Woo, Sakura's in trouble! Kinda, not really.
She's fine. She's very peeved though.
Patreon entered the Forest of Death on Friday, due to the new update schedule for Patreon they'll get a bigger chapter on Monday instead of one today, but the Forest of Death and my plans for it are so awesome I think they're getting the better deal by far.
Enjoy. Patreon/Discord link:
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The atmosphere and grim mood she's met with when she walks into their hotel room is one for the books. "So I found this note." She announces, carrying in the only thing she managed to recover from the assassin's body. Kakashi's got a knife on two boys with spiky dark hair and is interrogating them while Naruto and Sasuke do their best to look normal near the doorway. It's clear they're very uncomfortable, and she can't help but wonder if it's reminding them of something traumatic. Maybe that hell Gauntlet Ino talked about? Kakashi's being nice and letting them stay out of it instead of making the interrogation a teachable moment is something she appreciates because it shows consistency in his philosophy. Why would he screw them up when he takes pride in the fact that they're still somewhat normal? Though if that's his concern, he probably wouldn't have put them through a hell gauntlet in the first place… maybe he just likes torture and doesn't want them to ruin it?
"You two got attacked too, huh." She decides to engage them, shaking her head to push away her runaway thoughts.
"Yep." Sasuke nods slowly, eying her.
"Where's yours?" Naruto begins, "Ow! Why? What was that for?" Only for him to get almost reflexively smacked upside the head by Sasuke like he was waiting for it.
"She killed him, don't make her feel weird about it." Sasuke standing up for her feels nice, though she can't help but feel a little awkward about that. Rosy cheeks reflect her opinion on the matter, that and a deep breath.
"I actually didn't." Most of her embarrassment stems from the fact that they just assumed she senselessly killed the guy so easily. Was she really like that the last time she was with them? "Neji and Ino both recommended I get a quick class on chain of command while I was already going back to classes." Ino recommended it because she wanted Sakura to understand a part of the reason why she was being held back for two months - that didn't really help very much - and Neji, because apparently he hadn't wanted Fierro dead. Unfortunately, not much she can do to undo beheading Fierro, but she can do her best not to behead the next Fierro until her command says so. She took the class to heart, even if it was only one day.
Sometimes the only thing stopping you from understanding a problem is that no one has said it the right way. People like to repeat themselves when you ask for clarification, and act like you should just understand. It's not like she was trying not to get it, it's just that the problem was a contradiction on what she'd been taught and she needed the rules rewritten entirely.
Yes, sometimes the enemy needs to die, and when they need to die you shouldn't hesitate, but the chain of command is there to decide when that time is. It's not something she should just assume. Apparently, that was supposed to be obvious, but her books definitely said 'kill the enemy quickly, efficiently, and without pause, or someone on your side may die.' Sometimes she wonders if some jerk switched her damn textbooks because everyone else seems to have read different books!
That class on the chain of command only had one student in it, her, and one teacher, Kakashi, who took the time to really melt down the issue for her while he was being paid extra to do so. He also went off course and drilled her through fifty different scenarios about when it's okay to go above her superior, and when it's not.
Surprisingly, when the superior is standing right next to her and the enemy is on their knees isn't one of the acceptable situations to override the chain of command. In her defense, Neji's also a genin, technically the real fault lies at Guy's feet for willingly letting them go off and do their own thing, but uh, she gets it… Not like they could have included him anyway, and the lessons themselves did stick. And she did sorta, kinda, accept that Neji was in charge when they discussed it beforehand.
So like officially, she's in no trouble for it, but she gets the fundamental problem and has put real effort into working on herself in a way to prevent that issue from recurring. Half the reason she was stuck in that kunai act is because she didn't want to summon one of the elemental swords - she can do them sealless - and accidentally kill the guy.
"So, I was trying to collect him nonlethally, and Gaara turned him into a fluid." She finishes her explanation, hoping her internal thoughts weren't too long. It's probably fine, she could go for quite a while without an issue before and her mind stat is even higher now.
"Now when you say, fluid." Naruto manages to look a little green, but to his credit Sasuke gets away with simply looking away a little paler than before. It mostly looks like a mild difference in lighting. She wouldn't even be able to tell he's bothered if it was brighter.
"From biology to fluid dynamics, real quick," Sakura nods, "coulda used him as an example in a class."
"Ah…" Naruto cannot look anywhere but the floor, idly, she wonders if the floorboards are interesting but it's probably just him reacting poorly and she should stop explaining it. It's his fault for asking, but she should know better.
"Anyway, I found this note, but I have to go take a shower. I'm due to meet Gaara outside again in like an hour and I want to be very clean when that happens." She holds up a paper, please give this to Kakashi."
Kakashi intercepts her the moment she opens the bathroom door. She's dragged to the table before she even gets a word out, and she's harassed by several looks before she has the chance to take a breath. They're so annoying sometimes. Kakashi begins a few moments before her patience runs out and she dares to ask what this is about. "So as it turns out Sakura has somehow managed to piss some people off enough they've created an entire shadow organization over the past couple of months. " Kakashi's eyes bore down on her in a way that she would describe as weird if asked her opinion. Far weirder though, is the extra pair of the eyes at the gable. Why is Gaara here? He couldn't even wait an hour for her? Maybe they collected him? She couldn't for the life of her figure out why they would.
Her hands land on her thighs and she can't help but tighten her grip, "Now when you say me…" She asks with a mild glare right back at Kakashi.
"They seem to be after you, yes, specifically you." Kakashi points at her with what seems to be equal parts pride and annoyance.
The tension of the moment is somewhat diminished by there being a giant undead dog, and a whole ass biju container pensively looking at her as if they both want pets, but through great struggle she manages to raise up the will to pay attention to Kakashi. The alternative is focusing on something other than Kakashi, and getting a flick to the forehead or nose, and she's just not in the mood to see Gaara have a spat with her sensei. "I couldn't tell you why," Sakura shrugs, "there's a few pissy genin from my mission to clear out those rebels a couple of months ago, but I somehow doubt they've started an organization spanning multiple countries and hiring other ninjas. At least not yet."
"Never underestimate a ninja with a vendetta, we'll need to ensure you're protected, which means no leaving Suna." Kakashi says with a grimace of some sort, it's hard to tell with his mask but the mood-chart beside his head helps a lot.
"But I can't do anything in Suna! Everyone's afraid of Gaara!" Sakura whines, "come on, it's just some genin, they're harmless. It's been two months, please no?"
"That was an order, not a request, Sakura." Kakashi scolds her, and despite her best efforts, her pout doesn't seem to win her anything in this exchange. "You were attacked by Chunin, you all took down full fledged Chunin, and easily enough to bring them in. I'm proud of you," Kakashi gives them the closest he can to a beam in their direction, which is hardly any expression at all because it's Kakashi, "I have no doubt you will all pass the upcoming exam."
"Technically Gaara took mine out." Sakura admits, "I was kind of in a stalemate, uh… you two really did that? I need to learn nonlethal techniques…"
Naruto and Sasuke manage to look very proud of themselves. It's nice to see Naruto truly smile about something besides their mom, she wants to see that smile so much more.
"Leaf Chunin are considered much stronger than Chunin of many other countries so it's not quite the same as if you took out our gate guards, but it is still a very real accomplishment deserving of praise," Kakashi says, "It helps that they had the element of surprise. By all accounts, at least one of you should have been injured." She didn't even notice hers, Gaara did, she chooses not to say that part out loud.
"I'm sure it was nothing compared to the vampire," Sakura says, "we already knew we were awesome."
"Not you." Kakashi pointedly glares at her, "you killed yours, bad Sakura. What if it had been the sole attacker? We wouldn't have gotten any information at all."
"Oh, right, because your first instinct when a stranger ruins your fun with a knife is to knock 'em out." Sakura crosses her arms under her chest and rolls her eyes at him.
"Yes!" Naruto shouts while throwing his arms up in the air, "like a sane person!"
"Naruto…" Sasuke growls lowly at him. It seems like they've been having conversations behind her back. Sasuke's been protective of her recently, which is so odd. When did that happen? Now she's hella glad she didn't take him on the date back when that event happened, who knows what a thousand affection would do to him if he's protective… It barely did anything to Ino but she was already so high. The thousand affection score might have doubled his appreciation for her depending on how the scale actually works after the halfway point.
"Besides, like I said earlier, I was trying to take him in, Gaara killed him." Sakura tilts her head towards the Suna Genin.
"You said I could." Gaara defends himself almost pitifully.
"Err, I did, yeah. Not directly but I should have clarified, that's on me…" As much as she'd like to protest that she didn't know he was a bloodthirsty slasher, she did have a lot of hints. Hindsight wise, that he'd kill the attacker should have been obvious. He threatened to kill civilians earlier just for annoying her. Mercy on the enemy probably wasn't going to happen. But like, she still shouldn't be lectured for what another country's ninja did! Right?
Maybe?
She doesn't know. The situation is awkward and complex and now she's on freaking house arrest again, but this time in a different country when so much adventure is right outside the damn gates! She planned to use tomorrow to try and hunt down a dungeon or a random encounter or something and now some stupid assassins have ruined all her fun!
"Regardless," Kakashi continues, "either you've all gotten a lot stronger than I give you credit for, or you were met with perfect opponents for your styles. Whatever the case, this is more than justification enough, I'm recommending you all for the Chunin exams when we get back home."
"I kinda thought we were already recommended." Sakura admits with a little bit of a flush.
"You were, and then you all went two months without any real missions, I was worried, so I was going to wait until we got home to actually put in the recommendations." He explains swiftly. "I'm sending them in, I fully believe you will all pass. Oddly enough, the person I was sure was ready before, is the person I'm least sure of now…"
"That's not fair, I didn't ask for a vacation, Kakashi, my best friend betrayed me and put me on freaking house arrest because she didn't like how my head functioned." Sakura focuses her full pout power on him. Ino said it's extraordinary, but Kakashi seems unfazed. "I can't even control that! It was bullshit!"
"Did you learn, improve, and become better?" Kakashi asks.
"Y-yeah, I think so…" Sakura's hands ball in her lap, before one reaches over and flows through the black fur of the pet monster to her side. "If nothing else, Ino's happier with my headspace, but it was still cruel and unasked for."
"Then that would be an interpersonal issue for you to discuss." Kakashi's gaze rolls over her and the summon. He has seemed to feel oddly about it, on one hand, he's a fan of dogs. Unlike most people, he recognizes the taller undead creature as a dog. On the other hand, he seems mildly bothered by the concept. Which is odd, because the Inuzuka seem to love the summon.
"Right, because when your friend demonstrates they have complete control over your career and future, the first thing you want to do is argue with them." She rubs her face into the snout of her undead woofer, enjoying the lick to her cheek, "hehee…"
He tellingly says nothing. It seems even Kakashi is stumped by some situations. Maybe he short circuited? That'd be cool. "That seems odd." Kakashi muses to himself. "I should check on that when we get home."
What he's checking on, she has no idea, and she's not going to ask the crazy man. It's probably something he's pondering from his super messed up torture session that she wants nothing to do with. Say what one will about her, she has zero interest in hurting people. Sometimes people need to stop living, that's totally different from intentionally making some guy scream for info.
