Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Hidden in Plain Sight ❯ Expectation ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: Expectation

~ ~ ~

The next morning Sakura strolled into the hokage's office, the latest gossip spilling from her lips. "Oh Tsunade-shishou, you are never going to guess what I just heard in the cafeteria," she spouted, laughter apparent in her voice before it cut off.

She'd motioned to Shizune the second she'd walked through the door that she could start the wards, though the brunette had already been in motion. Hopefully this way if there were any eavesdroppers they'd only think the three of them wanted to talk juicy details without being overheard.

Sakura paced back in forth in front of Tsunade's desk, fidgeting as she waited with poorly concealed impatience for Shizune to finish. She hadn't slept at all, too anxious to find out if she'd been discovered, whether she'd failed or succeeded in this all important first step of her assignment.

The moment Shizune finished placing the last ward - turning and nodding to confirm their security - Sakura spun, trying to eye them both despite their being on different sides of the room. "So?" she blurted impatiently.

Shizune plopped down into a neighboring chair and declared, "We're not sure."

"Not sure if I pass?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

Tsunade shook her head. She'd have berated Sakura for her obtuseness but she supposed nerves entitled someone to be oblivious from time to time. "No, we're not sure which candidate was you." She chuckled as the girl obviously brightened. "I had my money on two, four, or sixteen."

Sixteen? The girl right before her? Sakura couldn't say she'd noticed any resemblance - other than maybe height - but then again, she hopefully hadn't resembled herself much either. That was the only other candidate she'd really gotten a look at though; she'd been so nervous upon exiting her interview that she hadn't taken notice of the next woman waiting in the hall with Tenzou.

"Yes, and we all know how well Tsunade's bets usually go," Shizune commented dryly. "So I'm sure you weren't any of those three."

"Well, you never know. I mean if Tsunade was always wrong then we might be able to actually get her to quit gambling." That was one of the few sources of tension between Tsunade and Shizune, and Sakura needled at them about it all the time. It was only fair, what with the way they constantly harassed her about things....like being younger, more inexperienced, the cheery color of her hair, or the way that constantly dealing with being hit on by Naruto and Lee had made her incapable of handling the attentions of the occasional hospital patient with anything other than brute force.

The occasional payback could be fun. "Besides, if Tsunade-shishou was always wrong then she'd be a sure bet. We could just wait for her to place first and then put our money on whatever she hadn't chosen."

Tsunade glared and Sakura smiled unrepentantly.

"What are your guesses, then?" she asked Shizune.

"One, seventeen, or... Ha! Seventeen it is then. It's a good thing you'll be wearing a mask out there - your poker face is even worse than Tsunade's."

The blonde sniffed and refused to dignify that with a comment. "So you were seventeen, huh?" She ran her eyes up and down Sakura's body, as if comparing her to the memory of her ANBU persona. "Yes, I suppose I can see that. How did you do the hair? You didn't use extensions, did you?"

The edge of suspicion in her voice made Sakura all the more proud to be able to reveal her technique. When she finished explaining Tsunade looked at her in something akin to awe while Shizune had turned an unflattering shade of green.

"That sounds absolutely horrible," Shizune choked out, patting her own scalp in sympathy pains.

"Doesn't it though?" Tsunade added, fascinated.

"Yeah, I'd forgotten what a pain it is to have long hair though. I don't know how you fight with it in the way all the time, Tsunade-shishou. I don't know how I fought with it back then. I'm pretty sure once this is all over I'm going to chop it off entirely and be done with it."

"How long does it take you to get your hair to the length we saw it at?" Now back to her normal color, Shizune's intrigue was apparent. She always had been the most scientifically and technically oriented of them.

"That took me about five hours, though I do get a little faster at it each time I do it."

She shot a look at Tsunade. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

The Hokage nodded. "Once Sakura's assignment is done should we make this technique known to others?"

Shizune nodded. "And if so, who? The entirety of Konoha shinobi, to use as needed on assignments? Just ANBU, or those who have to otherwise do undercover missions? Or strictly those like Sakura, who have to spy on or hide from their own brethren?"

Tsunade ruminated a moment, rubbing at her chin. Sakura mimed the motion, realizing how awkward the movement felt. Apparently she really didn't do that on her own. "We'll have to think about the further implications of this and leave it for a later date. It's not like we don't have the time; Sakura's not going to finish her mission anytime soon."

"So I have passed? I really am going?"

Tsunade scowled at her. "Haven't you been paying attention?" She waved away the retort she knew was coming, catching Sakura with her mouth half-open. Grabbing a packet of papers off her desk, she handed them to her apprentice. "These are the details on the first site you'll visit. You leave tomorrow at dawn, so I suggest you start studying now if you want to have time to both get your hair done and get any sleep."

Sakura knew they were pressed for time but she hadn't known she'd be thrown into the mission this quickly with so little time to prep the information. Still, she'd been in less favorable situations before. "Is anyone accompanying me?" They'd been tossing around the idea of sending her with partners who could keep guard while she poked around. While she'd been doing all her preparations she wasn't sure what the two of them had decided on that.

Shaking her head, Tsunade said, "No, not this time at least. Tenzou will likely accompany you on your second trek out, depending on timing, but it was actually his idea that this first mission be solo. Part of your objective is just to let your cover persona be identified; go to the communal campgrounds and be seen. Let yourself be known as a newbie, as someone who won't take off her mask no matter what. People have to know and recognize you to be able to dismiss you."

Sakura hummed. "I assume you allotted me extra time for all this loitering then?"

"Of course, though this first mission will take you to the oldest battle site. It's unlikely anything useful will be yielded there so you probably won't need as much time at the location itself."

At Sakura's curious look Shizune added, "There's always a learning curve to these types of missions - well to any type of mission if we're honest. Since this is your first time on a solo-undercover we figured it would make sense to send you to the easiest location first, so that then you'd have a feel at what you're looking at, what you're looking for, and how to go about it, all while maintaining your guise and suppressing your chakra. We know what we're asking for is no simple task."

A sharp nod. Sakura was practical enough to see the sense in it and not be insulted. The fact that they were sending her in the first place was compliment enough.

"If my first trip is to the oldest are we going to follow that pattern? Keep sending me to the next oldest in case the sites might be watched?" The tone of her voice it obvious she wasn't a fan of that plan, for all she knew it did make sense. With the sites not being fresh she wouldn't be able to gather as much data - weathering and passing animals, among other things, would have obliterated much of any remaining signs of the perpetrators. However, if the sites were under observation, their enemies would logically watch the newer ambush sites more carefully - thus they'd be more dangerous, especially for a lone shinobi. Getting old, limited information was better than no evidence at all due to her winding up dead.

Still, it would grate on her to know there was better evidence out there, at fresher locations, but she couldn't get to it. Especially because she was the only one out there looking.

"We'll take it on a case by case basis and see how it goes." Tsunade studied her over steepled fingers. "We will need to factor in how your first retrieval goes. Whether or not you get attacked and what kind of information you discover - if any - will determine much about where we go from here."

Sakura nodded. That certainly made sense, as opposed to having a set plan from the beginning that might not suit particular circumstances that could pop up. Tsunade tended to go with those open types of agendas, despite the Elders constantly pushing for more concrete, step-by-step approaches. She was relieved, because while that was what Tsunade leaned toward - and was how she'd taught Sakura to approach tasks as well - an undercover mission of this variety could be an entirely different animal.

She stood there, waiting for any further instructions the two might have for her, the room delving into awkward silence. Finally Tsunade look up from her desk where she'd been scribbling something. "Well?" she snapped. "What are you still doing here? Unless I'm mistaken, you have other things to be doing; you have a full night ahead of you if you want to be ready for tomorrow."

"Ah, yes Tsunade-shishou." She swallowed, because she knew Tsunade had snapped at her our of worry. There was always a risk involved in any mission, even those thought safe - as evidenced by her first mission with Team 7. The fact that she was dealing with a situation with a possible spy or traitor made it even more dangerous. It didn't matter that she, along with most of her friends, faced these challenges on a regular basis. She wouldn't stop worrying about them anymore than Tsunade could stop worrying about her. After all, skill was only so much of a match for luck and unforeseen circumstances.

Tsunade made a shooing motion with her hands. "As I said, get going then!"

Sakura smiled, bowed, and headed for the door, a nod from Shizune confirming that it was okay to go ahead and break the seal on the room. Putting on her best acting voice, Sakura started laughing a bit, even if she did feel a fool. Opening the door, she yelled back into the room, "Just remember, you didn't hear any of that from me, all right?" She closed the door tightly behind her without waiting for a reply.

She really, really hoped they were all just being overly paranoid about the whole thing. To that extent, she hoped she really didn't find anything on her excursions, and that all the deaths were just an unfortunate coincidence. The idea of spies or traitors in their midst gave her the chills, and she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder while hustling down the corridor.

Still, she really did have a lot to do, and ruminating on the state of - or need for - her mission in the scheme of things could wait until another time. For now she needed to focus on more concrete things - like stocking up on water and soup. She had a lot of hair-growing to do.