"No, you absolutely cannot bring anyone along, Sakura," said Shizune sternly, hands planted on her hips. "Honestly, what are you thinking? This isn't some bloody picnic we're going on!"
As promised, Sakura had returned to the village square to meet Shizune— only, not alone. Kujaku, the swordsmith's daughter, had asked to hire her as a bodyguard, so Sakura had brought her along to see if Shizune would agree to let her tag along.
"I know it's against regulations to take on a mission request without going through the mission desk," argued Sakura, "but Kujaku-san only needs me to escort her to the lake while she gathers some special materials for my sword. Lady Tsunade did give me permission to commission it before the mission started, so technically..."
The Hidden Leaf had made its fair share of enemies in its short lifetime, so there was never a shortage of those looking to harm its interests. Elites were hard to cultivate, and the younger generation they protected were easy marks, so the village had to remain ever watchful for ambushes and schemes by rival villages to chip away at their strength or undermine them in the eyes of their clients.
As a result, potential clients were typically screened and usually given a cursory background check before their requests were passed on to the mission ninja. It was part of the reason why official shinobi from the hidden villages weren't permitted to take on missions independently— the rest of the reason being, of course, money. After all, taxes couldn't be collected on missions the government didn't know about!
"It's fine, Shizune," Sakura insisted. "We'll be in and out in a flash, and besides, just look at Miss Kujaku's face— isn't she pretty? There's no way a face like that could be untrustworthy, see!?"
Sakura threw her arms in Kujaku's direction for emphasis. For a split second, the green-haired kunoichi looked thoroughly baffled by Sakura's nonsensical logic, but she caught herself quickly and nodded vigorously, as if it all made perfect sense.
"At this rate, you'll end up swindled out of your life savings by the first handsome scammer you meet," sighed Shizune, pressing a hand to her face and shaking her head. "Ugh, fine," she added, her tone hardening. "You're a big girl, so do what you want— but keep in mind that the lakeside is where we found the last traces of the ANBU who went missing. If you bring an unrelated person with you and she dies, that's on you."
Kujaku kept her vague smile, but inwardly, she was seething.
Both Leaf kunoichi were looking down on her, simply because she wasn't from one of the Five Great Villages. The pink-haired airhead was rich enough to toss around piles of chakra metal like it was candy, while the older black-haired woman seemed certain she'd be a burden without even having witnessed her abilities.
Well, she'd show them both exactly what the sole survivor of the Four Celestial Symbols Men was capable of… though she'd probably have to rename the team to One Celestial Symbol Woman, now that Hōki and Suiko had been killed by that weapons-master kunoichi, and Ryūgan had mysteriously disappeared after going to scout out the lake the other day.
"Don't mind Shizune-sama," Sakura whispered into Kujaku's ear as Shizune turned to leave. "She's just jealous of our curves, but she means well."
Kujaku's eyebrows twitched.
…
"Woof!"
Night had already fallen over the Shinobi Continent by the time Sakura, Shizune, and Kujaku arrived at their destination— a lake nestled in the mountain range located a few kilometres west from Takumi Village, where the ANBU Tsunade had dispatched to track Orochimaru's subordinates were said to have sent out an S.O.S. signal days earlier, before vanishing without a trace.
"Woof!"
Sadly, Sakura didn't expect to find any injured to heal or even bodies to bring back for their loved ones to mourn. To serve in the ANBU as one of the Hokage's faceless men was to vanish entirely; when you perished, you left nothing behind, not even a corpse.
"Woof!"
Guided by Akamaru's barks, Sakura had no trouble finding Team 8 a few hundred metres from the lake, deep within the forest. Kurenai was crouched behind a bush, intently examining what appeared to be footprints. Nearby, Kiba and Akamaru were hunched over something on the ground. As for Shino, he was gazing blankly into space— or at least, that's how it seemed to Sakura. His sunglasses made it impossible to tell.
Glancing around, Sakura found no traces of Hinata.
"Oi!" Kiba called out, glancing up from the pile of cinders Akamaru had been sniffing as Sakura, Shizune dropped down in front of him, while Kujaku kept her distance. "Took you girls long enough!"
His eyes flicked briefly to Sakura's chest. He didn't look especially surprised— Hinata, it seemed, had already told her teammates what had happened during their journey to the west.
"Sakura."
A shiver ran down Sakura's spine.
"Hi, Shino," said Sakura with a strained smile.
Unlike most of Sakura's classmates— who had been organised into squads designed to balance strengths and weaknesses— Team 8 had been formed as a pure tracking and reconnaissance unit. Hinata now scouted from above, providing aerial rather than telescopic reconnaissance, while Shino's insects and Kiba's dog handled scent-based tracking below. Sakura supposed Hinata was somewhere overhead, circling around the area of interest and looking for signs of the enemy.
Sakura knew a bit about tracking, though her training focused more on the evasion side of the subject— erasing footprints, masking scent, and avoiding pursuit in enemy territory. That being said, Tsunade had included her in this mission not for her tracking skills, but to protect the more vulnerable members of Team 8.
The buzz of insect wings gradually growing louder pulled Sakura from her thoughts.
Moments later, a dark cloud of Kikaichū poured from between the trees, making a beeline for Shino. One of the glossy black insects landed on his extended finger, and Shino began nodding and mumbling to himself.
"What— no!"
Sakura, who had been steadily inching away from Shino, the sort of madman who would harbour insects within his own flesh, froze in fright. Had it finally happened? Had the Kikaichū finally gone rogue and developed a taste for more than their host's chakra!?
"What's wrong, Shino?" Kurenai quickly asked him.
"It's… it's Bessie," said Shino mournfully. "She's… dead."
Sakura let out a slow breath. Really? That was all? One of his insects had died? That was a good thing… wasn't it? And anyway, how long could their lifespans be? Surely they couldn't live long enough for anyone to get attached…
"The Kikaichū…" Shino continued. "They say Bessie's been trapped in… amber?"
BOOM!
Barely had those words left Shino's lips when a powerful shockwave tore through the forest, bending trees and shaking the ground, sending leaves cascading from the canopy above. The sound of an explosion and a deafening roar followed a heartbeat later, forcing Sakura and the others to clamp their hands over their ears.
That blast, that was no ordinary explosive tag! Rather, it sounded a lot like Deidara's Explosion Style plastic explosives clay… but hadn't Kakashi reported that Deidara had self-detonated following his capture?
"Don't tell me two Sharingan users accidentally captured a Clay Clone?" murmured Sakura, slowly lowering her hands from her ears. "That came from the lake…! But what was that cry…?"