Chapter 9: Chapter Nine
Carver and Raiden stood in the arena of the leaf village as Sakura watched them retrain a large portion of the leaf village shinobi. Sakura stood off to the side leaning against the wall as she took another drink from her water bottle. Tsunade and Kakashi were inside the Kokage's box, where the Hokage would sit and watch the exams take place.
"Should we go talk to her?" Tsunade asked more to herself. Kakashi stood beside Tsunade with his hands in his pockets. He really wanted to talk to Sakura, he never got a chance to speak to her after that night in the forest. She was whipped away from him before he could explain his actions for randomly kissing her like he did. He let out a deep sigh, maybe he read the signs between them wrong. Sakura did kiss him back so maybe Sakura was just really busy. "I can't believe Onoki would exacerbate what happened with the Mist Village the way he did." Tsunade huffed annoyed.
"We should have expected it." Kakashi replied, "We know him and how he can be."
"As true as that may be, to try and spark up tension between villages though..."
"Onoki is not a favorite among the village leaders." Kakashi reminded.
"And to try and lead an assault against the Waterfall Village-" Tsunade shook her head.
"The other villages didn't go for it though." Kakashi tried to calm Tsunade, seeing anger leaking onto her face.
"True. Kakashi-" Tsunade called pulling his attention from Sakura and onto her.
"Hm?"
"Did you know, no one knows where the Reaper came from?"
"What do you mean?" Kakashi questioned.
"I was talking to the other village leaders and asked them about what they knew about Sakura."
"What did they have to say?"
"They didn't know who I was talking about at first."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it wasn't until I brought up her last name that it finally clicked with them. They only know Sakura as the Reaper or Commander Haruno."
"Interesting." Kakashi muttered, "I wonder why that is."
"Apparently Sakura is not a very approachable person." Tsunade stood from her seat and walked over to where Kakashi stood. "The only time anyone sees her is when it comes time to fight, and everyone I spoke to only had war stories about her."
"War stories?" Kakashi wanted clarification on this.
"Yes, she has been a busy bee these past few years. Every village I spoke to holds her in high regards. Every time there is an issue, she is the one to respond to the threat and that is the only time she is ever seen. There isn't any of this-" Tsunade gestured to Sakura leaning against the arena wall watching Raiden and Carver. "-She is in and out and that is it. She is known to be cold and withdrawn."
"It doesn't sound like we are talking about the same person here." Kakashi said.
"That is why I was so confused." Tsunade sighed, "The things I heard Kakashi..." Tsunade trailed off rubbing her arm.
"What do you mean?"
"The stories I was told about her they..." Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment. "...they scared me Kakashi. The Reaper they spoke about was a war machine and but when I look at her, I don't see that."
"She is different when she is here." Kakashi realized.
"That is what I was thinking." Tsunade agreed. "Maybe she doesn't hate us as much as she believes she does. But..."
"But?"
"No one knows where the Reaper comes from."
"I am not following you?"
"When the Waterfall Village rose to power, it was because of Sakura that has been made perfectly clear to me now and that is when she became a presence in the world. But before that no one knows where she came from."
"Did you tell anyone she was born here?" Kakashi wondered.
"No... I figured she kept the fact she is from here a secret for a good reason."
"Maybe." Kakashi sighed, he couldn't read Sakura or tell what she was thinking. She was like an unreadable title wave that threatens to drown him, and what scared him the most is the fact he wanted to be drowned by her.
From the corner of Kakashi's eye he could see a team belonging to the waterfall village come running into view. They quickly dropped to one knee once they reached Sakura, they held such respect for her...Kakashi narrowed his eye, no that was not respect they showed, it was fear.
Knowing this Kakashi only became more intrigued by the mystery showering Sakura Haruno. Tsunade sighed, seeing Sakura pull Carver and Raiden from their training as they vanished jumping over the arena's wall. Kakashi and Tsunade glanced at each other, both confused as the leaf shinobi all glanced at each other.
The waterfall soldier's ran through the leaf village, jumping over the wall with ease as their feet hit the forest floor they sped off. They ran a few miles until Sakura came to a halt, kicking dust up around her feet. There, laying on the ground before them where a handful of those strange creatures that they had been waiting for. Sakura tilted her head as she studied the unmoving creatures. They looked different...they had misshapen heads, a few were missing different parts of their bodies. As the group walked carefully through the forest, they came upon more and more of the malformed beings.
"It's a second wave." Carver was the first to speak as he looked around.
"They look half assed." Raiden commented, kicking one with his foot.
"Looks like the Reapers sped up production." Carver said after walking another mile, it was clear these creatures were on their way to the leaf village as a second wave.
"I wonder why they died?" Raiden bent down getting a closer look at one.
"Who knows?" Raiden yawned. "Could be since they were rushed, they ran out of chakra or maybe these things have a shelf life?"
"They didn't before." Raiden stood.
"Well, that we didn't know about." Carver replied, "We always killed them, we never left one alive to study them."
"Commander!" Sakura turn at the sound of her name. She moved in the direction of the voice, walking a few yards Sakura saw the team that had come got her after discovering this mess. Sakura sighed, running a hand through her hair seeing a dead human body beside her soldier's feet.
"Fuck." Carver cursed, seeing two more bodies not far from the first one found. They looked like they were attacked by a wild animal, their bodies were all torn apart barely holding together.
"Did you know about another team coming here?" Raiden turned to Sakura,
"No." She answered, "Where is the last member?" Sakura rubbed her tired face.
"No idea." Carver stood from crouching down, "Hopefully they are not too far."
"Fan out!" Sakura called at the team who stood around staring at her. Did she really need to hold their fucking hand? After ten minutes of searching, the fourth member of the deceased team was found.
"She's alive!" A soldier gasped; Sakura pushed the soldier out of the way as she quickly began first aid to the soldier who laid beside a tree staring up towards the sky.
"Hey." Sakura called, trying to snap a reaction of the girl who was in shock. Carver looked at the three creatures who laid near the girl,
"Your team stopped the second wave." He realized, looking over to the girl and locked eyes with Sakura.
"Co-Commander." The girl gargled out.
"I'm here." Sakura said, "You're going to be fine."
"We-We tried." The girl breathed out. "They were-were so fast."
"Stop talking." Sakura ordered, "Save your strength-"
"My team." Tears formed in the girl's eyes. "Those things tore-tore them apart." Sakura looked at the soldier's torso, there was a gaping hole in her stomach that Sakura was trying to apply pressure to as she pumped chakra into her trying to slow the bleeding.
"I know, but you're going to be alright." Sakura said, "I am going to-"
"Commander..." The girl's eyes slowly began to close as she was bleeding out under a large oak tree.
"Hey!" Sakura yelled, quickly getting up and performing CPR on the girl's chest. Sakura sighed after four minutes she stopped, her hands and arms coated in a thin layer of the girl's blood. Sakura looked away for a moment reminding herself chakra can only do so much as more hatred for the Reapers grew in her heart.
"Hey." Carver placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "This isn't on you."
"When I find out who sent them, I am going to put them in their grave myself." Sakura spat standing up, if she had known a team was on their way here, she could have been watching out for them, she could have helped them take this wave down. If she had just known they could still be alive right now!
"Go get some stretchers." Raiden ordered the team who were standing around, looking at the team who had just fallen. Hearing Raiden they nodded, quickly turning and running towards the village. "You ok?" Raiden questioned Sakura,
"Fine." Sakura's voice was stale as she stared down at the girl she could not save. She knew this girl, she trained her from day one. This girl had a family, a husband and two kids who were sitting back at the waterfall village who were waiting for her to come home. She was a good soldier, she loved her village and she did not deserve to die this way.
The waterfall village team returned with another team as they began to pick up the bodies, placing them in bodies bags and getting them ready to transport them to the arena so Sakura can transport them to the waterfall village through the seal which was placed there. Sakura can place a seal in locations such as the leaf village and the waterfall village and she can transport herself and others through the seals like they were doors. This was a new technique Sakura had developed in the months she was away from the leaf village.
As Sakura led the two teams with Carver and Raiden following through the village it drew a lot of attention from by standards. Many people became curious and gathered inside the stands of the arena trying to peek at what was happening. Tsunade had joined the gossip as she walked onto the ground of the arena, she stood beside Kakashi who was with a small group of leaf ninja. They all watched Sakura come into view, the two teams behind her carrying the deceased bodies. Tsunade and Kakashi looked at each other concerned. Tsunade moved forward, getting dangerously close to Sakura who was fuming.
"Sakura!?" Tsunade called seeing the blood painted on her arms, "What happened!?" Tsunade watched as the waterfall soldiers placed the bodies down in a circle which began to glow in the middle of the arena.
"There was a second wave like we thought there would be." Sakura answered, not looking at Tsunade as Sakura waited for her two teams to finish what they were doing and get out of the way.
"What happened to-"
"What do you think happened?" Sakura snapped turning to glare into Tsunade, Sakura glanced past Tsunade and saw the audience behind her, it sickened Sakura that Tsunade would allow this.
"Four of my soldiers died today, protecting your fucking village" Sakura's eyes glowed with a rage Tsunade had never seen before. "So, knowing that fact I would appreciate it if you wouldn't display my fallen soldiers for your entire fucking villages viewing pleasure!'
"Your right, I should-"
"Remove them." Sakura's voice was drenched in venom, "Before I do it for you."
"Ri-Right!" Tsunade quickly spun, "Everyone out!" Tsunade yelled, for a moment the leaf ninja glanced at each other, really wondering if they had to leave or not. It wasn't until Sakura turned back around with her emerald eyes glowing with a dangerous amount of anger that sent shivers down people's back did they all quickly clear out; except for team seven.
"Sakura, I am so sorry I should have put up a-"
"What?" Sakura didn't understand why Tsunade was stuttering, Sakura didn't remember Tsunade being this soft, she certainly didn't remember Tsunade being this timid when she banished Sakura from the village.
"Huh?" Tsunade tilted her head with wide eyes.
"Why do you look like I just kicked your puppy?" Sakura called Tsunade out.
"I-I"
"What is going on with you?"
"I don't know what you mean?"
"I don't remember you ever being this soft."
"I am not-"
"I just ordered you around in front of a large number of your shinobi." Sakura pointed out, "I will be damned before I allow someone to order me around in my own village especially in front of my soldiers."
"Well you just had one of your teams-"
"People die every day Tsunade, most of them-" Sakura turned back to see the bodies. "-most of them didn't have the time to die and didn't deserve it. But if you haven't noticed, we are in war and you need to start acting like it." Sakura turned and walked away, moving towards the middle of the arena. "And don't you ever try to use the deaths of my shinobi again to try and cover up your softness, I will never let that fly."
"I wasn't using them as a...shit." Tsunade sighed, Sakura stood in the middle of the four fallen soldiers, she turned to Carver and Raiden.
"You know what to do." Sakura said, the two men nodded.
"You have got nothing to worry about on this end." Carver promised as Raiden waved, wind began to pick up circling around Sakura.
"Wait!" Naruto yelled, running past Tsunade. "Sakura!" Naruto lost sight on her as the wind spun around Sakura in a perfect sphere as it screamed in Naruto's ears. Once the pressure was gone, Naruto opened his eyes and quickly looked up, his heart dropped. Commander Haruno was once again gone.
"Ugh!" Naruto groaned, how long was it going to be until he saw her again this time? Weeks? Months? Longer!?
"Calm down." Carver rolled his eyes, walking towards the exit. "She will be back."
"When!?" Naruto yelled after the two men.
"Why are you being so loud?" Raiden asked glancing back. "I am right here; you do not need to yell."
"Where did she go!?" Naruto demanded to know.
"That is none of your damn business." Carver answered, "Your village is not being left unguarded, we are still here to hold your hands."
"Your safe, your welcome. Go about your business." Raiden added. "Rest up, tomorrow morning your real training begins."
"Where did Sakura go?" Sasuke stepped up.
"Ugh." Carver ran his hand through his thick locks.
"She went home." Raiden stopped talking, getting an annoyed look from Carver.
"What?" Tsunade shook her head. "How that is possible-" Carver rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers summing concentrated chakra. The sparks fell into the ground, revealing Sakura's seal.
"What?" Team seven backed away from it.
"It Sakura's seal." Carver did not want to explain all of this. "It has been here for a couple months now; it seems none of you have noticed."
"No way." Tsunade was cut off shaking her head. "How did she-"
"It is not my place to explain it." Carver cut her off raising his hands. "But that seal was the only way we got here in time to save your asses."
"Why did Sakura leave?" Naruto asked, looking over at Carver. Naruto blushed remembering this morning and took a few steps back getting closer to Sasuke.
"Damn." Raiden muttered. "For a village who took her for granted, and then banished her, you all seem to kinda care."
"You know that Sakura is from this village!?" Tsunade was surprised.
"Of course." Raiden laughed.
"We are her team after all." Carver added on, "No one else besides us and Kaguya knows Sakura was born in this village."
"Wait." Naruto butted in. "Why doesn't anyone know Sakura is from here?"
"Well." Carver crossed his arms over his chest. "At first she disowned you all, she wanted no connection to this place but after she became more popular as a target she decided to not tell anyone where she came from, she believed her enemies would think she held ties to this place and attack it."
"She does hold ties here!" Naruto balled his hands into fists.
"Mmm...no, she doesn't." Carver brushed Naruto off. Kakashi's eye lowered to the ground, maybe that kiss meant nothing to her.
"I don't care what you say." Naruto glared. "Sakura is from this village; we grew up with her, we know her better than anyone else-"
"If that is all true like you believe, then why hasn't she visited you through the years?"
"We thought she was dead-"
"Why did she let you believe she was dead?" Carver pushed.
"Because..."
"I mean after she became the Reaper, and Commander of a village...if she truly cared about you wouldn't she want to come and see you?"
"She probably wanted to protect us so..." Naruto's heart was heavy as his mind scrambled to come up with reasons. Kakashi moved and placed a strong hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Naruto, they are just looking to get a reaction out of you." Kakashi explained.
"But-"
"Sakura can speak for herself." Kakashi reminded everyone. "These two can stand here and say whatever they want all day, but the only true way to know what Sakura wants is to ask her for yourself when you see her again."
"Yeah." Naruto nodded, feeling better with Kakashi's words behind him.
"Hm." Carver surveyed Kakashi.
"I assume she returned to the Waterfall Village?" Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets, matching Carver's stare.
"Huh?" Naruto blinked, looking from his once sensei and then to Carver. "Is that where she went!? Why couldn't you just say that?!"
"These people are broken records." Raiden said looking at Carver.
"They are dense is what they are." Carver talked to Raiden as if they were alone.
"Hey! Don't talk about us like we aren't here!" Naruto yelled.
"Why is it so surprising that Sakura left? Your village all quickly collected eagerly trying to get a glimpse of our fallen."
"Er..." Naruto wasn't following.
"Sakura left to go tell the families that their loved ones had died." Carver cut to the point. "She is the one who tells the next of kin."
"O-Oh." Naruto said.
"She will attend the funeral and then be back to check in." Raiden added input.
"Really?" Sasuke hummed,
"Why does this sound so surprising?" Carver caught on, "Doesn't she do the same thing?" Carver gestured towards Tsunade.
"Uh..." Naruto trailed looking at Sasuke, then Kakashi.
Tsunade did not do the same thing as Sakura.
"That is interesting." Carver looked from one member of team seven to the next. Tsunade wouldn't take eye contact, she was feeling less of a leader at the moment.
"You guys were pretty sore this morning-" Sasuke attempted to change the subject "-shouldn't you get some more rest?"
"Nah." Raiden brushed off. "You guys are the ones who should rest up."
"Uh." Sasuke looked to Naruto.
"Your real training begins tomorrow."
"What do you mean real training?" Sasuke wondered.
"Today was just a warmup."
"W-Warm up!?" Naruto squeaked, training today about kicked his ass!
----
It took four days for Sakura to return to the leaf village. Carver and Raiden waited for her at down in the arena. As the wind cleared, she opened her eyes, she saw Carver's calm exterior and Raiden's carefree face.
"Hiya!" Raiden smiled,
"Morning." Carver yawned. "What happened to you?" Gesturing to Sakura's arm which had a bandage wrapped around her forearm.
"An antidote for this damn poison needs to be fucking ready." Sakura gave her version of an answer.
"Right..." Carver trailed off, "Try again." He said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Someone wanted my job." Sakura shrugged.
"And?"
"I am standing here aren't I?"
"How did it go with the families?" Raiden switched topics.
"How it always goes." She said picking up her bag which was by her feet. "What's been going on here?"
"Nothing!" Raiden gasped, "It has been so freaking boring!" Sakura smirked as they walked out of the arena.
"Really?" She chuckled.
"He isn't lying." Carver sighed. "No activity from the Reapers that we can tell, none of those creatures have popped up."
"No other village had a second wave." Sakura stated.
"So that means the Reapers want something from this village?" Carver asked.
"Seems that way."
"But there is nothing here!" Carver whined, "This place is boring!"
"As true as that may be, we still need to be ready." Sakura said.
"You know we always are."
"By the way-" Sakura said, "-have either of you seen the team I assigned to this village before we came here?"
"Hm...come to think of it-" Carver recalled. "No."
"Do you think they were killed or..."
"My life isn't that easy." Sakura said, "We need to find them."
"Any particular reason why?"
"I feel bitchy and want to hurt someone." Sakura said as they walked to the Hokage tower.
"Can you elaborate on that?" Raiden asked.
"When I went back to the Waterfall Village to deal with the four soldiers that died, as if that was not enough for me to deal with, after I informed the families of what happened Kaguya decided then to hand me a lay out of the time team forty seven spent here inside the leaf-."
"It's gonna be bad." Carver spoke to himself.
"They terrorized half the village-"
"Yeah its bad." Raiden turned to Carver.
"Stole products, acted out of line and talked back to Tsunade when she called them out on their bullshit." Sakura finished.
"Well fuck." Carver laughed, "There's never a dull moment around you."
"Don't test me." Sakura warned, already fuming as she turned and walked away from the two men, who sent questioned looks towards one another. Did they want to follow and get sucked into that mess? Carver sighed,
"It could be fun." He said, quickly following Sakura on her way towards Tsunade's office. Once there, Sakura walked right past her office door without knocking.
"S-Sakura!" Tsunade stuttered as she quickly stood from her desk, "Is something the matter-?"
"Where is the team I assigned here?" Sakura cut to the point. Tsunade and Shizune both looked at each other, their faces confirming the reports Sakura had read inside the Waterfall Village while grieving families cried over their fallen loved ones.
"You two want to stop eye fucking each other and tell me where they have been staying?" Sakura snapped, team forty-seven were not in the forest like they should be and the waterfall soldiers that followed Sakura here hasn't seen them either.
"U-Um." Tsunade looked at her assistant, Shizune.
"Well...they demanded they get set up inside an apartment...on the leaf villages dime." Shizune looked down from Sakura's glaring gaze. "Since they were protecting us and all...so..." As a malicious grin bloomed across Sakura's face, shivers ran down Tsunade's arms.
"Take me to them." Sakura's voice was low and rough. Shizune led the four shinobi to an apartment building on the edge of town. It wasn't fancy but it was horrible either, Sakura looked up at the three-story building. "In there?" She asked, Shizune nodded.
"Apartment 114." Shizune said, Sakura walked into the building with the four quickly following behind.
"Man, I wish I had some popcorn right now." Carver whispered as he watched Sakura pull out an envelope and handed it to Tsunade who opened it and pulled out a stack of money. Tsunade looked up confused,
"For the building." Raiden leaned it.
"The building?" Shizune muttered, Tsunade didn't understand, she was going to ask Tsunade never got the chance for when she looked up, she watched as Sakura kicked the front door down to apartment 114. Tsunade's mouth dropped open.
"No-No-No." Carver shook his head, taking Tsunade's arm and leading her to stand beside him. "Trust me, you don't want to be in there."
"Why-" Tsunade's words were cut off with the sounds of screaming and crashing inside the apartment. Tsunade glanced at the door and back to Carver and Raiden who leaned against the wall waiting for Sakura to finish.
"What is happening in there!?" Shizune cried,
"Well..." Carver yawned, "...Sakura is punishing the team she sent here."
"Pu-Punishing!?"
"Yeah, when your apart of the Waterfall Village's army you are expected to be held at a higher standard than most. It's Sakura's thing I don't know-" Carver shrugged. "-but what I do know, when someone goes against her orders there will be hell to pay." Carver chuckled.
"She..." Tsunade jumped at more sounds of people being thrown through a wall.
"She is feared for a reason." Raiden stepped in. "Sakura is not someone you want to piss off."
"Just in time!" Carver greeted a team that followed Sakura here, they were looking confused as they looked at the kicked in door and back at Carver and Raiden.
"Your friends are in trouble." Carver filled in.
"Oh..." The team nodding understanding. Five minutes later Sakura came walking out of the apartment, dusting a white powder from crushed drywall off her shoulder.
"Feel better?" Carver asked, Sakura ignored him.
"You are to escort team forty-seven back to the Waterfall Village where Dawn will be waiting for them." Sakura instructed.
"Of course, Commander." The team bowed.
"And if they try to escape-" Sakura added before leaving.
"Yes?"
"Kill them."
"Understood." The team bowed and walked past Tsunade and Shizune who were peeking in on the apartment. The two women had large eyes and open mouths as they looked around at the damage.
"It looks like a tornado went through this place." Shizune breathed.
"That's Sakura for you." Raiden stretched. "Sakura is naturally destructive." Tsunade didn't believe that, her mind flashed back to the little girl with short pink hair who always had a big smile on her face. No way could someone change so drastically, Tsunade refused to believe the truth even as it sat in front of her face.
The rest of the day flew by, Sakura chaperoned the leaf shinobi training led by Carver and Raiden. After the day fell into night and after they excused the leaf ninja, they went to the apartment lent to them by Tsunade.
Sakura was still clearly annoyed by team forty-seven and Carver and Raiden both knew better than to poke at a pissed off commander. Sakura and Carver shared the bed once again in the bedroom while Raiden snored on the couch.
The sound of falling rumble had Sakura and Carver snapping up, muscles tense as their eyes darted around for danger. The two didn't even so much as glance at one another before they were out of the bed and running into the bedroom. Carver looked to the left, seeing the wall was in crumbled that separated Kakashi's apartment from theirs.
Carver could see Naruto on his ass staring at the wall with a blue sickly expression. Kakashi and Sasuke were standing a few feet behind Naruto both looking alarmed. Instantly Sakura pulled her glare onto Naruto, who frantically began shaking his head and stuttering out words.
"My bad!" Raiden called out laughing. Sakura turned her sharp glare on her reckless teammate. Raiden crawled behind Carver. "I am sorry! I did not mean too!" He cried out, "Spare me she devil!" He begged causing Sakura to roll her eyes and looked over at team seven.
"Everyone alright?" She called annoyed rubbing her face.
"Y-Yeah!" Naruto called back standing to his feet.
"We will repair the wall." Sakura said looking at Raiden, "You will. Right now."
"I-It is fine!" Naruto said waving his hands even thought this was not his apartment that was damaged.
"Naruto is right." Kakashi said coming into view, "I was about to kick these two out so I could get ready for work."
"My hero!" Raiden cried to Kakashi with fat tears in his eyes.
"People blowing up walls should not be an issue." Sakura muttered going back into the bedroom.
"S-Sakura?" Raiden called between rooms, he waited a moment before he got up and opened the bedroom door only to get a book thrown into his face.
"Shoo!" Sakura said slamming the door shut.
"You are so mean!" Raiden whined holding his throbbing nose.
----
Carver rubbed his sore shoulder as he and Raiden walked through the village. As they did so, they earned multiple glares from leaf villagers. Carver rolled his eyes,
"You would think these people would be grateful they are still alive." He muttered.
"Yeah." Raiden agreed, putting his arms behind his back. "But ever since we came here, pulling people out of their homes in the middle of the night there has been a lot of complaints about children being scared."
"Then that is on Tsunade who can't lie for shit." Carver said.
"True." Raiden sighed, "I have heard a lot of back talk about them being forced to be trained by us."
"Oh yeah that makes sense!" Carver snapped, "We are just taking time out of our lives to train them and make them not fucking sitting ducks in a pond!"
"It is proving to be difficult remaining here."
"Ya think!?" Carver spat, "I don't get why Sakura just doesn't say fuck off since they are fighting us so hard."
"Because of the Reapers." Raiden reminded Carver, "They clearly want something from this place, we just have to sit and wait for them to show."
"But why do we have to fucking train these people if they don't want our help?!" Carver ranted.
"I don't know." Raiden sighed, "I just do what I am told."
"I know..."
"We may be here a while, those creatures had to have drained the Reapers."
"Don't remind me."
"We should try to get on better ground with them." Raiden said.
"What? Saving their lives is not enough!?"
"I am just saying, I think it would make everyone lives better if we did something to make everyone get along."
"Who the fuck cares if the leaf villagers don't like us." Carver huffed. "Once the Reapers attack and we fight them off we will be done with this place and won't have to come back."
"We don't know that." Raiden argued. "You know the Reapers are relentless, they will come back here, and it is more than likely that Sakura will station you and I here."
"Ok since you're such a genius, what would you do to make us all get along and sing kumbaya together?"
"Hm." Raiden thought for a moment, "If we are going to be here for an extended period then we need to get along..."
"Yes, that is what we have been talking about."
"Oh!" Raiden jumped snapping his fingers, "We should throw a party!"
"A party?" Carver scoffed. "Your joking, right?"
"No! Think about it, what better way to show them we are here to help them?!"
"Um...save their village?" Carver muttered, "Keeping the Reapers from selling off the women and children of this village or stopping the men from getting their insides ripped out of their-" Carver stopped talking once he noticed the silent glare from Raiden.
"Come on!" Raiden bounced around Carver, "Really think about it, we randomly appear and basically take over. We are not approachable I mean just look at Sakura, of course they are going to be a little standoffish towards us."
"We are not here because we want to sit around a campfire and braid their hair Raiden." Carver sighed shaking his head, "But I will tell you what, if you get Sakura to sign off on this, and only if Sakura says it is ok...I will help you."
"Yay!" Raiden jumped. Carver rolled his eyes; it would be a cold day in hell before Sakura agreed to something like this. "Come on!" Raiden grabbed carver's hand.
"Where are we going!?"
"To find Sakura, duh!"
Carver and Raiden ran through the leaf village, they found Sakura in the Hokage tower, inside a spare conference room where she was talking to Dawn and Diem from the Waterfall Village.
"Sakura!" Raiden ran into the room, Sakura turned annoyed from being interrupted.
"What Raiden? What's falling from the sky this time?" Sakura sighed,
"Huh? Oh nothing!"
"Then why the hell are you here?" Sakura shouted.
"Your gonna love this." Carver said, plopping down in a chair.
"So, you know how there has been a lot of animosity between the leaf villagers and us?"
"No." Sakura answered, causing Carver to laugh.
"Ok, well there has been a lot of tension in the village so I think it would be beneficial for everyone if we all got along."
"Is he fucking with me?" Sakura looked past Raiden and onto Carver,
"Oh, just wait-" Carver waved, "-it gets better."
"Of course it does." Sakura muttered.
"Ask him his idea!" Carver called out, leaning back in his chair.
"What the hell?" Sakura groaned, "What are you doing Raiden?"
"I think we should have a party!" Raiden was so excited! Dawn and Diem where laughing on the large screen on the wall. "Shut up!" Raiden yelled at them.
"I don't have time for this." Sakura said, about to turn around and carry out her meeting with her commanders.
"Sakura, I really think this is a good idea!"
"What is?" Sakura asked turning about.
"The party!"
"Holy fuck, you were serious?" Sakura caused Carver to laugh harder.
"Yes!" Raiden held out his arms wide to get his point across. "It is a good idea! I can talk to a few food-"
"No." Sakura said, turning around and lifting the file she had in her hands back up to get this meeting back on track.
"What do you mean no!?" Raiden pouted.
"Raiden-" Sakura sighed, "I mean no, non, bango, fucking nej. Do you need me to translate that into any other different language for you?" When it wasn't Carver on Sakura's shit end of the stick, she was kind of funny.
"But why!?"
"Oh, my G-" Sakura growled, "Raiden, what do you think a freaking party is going to do?"
"Make them like us."
"Why do you need them to like you?"
"Because..."
"You have us-" Sakura said point to Carver and herself.
"Oh yeah...that's great..." Raiden trailed off.
"Hey!" Carver defended, "We are fucking delightful!"
"All we do is kill people!" Raiden cried out,
"For the record, I have not killed anyone today!" Carver smiled, bouncing back and forth a little in his chair.
"Really?" Sakura pointed her attention onto Carver, who nodded with a large smile.
"That is not an achievement!" Raiden sighed, "Do you want a freaking gold star for that?!"
"Yeah, I would actually." Carver nodded, leaning on his arm.
"Raiden I am not interested in being friends with this village. What I am interested in is us doing the job we are here to do. If you want to run off and make friends with a fucking shop owner be my guest but do it on your own time."
"But-"
"Let me know if you can't so I can pull one of them over here to do your job." Sakura said pointing to the monitor with Dawn and Diem who waved, both smirking enjoying the free show.
"There are a lot of kids who can't sleep at night because of what we did." Raiden whispered.
"They are alive because of what we did." Sakura put her hand on her hip. "A bunch of kids who can't sleep and unhappy parents because of it are not my problem, they are not yours either."
"But-"
"I said no Raiden." Sakura cut in, raising her voice. "Let it the fuck go or leave." Raiden turned for Carver to help but he raised his hands not getting in the middle of this. Carver agreed with Sakura, they had a job to do and needed to be ready. Throwing parties and pretending that the last three members of The Nine could be like normal people was a fucking joke that Carver wanted no part of.
Raiden stormed out of the conference room, cursing under his breath as he stomped his way out of the Hokage tower. Raiden has his eyes locked on the ground as he ranted to himself, not watching where he was going, he ran right into an orange blur. Raiden and Naruto both fell backwards,
"I am sorry-" Naruto stopped talking seeing it was Raiden who had crashed into him. "It's you."
"Yeah." Raiden pouted. "What of it?"
"I-I didn't mean anything by it." Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his neck feeling nervous. "Hey..." Naruto dropped his smile seeing Raiden's agitated face. "Are you ok?"
"Yes!" Raiden past Naruto as he quickly moved away from the nine tailed fox. Naruto stood on the sidewalk for a moment watching Raiden walk away but something inside Naruto told him to run after him, to comfort him. Naruto must have been freaking losing his mind! But, he did it anyway.
"Hey!" Naruto caught up with Raiden, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"What? No!" Raiden looked ahead of him. "Why would I want to 'talk' about anything with you?"
"Because you kind of looked like you needed someone to talk too..." Naruto muttered, feeling like a fool for running after Raiden now. "I am sorry, I will-"
"I didn't..." Raiden looked away from Naruto. "I didn't mean to be a dick; I am just not in a really good mood." Naruto turned to Raiden with a huge smile on his face.
"You know what always makes me feel better?" Naruto said in a teasing voice.
"What?" Raiden raised an eyebrow at Naruto's large smile.
"Come on!" Naruto grabbed Raiden's hand and began to drag him behind him. Raiden had a shocked face as he allowed himself to be pulled by this blond-haired boy. Naruto pulled Raiden to none other than ramen ichiraku, Naruto's favorite place on earth.
"A ramen shop?" Raiden drew his voice out slowly, feeling a bit disappointed.
"Hey!" Naruto defended ramen ichiraku, "You cannot judge a book by its cover, come on!" Naruto forced Raiden into a seat.
"Naruto!" Teuchi, the owner of ramen ichiraku greeted.
"Hey!" Naruto smiled, "How have you been?"
"Well from the last time I seen you, which would have been yesterday I can't complain." Teuchi chuckled, Raiden looked back between the two.
"Oh?" Ayame smiled, coming into view who was Teuchi's only daughter. "Back so soon Naruto?"
"You know I can't stay away!" Naruto laughed.
"And who is this?" Teuchi asked, rubbing his chin trying to recall Raiden.
"This is Raiden-" Naruto patted his back. "-he is here with the Waterfall shinobi."
"I see, that is why I don't recognize you!" Teuchi laughed.
"You're...you're ok with me being here?" Raiden asked, rubbing his hands together in his lap. Naruto's eyes dulled with a light sadness seeing how out of place Raiden felt.
"Hm, I have heard a lot of things about the people who came here with you." Teuchi sighed shaking his head. "But either way I look at it, you and your people swooped in and saved our butts! So of course, your welcome here!" Teuchi's kindness warmed Raiden's frost coated heart. "First round is on the house!"
"Really!?" Naruto jumped.
"Yes, as a thanks to you Raiden for risking yourself to protect this village."
"It...It was nothing." Raiden blushed.
"It wasn't nothing!" Naruto laughed, playfully pushing Raiden's shoulder. "Your seriously saved us man! If it wasn't for you and Sakura I have no idea what we would of done when those things showed."
"I wish all your village looked at it that way..." Raiden muttered.
"Me too." Naruto sighed, waiting for their free meal.
"You do?"
"Oh course! I hate everyone being all mad at each other you know? I just wish we could all get along..."
"I do too." Raiden said.
"Really!?"
"Yeah, I tried talking to Carver and Sakura about it but..."
"What did she say?" Naruto wondered; his heart tightens at the thought of Sakura.
"She was busy..." Raiden blushed looking away from Naruto, "So of course she brushed off my idea-"
"What was your idea?" Naruto butted in.
"I wanted to throw a party for everyone, like we used to do in the Waterfall Village but...Sakura and Carver didn't think it was a good idea-"
"Are you kidding me!?" Naruto shouted. "That sounds like an awesome idea!"
"What sounds like an awesome idea?" Raiden and Naruto turned locking stares for a moment as their food arrived, the two looked behind them and saw Sasuke standing behind them with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Sasuke?" Naruto muttered.
"Yeah!" Kiba laughed, walking through the front doors of ramen ichiraku. "What is a good idea?" TenTen and Neji were behind Kiba.
"To have a party!" Naruto beamed,
"Party?" Sasuke muttered.
"A party!?" TenTen jumped at the thought of getting all dressed up and going out with all her friends.
"Yeah, it was Raiden's idea." Naruto said pointing to the man beside him.
"Raiden...?" The leaf ninja turned and noticed there was a person beside Naruto. TenTen blushed at his attractiveness.
"Your one of those Waterfall ninjas!" Kiba jumped, point at him. Raiden sighed, turning to his food.
"That is why it won't work." Raiden said to Naruto.
"What won't work?" Neji asked.
"The party is to bring the Waterfall and Leaf shinobi together." Naruto explained as he shoved a large amount of ramen into his mouth.
"You?" Neji stepped a few feet closer. "You want to do this party?"
"Yeah..." Raiden sighed,
"Why do you care if we all get along?" Kiba took a seat beside Raiden, who was shocked at the close proximity.
"Because I think it would be best for everyone..."
"What does Sakura think of this?" Sasuke sat beside Naruto.
"I caught her at a bad time..." Raiden answered.
"What do you mean bad time?" TenTen wondered.
"She was in a meeting with the other commanders of the Waterfall Village."
"There are other Commanders than just her?" TenTen questioned, after ordering a bowl of ramen for herself.
"Well, yeah?" Raiden chuckled, "You have different ranks here, don't you?"
"Hm...yeah, I guess we do." TenTen thought about it for a moment.
"The other Commanders are under Sakura?" Neji wondered.
"Yeah, they are her second and third. They help run the village when Sakura isn't there or if something should happen to her, the village won't fall apart."
"That is smart..." Neji noticed.
"Sakura is smart." Raiden took a bite of his food; he was surprised by how flavorful it was.
"Good right?" Naruto laughed with a mouthful of food.
"It is." Raiden agreed.
"Would anyone else like to order?" Ayame asked, walking up to the group of shinobi.
"Yes!" Lee jumped onto Neji's back. Neji complained but accepted the annoyance.
"What are you doing Lee?" Naruto wondered.
"I just got done training with Guy Sensei!" Raiden noticed how energetic Lee was. The two then locked eyes. Lee leaned into Naruto. "Who is that beside you?"
"Hm? Oh! Lee this is Raiden, Raiden this is Lee."
"Nice to meet you!" Lee reach out his hand for Raiden to shake, Raiden stared at the hand for a second before awkwardly shaking hands. These leaf ninjas were very...trusting from what Raiden could tell. The more he sat around and watched the leaf shinobi the more he could not believe Sakura came from this village. She was nothing like these people were.
"So." Neji wiped his mouth with a napkin. "This party, do we have any ideas for it yet?"
"Huh?" Raiden looked up from his bowl.
"Do you have any ideas for it, or have you already started making preparations?" Neji repeated himself.
"You-You..." Raiden was at a loss for words, were these people willing to help him?
Naruto looked at Raiden for a moment, when Sakura first returned after five long years, he was so happy when he found out she had been inside the waterfall village. But the truth was, if you were a shinobi who had chakra life inside the waterfall village was pure hell.
A large majority of the people inside the waterfall village did not contain chakra, which is one of the reasons the shinobi or 'soldiers' as Naruto heard Sakura call them do not live inside the village; they live around the village as a protective border. Inside that village it was a dog eat dog world, hell anyone could walk up to Sakura and try to kill her and if they succeed then they would claim her title of commander for themselves...to live in that kind of world must be horrible.
"We wanna help!" Naruto said jumping out of his thoughts with a large goofy grin on his face.
"Why?" Raiden did not understand.
"Because that is who we are!" Naruto laughed, "So, let's get planning this thing!"
"We are going to need Tsunade's permission before we go through with this." Neji said.
"Leave granny to me!" Naruto wrapped an arm around Raiden, "We got this!"
One quick week later another morning had come all too early. Sakura was inside the kitchen cooking eggs for breakfast when Raiden came out of the bedroom dressed. Carver raised an eyebrow,
"What are you doing up?" Carver asked,
"I am allowed to be awake." Raiden said, reaching over grabbing a slice of buttered toast.
"I think what Carver is trying to say is your never up this early unless we drag you out of bed." Sakura clarified.
"I do not!" Raiden stuck his tongue out at Carver who rolled his eyes.
"Why are you dressed?" Carver noticed, "Where are you running off to so early?"
"Nowhere." Raiden lied, he had a meeting with Naruto and his friends with Tsunade about their block party for the village, and Raiden hadn't really told Sakura or Carver about it...
"You can't take off just yet." Sakura said as she finished cooking.
"What?"
"I need you to train the leaf shinobi this morning." Sakura explained.
"What!? What about Carver! Why can't he-"
"Um, for one you haven't done shit in the last week. It has just been me training by myself-"
"Sakura, your the Commander doesn't that mean you should be the one training?" Raiden cut Carver off,
"Huh?" Carver asked dumbfoundedly.
"Your right Raiden-" Sakura said looking over her shoulder. "I am the Commander, and one of my fun loving abilities is to delegate certain tasks I don't want to do. So with that being said, your training today."
"What...?" Raiden pouted seeing he had lost, Sakura shrugged.
"You wanted to pull rank." She said,
"Hey-!" Carver snapped not liking being ignored "-Secondly what the hell have you been doing this past week?" Carver asked Raiden.
"Nothing..."
"Oh really? Because your throwing up every color flag right now."
"What do you mean-"
"Your more distant with us, your never around anymore, when you are around your quiet and always on that damn phone." Carver stood, walking up close and personal to Raiden. "Your hiding something."
"I am not-"
"There is one thing you do not do Raiden, and that is lie to us." Carver said, pointing to Sakura including her in.
"I am not lying!"
"Then where are you going?" Sakura sighed, leaning against the counter.
"I made a friend..." Raiden muttered looking at the floor.
"A friend?" Sakura repeated.
"Yeah..."
"Like a...tickle me friend or..." Carver trailed off,
"No!" Raiden yelled.
"Then who?" Sakura pressured.
"Naruto!" Raiden blurted "Ok...I have been hanging out with Naruto." Carver glanced over trying to see Sakura's reaction but as always, she kept her composure. "That is why I didn't say anything because I know how you feel about him."
"Why the hell are you hanging out with that scumbag-" Carver asked,
"He is not a scumbag!"
"Oh, you're defending him now?" Carver laughed.
"Yes, he-"
"You know what he fucking did to Sakura!"
"They were both kids, he didn't know-"
"Are you fucking joking right now?!" Carver yelled.
"No!" Raiden yelled back. "He is a good guy-"
"Are you fucking him?" Carver bluntly through out into the open.
"What-What?! No, we are just friends-"
"Oh, so your close now?"
"I never said we were close."
"I mean you have to be." Carver laughed. "Because your standing there defending this guy who you barely know against us! It's us Raiden we don't hide shit from each other!"
"I know-!"
"Oh really? You think that little turd would die for you like we would?" Carver spat, the long paused answered Carvers questions. "Oh! Oh ok!" Carver laughed.
"Carver-"
"No, no its fine, go play with your little friend while Sakura and I do all the work. You remember that, at least right? We are here preventing your butt buddy from being slaughtered and turned into a human trophy but it's fine, go play." Carver turned away; he saw Sakura was watching them as she leaned against the counter eating her breakfast.
"Sakura..." Raiden sighed, turning to her waiting for her calm and collected words. All she did was shrug as she chewed her food. "I..."
"You do what you gotta do Raiden." Sakura said kicking herself off the wall and turning to walk into the kitchen to clean up. Raiden looked at the clock and huffed, he was already running late!
"Can we walk about this later?" Raiden called to either of them that would listen.
"I will be leaving for a while." Sakura said, turning to Raiden.
"L-Leaving...why?"
"If you had been around then you would know." Sakura answered.
"I...I am sorry Sakura..." Raiden's sad face made Sakura sigh.
"I have to return to the Waterfall Village for a few days."
"How come?"
"Because."
"Because...?" Raiden tried to draw out.
"Because you really think I would let Onoki of the Stone Village get away with what he did?"
"Oh yeah..." Raiden recalled forgetting Onoki tried to plan a strike against the waterfall village.
"So Carver and I will be gone for a few days."
"You and Carver?"
"Yes."
"But why both of you?"
"I am leaving two teams with you, you'll be fine here on your own now that you have Naruto to keep you company."
"Sakura..." Raiden sighed watching Sakura move past him. Without any more words Carver and Sakura left the apartment, leaving Raiden alone with his guilt and thoughts.
Raiden raced to the Hokage tower where he was meeting up with Naruto and the other leaf shinobi. He was running late as he turned the corner and leaped into the building through the front doors. He came to a halt seeing Naruto and the others all sitting around staring at him.
"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head.
"Sorry I'm late!" Raiden blushed.
"Where have you been?" Neji crossed his arms over his chest. "You're a half hour late and this was your idea-"
"Hey!" Naruto jumped up, getting in the middle. "I am sure he had a good reason, right?"
"I um...I had a bad morning..."
"Ugh!" Neji turned away from looking at Raiden.
"I got into a fight with Sakura and Carver-"
"What?" Naruto quickly looked back at Raiden at the sound of her name. "A fight? Why?"
"It's a long story." Raiden sighed, taking a seat in an empty chair beside Lee.
"We have time." TenTen smiled, "Tsunade probably isn't even awake yet, which is what is taking so long." A couple people chuckled, and Raiden smiled, feeling a little better which also made him feel guilty. For years it was always just Carver, Sakura and Raiden. But Sakura and Carver were not bundles of joy, they were mostly bitter and sarcastic people...sitting here with these lighthearted leaf shinobi was a nice change and it was not fair that Raiden had to feel bad about growing out from The Nine...right? When Raiden really thought about it, he could understand their attitude since Raiden knew how Sakura felt about the leaf village.
"Well..." Raiden sighed, not knowing how to put his feelings into worlds or if he even could...he has spent years bottling emotions and just throwing them away in the darkest depths of his soul, this was the only way to survive over the years but maybe...maybe now Raiden didn't have to bottle everything up anymore. "Well-"
"They have been waiting for how long!?" Tsunade's voice echoed through the building, shutting down Raiden as footsteps moving quickly turned everyone attention to the door slamming open.
"Lady Tsunade will see you know." Shizune smiled, earning a heated glare from Tsunade looked over to the group waiting to see her.
"Huh!?" Tsunade was confused, she turned to Shizune, "You said it was the Waterfall Shinobi!"
"Yes, there is one in their group." Shizune said, causing Tsunade to groan. She was expecting to see Sakura!
"Come!" Tsunade called, already forming a headache as the group of six followed her to her large office. Since Lee was the last person, he closed the door as Tsunade sat at her desk with a huff of air escaping her. Tsunade looked through the leaf ninja and right onto Raiden, he belonged to Sakura. "What do I owe the pleasure at this early hour?"
"It's noon." Neji said.
"Er...Gran--I mean Tsunade..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "We were wondering well...we were actually hoping that-"
"We want to throw a party!" TenTen cut in, Naruto huffed relaxing.
"A party?" Tsunade muttered the word.
"For the Leaf shinobi and the Waterfall's." Raiden stepped up, moving closer towards the Hokage.
"What?" Tsunade asked dumbfounded.
"Ugh!" Naruto grabbed his hair. "It's not hard! We want to have a party to bring the village back together!"
"A party-" Tsunade laughed at the silly thought. "What-What did Sakura say to all of this?" Raiden looked away from Tsunade. "She doesn't know?" Tsunade loved a good scandal. "She did just leave the village correct?"
"Wait, Sakura left?" Naruto asked, turning to Raiden feeling a little betrayed he wasn't told.
"Only for a few days." Raiden muttered. "And she knows of the idea..."
"She just said no?" Tsunade wanted to confirm.
"Well, I caught her at a bad time so..."
"Never in my wildest dreams could I picture Sakura approving this." Tsunade leaned back in her chair.
"Well it's a good thing that this isn't her village then!" TenTen stepped up, holding out a file. "We have spent all week working on this! Everything is planned out and booked, we just need you to approve it."
"I see." Tsunade looked over the folder, they did do good work. Tsunade glanced up at Raiden.
"And Sakura did use to do stuff like this for the Waterfall Village." Raiden quickly added without thinking.
"Oh?" Tsunade said, Naruto looked at Raiden as he realized that Raiden knew more about Sakura than he did, and that made him feel sad...and a little jealous? "You said 'did' why did she stop?"
"I...."
"Oh, come on! You can't just say something and then not follow up on it!" Tsunade made a good point.
"Sakura...she doesn't like her past brought up." Raiden shifted from his left foot to his right.
"Sakura is not here." Tsunade reminded, "I will tell you what, if you finish your story then I will approve this." Tsunade held up the file.
"Raiden!" TenTen whispered.
"I...I can't..." Raiden tightened his fists.
"Hey-" Naruto touched Raiden's shoulder, "It's ok, you don't have to do anything you don't want too." Naruto smiled, but Raiden looked at Naruto and then to the others. Raiden had so much fun the past few days he didn't want this to end.
"Sakura...she use to set up parties for the village, it was one of the rare times the soldiers and the villagers got to spend time together....we use to have them every season but then..." Raiden took in a deep calm breath. "The Reaper's made their appearance during one of our festivals...a lot of people died that night including Sakura's second in command."
"Wow." Tsunade breathed, not expecting to hear a story like that.
"Wait-" TenTen placed her hands on her hips. "I hear so many rumors about how the Waterfall Village is this beautiful place and how peaceful it is there. I heard just last spring they had one of the biggest festivals!"
"That is all true, as long as you're not a person who holds chakra that lives inside the Waterfall Village then your life is probably pretty great. The village itself does still hold festival it is a big tourist attraction, but the soldiers are not allowed there anymore."
"Are you sure it is wise to go against what your Commander said?" Kakashi's voice came from behind the group, causing them to jump.
"Kakashi!" Naruto whined, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"What are you talking about Sensei?" Lee questioned.
"Well, it sounds to me Sakura denied this request of yours already." Kakashi said to Raiden. "You didn't like her answer so you're going behind her back?"
"I am not-" Raiden stopped, realizing he was going behind her back. "It's not like I am putting together a strike team! It's just a party!"
"But will Sakura see it that way?" Kakashi wondered, Raiden knew the answer.
"So, its approved right?" Raiden turned to Tsunade ignoring Kakashi.
"As promised." Tsunade handed the signed folder.
"Thank you." Raiden muttered, turning on his heel and walked past Kakashi. The leaf shinobi quickly followed suit, since they had a lot of setting up to do. Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets and walked closer to Tsunade's desk.
"Was that a smart thing to do?" Kakashi asked, Tsunade then shrugged.
"The kid is right, it's just a party and this isn't the Waterfall Village."
Weekly Power Status
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