Kakashi."  Hidan grinned.  "I've never been a fucking strategist, but
I've still got the weakness of your little trick, I think.  It burns
through chakra fast, don't it?  That's why you did such a sloppy job of
finishing me off, and why you sealed that fancy eye away as soon as you
could.  Right?"

        Kakashi didn't answer, and Hidan laughed again.  "Seems like
it's safe for me to cut loose now, huh?" he observed.  "Chidaruma,"
Hidan said to his summon.  "Go play with the brats for me while I have
fun with their teacher."  The dog-like creature growled once, then
abandoned its guard position.

        Thunder rumbled in the distance.  Kakashi and Hidan jumped at
each other, met in midair, and recoiled in a blur of motion.  Sasuke
couldn't follow their motion further, and there was no time to search
them out.  Green, fiery eyes blazing, the massive demon hound advanced
on the wagons.

        "Sakura-chan -" Naruto began, from his position bent over Keikan
and Araimi.

        "I can fight," the girl said.

        Against his will, Sasuke's mouth twisted into a grimace.  He
wasn't, he couldn't, just stand here and let dead last, already injured
fight.  "Protect the clients," he ordered.  His limbs finally answered
his commands, and he reached for his shuriken.  "Naruto, with me."

        "I can't," Naruto said, gesturing at the clients.  "Their
breathing sounds wrong.  I don't know what kind of technique this guy
used on them, but I'm the closest thing we've got to a medic who could
figure it out."

        "Fine then," Sasuke said.  "I'll go by -"

        Sakura jumped down from the wagon.  Blood stained the bandages
covering her shoulder, and that arm hung limply at her side.  Her other
hand held a kunai.  "I'm... I won't be useless, Sasuke-kun."

        It wasn't worth arguing over.  Sasuke grunted, then he filled
the air with steel, and behind that cover the two ninja met the demon
hound's advance.

        Some of the thrown weapons struck home, but the hound's muscles
flexed, and the shuriken fell out of rapidly closing wounds.  As
expected, then.  "Hang back," Sasuke ordered Sakura without looking at
the girl.  "Use explosives if you have them."

        Her answer was happily practical, an kunai bearing an explosive
tag flying at the monster.  Chidaruma moved, dodging the weapon as well
as any ninja could.  The detonation sent waves of mud flying through the
air, and for just an instant Sasuke lost sight of the beast.

        Sasuke felt more than heard the monster's approach and he
reflexively moved to intercept.  His kunai took the demon hound in the
shoulder.  The massive creature didn't stop, pressing forward and
bowling Sasuke over even as his weapon ripped open its side.

        "Sasuke-kun!"

        The Uchiha didn't have time to listen to Sakura's panicked.  He
kicked upward with both legs, knocking Chidaruma up and and off of him.
Before the monster could recover, he brought his hand back up, shoving
his kunai through the green fire that burned where its eye should have
been.

        His only reward was an explosion of dark smoke that made his
eyes sting.  He coughed uncontrollably as he struggled to rise, the wet
mud making hard to regain his feet.

        "Get away!" Sakura yelled, answered by a loud snarl from their
enemy.  There was a surge of powerful killing intent.

        Sasuke finally found his footing and raced out of the slowly
dispersing smoke to see Sakura on the ground, the demon hound looming
over her.  Somehow, the girl was fending off the animal, holding its
snapping head away from her with one hand.

        Sasuke jumped on the abomination's back, trying to thrust his
kunai through the back of its neck.  Before he could strike home, the
beast rolled, throwing him off, but at least the motion also took it off
of Sakura.  His teammate collapsed back to the ground, and Sasuke had to
look away from the bloody mess she'd made of her shoulder.  There wasn't
time to worry about, though, and he stood and turned to face his enemy.

        The demon hound was slow to regain its feet, and Sasuke dropped
his kunai, his now-free hands rapidly moving through seals.  He breathed
in deeply, and when he exhaled his breath was flame.  "Katon: Great
Fireball Technique!"

        The rolling ball of flame flew at the monster, but then it
stopped suddenly.  Sasuke couldn't see through the firestorm, but he did
see green fire lapping around the edges of his technique, pushing his
own fire back.  Sasuke called up as much chakra as he could, feeding his
fireball with a thin stream of flame, only managing to hold it steady.

        After what felt like hours but couldn't have been more than a
dozen seconds, the pressure lessened, but by that point Sasuke's own
technique was exhausted.  The last flickers of fire died away, and
Sasuke found himself matching gazes with Chidaruma.  Somehow, the
creature managed to look annoyed, though its snarling expression hadn't
changed.

        The demon hound blurred, and then there were three of it, then
nine.  Replications, but in the dim twilight there were no shadows to
check.  Sasuke grabbed his dropped kunai and took a step back to stand
over his fallen teammate as the replications slowly started to circle
the pair of ninja.

        He took advantage of the momentary pause to assess the
battlefield.  Sakura was in no condition to fight, lying still and
breathing shallowly while she clutched her shoulder.  Tora's corpse lay
abandoned in the mud.  Sasuke could feel Kakashi's duel with Hidan,
chakra and killing intent flaring all around, but his eyes only caught
occasional flashes of movement.  Naruto was still tending their
unconscious clients.  There was no one to help.

        One of the demon hounds darted in at Sasuke.  He swiped at it
with his kunai, and the beast retreated.  It was toying with him, he
realized.  Unable to tell which was the real one, defense would be
hopeless if they all came at once.  Another hound started to spiral in,
and Sasuke shifted his stance.  His foot jostled Sakura, and the girl
moaned in pain.

        Sasuke stiffened.  Damn it.  Why the hell had the dead last
tried to fight?  She was just getting in the way, and now they were both
going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it unless
something changed.  Why wasn't he good enough?  Was this as far as he
could come?  Would some animal end his quest?  The demon hounds circled
slowly, and Sasuke's eyes darted frantically between them.  If only he
could see -

        And then he could see.  It was like a switch had been flipped.
The gloomy, lightning-lit twilight seemed brighter.  He could see the
muscles rippling as one of the hounds moved; he could see the same
muscles staying still in the others.  He could catch Kakashi and Hidan,
meeting in midair.  He saw his teacher's blade score a wound across
Hidan's chest, then saw short spears of blood thrust out from the gash,
forcing the two apart.  He could even see the dark-haired Cloud kunoichi
hidden in the underbrush.

        Sasuke opened his mouth, but before he could decide what he was
trying to do, the Cloud team struck.  In a deafening boom and a flash of
light that should have been blinding, lightning stuck in between Kakashi
and Hidan.  Sasuke's head turned, finding an unfamiliar man in a Cloud
uniform standing atop a small tree overlooking the battle, one brightly
glowing arm raised.  Lightning came down again hitting the man's hand
and then forking, blasting at Hidan.

        The silver-haired man somehow caught the lightning bolt with his
scythe, sending it forking again to blow a crater in the mud, but he was
still forced back.  Without missing a beat, Kakashi - his Sharingan
revealed again - pressed his attack, and Hidan retreated.

        The dark-haired girl in the underbrush started to race through
hand seals, but Sasuke caught each motion as though she was
demonstrating for his benefit.  "Raiton: Dance of the Fireflies," he
read her lips.  Tiny bolts of electricity streamed from her hands,
floating through the air, moving to surround Sasuke, Sakura, and the
demon hounds.

        The tiny, flickering bolts seemed to move randomly, but as they
struck each of the fake demon hounds, the replications exploded into
that black smoke, leaving only the real one behind.  The Cloud girl's
technique struck it too, but the tiny shocks seemed to only irritate it,
making it spin around to face her.

        Sasuke tensed, but before he could move the girl's teammate
struck, a red blur jumping down from somewhere and delivering a solid
hammer blow to the beast's back.  There was a sickening crack, and the
demon hound fell.  The girl jumped back off the creature, grinning
widely at Sasuke.

        He didn't waste time with words, racing forward to the twitching
body and ramming his kunai through the back of its skull.  It spasmed
once more, and then finally was still.

        The hammer girl - Kasumi, Sasuke thought he remembered - raised
her weapon to rest on her shoulder.  "Lucky for you guys that Testu-
sensei didn't trust that Tora loser to keep an eye on you."

        The girl - Eimi - emerged from hiding, drawing close to Sakura.
Sasuke belatedly moved to stand between her and his fallen teammate, but
the tall girl didn't come closer.  "Hikaru-kun!" she said, "Sakura-san
is down."

        The third team member!  Sasuke's eyes darted about, and found
him standing on the cart next to Naruto.  They didn't seem to be
fighting, and Sasuke's went back to the two kunoichi in front of him.
His gaze met Eimi's and she suddenly froze.

        "Those eyes," Kasumi said.  The redhead raised her weapon again.

        "Sharingan," breathed the other girl.

        Sasuke blinked, raising a shaking hand to his face as though it
would somehow let him see his own eyes.  Had he really -

        He was shaken from his thoughts as three powerful killing
intents flooded the battlefield, warring with each other.  Sasuke and
the two Cloud kunoichi turned to see Kakashi, Hidan, and a third man,
the one who had called the lightning, standing in a rough triangle.

        "It's been a while, Kakashi," the Cloud jounin said.  His arm
was no longer glowing, and Sasuke could see that it was covered in
metal, seals etched all over it.

        "A few years, Tetsu."  Kakashi paused.  "Interesting arm."

        "I think you almost did me a favor, shattering the original,"
Tetsu replied lightly, "but we can call that even after tonight.  This,
I assume, is the infamous Hidan."

        Hidan laughed.  "This is starting to get interesting."  He
raised his scythe into a guard position.

        "I never thought the next time we met we'd be fighting on the
same side, Kakashi," Testu said.

        "You don't have time to chat," Hidan interrupted, jumping at the
Cloud ninja and bringing his scythe down.  The other man blocked it with
his metal arm, then stabbed at Hidan with a kunai held in his other
hand, lightning sparking around the blade.  Hidan jumped back, landing
almost where he'd stood moments ago.

        The three jounin stood, seemingly frozen in that triangle for a
second that felt an eternity, and then in a simultaneous rush of motion
the battle was joined once more.

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


        The hidden campsite was quiet, the only person stirring the
young medic currently standing watch.  He finished checking on the
injured dogs, then his hands moved slowly through a sequence of seals.
Insubstantial feathers fell over his sleeping comrades and clients, and
he waited several minutes to ensure the genjutsu had placed them all
into a deep sleep.

        Then he knelt down, pulling out a small scroll and placing it on
the ground.  He unrolled it, revealing only blank paper.  He formed a
seal with one hand, placing the other on the paper, and arcane seals
became visible.  The young man concentrated for a moment, and blood
seeped out of his hand, filling a few gaps in the pattern of strange
characters.  "Summoning Technique," he breathed, and there was a puff of
smoke.

        When the smoke dispersed, it revealed a small, white snake.  The
animal raised its head, yellow eyes meeting the medic's unwavering gaze.
"You're late.  Report, Kabuto-kun."

        "It's been a busy few days," Kabuto replied.  "We engaged the
enemy, and this is the first chance I've had."

        "And?"

        Kabuto adjusted his glasses.  "I can confirm the recruitment
opportunity we discussed in my previous report.  Momochi Zabuza has a
follower, a young boy from the Yuki Clan.  I witnessed the use of ice-
element techniques with my own eyes, and I hope to have the chance to
observe his full power shortly."

        The snake laughed.  "Very well.  Retrieve him."

        "That may be impossible without breaking my cover."

        "Kill the witnesses, then."

        Kabuto didn't glance at his sleeping teammates.  "The Leaf may
find that suspicious."

        "You're getting soft, Kabuto-kun."  The snake laughed again.

        "Also," the medic replied, "I need them if I'm to participate in
the Exams."  His hand went to his glasses once again.

        "What do you want, Kabuto-kun?"

        "Kimimaro-kun," Kabuto replied.  "And... Tayuya-chan was from
Water Country, I believe.  If you can spare her, I could use her also."

        The snake's body shifted.  "Kimimaro is the one I can't spare,"
it said.  "His remaining uses are numbered."

        "What better use," Kabuto said, "than to acquire a body that may
surpass his?"

        There was silence for almost a minute.  "Don't fail me, Kabuto-
kun."

        Kabuto bowed his head.  "I won't, Orochimaru-sama."

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

Author's Random Ramblings

1) This chapter took much longer than it should have, and is much longer
than it was supposed to be, while covering less ground.  Oh well.

2) One of the reasons that it took so long is that the fight
choreography and I just couldn't get along this time.  I usually don't
have too much trouble, but pretty much every skirmish in this chapter
put up an enormous fight.  Hopefully the outcome of that struggle is
reasonably entertaining.

3) Apparently, a forthcoming Naruto movie is going to actually give
Sakura quasi-canonical parents and close that incredibly useful gaping
hole in the background.  For the obvious reasons, I have no intention on
integrating whatever may be revealed in that movie into this story.

4) As always, my thanks to everyone who commented on the draft of this
chapter on The Fanfiction Forum and Space Battles, without it would be
far poorer.

Draft Started: May 13, 2012
Draft Finished: July 02, 2012
Draft Released: July 08, 2012
Final Released: