Patreon starts the Forest of Death on Friday, and Sakura managed to get blown away by quest galore. She is not prepared for what's in front of her, Arc 8 is called the Forest of Quest. Shit's getting real.
CH 113 is rocking things.
As for this chapter, uh, poor Temari.
Also Gaara is amazing. I'll admit the AU impacts things here, but I do in fact have reasons. I didn't just go "This goes this way because I want it." You don't have to believe me, just like, saying that personally. Though I guess as the writer everything goes the way it goes because I wanted it to... am I the universe?
This whole arc was fun for me because Gaara.
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Kakashi decided to spend some of his time teaching her some new sword moves, which was awesome. She's always felt a bit like she was just flailing around, and any sort of refined practice and technique helps immensely. Her sword skill has given her some movements on its own, but that's all reflex and natural attunement. It's an odd skill that seems to have more conceptual boost than it does practical boost, which isn't helpful if she ever meets an opponent that outskills her in every way like that one guy back in Fierro's dungeon. If not for Neji she'd be dead, skill was the biggest difference between them and she would love to never experience that again. Having to be saved sucked.
Kakashi's so much better than her, and it's good to learn, as well as good to be reminded of her humility in a non-dangerous situation. There are people who can kick her into the dirt on technique alone and the number is not small. As far as she can tell he reduced his statistics to that of an Academy student and still won without difficulty, it was humbling.
Today is less humbling. Sunagakure is a very pretty city. It's covered in sand, which is obviously very annoying, but on its own it's tall and well put together and the design reflects the sandy nature by blending into it. Unlike Konoha, which is more built to show its prosperity and harmony, Sunagakure is built for efficiency, conceptualization, and reinforcement of their way of life.
This does mean that Suna, for all its pretty nature, is pitiful. Compared to where she's spent most of her life, she feels like she's walking through slums. She's expecting a red light district while walking through the best parts of the city, and while that's probably judgier than she wants to be, it's undeniable and automatic. She isn't sure why any village would design itself to look poor, though maybe they are poor. She should look into the economy of this village when she gets the chance.
"It's everywhere!" Naruto groans, shaking his clothes and wringing out sand from his hair. "This is so annoying!"
"Yeah…" She's so grateful she wore her old travel clothes and combat mesh instead of her Samurai armor. She'd be so dead if she had worn freaking plates. The sun bears down on her like a laser from the sky, and she's not particularly grateful that no one thought to tell her to pick up a damn cloak or hat or something. She's going to have sunburns for weeks, or she would if not for her sleeping skill. Sunburns or no, she'll probably wake up tomorrow morning as pale as ever and without the slightest pain. Sucks to be Naruto and Sasuke though. At least the dog is okay, the mana she can supply it seems to be stopping it from rotting even in the sun. She was pretty worried the heat would cause accelerated degeneration and ruin all their lives, but it smells kind of nice. It's probably in part the shampoo that Ino got her.
"How come you're not burning up, and there's not a speck of sand on you?" Sakura asks Kakashi, looking back at the man and admiring how he is in fact spotless and living the dream.
"Traveling Jutsu." He explains.
"Any reason why you didn't teach them to us?" She asks.
And to his credit, he actually manages to look sheepish. "I will teach them to you before we head back." Naruto doesn't accept it, yelling at him for being a bad teacher and a bastard and all manner of things, but she's just happy that Kakashi's willing to be a teacher when prompted hard enough. She hopes he'll remember, but if he doesn't she'll probably nag him on the walk back.
Sasuke… weirdly enough, seems to blend in well with the environment. He looks natural, aloof, maybe that's just how Sasuke is. The fanclub would love seeing him like this, she can imagine the gushing from here.
Well, really, she can imagine having to force feed them all water as they expended their last bit of energy trying to fawn over him before falling over half dead and in need of medical attention.
Half of them would die, as she's only put a little bit of effort into the medical field. She got First Aid to level 2 but she's not a medic and she's not trying to be. It's useful to have, but how often could it possibly come up with her team? Ino says Naruto can recuperate lost limbs, and Sasuke's not often injured.
"Yes, I'll take it." A silky, yellowy, creamy manilla cloak is a great purchase. She caught that Kakashi was planning on teaching them before she left, as in not while they're actively here, and they're going to be here for a solid week. It's not like she wants to have a bad time here, in fact this place is an awesome adventure! She wants to explore, talk to people, expend all the dialogue and learn things! There's also the fact that if she wants to have even a chance of a random encounter she needs to go out and about.
She finds that the villagers are oddly gracious to them, she expected to be upcharged as an outsider but she's pretty sure she just got a discount. The three cloaks she's purchasing barely cost her more than a nice lunch back home, and that's assuming Ino was only covering a little of her bill as they tend to split the meal about forty sixty. That was the ratio they discovered in which they can buy the quality Ino likes, without breaking Sakura's bank, and Ino doesn't really mind the extra ten percent. Sakura's vaguely aware Ino would probably take her out for free, but that'd be taking advantage.
"This is so cheap." Naruto seems in love with his new darker cloak - she doesn't have the heart to inform him that's probably not wise - and Sasuke got pretty much the same thing she did.
"They're our allies," Kakashi explains to the boy who voiced her thoughts, "we would do much the same in Konoha for Suna ninja. Besides, these are made here all the time, and are always in demand, they should be cheap."
Sakura's not so sure about that, but she's not going to argue with Kakashi about migrational commerce. He's been to a lot more places than she has, and at least as far as geopolitics is concerned, she's got nothing to argue with. Wave wouldn't give anyone a discount, but then Wave can't, it's poor. Doing a lot better than months ago, but really, really poor. Her best efforts have only recently pushed it into a state that it can be called functional and improving. She's proud of it, but boy has it been slow.
"You need to retain your composure, Sakura." Kakashi warns her as their hasty and anxious footsteps take them towards the meeting room where they're supposed to meet their clients.
"Why are you warning me?" She huffs at him, crossing her arms and giving him a little bit of a glare from deep inside. "I have you know, I'm a lot more patient with people than Naruto is. Warn him."
"I have warned him, now I'm warning you." Their teacher remarks, looking between them and unfairly leaving Sasuke out of his warning glances. She has never once gone off on a client, she doesn't get what he's so worried about. The Hokage warned her too, it's not fair, what has Ino been saying about her in her reports? She'll need to ask her when she gets back, whatever it is, it makes her seem unprofessional and she just can't have that when she wants to become a Chunin soon.
The door to the meeting room is opened unceremoniously by Sasuke's hand, and they're soon entering into a very ritzy room with more than enough wealth on display to make Sakura and Naruto share a glance of discomfort. It's too much, like the Kazekage was trying to prove something to them. He should share some of this opulence with the damn village, it'd make him look better. This makes him feel greedy and prideful, and like he's probably a dick.
Well, they're children, it's far more likely he's trying to show off his power to Kakashi who actually matters.
She's sure the teens they find already in the room have a sensei, but he's nowhere to be seen. All that's in front of them is a trio around their age, maybe a little more? She's unsure, that girl looks significantly older but the redheaded boy in front of her doesn't. Siblings do have to be born at different times though, well aside from twins and such, so it makes sense that at least one of them would have a clear age difference. Blonde with spiky hair in four different directions, the older girl in front of them has a mature composure to her that Sakura can't help but find a little alluring in that - I wish I had that - kind of way.
The boy beside the obvious powerhouse in front of her just kinda looks like a freak. Yeah, she's not even sure how to describe that, are those ears on top of his head under his outfit or is it just like, a strange way to do his hair? The paint on his face isn't doing him any favors either, but she's not one to judge fashion so maybe that's just what's popular in Suna. She moves on quickly, lest she offend the boy in the full body black outfit with her glance, everyone seems to think she will.
What's important is the redheaded boy she's actively trying to avoid looking at. That's Gaara, she's sure of it, she doesn't need anyone to tell her that the guy with the black eyeliner - at least she thinks that's eyeliner - and the pupiless green eyes is the one everyone keeps warning her about. His hair is exactly the same color as her dyed strands, his gaze is unwavering, and far more importantly - "Kakashi, you said to tell you if anyone feels like Naruto?"
"... Maybe not in front of them, Sakura." The boy's gaze landing on Naruto is understandable, they're one in the same. She doesn't need to be told, she knows, there's more soul in this room than Konoha - ignoring maybe the Hokage -, and her scan tells her much the same.
Gaara of the Sand
Title: Jinchuriki of Shukaku
Danger Level: You Will Die
Description: Gaara of the Sand finds meaning in murder, bathing in blood and drenching the field is his favorite pastime. Some people out there would say you two are basically the same. |
That's not fair, who out there, the three genin that escaped Fierro's dungeon? She specifically didn't hunt them down because she's not a freaking maniac. They should accept that they're still alive to be proof that she's not that bad.
"You." She looks to Naruto to figure out why Gaara's calling him out, only to find everyone staring at her, and Gaara's finger pointed at her specifically. Gaara is talking to her.
"Oh come on, I was good." She whines under her breath.
"Mother likes you." She gets the feeling that's not a good thing by the look his siblings give her. But hey, maybe uh, maybe that's like a courting request? She could date the client for a week if it means proving everyone wrong. That's how that works right, the parents approve so you give it a go? Ino'll be annoyed but Ino's why everyone's doubting her anyway, so like, oh well.
"Oh, well, thank you, I like her too." She decides on as a proper reply.
"What the fuck was that?" The blonde girl, her ability informs her is named Temari, squawks.
