Next scene. The prior fight scene has been revised to make Sakura's contributions a little more impressive, any inconsistencies are due to that.
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Sakura was neither the first nor the last of her team to wake after the battle with Hidan. Sasuke had, she learned, awakened at dawn the next morning, though Naruto had insisted he continued to rest. Sakura had woken in the afternoon, but had only had time to reassure herself that everyone was safe and eat before, exhausted, she had returned to her bedroll. Kakashi had only stirred once, slightly after Sakura had woken on the second day after the battle, but only for a few minutes.
Today, Sakura felt no more tired than normal, and her arm - bound tightly in a sling - ached so little she considered freeing it as she dressed, but she had no desire to advertise her inhuman regeneration. The weather had finally improved, and she had to blink several times from the unexpected brightness of the sun shining brightly in a clear sky when she briefly poked her head out of the way-station pavilion's shade. It was bitterly cold, but still far more enjoyable than the endless rain of the past week.
Sakura exchanged morning greetings with Naruto when he came inside as she ate a small breakfast. The blond's response was muttered and almost incoherent. Worried, Sakura followed him as he went over to check on Kakashi. The two jounin were the only ninja left bedridden, but the Cloud's teacher was awake, his team clustered around his bed, talking quietly among themselves. They hushed briefly when Naruto and Sakura passed, then resumed when they saw what the pair of Leaf ninja were doing.
"Is Kakashi-sensei going to be okay, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked quietly herself. She knew chakra exhaustion could be serious from the harsh warnings the academy teachers had given all their students.
It took Naruto several moments to answer. "He should be... up and moving in a couple days." He blinked several times and shook his head as if to clear it. "A little longer to travel."
"When was the last time you slept?" Sakura asked him.
"Not since we got here," someone said suddenly.
Sakura started, and - embarrassed to be snuck up on so easily - turned to see the Cloud medic Hikaru. The rest of his team had departed while Naruto examined Kakashi, and his teacher now seemed to be dozing. The boy smiled gently, one of his hands adjusting his glasses. "He wouldn't sleep, watching over you and Uchiha-san," he explained.
As if on cue, Naruto yawned loudly. "You should get some sleep, Naruto-kun," Sakura said. Had he really been up for the past two days without sleep? "Sasuke-kun and I will be fine, and we can wake you if anything happens with Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto yawned again. "I guess," he said. "Let me get my bedroll." He started to wander off, but in the wrong direction if he intended to retrieve his things from the carts.
"You can just use mine for now," Sakura offered quickly, giving her friend a soft push in its direction with her free arm.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto said with another yawn. "Remind me to replace your caffeine pills when we get home." It took Sakura a moment to realize what he meant; she didn't remember the first aid kit Kabuto had given her containing caffeine pills, but she hadn't memorized its contents. Naruto didn't bother to undress, almost collapsing on top of Sakura's bedroll. Moments later, his loud snores filled the air.
"I'm glad you were able to convince him," Hikaru said quietly. "It's not healthy to abuse those pills like that."
Irrational guilt welled up in Sakura, but a moment's thought was enough to push it aside. She wasn't the only member of the team who had been out of commission after all.
"Loud kid." The new voice almost made Sakura jump again, and she and Hikaru turned to the Cloud jounin, who had woken from his brief doze.
"Sorry, ah..." Sakura realized that she couldn't remember the man's name.
"Tetsu," he said. "And don't worry about it. He deserves the rest, and I've slept through worse." He smiled briefly, then closed his eyes. If he had any trouble falling back asleep the instant they shut, Sakura couldn't tell.
After a few moment's awkward silence, Hikaru went outside, and Sakura followed a second or two behind. Looking about, Araimi and Keikan were by the carts, deep in conversation with Eimi. Kasumi sat on a branch halfway up a tree, idly playing with her hammer and keeping watch over the road. Sakura couldn't see Sasuke anywhere. Where could he have gone? Naruto hadn't said anything, but in the state he'd been in Sakura didn't know if he'd have noticed.
Sakura headed toward the carts, but Hikaru didn't follow, instead wandering in Kasumi's direction. As she drew near, Sakura was able to overhear Keikan and Eimi speaking.
"You have our thanks," the kunoichi was saying.
Keikan snorted at that. "You're paying me, and it's the least I could do after... well. Thanks are hardly required." They were making some kind of deal? What did the Cloud want?
Araimi noticed Sakura first, and she quickly broke away from her father's side, rushing over to embrace Sakura with a force that almost knocked her over. "Sakura-chan!"
"A-raimi-chan," Sakura stuttered in response, surprise at the exuberant greeting making her stumble over the other girl's name.
"I'm glad you're okay," Araimi said. Then she suddenly released Sakura, giving her injured arm a worried glance. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"It's fine," Sakura said automatically.
Keikan approached the pair of girls. Eimi had politely withdrawn a few steps, although not so far that she couldn't hear every word. "How are you doing?" the merchant asked quietly.
"It's fine," Sakura said again.
A frown passed over Keikan's face, but he didn't press the issue. "It seems I owe you another thanks, Sakura-kun," he stated.
Sakura shifted under his gaze. "I didn't do that much," she said. She'd killed a demon hound while Naruto held it down, and against Hidan... her memories were clouded with rage, but she remembered the fear as she'd struggled in Hidan's grasp, barely remembering to use the explosive tag hidden in her injured hand as a final, desperate gambit. "Naruto-kun is the one who caught him, and Kakashi-sensei..."
"To hear Araimi tell it," Keikan said, "you faced him down alone after everyone else was... incapacitated."
"It... wasn't really like that," Sakura said. He was making it sound like she'd done something brave, like she hadn't been half-insane from terror. She thought she heard Eimi make a sound, but she wasn't certain.
"Sakura-chan," Araimi started, but she stopped at a look from her father.
"Be that as it may," Keikan said. "I've already given Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun my thanks, and our friends from Cloud. He bowed, Sakura thought even more deeply than when he'd thanked her after the incident at the hot springs resort. "Thank you, again."
Sakura felt her cheeks heat. She wasn't any more certain how to respond to this than before, either. "You're paying us," she said weakly, echoing Keikan's own words of a few moments before.
Keikan snorted as he straightened. "I'm paying you to scare off bandits. Not to fight... whatever that man was."
"A jounin, and a powerful one," Eimi said quietly, abandoning the fiction that she wasn't listening. "That's why it's important that we recover the body."
Sakura looked at the other kunoichi. "Eimi-san?"
"I am hiring one of Keikan-san's carts, to retrieve Hidan's corpse." She paused, then added. "And the other Hot Springs ninja."
"Tora-san," Sakura said. She hadn't thought of the man once, had she? But... he'd been cut down, right in front of her. And... Hidan had said something about children.
"Yes," Eimi said. "If your team wants to send a representative along..." She trailed off.
"I..." Sakura looked around. Kakashi and Naruto were asleep. Where was Sasuke?
Eimi seemed to grasp her thoughts. She gestured at the woods behind the way-station. "Uchiha-san went off to train privately," she said.
"I need to talk to him," Sakura said.
"We'll need to unload the cart, anyway," Keikan said. "Araimi."
"Yes, Papa," his daughter said. "I'll get started." She gave Sakura a parting smile, then raced off to the cart she usually drove, which had less cargo than Keikan's.
Sakura headed off to find Sasuke, but hesitated as she reached the edge of the woods. With Naruto and Kakashi asleep and Sasuke off training, she was the only one of the team present and awake. She couldn't just leave Keikan and Araimi, not to mention her sleeping comrades, alone with a team of foreign ninja. Not that she'd do much good if she had to fight Eimi, Kasumi, and Hikaru all by herself, but... not much good was better than none.
"Sasuke-kun!" she yelled out as loudly as she could. What had he been thinking, going off on his own like that? Sakura forced down the sudden irritation. Sasuke knew what he was doing, she told herself. Surely he had a good reason.
There wasn't any response. Sakura yelled Sasuke's name again. What was she going to do if he didn't come? What if he was hurt somewhere?
Finally Sasuke emerged from the cover of the trees. Sakura opened her mouth, but she stopped as he fixed her with a crimson gaze. An extra pupil on each red eye stared at her, and for a just a moment raw terror that inexplicably rivaled what she'd felt facing Hidan froze her. Then that fear was replaced with a too-familiar sensation, a boiling rage in her gut that seemed to build more rapidly each time it came.
"What?" Sasuke demanded.
The shock of the sudden question let Sakura force down the burning anger. She hadn't felt it coming like that, unprompted, not except for the first time she'd met Uzumaki Kushina. Why now? Sasuke made an annoyed sound and turned to leave. "Wait!" Sakura said. Sasuke didn't turn back, but at least he stopped leaving. Sakura haltingly explained the situation.
Sasuke grunted. "If the clients aren't going, what do we care? Don't bother me with trivial things like this while I'm training, dead last," he said, his voice hard.
The unexpected harshness stole Sakura's voice for a moment, and before she could ask him not to go off on his own again, Sasuke vanished into the woods. Sakura stared after him. She knew Sasuke could be... cold, sometimes. It was part of what made him so cool. But this was something else. Why was he so furious?
It took Sakura a moment to regain her composure, and then she turned back to rejoin the others. She hoped that no one else had overheard Sasuke, but the awkward silence that greeted her killed those hopes. "Asshole," Araimi said firmly when Sakura reached the cart.
Sakura bit back her instinctive protest. "I don't think any of us will be going, Eimi-san," she told the kunoichi, who had started helping Araimi unload.
"I understand," was all Eimi said.
About a quarter-hour later, the cart was unloaded, and Eimi sent Kasumi and Hikaru with it to return to the site of the battle. Sakura spent the next while silently watching as Keikan and Araimi checked over their cargo for damage. Thankfully, only a few of the boxes of cigars were damaged. When they were done, Eimi approached, holding a bag Sakura vaguely recognized in her hands.
"I never did get the chance to give you the haircut I offered, Araimi-san," Eimi said by way of explanation.
"Oh," Araimi said. "I guess since we're all friends again..." She glanced at Sakura.
Sakura couldn't see any reason to object, and just shrugged awkwardly. She still watched as Eimi set to work undoing Araimi's braid, but when she thought she heard Naruto saying something from inside the way-station, she felt comfortable enough to go check on him. Both Naruto and Kakashi were sleeping soundly, but Sakura reminded herself to come back and check regularly. The Cloud jounin woke when Sakura passed him, but didn't say anything.
Sakura returned to her clients' side, and after Eimi finished trimming Araimi's hair, the next couple hours passed uneventfully. Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from sending worried glances to the woods where Sasuke was training, but he didn't emerge, even a couple hours later when Kasumi and Hikaru returned.
The two bodies on the cart were covered by cloth tarps, which the two Cloud genin didn't remove as they gently placed the bodies on the ground before returning the cart to Keikan. Sakura swallowed as she stared at the two fallen ninja. With the covering, there was no way to tell which was which.
"I'll get Tetsu-sensei," Eimi said, and she went under the pavilion. She emerge a few minutes later, supporting a clearly weak Tetsu as he slowly made his way over to the bodies.
"Show me," the jounin demanded simply.
Hikaru nodded, pulling back the covering from the first ninja's head. It was Tora. Someone had closed his eyes, Sakura noted, before she had to look away. He was someone she hardly knew, and he hadn't been a friend, but it was uncomfortable to see him like that. Tetsu just nodded, and Hikaru covered Tora back up before pulling the tarp away from Hidan.
Hidan's eyes had been left open, and Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding when she saw that unmoving face. For all his monstrous power, he was really dead. Hikaru had pulled the cover back further than he had with Tora, displaying the hole Kakashi's final technique had made in Hidan's chest. Sakura could feel herself going green, and she looked away again.
Tetsu started to bend down, but seemed to think better of it. "You checked?" he asked.
"It's his real body," Hikaru said. "No alterations or disguise techniques."
"Good," Tetsu said. "Eimi, put them in one of the storage scrolls." The chuunin nodded. Tetsu glanced at Sakura. "I assume the Leaf have no objections to us taking possession of the bodies?"
Sakura shook her head.
"What's going on?" Sakura started at the unexpected voice, and turned to see Naruto, rubbing at his eyes.
It took a few minutes to explain matters, while Tetsu went back to his rest and Eimi set to work dealing with the corpses. "Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked when Sakura finished, seemingly noticing for the first time that the other boy was missing.
"He's... off training," Sakura said weakly. Naruto would get upset, she knew.
She wasn't disappointed. "He shouldn't have left you alone like this," Naruto said. "I going to go give him a piece of my -"
"Don't," Sakura said quietly. She didn't want the two of them getting into a fight. "I'll get him," she added quickly. "You help Araimi-chan reload the cart." The merchant's daughter had just started that task."
"All right," Naruto said dubiously, but he obeyed. "You're second-in-command, I guess," he added with a laugh as he left.
Sakura started at the reminder. Kakashi had named her second-in-command, when the mission started. But that was before things had... gotten serious, right? It didn't mean anything.
Shaking her head, Sakura went into woods, and tried to figure out how to get Sasuke to come back without making him more angry. After a short distance, the woods behind the way-station ended in a sheer cliff. The cliff rose about ten feet over a small set of natural hot springs, and Sakura found Sasuke standing on one of them.
"Sasuke-kun," she called out hesitantly. Was that a flicker of lighting she saw around him.
The boy spun about, looking up at Sakura with his red eyes. Sakura steeled herself, but no rage rose inside of her. "I told you not to bother me, dead last," he said.
"Naruto-kun's awake," Sakura said. "We need to have a team meeting."
Sasuke grunted irritably, but his eyes turned black and he walked up the cliff-side to join Sakura.
"Was that... Eimi-san's technique?" Sakura asked. The Sharingan was supposed to be able to copy ninjutsu, wasn't it?
Sasuke glared at her. "Don't say anything," he demanded, and then he started to stalk away.
"Why are you so angry?" Sakura asked. That she voiced the question shocked her almost as much as it seemed to shock Sasuke.
The boy froze. "Is it true?" he asked harshly. "What Naruto says about the fight?" He didn't need to specify which one.
"I... I don't know what Naruto-kun said," Sakura answered weakly.
"That you could move under his killing intent," Sasuke said. "That you hit him with an explosive tag and held him down so Naruto could snare him."
Sakura swallowed. It was... it was true, even if she hadn't thought of it in those terms. "Yes," she said. For the moment, a brief image of Sasuke thanking her for saving him and confessing his love passed through her head, but she forced it aside. That wasn't Sasuke.
Sasuke turned back to face her. "How?" he demanded.
"What?"
"You're the dead last!" Sasuke said. "He was... he was a jounin! How the hell did you manage all that while -" Sasuke stopped short, biting back words.
Sakura didn't have an answer. How had she done that? The killing intent, she had felt at first, but with the rage of the Nine-Tails burning in her gut, it had paled in comparison. She couldn't say that. As for the rest, though... "He toyed with me," Sakura said quietly. "I wasn't a threat. And I got lucky."
Sasuke just grunted, but he actually seemed somewhat satisfied with that answer, and he let Sakura walk beside him on the way back to the others. When they got back, Eimi had sealed the bodies away. Naruto quickly dragooned Sasuke into helping with reloading the cart. Deciding she didn't want to listen to the inevitable argument, Sakura went to check on Kakashi.
Once again, Tetsu seemed to wake instantly as she drew near, but he still didn't say anything. Sakura stared down at her teacher for a few minutes, wishing she could do something to help him. Kakashi's breathing seemed to be better, and he actually stirred a little when Sakura whispered a quiet wish for his quick recovery, but he didn't wake.
Once the cart was reloaded, to her surprise Naruto dragged Sakura aside, a bundle of scrolls under his arm. "You offered to help me with my studies, right?" he reminded Sakura.
Sakura nodded. "I don't know how much help I'll be," she warned him as they sat down over the scrolls. "I haven't studied any of these before."
"I'll loan you the ones I'm done with," Naruto said. He grinned. "They're even more boring than those Gutsy Shinobi books, though."
"The Gutsy Shinobi series is excellent," Sakura protested, but she wasn't able to stop from laughing. They set to work, and much as she'd predicted, most of the material went over her head as she'd only read a little beyond the academy courses and Naruto was working his way through the course-load for apprentice medics.
She got even more lost when Hikaru noticed what they were studying and joined them, but Naruto's enthusiasm was infectious and the little she did understand of the boys' discussion of medical ninjutsu was fascinating. None of it was likely to be of any use to her, though. Everyone knew that medical ninjutsu took almost perfect control, and Sakura had barely maintained passing marks in the chakra control exercises in the academy.
Soon enough, it was time for dinner, and Naruto had to put his scrolls away. Tetsu actually emerged from the way-station, once more supported by Eimi, to join them, but he waited until everyone was almost finished.
"Which one of you is in command?" he asked the Leaf ninja suddenly.
"Sakura-chan is," Naruto answered quickly. Sasuke grunted something, and Sakura felt her cheeks heat. It was technically true, but still... she wasn't any sort of commander.
"Very well," Tetsu said. None of the Cloud ninja showed any sign of shock or disbelief, to Sakura's own surprise. "We need to discuss where we go from here."
"This sounds like a conversation I should be a part of." Everyone looked up.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said happily, jumping to his feet. The jounin was up, and had somehow acquired a large stick that he used like a cane as he hobbled out of the way-station.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said, but his eye stayed fixed on the Cloud jounin.
"Kakashi," Tetsu said. He covered his metal arm, resting at his side, with his other hand.
"Tetsu," Kakashi replied simply.
Waving off Eimi's efforts to help, Tetsu slowly stood. "Let's talk," he said, and the two jounin slowly made their way back to the way-station. No one seemed to be inclined to follow them, and the two teams of ninja awkwardly stared at each other. Araimi nervously inched closer to Sakura.
Despite the sudden tension, Sakura still let out a sigh of relief. If Kakashi was awake, he would take care of everything, and it would all be okay. There'd be no more of this nonsense from Naruto about her being in command.
No one spoke until the jounin returned.
"I imagine you're impatient to be on our way," Kakashi said the Keikan as he seated himself and started helping himself to food. Somehow he managed to eat without ever lowering his mask while Sakura was looking.
"I won't lie and say no," Keikan said, "but I understand the situation."
"Eimi," Tetsu said.
"Yes, sir?"
"You will be traveling to the Frost Country border. Their should be a Frost team waiting for Keikan-san there. You'll advise them of the situation and bring them back here to start their escort duties."
"Yes, sir," Eimi stated again.
"I can't pay you -" Keikan began, sounding surprise.
"It's no matter," Tetsu said. "I would be sending her anyway, with messages for my commanders." His gaze swept the ninja. "We're in an unusual situation here, if the Hot Springs were wiped out."
"But discussion of that can wait until Keikan-san and Araimi-san are safely on their way," Kakashi interjected.
Tetsu nodded, and said nothing more, and soon afterward Naruto and Hikaru had both jounin back in bed resting. It wasn't too much later that Sakura joined them, weariness sinking into her bones with enough suddenness that she was asleep almost before she finished getting into her bedroll.
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Sakura was neither the first nor the last of her team to wake after the battle with Hidan. Sasuke had, she learned, awakened at dawn the next morning, though Naruto had insisted he continued to rest. Sakura had woken in the afternoon, but had only had time to reassure herself that everyone was safe and eat before, exhausted, she had returned to her bedroll. Kakashi had only stirred once, slightly after Sakura had woken on the second day after the battle, but only for a few minutes.
Today, Sakura felt no more tired than normal, and her arm - bound tightly in a sling - ached so little she considered freeing it as she dressed, but she had no desire to advertise her inhuman regeneration. The weather had finally improved, and she had to blink several times from the unexpected brightness of the sun shining brightly in a clear sky when she briefly poked her head out of the way-station pavilion's shade. It was bitterly cold, but still far more enjoyable than the endless rain of the past week.
Sakura exchanged morning greetings with Naruto when he came inside as she ate a small breakfast. The blond's response was muttered and almost incoherent. Worried, Sakura followed him as he went over to check on Kakashi. The two jounin were the only ninja left bedridden, but the Cloud's teacher was awake, his team clustered around his bed, talking quietly among themselves. They hushed briefly when Naruto and Sakura passed, then resumed when they saw what the pair of Leaf ninja were doing.
"Is Kakashi-sensei going to be okay, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked quietly herself. She knew chakra exhaustion could be serious from the harsh warnings the academy teachers had given all their students.
It took Naruto several moments to answer. "He should be... up and moving in a couple days." He blinked several times and shook his head as if to clear it. "A little longer to travel."
"When was the last time you slept?" Sakura asked him.
"Not since we got here," someone said suddenly.
Sakura started, and - embarrassed to be snuck up on so easily - turned to see the Cloud medic Hikaru. The rest of his team had departed while Naruto examined Kakashi, and his teacher now seemed to be dozing. The boy smiled gently, one of his hands adjusting his glasses. "He wouldn't sleep, watching over you and Uchiha-san," he explained.
As if on cue, Naruto yawned loudly. "You should get some sleep, Naruto-kun," Sakura said. Had he really been up for the past two days without sleep? "Sasuke-kun and I will be fine, and we can wake you if anything happens with Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto yawned again. "I guess," he said. "Let me get my bedroll." He started to wander off, but in the wrong direction if he intended to retrieve his things from the carts.
"You can just use mine for now," Sakura offered quickly, giving her friend a soft push in its direction with her free arm.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto said with another yawn. "Remind me to replace your caffeine pills when we get home." It took Sakura a moment to realize what he meant; she didn't remember the first aid kit Kabuto had given her containing caffeine pills, but she hadn't memorized its contents. Naruto didn't bother to undress, almost collapsing on top of Sakura's bedroll. Moments later, his loud snores filled the air.
"I'm glad you were able to convince him," Hikaru said quietly. "It's not healthy to abuse those pills like that."
Irrational guilt welled up in Sakura, but a moment's thought was enough to push it aside. She wasn't the only member of the team who had been out of commission after all.
"Loud kid." The new voice almost made Sakura jump again, and she and Hikaru turned to the Cloud jounin, who had woken from his brief doze.
"Sorry, ah..." Sakura realized that she couldn't remember the man's name.
"Tetsu," he said. "And don't worry about it. He deserves the rest, and I've slept through worse." He smiled briefly, then closed his eyes. If he had any trouble falling back asleep the instant they shut, Sakura couldn't tell.
After a few moment's awkward silence, Hikaru went outside, and Sakura followed a second or two behind. Looking about, Araimi and Keikan were by the carts, deep in conversation with Eimi. Kasumi sat on a branch halfway up a tree, idly playing with her hammer and keeping watch over the road. Sakura couldn't see Sasuke anywhere. Where could he have gone? Naruto hadn't said anything, but in the state he'd been in Sakura didn't know if he'd have noticed.
Sakura headed toward the carts, but Hikaru didn't follow, instead wandering in Kasumi's direction. As she drew near, Sakura was able to overhear Keikan and Eimi speaking.
"You have our thanks," the kunoichi was saying.
Keikan snorted at that. "You're paying me, and it's the least I could do after... well. Thanks are hardly required." They were making some kind of deal? What did the Cloud want?
Araimi noticed Sakura first, and she quickly broke away from her father's side, rushing over to embrace Sakura with a force that almost knocked her over. "Sakura-chan!"
"A-raimi-chan," Sakura stuttered in response, surprise at the exuberant greeting making her stumble over the other girl's name.
"I'm glad you're okay," Araimi said. Then she suddenly released Sakura, giving her injured arm a worried glance. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"It's fine," Sakura said automatically.
Keikan approached the pair of girls. Eimi had politely withdrawn a few steps, although not so far that she couldn't hear every word. "How are you doing?" the merchant asked quietly.
"It's fine," Sakura said again.
A frown passed over Keikan's face, but he didn't press the issue. "It seems I owe you another thanks, Sakura-kun," he stated.
Sakura shifted under his gaze. "I didn't do that much," she said. She'd killed a demon hound while Naruto held it down, and against Hidan... her memories were clouded with rage, but she remembered the fear as she'd struggled in Hidan's grasp, barely remembering to use the explosive tag hidden in her injured hand as a final, desperate gambit. "Naruto-kun is the one who caught him, and Kakashi-sensei..."
"To hear Araimi tell it," Keikan said, "you faced him down alone after everyone else was... incapacitated."
"It... wasn't really like that," Sakura said. He was making it sound like she'd done something brave, like she hadn't been half-insane from terror. She thought she heard Eimi make a sound, but she wasn't certain.
"Sakura-chan," Araimi started, but she stopped at a look from her father.
"Be that as it may," Keikan said. "I've already given Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun my thanks, and our friends from Cloud. He bowed, Sakura thought even more deeply than when he'd thanked her after the incident at the hot springs resort. "Thank you, again."
Sakura felt her cheeks heat. She wasn't any more certain how to respond to this than before, either. "You're paying us," she said weakly, echoing Keikan's own words of a few moments before.
Keikan snorted as he straightened. "I'm paying you to scare off bandits. Not to fight... whatever that man was."
"A jounin, and a powerful one," Eimi said quietly, abandoning the fiction that she wasn't listening. "That's why it's important that we recover the body."
Sakura looked at the other kunoichi. "Eimi-san?"
"I am hiring one of Keikan-san's carts, to retrieve Hidan's corpse." She paused, then added. "And the other Hot Springs ninja."
"Tora-san," Sakura said. She hadn't thought of the man once, had she? But... he'd been cut down, right in front of her. And... Hidan had said something about children.
"Yes," Eimi said. "If your team wants to send a representative along..." She trailed off.
"I..." Sakura looked around. Kakashi and Naruto were asleep. Where was Sasuke?
Eimi seemed to grasp her thoughts. She gestured at the woods behind the way-station. "Uchiha-san went off to train privately," she said.
"I need to talk to him," Sakura said.
"We'll need to unload the cart, anyway," Keikan said. "Araimi."
"Yes, Papa," his daughter said. "I'll get started." She gave Sakura a parting smile, then raced off to the cart she usually drove, which had less cargo than Keikan's.
Sakura headed off to find Sasuke, but hesitated as she reached the edge of the woods. With Naruto and Kakashi asleep and Sasuke off training, she was the only one of the team present and awake. She couldn't just leave Keikan and Araimi, not to mention her sleeping comrades, alone with a team of foreign ninja. Not that she'd do much good if she had to fight Eimi, Kasumi, and Hikaru all by herself, but... not much good was better than none.
"Sasuke-kun!" she yelled out as loudly as she could. What had he been thinking, going off on his own like that? Sakura forced down the sudden irritation. Sasuke knew what he was doing, she told herself. Surely he had a good reason.
There wasn't any response. Sakura yelled Sasuke's name again. What was she going to do if he didn't come? What if he was hurt somewhere?
Finally Sasuke emerged from the cover of the trees. Sakura opened her mouth, but she stopped as he fixed her with a crimson gaze. An extra pupil on each red eye stared at her, and for a just a moment raw terror that inexplicably rivaled what she'd felt facing Hidan froze her. Then that fear was replaced with a too-familiar sensation, a boiling rage in her gut that seemed to build more rapidly each time it came.
"What?" Sasuke demanded.
The shock of the sudden question let Sakura force down the burning anger. She hadn't felt it coming like that, unprompted, not except for the first time she'd met Uzumaki Kushina. Why now? Sasuke made an annoyed sound and turned to leave. "Wait!" Sakura said. Sasuke didn't turn back, but at least he stopped leaving. Sakura haltingly explained the situation.
Sasuke grunted. "If the clients aren't going, what do we care? Don't bother me with trivial things like this while I'm training, dead last," he said, his voice hard.
The unexpected harshness stole Sakura's voice for a moment, and before she could ask him not to go off on his own again, Sasuke vanished into the woods. Sakura stared after him. She knew Sasuke could be... cold, sometimes. It was part of what made him so cool. But this was something else. Why was he so furious?
It took Sakura a moment to regain her composure, and then she turned back to rejoin the others. She hoped that no one else had overheard Sasuke, but the awkward silence that greeted her killed those hopes. "Asshole," Araimi said firmly when Sakura reached the cart.
Sakura bit back her instinctive protest. "I don't think any of us will be going, Eimi-san," she told the kunoichi, who had started helping Araimi unload.
"I understand," was all Eimi said.
About a quarter-hour later, the cart was unloaded, and Eimi sent Kasumi and Hikaru with it to return to the site of the battle. Sakura spent the next while silently watching as Keikan and Araimi checked over their cargo for damage. Thankfully, only a few of the boxes of cigars were damaged. When they were done, Eimi approached, holding a bag Sakura vaguely recognized in her hands.
"I never did get the chance to give you the haircut I offered, Araimi-san," Eimi said by way of explanation.
"Oh," Araimi said. "I guess since we're all friends again..." She glanced at Sakura.
Sakura couldn't see any reason to object, and just shrugged awkwardly. She still watched as Eimi set to work undoing Araimi's braid, but when she thought she heard Naruto saying something from inside the way-station, she felt comfortable enough to go check on him. Both Naruto and Kakashi were sleeping soundly, but Sakura reminded herself to come back and check regularly. The Cloud jounin woke when Sakura passed him, but didn't say anything.
Sakura returned to her clients' side, and after Eimi finished trimming Araimi's hair, the next couple hours passed uneventfully. Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from sending worried glances to the woods where Sasuke was training, but he didn't emerge, even a couple hours later when Kasumi and Hikaru returned.
The two bodies on the cart were covered by cloth tarps, which the two Cloud genin didn't remove as they gently placed the bodies on the ground before returning the cart to Keikan. Sakura swallowed as she stared at the two fallen ninja. With the covering, there was no way to tell which was which.
"I'll get Tetsu-sensei," Eimi said, and she went under the pavilion. She emerge a few minutes later, supporting a clearly weak Tetsu as he slowly made his way over to the bodies.
"Show me," the jounin demanded simply.
Hikaru nodded, pulling back the covering from the first ninja's head. It was Tora. Someone had closed his eyes, Sakura noted, before she had to look away. He was someone she hardly knew, and he hadn't been a friend, but it was uncomfortable to see him like that. Tetsu just nodded, and Hikaru covered Tora back up before pulling the tarp away from Hidan.
Hidan's eyes had been left open, and Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding when she saw that unmoving face. For all his monstrous power, he was really dead. Hikaru had pulled the cover back further than he had with Tora, displaying the hole Kakashi's final technique had made in Hidan's chest. Sakura could feel herself going green, and she looked away again.
Tetsu started to bend down, but seemed to think better of it. "You checked?" he asked.
"It's his real body," Hikaru said. "No alterations or disguise techniques."
"Good," Tetsu said. "Eimi, put them in one of the storage scrolls." The chuunin nodded. Tetsu glanced at Sakura. "I assume the Leaf have no objections to us taking possession of the bodies?"
Sakura shook her head.
"What's going on?" Sakura started at the unexpected voice, and turned to see Naruto, rubbing at his eyes.
It took a few minutes to explain matters, while Tetsu went back to his rest and Eimi set to work dealing with the corpses. "Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked when Sakura finished, seemingly noticing for the first time that the other boy was missing.
"He's... off training," Sakura said weakly. Naruto would get upset, she knew.
She wasn't disappointed. "He shouldn't have left you alone like this," Naruto said. "I going to go give him a piece of my -"
"Don't," Sakura said quietly. She didn't want the two of them getting into a fight. "I'll get him," she added quickly. "You help Araimi-chan reload the cart." The merchant's daughter had just started that task."
"All right," Naruto said dubiously, but he obeyed. "You're second-in-command, I guess," he added with a laugh as he left.
Sakura started at the reminder. Kakashi had named her second-in-command, when the mission started. But that was before things had... gotten serious, right? It didn't mean anything.
Shaking her head, Sakura went into woods, and tried to figure out how to get Sasuke to come back without making him more angry. After a short distance, the woods behind the way-station ended in a sheer cliff. The cliff rose about ten feet over a small set of natural hot springs, and Sakura found Sasuke standing on one of them.
"Sasuke-kun," she called out hesitantly. Was that a flicker of lighting she saw around him.
The boy spun about, looking up at Sakura with his red eyes. Sakura steeled herself, but no rage rose inside of her. "I told you not to bother me, dead last," he said.
"Naruto-kun's awake," Sakura said. "We need to have a team meeting."
Sasuke grunted irritably, but his eyes turned black and he walked up the cliff-side to join Sakura.
"Was that... Eimi-san's technique?" Sakura asked. The Sharingan was supposed to be able to copy ninjutsu, wasn't it?
Sasuke glared at her. "Don't say anything," he demanded, and then he started to stalk away.
"Why are you so angry?" Sakura asked. That she voiced the question shocked her almost as much as it seemed to shock Sasuke.
The boy froze. "Is it true?" he asked harshly. "What Naruto says about the fight?" He didn't need to specify which one.
"I... I don't know what Naruto-kun said," Sakura answered weakly.
"That you could move under his killing intent," Sasuke said. "That you hit him with an explosive tag and held him down so Naruto could snare him."
Sakura swallowed. It was... it was true, even if she hadn't thought of it in those terms. "Yes," she said. For the moment, a brief image of Sasuke thanking her for saving him and confessing his love passed through her head, but she forced it aside. That wasn't Sasuke.
Sasuke turned back to face her. "How?" he demanded.
"What?"
"You're the dead last!" Sasuke said. "He was... he was a jounin! How the hell did you manage all that while -" Sasuke stopped short, biting back words.
Sakura didn't have an answer. How had she done that? The killing intent, she had felt at first, but with the rage of the Nine-Tails burning in her gut, it had paled in comparison. She couldn't say that. As for the rest, though... "He toyed with me," Sakura said quietly. "I wasn't a threat. And I got lucky."
Sasuke just grunted, but he actually seemed somewhat satisfied with that answer, and he let Sakura walk beside him on the way back to the others. When they got back, Eimi had sealed the bodies away. Naruto quickly dragooned Sasuke into helping with reloading the cart. Deciding she didn't want to listen to the inevitable argument, Sakura went to check on Kakashi.
Once again, Tetsu seemed to wake instantly as she drew near, but he still didn't say anything. Sakura stared down at her teacher for a few minutes, wishing she could do something to help him. Kakashi's breathing seemed to be better, and he actually stirred a little when Sakura whispered a quiet wish for his quick recovery, but he didn't wake.
Once the cart was reloaded, to her surprise Naruto dragged Sakura aside, a bundle of scrolls under his arm. "You offered to help me with my studies, right?" he reminded Sakura.
Sakura nodded. "I don't know how much help I'll be," she warned him as they sat down over the scrolls. "I haven't studied any of these before."
"I'll loan you the ones I'm done with," Naruto said. He grinned. "They're even more boring than those Gutsy Shinobi books, though."
"The Gutsy Shinobi series is excellent," Sakura protested, but she wasn't able to stop from laughing. They set to work, and much as she'd predicted, most of the material went over her head as she'd only read a little beyond the academy courses and Naruto was working his way through the course-load for apprentice medics.
She got even more lost when Hikaru noticed what they were studying and joined them, but Naruto's enthusiasm was infectious and the little she did understand of the boys' discussion of medical ninjutsu was fascinating. None of it was likely to be of any use to her, though. Everyone knew that medical ninjutsu took almost perfect control, and Sakura had barely maintained passing marks in the chakra control exercises in the academy.
Soon enough, it was time for dinner, and Naruto had to put his scrolls away. Tetsu actually emerged from the way-station, once more supported by Eimi, to join them, but he waited until everyone was almost finished.
"Which one of you is in command?" he asked the Leaf ninja suddenly.
"Sakura-chan is," Naruto answered quickly. Sasuke grunted something, and Sakura felt her cheeks heat. It was technically true, but still... she wasn't any sort of commander.
"Very well," Tetsu said. None of the Cloud ninja showed any sign of shock or disbelief, to Sakura's own surprise. "We need to discuss where we go from here."
"This sounds like a conversation I should be a part of." Everyone looked up.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said happily, jumping to his feet. The jounin was up, and had somehow acquired a large stick that he used like a cane as he hobbled out of the way-station.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said, but his eye stayed fixed on the Cloud jounin.
"Kakashi," Tetsu said. He covered his metal arm, resting at his side, with his other hand.
"Tetsu," Kakashi replied simply.
Waving off Eimi's efforts to help, Tetsu slowly stood. "Let's talk," he said, and the two jounin slowly made their way back to the way-station. No one seemed to be inclined to follow them, and the two teams of ninja awkwardly stared at each other. Araimi nervously inched closer to Sakura.
Despite the sudden tension, Sakura still let out a sigh of relief. If Kakashi was awake, he would take care of everything, and it would all be okay. There'd be no more of this nonsense from Naruto about her being in command.
No one spoke until the jounin returned.
"I imagine you're impatient to be on our way," Kakashi said the Keikan as he seated himself and started helping himself to food. Somehow he managed to eat without ever lowering his mask while Sakura was looking.
"I won't lie and say no," Keikan said, "but I understand the situation."
"Eimi," Tetsu said.
"Yes, sir?"
"You will be traveling to the Frost Country border. Their should be a Frost team waiting for Keikan-san there. You'll advise them of the situation and bring them back here to start their escort duties."
"Yes, sir," Eimi stated again.
"I can't pay you -" Keikan began, sounding surprise.
"It's no matter," Tetsu said. "I would be sending her anyway, with messages for my commanders." His gaze swept the ninja. "We're in an unusual situation here, if the Hot Springs were wiped out."
"But discussion of that can wait until Keikan-san and Araimi-san are safely on their way," Kakashi interjected.
Tetsu nodded, and said nothing more, and soon afterward Naruto and Hikaru had both jounin back in bed resting. It wasn't too much later that Sakura joined them, weariness sinking into her bones with enough suddenness that she was asleep almost before she finished getting into her bedroll.
