InsaneJournal

“What happened?” A man with a scar down his left cheek asked, landing on his feet as he jumped from a tree’s branch. His stomach churned slightly at the sight before him. No matter how many times he had seen death, it still affected him every time he came across it.

“We don’t know. There were no signs of any other ninjas in sight. Whoever it was, they’re long gone.”

“Any survivors?” He asked, dreading the answer.

“I’m afraid they’re all dead. But there is worse news. They’re from Sand.” The other ninja replied, frowning as he said it.

“We have to inform the Hokage about this immediately.” He ordered. The other nodded and they ran quickly. His thoughts raced as they made their way back to their village. ‘What were Sand’s ninjas doing near Leaf?’

Winter’s already here. I wonder if this place will get colder.

Sakura mused, pulling her black gloves onto her slightly calloused hands. This mission she had undertaken with her fellow chuunin was taking longer than any of them had expected.

Escort a royal to from Wind to Earth, make sure they arrive safely and guard them for a week.

That was a month ago.

The trouble was that this particular lord was absolutely sure he was going to be assassinated the moment they left his presence. So, his solution had been to hire them on longer for an unspecified amount of time. Foolishly, they had agreed because the pay was more than enough to cover a few missions combined.

She sighed, stretching her arms in front of her.

“I don’t know if I can take much more of this.” She muttered to herself.

“I know how you feel. I’m getting antsy just sitting around guarding a paranoid royal.” A voice sounded behind her.

“You, antsy? That’s something I haven’t heard before.” She replied, smiling. Footsteps slowly carried towards her until they stopped beside her.

“Want to go train or something? This is making me crazy.” They asked, folding their arms behind their head.

“We can’t. We have to stay here. That’s the whole point of guarding someone.”

“Sakura, you suck the fun out of everything.”

“You’re too restless Kiba. By the way, where’s Akamaru? He’s usually with you.”

“He’s sleeping in my room. It’s not like he fits in my jacket anymore.” He laughed. She grinned remembering how small Akamaru had been years ago.

“Where’s Shino?” Sakura asked, craning her head to look down the hallway.

“Last time I saw him, he was in the garden looking at more bugs.”

“Oh.”

They stood in silence, both staring in no particular direction. The sun had set about an hour ago and they were heading into night shifts. Yesterday had been her turn and Kiba had tonight.

I suppose the only real problem I have with this mission is that there hasn’t even been a single wrong look from anyone in this town. I’m starting to think that this was a waste of time.

More footsteps started coming their way. It was Shino. He stopped by the lantern they had propped against the wall and she saw that he was holding a glass jar containing what she assumed were bugs.

Why did I get teamed up with the two guys that are ‘part of nature’?

She grimaced. They were nice and the both of them rarely argued, but it was strange being with these two. She had been so used to Naruto and Sai. There just weren’t enough ninjas to be picky about teammates. They all worked well together anyway, so it’s not like it was a difficulty overcoming their different battle strategies. It was just…she missed her old team.

“Sakura, are you with us?” Kiba asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Wha?” She responded, blinking out of her thoughts.

“You kinda zoned out on us. Maybe you should get some sleep. It’s my turn to patrol anyway.” He smiled at her. She didn’t return the gesture. 

“Yeah, I’ll…you know, I think I’ll take a walk before I go to bed.” She answered, smiling tiredly at the both of them.

“Sakura, you had best bundle up. It will start snowing in an hour.”

She didn’t need to ask how Shino knew. He had thousands of little weather-detectors running throughout his body.

“I wouldn’t mind some snow.” Kiba said with a toothy grin.

“Of course you wouldn’t, you’re the one with the big furry jacket and the cow-sized pillow of a dog.” She replied, walking off, hearing his barking laughter as she turned the corner.

Sakura shivered. That didn’t feel like a temperature-related reaction. Something felt…off. A noise suddenly resounding along the hall grabbed her attention and ran towards its source. ‘That crash came from…oh no.’ It had come from the direction where the lord’s chambers were.

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid.’ She berated herself as she continued running. They had been lulled into false security. And now their charge’s life was in danger.

She skidded to a halt as she reached the east wing. Wrenching open the door with her usual strength, not caring that it was double-bolted, she launched forward.

Upon arriving at his quarters where he mostly spent his time reading, she found that he was not there. ‘Damnit, where could he be?’

“How much longer do you think we’ll be here, Shino?”

“It depends on when the lord deems that his life is no longer in peril. If it lasts longer than we can stand, we can just leave. We still have the money from the first part of our job and that is enough.” Shino replied, still looking inside the jar containing his newly caught insects.

Kiba huffed in resigned agreement. He was mostly concerned for poor Akamaru, who had been cooped up in the mansion for weeks without proper exercise. He was also itching for some running. Sakura just had to burst his bubble. Another huff and he slumped his shoulders forward, idly playing with the fur on the cuffs of his jacket.

‘Where could he be?’ She had checked all the rooms adjacent to the ones she had first entered but he was still nowhere to be found. Finally, she had run into the courtyard.  

“Looking for this, girl?”

Cold voice.

Her head whipped around to see three unknown ninjas; the one who had spoken held the unconscious, or so she hoped, lord by the scruff of his kimono.

“Let him go.” She grinded out, tightening her previous expression of shock into a fiercer one.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. As soon as I slit his throat.”

“You’re not gonna do that while I’m around.” She withdrew her kunai and sprinted at him. The other two ninjas leapt out of the way, leaving only him in her path.

He didn’t dodge her blade as she thrust it forwards. She saw him wince but then he threw her off with the next thing he did.

Vaulting backwards, he landed silently next to the lord and raised his own dagger towards the lord.

“Don’t you dare touch him!”

It all moved in the speed of running through amber.

Sakura saw him take the edge of steel to the defenseless man’s neck and in one clean motion, she knew it was too late.

With an unsettling grin, he put back his knife into its holster and started to back away.

 “Help! The lord has been murdered! She’s still here! Someone please help!” He called out as loudly as he could before disappearing.

Oh. Shit.

She glanced down at the kunai in her hand. It was bloody.

‘That son of a bitch set me up.’

“Did you hear that shout?!” Kiba asked Shino, standing up quickly from his spot.

Shino had already put away his jar and looked back at him.

“Let’s go.”

A quick check on the lord’s vitals told her he was dead. She whispered an apology and got up. This was probably the worst trap she had fallen into. Glancing back once more at his sprawled figure, she slipped through the door and began to run back to her team.

“Stop!”

‘Guards. Damnit, now I’m really looking guilty.’

“Sorry.” She said calmly before running in the opposite direction.

“Stop her at all costs.” She heard the commander order the others. Wincing inwardly at his inflection, she shifted her weight onto the tips of her feet to run faster.

Up ahead, she saw two shapes come at her at a quickening rate. Squinting, she could see that they were Shino and Kiba.

“We have to get out of here. Kiba, go get Akamaru. Shino, we have to split up. I’ll catch up with you guys in the forest.” She breathed out as soon as she got near. She could hear the ever-nearing footsteps of the guards behind her and she willed herself to go faster. Kiba and Shino didn’t ask questions and disappeared into separate directions.

‘Now I just gotta lose these guys.’

“Kazekage, we have no choice but to end our alliance with Leaf. These attacks have happened far too close to each other to be ignored.” His advisor frowned.

“I cannot do that. There needs to be proof that these deaths were instigated by Leaf ninja. Until then, we can only proceed with caution.” He regarded them all coolly. This whole mess was the onset of a very big headache for all involved, himself included. ‘Leaf would not break their alliance with us just to murder a handful of our ninjas and a lord.’

“Kazekage, we cannot take that chance! We must act quickly before more of ours are slaughtered. All the evidence leads to Leaf. They are behind all of this.” His youngest advisor was now getting more inflamed and clearly less experienced in dealing with the former demon vessel.

“I will not throw our peace with Leaf away based on speculation. But I will keep an eye on this matter.”

“We have received news this morning from the guards of the lord who was assassinated. Three Leaf ninjas had been his bodyguards for over a month. One of the ninjas had been seen leaving the place where the lord had been murdered. They ran before the guards could apprehend them.”

“Do they know which ninjas?” If he could find out which of them had been there, maybe he could get information from them before they were absolutely condemned.

“Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Haruno Sakura.”

At the last name, his eyes widened slightly. Haruno was involved? Now this was going to get even more complicated. He wondered would Naruto thought of all this.

His headache was definitely starting to hurt more now.