Sakura's raised a perfectly pink brow, twitching eyebrow. 'Had the old man completely lost his marbles?' That had to be the case; no way was she reading this scroll correctly. Sure, she had had gone through basic seduction but that had been two years ago which was clearly left incompleted. She had never gotten close to the most important part of said training and she had always had a sneaking suspicion that a certain blonde male had a big hand to play in that situation. Though she could never prove it. "Minato is always so meticulous when it came to his work. I would never have found out if he did anyways and I'm positive he did." She said as she gave a light chuckle at her words.
'Mina-kun would never have let me find out. I would have put him through a wall...or two.' Sakura mused.
Either way, she was still a virgin. A hopelessly, painfully, inexperienced virgin for crying out loud. Reading over the details of the mission, the pinkette grimaced. Lord Third had always been one for crude, tasteless jokes but this was far outside of his normal line of humorless jokes. What would make him give her such a task anyways? 'I did ask for an S-ranked mission but this was completely bogus. Shit...' The pinkette cringed.
Briefly, Sakura entertained the idea of returning the scroll and backing out of the mission all together. Shaking her head quickly, of course she couldn't do such a thing. Especially now that she had already accepted the mission after practically begging for one. 'I definitely can't now. No matter how much I want to.' she thought dreadfully. The world must have a sick sense of humor when it came to her. Here she is running from the judging eyes of her village for being a harlot...which she most certainly was not, only to be diving head first into doing a demeaning action along the same lines. 'I must have really pissed off the gods in my past life.'
"Anything else you want to throw my way amongst the mountain of problems you've already handed me?" She said a bit louder that she had intended with her hand thrown in the air, rather dramatically. 'Not that it really matter. Perks of living alone.' Her lips pulled into a thin line before sighing in defeat, she placed the scroll in the breast pocket of her vest and headed out. No sense on dwelling on this subject anymore. Sakura would definitely have to have a talk with the old man once she got back and let him know that his sick sense of humor was certainly not appreciated in the slightest. But for now, she was going to suck it up and get this mission over and done with as quickly as possible.
"The faster the better." She whispered to herself. Again, she couldn't help but note the irony. She wanted wanted to leave the village so bad that she'd accept any mission and now knowing the mission she was assigned, she already couldn't wait to get it finished as soon as possible. Yeah...she definitely had to give the hokage a piece of her mind when she got back.
Taking to the rooftops, Sakura ran at a leisure pace. Yes, she was still itching to get out of Konoha, however, there was a small part of her that would miss it. Long term missions were rare for someone in her line of work since she is the head of the hospital here. In fact, she hadn't had a long term mission since her Chunin days. Actually, the thought of not seeing her home for a month or so had bothered a small part of her but the pinkette ignore it. Admittedly, she knew that small part was thinking of Minato. He was her home for a long time after all. Shaking her head, the medic proceeded faster to the meeting point. She didn't want to think of him right now. If she did, she might have gone to see him before she left.
Ten minutes into her run, Sakura had gotten to the meeting point. It didn't take her long to reach the village gates before everything started to feel real. She was leaving and it was going to be bittersweet for her. 'This is what I need.' She reminded herself briefly. Looking around, it seems she had arrived earlier than expected, seeing as her partner for this assignment was not here yet. The only people around was the two shinobi that guarded the gate. She gave a small smile as a greeting gesture to which they nodded in return. It would seem she was a bit early, though that was not a problem, It was always better to be early rather than late. Sakura didn't mind waiting a bit, in fact, she made it into a bit of a game. A guessing game, actually. Something to do just to kill time until her teammate showed up. 'I wonder if I can guess my partner before they get here' She smiled to herself as she began to pace back and forth slowly. Silly, of course but why not? Waiting tends to be boring so this would be the perfect way to entertain herself.
"Hmm..." She pondered, tapping her pointer finger to her chin. Well from her knowledge, seduction missions are usually comprised of one ninja. But the first of these missions were always carried out by two man teams. Well... two women teams. After all, having a man on such a mission was not the most ideal for obvious reasons. Having a man with spotted with any female would either signal they were nin, or the woman was a prostitute and the man was, for lack of better terms, her pimp. Either way it would alert someone that it was a set up. Seeing as it was not uncommon for some pimps to wait until the client was in the middle of 'the act' to come in and beat said male then rob them blind. Some of the men posted in the bingo book seemed to have higher taste in women though, based on what was reported. Common street whores wouldn't do for them and Sakura would pose as nothing of the sort.
'Maybe Anko, it would make sense. She is the person who trains all the Kunoichi for these missions anyways.' Shaking her head, the medic pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. If memory served correct, the purple haired kunoichi was out on a mission of her own. She stopped in her tracks and pouted. 'Well then it could be -' She didn't get a chance to finish her train of thought before someone appeared in a whirlwind of leaves and smoke less than 2 feet in front her. The guards tensed, taking a defense stance on instinct and so did Sakura. Once the smoke cleared however, she completely froze.
'No fucking way is my luck this bad...' She thought to herself.
Minato stood before her in his traditional nin get up. The guards visibly relaxed and gave a short nod in acknowledgement while Sakura continued to look like a deer caught in headlights. He nodded back then turned to the pinkette who had yet to collect herself. Minato looked at his ex lover with a cold stare before turning and walking towards the gates. Once greeted with the back of his jounin vest, the pinkette quickly snapped out of her stupor of shock and awkwardly turned away. She hadn't been planning to see Minato for a long time and he had just appeared right in front of her. It had taken everything not to run after him, to hold onto him and tell him the truth when he walked away from her just now. All the feelings of regret and guilt slammed into her once he turned away.
Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and willed herself to be strong. 'All of this is for a reason. You are doing the right thing for him so suck it up because both of your lives depend on this.' Sakura closed her eyes and steeled her resolve. Giving Minato one more glance, Sakura turned away and began pacing again. She was determined to return to her game of guessing her new partner to keep her busy so that she didn't have to think or look at her ex. As she took her first steps, the medic was abruptly halted by the blunt object that so rudely placed itself right in front of her path. She face planted right into the hard object, falling directly onto her bum. Annoyed, she growled lightly and looked up only to come face to face with Minato, who was bent at the waist and hovering just 2 inches from her once again shocked face.
"Either follow me or you can go back to the old man and tell him you aren't suited for this mission." He stated plainly.
Sakura blinked twice. "Huh?"
'Wait- what? What the heck is he talking about?' she thought. She was kinda shocked he was even talking to her. 'He did say we were going to finish our "conversation" from a few weeks ago but this is hardly the time...' she looked back to the guards. '..or place.' Frowning, she spoke up.
"There is no reason for me to follow you. I'm here for a mission." She said stoically, giving him a once over. "Seems you are as well. So I'd appreciate it, Namikaze-san, if you let me be." said the little flower as she scooted back a bit and pushed herself from the ground and stood.
He scoffed. Now, Minato prided himself on his ability to control his emotions but the Namikaze-san thing was way more irritating than he cared to say. It was Sakura's way of distancing herself even farther from him and he would not tolerate it much longer. Standing erect he pulled a scroll from his pack and tossed it to her which she caught easily. The medic looked at him then to the scroll in her hand and back to him once more before her mouth pulled into a thin line. A big part of her wanted to scold the blonde for even thinking she'd read sensitive village details. There were penalties for such things. Penalties they both face and Minato would never risk his chances to become Hokage- and then, like a ton of bricks, it hit her.
"You...are my partner?" Dumbfounded couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling right now. 'That couldn't be right.' It just didn't make any sense. Men aren't allowed on these missions and of all the male nin within the village, why was it him?
"Yes. Now, let's go."
Sakura brows pulled together tightly and she bit her lip. 'There is no way that my luck is this bad...' She whined mentally before she pulled the scroll open and read over it quickly. Penalties be damned, she shouldn't get in trouble for reading it anyways since she was trying to prove his claim wrong. However, 30 seconds was all it took to proved him right. This was the same exact scroll that she had received. The pinkette mentally cursed. Which meant that the hokage's bad joke finally made all the sense in the world.
"I am going to murder him." She swore under her breath.
~~~~~~~~Hokage Tower~~~~~~~
"Achoo!" Sarutobi sat at his desk rubbing his nose with his forefinger and sniffling a bit.
"Huh, someone must be talking about me."
~~~~~~~Back at the gate~~~~~~~~
This was definitely the hokage's doing. He had a bad habit of meddling and it was usually pretty funny. But that was because he never meddled in her business. Well not her personal business anyways. She could just die right now. The one person she was desperately trying to stay away from was the same person she would spend the next few weeks with. When would the irony stop?! She could almost laugh at just how unlucky she had become. The little medic sighed dramatically 'Might as well get this over with. The sooner the better...I'm definitely going to have talk to the hokage as soon as this mission is completed about his meddle problem.' The murderous promise kept her from storming back to his tower and dismantling it. Her face set into a permanent frown, death clear on her features and Minato took a small pleasure from that. He heard her threat and he knew exactly who is was directed to. Still, it made him smile a bit on the inside. It was quite adorable. He always did find her cute when angry. Sakura closed her eyes and let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
Minato POV
"I didn't think you'd be my partner...considering the events." She bit her lip.
"Neither did I." He lied.
"The old man is just too damn nosy."
"Agreed." he said, knowing that he statement was in fact true. The hokage was a meddler but in this instance, she was wrong. Minato was the one who came to the hokage weeks before telling him not to allow her on any missions. Even though he was rightfully pissed at her, that didn't stop his impulsive reaction to come see her. And he saw a lot of concerning behavior. He saw everything but what he expected to see. She barely eating that much was evident even now. The incessant crying, day in and day out. That was painful to know, let alone watch. He couldn't count the many times that he forced himself not to go to her at those moments and hold her. This entire situation felt wrong. Completely wrong. This was not the behavior of a person who dropped a burden to be with someone they truly loved. But what was the clearest sign amongst them all was the sign that was not there. Her supposed new lover. Not once had he seen him. He had many theories as to what was going on but he would hear the truth from her.
Minato POV End
Sakura set her lips into a thin line before she tossed the scrolled back at him. Of course, he caught it effortlessly. This was going to be a long mission. She should really be careful of what she asks for.
It had been five days and they had yet to reach the village. Five agonizingly awkward days of silence. Minato never spoke to her, barely even glance her direction. 'Well actually, he did say a few words. I believe it was "I'm setting up camp.", "Eat now." oh and her personal favorite "Keep up." 'Really? The Yellow Flash is telling me to keep up. Ha!' She inwardly gave a dry laugh. That was it. For the last five days there was no contact, and no exchange of words beside those. Not only did she hate silence unless she was at work in the hospital, then it was a god sent. But this silence was uncomfortable and awkward. It had bothered her more than a little and she wondered if it bothered him at all. She knew Minato was always strict when it came to his mission but this coldness was unbearable. She had mentally prepared herself to shut down any and all inquiries he may have asked her about their sudden break up. But fortunately, nothing was said.
However, it left her with a nagging feeling to say something to him. What? She wasn't entirely sure but the urge was there nonetheless. The medic didn't know how to even start something like that after all that had happened between them. So like the rest of the trip, she remained quiet and followed after him.
Still, her mind persisted. Would her ignore her? Would he respond? If he did respond, would he be as cold as he had been before? Would he ask her questions that she wasn't permitted to answer? Was it even worth starting a conversation? He probably hated her anyways. 'Urgh! I'm going crazy. Can't we hurry up and meet this damn contact already?!'she thought. 'Any longer being alone with him and I might seriously abandon this mission.'
She sighed dramatically at her own thoughts knowing fully well she would never do such a thing. Hearing her sigh had caused Minato stop in his tracks. Without turning around, he cocked his head to the side and raised a brow at her in question. Sakura jolted to a stop just as he did and met she his gaze. He still had that cold look in his eye and even after all of these days, she had not grown used to it. The little medic's face flushed slightly with embarrassment once she realized that she sighed out loud rather than in her mind like she had intended. The medic looked down at her boots and pursed her lips, mentally berating herself before whispering
"Sorry."
Minato's POV:
Minato glanced to his right narrowed his eyes at that her. He had kept calm, keeping his feelings to himself but this pity party that was going on with Sakura was more than bothersome. He had been aware of her lack of focus since the moment he'd told her that he was her partner. So much had transpired between the two since their last meeting so her feeling of discomfort was expected. But they had yet to even reach the village and Sakura was already putting their lives in danger by her conscious mind elsewhere. Though Minato could not bring himself to forgive her actions, this was not the time or place for emotions. He dare not say that she was an incapable nin. Still, her attitude and focus at this present time was going to end up with one of them or both of them getting killed or seriously hurt if they were to be ambushed.
His eyes darkened at that moment, thinking back to the hokage whom he wanted to seriously maim. He had great respect for his the villages leader and he really loved that old man. Yes, he loved him like a father but giving Sakura this mission was just plain insanity. Sending Sakura of all the Kunoichi within the village that had experience with such things was just pure madness. The damn old man knew exactly what he had done the moment he gave her the scroll. That headstrong pink idiot was in no way prepared for this and saying that to her face would not be the greatest idea. But he knew her. She was not ready for this. He knew her very well... though things have changed, Minato had never thought she would do something so reckless. Sakura was a hothead, yes, but too intelligent to dive into something so incredibly stupid.
That was why he was here because he knew the risks. Yes, it was life or death like any other mission but she could lose, be tortured in a way that would leave her shattered. Again... he thought back to the old man that he held such ill intent towards. 'Damn old man was just too nosy. He knew I wouldn't allow her out of the village without myself. But to give her this mission was unforgivable.' he thought to himself. Over the past few months since his separation from Sakura, the hokage had made it a point to visit him at the oddest times. Sometimes it was when he was training, but usually it was at night when he was home and not always alone and Lord Third took notice of that. Kushina had made it a point to come over anytime she was free. Though Minato had been more than clear that her presence was not needed, she persisted. She'd come over, just to check up on him, make small talk and leave. But about a month or so later, she started bringing lunch for him, helping with the groceries every now and then and eventually she started just coming over to cook. It was uncomfortable at first and quite annoying but at the same time, she reminded him of his 'Sakura'. It was stupid and pathetic of him but to hold on to his blossom anyway he could... like using a dear friend as a replacement of some sort.
'Pathetic, indeed.' But he loved her. He loved Saki so deeply and desperately that it was agonizing to stay away from her despite what had happen, that kind of love wouldn't disappear easily. Now because of Kushina's forceful mothering nature which she used to push her way more substantially into his life, he had developed an unhealthy coping habit for the loss of his beloved.
He turned fully to face Sakura who still had that lost in self pity look on her face that he was beginning to truly hate. Completely irritated Minato wanted to shake her, she ruined their happy life and for what? She looked completely miserable. Whatever it was, it was definitely not the time or place to deal with it.
"Sakura." He called out. Sakura look up in surprise.
"This has to stop. Do you understand how dangerous this mission is? I cannot be on every part of this mission for obvious reasons. If you can not stay focused on the task at hand then I swear that I will send you back to Konoha and inform Hokage-sama that we will abort this mission. Are. We. Clear?"
Sakura stared blankly for a moment. He had never threatened her before. She never took kindly to threats and Minato was no exception. "Do not threaten me, Namikaze-san. I'm well aware of the dangers."
Minato's jaw ticked at the formality. "If you are as aware as you say, you would understand that this is an S-ranked mission and your first one of this kind. One screw up, one. That's all it will take and we lose the criminal, our lives, or both. Remember that I am captain of this team and if I tell Hokage-sama that you unfit to go on missions, you will be suspended to the village. I won't allow reckless behavior."
She looked at him in disbelief. He was talking down to her. Reprimanding her like she was some Genin that was out on their first mission ever. Sakura felt the rage building within her and as she goes to open her mouth, she quickly closed it back. 'Like it or not....he is right. We've been lucky to not have been attacked so far. If the roles were reversed, I would have already aborted the mission days ago and had my team banned from missions for a while. As much as it sucks to admit....I am a danger to us both right now.' She thought to herself with a frown. The little medic closed her eyes and stomped down her anger. "Fine. You're right. I won't happen again."
Minato smirked slightly, barely noticeable. 'Whats this? Sakura giving in so quickly? This must be a new world record for her.' he mused internally, never letting it show on his features. He gave her an expecting look and she returned it with a confused look of her own. Slightly annoyed at the gestures he was making, which she couldn't understand, the medic gave up and started to walk off to the direction of the village. The yellow flash frowned slightly and cleared his throat which cause the tiny medic to halt but not turn around.
"That didn't sound like an apology."
Minato POV End
Sakura stiffened, caught between her newly found irritation and shock. 'He's messing with me, right? Has to be.' She turned her head slowly to look at him and of course, he was back to the straight face he been sporting during this trip. There was something different though, his eyes were different, there was a bit of light to them not. However, this did not deter her climbing irritation.
"That's because it wasn't." She spat.
"It should have been." Sakura's brow twitched and she clenched her teeth. 'He's definitely messing with me.' She gritted her teeth and sighed. 'This is going to be a long mission.'
Minato smiled and walked passed her, not paying any mind to whether or not she followed because he knew she would.
The pinkette angrily rolled her eyes at him and with a deep, calming breath, she decided to let it go. This was a mission. She was screwing up enough as it is and it is not the time for her to be a hothead. So despite herself, she followed behind her superior.
A/N: Next Chapter will have some mature themes in it. Yes! I know you've all been waiting patiently for a bit of 'action' between Mina/Saku. So don't forget to follow and vote. Until next time~