Chapter 10 – His will and her secrets (Wave part 2)

Summary: She was just a sickly girl back home, living her short life to its fullest. She was supposed to die, but she woke up in an entirely new world as a completely different person in a baby's body.

A/N:

I think Hinata made an awesome friend for Sara. Getting them to be friends was an impulse on my part. 2 quiet girls together. And I think it fit nicely. They complement each other.

I'm starting to organize exactly what Sara's skills are. There are the seals, melodic genjutsu, medic ninjutsu and she's good at combat overall. I'd say that her weakness would be straight out ninjutsu. She's dependent on seals and spends a lot of time doing that. I'd say that medic ninjutsu is also a weakness, but she's working really hard on that anyway. I'd lay these all out carefully as the story progresses.

I'm not very creative on titles by the way! As evident on the story too. I made it seem like it was Sara who's not good at making labels. But in all honesty, I'm the one who's not good at it. But thank you for the suggestion of changing the title. I'll think about a good one. Hard. XD

I haven't made enough build ups on any ship yet. And Sara didn't meet enough people to have options too. I say she's too young for that. And she's too fascinated with the world to really think about things like that as of the moment. I think it will just develop on its own. You can always put down suggestions in the future.

Thank you so much for reading again!

Please leave a comment, review, constructive criticism. I'll be happy to hear it out. Thanks again!

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"Ne ne Sara chan, what's the story on that tune this time?" Naruto asked her as he matched his footsteps to Sara's whistling.

Naruto always asked a story behind her songs, like a kid eager to be told bed time stories. Sara didn't mind. She actually enjoyed telling or making up stories about them anyway. She remembered all the lovely stories in her past life and how her parents shared them with her, especially on her last days. As a matter of fact, the Naruto series was even one of those stories. She remembered watching the show with them on her actual last day.

She knew Naruto had no one who shared stories with him. Vaguely, she wondered if Naruto even knew the children's bed time stories in this world, like The Very Hungry Ninken, Nighty Night little Shinobi, The Gama and the Hebi, or The Enchanted Kunai given that no one cared enough to tell them to him when he was younger.

So with a pang in her heart and a watery smile, she always lapped up on his eagerness and told him different stories, even on her songs.

"This one is about an ogre, a kind of monster that everyone feared, named Shrek." Sara began in a singsong-y voice. They were approaching the puddle as they crossed the wooden bridge. So she was actually doing the Step 2 in her melodic genjutsu. Step 2, strengthen the chakra in the infiltrated senses of the target. Make sure that the whistling or the singing becomes portrayed as merely background. This was why she continued whistling the same tune since she left the gates, so the senses would get used to it and label it 'background'. And because she already started laying the genjutsu, she really can't stop the tune now, even to answer Naruto's question. So she continued the melody, singing her explanation to her teammate.

This might have come off as strange for any other person, but Sara had already conditioned people around her to accept that she just loved to sing, anywhere and anytime. So team 7 didn't bat an eye when she continued singing even as she spoke to Naruto. Tazuna threw her an amused look though.

"People labeled him dangerous. And he was feared and hunted. But Shrek never actually harmed anybody. One day, he saved a princess named Fiona. This song is her song." She sang to Naruto, drifting from side to side in tiptoes, as if dancing across the ground. Naruto smiled at the story. Sara knew that it was probably because it was a little similar to his situation. People treated Naruto like a monster too.

But as much as she wanted to elaborate the story and give Naruto another moral lesson through it, Sara's focus was entirely on the puddle. The puddle was inconspicuous enough. It was just a small pool of water on the ground after all. But it wasn't just any insignificant puddle, it was the monumental puddle from Team 7's first C-turned-A rank mission. Sara consciously tampered down her growing restlessness.

They passed by beside it and she couldn't help but glance at it. Kakashi caught her looking and tilted his head, as if expecting her to comment on it. But she just smiled and shrugged.

Sara straightened up and continued her whistling, adopting a perfectly innocent smile. She kept walking, even though she really didn't want to turn her back on the puddle. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she had the greatest urge to crouch to her battle position in defense. But she shouldn't. Not yet.

To be honest, the Demon brothers were seriously underestimating them. Even if she didn't know beforehand that they would be there, she would have sensed their presence anyway. Their chakra was not hidden all that well. The puddle reeked of their signatures. Any decent chakra sensor would have sensed them already. Of course, they must have been informed that Tazuna hired a mere genin team, and chakra sensing was another upper level skill so maybe they thought that little brats really shouldn't be able to detect them. It was just their bad luck that they were assigned to assassinate a man protected by the genin team that was led by Hatake Kakashi. And of course, another stroke of bad luck to them for attacking a team with a genin who knew the storyline of this world like the back of her hand. But Sara personally thought that it was neither here nor there.

As soon as all of them went past the puddle, the enemies finally decided to make their appearance. Sara felt 2 figures looming out slowly from behind them. She was a little bothered that Sasuke and Naruto couldn't sense it at all. They were still bickering in front, oblivious and relaxed, despite the building depth of their current argument. Even if chakra sensing was a little advanced, it still wouldn't do to get caught off guard. She knew that Kakashi could already sense it and had already prepared his substitution.

Sara held back a groan of disapproval. It really wouldn't do to be caught unaware like this after all. The figures weren't even trying that hard to conceal their chakra. Sara would definitely include chakra sensing in their morning trainings from now on.

Suddenly, the brothers flashed towards Kakashi's left and right, the sound of harsh metal clanking as they dragged a chain between them. The other members of their team turned around just in time to see the enemies twisting and spinning around Kakashi, wrapping the metal chains around him before anyone could even blink.

"What?!" Naruto shouted in surprise, freezing in his spot. He shook his head as he tried to process what was happening in front of them. For him, it was flash, clank, wrap. They were flashing to places with a speed that he couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Sara, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes in concentration as she followed their movements. The brothers moved fast, but she could follow their movement with ease, and for that she was glad. But she didn't see Kakashi perform the Kawarimi. He would have done it before the chains wrapped entirely on him. She cursed herself inwardly for still not being fast enough. She clicked her tongue in disappointment.

The Demon brothers stood menacingly before them. They wore loose black cloaks. One has a gas mask and a long shaggy hair. The other has a single huge horn above the metal of his hitai ate. Their large metal gauntlets were connected to each other by the chains that were currently squeezing the life out of their sensei, like a retractable shuriken-styled chain running between the two of them.

Sara crouched in preparation. She wanted to move now but she knew that Sasuke had to make his move first to trigger the chain of events. It frustrated her, but it was what it was. She was completely focused though, her eyes quickly scanning the area of the battle, and subsequently crafting a plan and visualizing its execution.

She waited for fear to immobilize her, like it did to Naruto. Naruto was currently gaping at the scene with wide eyes, frozen and lightly shaking. She had plans of actions in case that happened to her too.

She expected to feel afraid. After all, this was her first real fight. This was live combat. And she never experienced anything like this even in her past life. She could be fighting to the death. But instead, she was entirely focused and her mind was already picturing the seals she would use.

Maybe it was because she was not afraid of death even now. Being in this world was very thrilling and exciting. But she already had proof that death was just the next great adventure. Maybe it was a long, continuous journey. And maybe the next experience wouldn't be as magical as this current one, but she certainly wasn't afraid to take the chance.

Or maybe it wasn't because of that at all. Maybe it was simply because she knew she wasn't going to die. Knowing the plotline could really be such a spoiler. Sara knew that her first real fear of dying in this world would probably come during her fight with Sasori in the future. Pre-Shippuden shouldn't give her much trouble. Not when she was in Sakura's shoes. Not even in Chuunin exams, where all the endangering trouble would revolve around Sasuke. Sure, there was a time when Sasuke and Naruto were unconscious and Sakura had to defend them on her own in the Forest of Death. But really, Lee came to help, and so did team 10. And Sasuke came just in time to save her. Sakura was always in situations of safety for herself. In her shoes, Sara could really only die if she somehow mucked up so bad that all the factors that saved Sakura somehow disappeared.

Of course, Sara would not accept being a wallflower in battles. She refused to sit pretty and wait for saviors. But in any case, she was aware that all of these factors would come into play if she actually got in real trouble. So she wasn't worried.

Yet this perspective might be a good thing. As new as this experience was to her, she was eager to test the result of her years of hard work. She certainly wouldn't appreciate it if she froze like Naruto did. Now she understood why Naruto had felt so frustrated in the anime. She knew he also worked really hard. It must have been extremely frustrating to realize that even after all that work, it was still fruitless. Then braggarts like Sasuke still dominated the field.

If she actually froze, she'd probably make it dramatic too and make her own nindo with Naruto.

But as it was, she eyed the brothers almost neutrally. She wasn't afraid of what they could do to her. Or what they wouldn't be able to do since Kakashi would end up saving them anyway. Damn spoilers. Sara sighed inwardly.

But despite her neutrality regarding her own life in this world, ironically and hypocritically, she suddenly felt fear flooding her senses as the brothers moved to hurt her teammates.

"First one." One of the brothers exclaimed. They pulled the chains around Kakashi, ripping their sensei to shreds in front of them. Sara couldn't help her gasp of surprise, seeing Kakashi actually being ripped apart. Blood splattered all over and some of his insides spilled about on the ground. Sara almost froze in shock.

She wasn't really icky on blood and gore. After all, she, herself, vomited out blood and some of her insides on a regular basis when her sickness acted up in her past life. There was even a time when she bled from all the openings of her body. It was definitely quite a disgusting and terrifying time for her parents.

But of course, it was still greatly distressing to watch a person you know and came to care about get shredded. She felt her heart constrict at the mess and she stopped breathing as the smell of iron and rust flooded the area, the smell of blood. Kakashi's blood.

Sara clenched her shaking hands into fists and forced herself to focus again, digging her nails into her palms painfully to bring herself back to the battle scene. In reality, Sara only took about 5 seconds to compose herself after Kakashi was torn into pieces. And it was a good thing, because the brothers were already moving towards them again.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto screamed in terror, his eyes also glued to the bloody scene before them.

Upon focusing, Sara felt the quiver of heavy chakra in the air. Her eyes widened as she realized that all that bloody mess was just a pretty strong genjutsu after all, something that Kakashi had casted to make everyone believe that he died. She scolded herself for not realizing it sooner and letting herself almost have a heart attack for it. She didn't have time to dispel it though. The enemies were coming. Sara painfully forced herself to tear her eyes away from the horror. She crouched in preparation, watching the brothers flash behind Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Second one."

They whipped their chains up and moved to spin around Naruto, attempting to wrap him around it too. Naruto stayed frozen, looking up at them with his mouth gaping wide open.

Sara could move forward and pull him out of the way. But like her earlier dilemma, she must let things happen. So she waited, feeling Sasuke move from behind her towards the action. She shuffled helplessly, watching the avenger surge forward. He should move faster. She thought irritably, fidgeting in her place.

He jumped high up above them, and threw a single shuriken that pinned the chain to a tree. He threw another kunai and bulls-eyed the center of the shuriken, firmly attaching the chain to it.

The Demon brothers were focused on Sasuke's attack, so the moment Sasuke leapt, Sara quickly stepped behind Naruto and slammed her palm a few feet away from where he stood. The Paralysis seal appeared on that spot in deep blood red. She quickly activated it.

It was one of their practiced formations as a team. Sasuke would go high, she would sneak from below, and Naruto would attack from the sides. Sara threw a disappointed look at Naruto, seeing that the boy was still unmoving. Perhaps a sudden life and death action shocked him into immobility.

Then again, Naruto was bound to feel that shock. Sasuke already saw a lot of blood from his family's massacre. Sara saw her own blood painting the floor in many occasions.

So she supposed she shouldn't be too frustrated at Naruto. The village might have hated him a lot and they all isolated him, but he never knew blood and gore like this. Maybe if he remembered his parents getting stabbed by Kyuubi's claw in front of him, he would be more prepared. But he was just a baby at that time. Sara still hoped though, that at least their team routine would snap him out of it and get him moving. But he didn't.

The Demon brothers tried to move away to perform another course of attack. But they were pulled back by their gauntlet, which was attached to the chain that was pinned firmly to the tree. Sasuke swiftly landed on those, propelling himself backwards by pushing against the gauntlets and cleanly shoving the soles of his feet on their faces.

Kicking them pushed them backwards though, with enough force that their hands were freed from the gauntlets. Realizing this, the brothers immediately scattered and moved away. One of them headed straight towards Naruto. The other headed towards Tazuna.

At the same moment, Sara placed herself in front of Tazuna and grabbed his wrist behind her. There was a flash of light, making Tazuna gasp softly. But she ignored it and focused on the brother heading to Naruto. She whistled sharply, then suddenly, he sidestepped from his run and he stepped right into her Paralysis seal. He froze.

She averted her gaze to the brother heading towards her and Tazuna. She waited until he was a few feet away, then she threw one kunai on the attacker's left and another on his right, with an invisible string between them, attached to the blunt ends of the kunais, and an explosion seal wrapped on the center of the string. Just as the attacker was about to step on the string, Kakashi flashed before Sara's eyes.

One moment, the attacker would be setting off her trap. Then the next moment, Kakashi was there in all his glory, and he got the attacker in a chokehold.

He was so fast. And she couldn't follow at all. Sara frowned at that.

Kakashi chuckled at her expression. "Yo." He greeted casually, as if they weren't under an attack just seconds ago.

"Kakashi sensei." She mumbled, pouting now.

Kakashi tilted his head. "Ahh so I guess you figured out that I was alive. You don't look surprised. But you don't look too happy to see me."

Sara rubbed the back of her neck, looking down. "Well, it's because I couldn't catch up to you. You moved too fast."

Kakashi patted her head with his other hand. "Maa you just need to train more Sara chan. You're not far off after all."

Sara snorted at that. Kakashi was a freaking genius prodigy. Of course she was far off. She definitely needed to work harder.

"Oh and good job not freezing. You immediately jumped into combat."

She blinked at that. Oh right, in this life, she should have been a perfectly sheltered civilian with no concept of blood and death. She opted not to answer, smiling up at Kakashi in thanks to his praises. Kakashi didn't look too suspicious, but he looked like he was assessing her expression. Maybe he was checking if she went into shock. She had history of that in this world after all.

Avoiding his eyes and looking around, she spotted Sasuke with his arms crossed beside Naruto. Sara wondered why he didn't jump in front of her like he did with Sakura in cannon. She was fully prepared to throw the kunai around him too. She stared at Sasuke, who only stared back at her blankly. He had an oddly secured look about him. He glanced at the frozen brother a few feet away from them, with her seal written in blood under his feet. Then he looked back at her with the same expression.

Suddenly, it hit her. He didn't jump in because he trusted her to handle it. Sara wondered how this will affect the development of things. Maybe now, Sasuke would expect her to jump in more often. That would be troublesome later on when she would try to push Sasuke and Naruto to work together. Sasuke might insist on working with her instead.

Sara clicked her tongue, frustratedly at that possibility. But beneath it all, she was a little giddy that Sasuke trusted her and acknowledged her. He was still the Uchiha Sasuke. And he let her fight her own battle.

Naruto, on the other hand, was gaping at the scattered wood that Kakashi substituted himself with. He was probably still stunned that Kakashi didn't die after all.

"Naruto." Kakashi called him. "Sorry for not helping out right away. I got you hurt. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move."

Then he turned his head towards Sasuke. "And you Sasuke, good job. You quickly moved to disable the attackers' main weapons. It was quick and efficient. As expected of you."

Sasuke just shrugged, as if it was an everyday thing for him. Naruto scowled at him.

Kakashi looked at Sara. "And you Sara. You moved in front of Tazuna quickly, as per mission parameters. And you single handedly incapacitated both of the attackers. Well almost both of them. I have no doubt that this one..." Kakashi motioned to the attacker under his arm. "Would have blown himself up if I didn't stop him. Though I have to ask, he's a few feet away from you. If he blows up, the explosion would also blow you and Tazuna up, right?"

Sara quickly shook her head. "Oh no, sensei." She picked up the 2 kunai and deactivated the seal. The string appeared. Sara peeled off the seal wrapped around the center and showed it to Kakashi.

"See, it's designed to be an in-body explosion. Think of it as your organs and all other fun things in there exploding just inside your body." Kakashi's eyes widened at that. Naruto made a face behind them, swallowing hard at the imagery, while Sasuke blinked in curiosity.

"Hmm." Kakashi eyed the seal she was holding up. Then his eyes went to the seal that the other frozen attacker was standing on.

"Ahh little girl." Tazuna said, tapping Sara on the shoulder. "What about this one you put on my wrist?" He held out his wrist, showing the protection seal that Sara casted on him when she grabbed it.

"Oh, right!" Sara exclaimed. She grabbed Tazuna's wrist again, then with a flash of light, it disappeared.

Suddenly, Sara dropped to her knees. "Ooof!" Sara yelped, her eyes rolling back.

"Sara chan!" Naruto rushed towards her. He made to pick her up, but she waved a hand away.

"N-No, I'm fine. Just...the rush of...it's just overwhelming." Sara mumbled, breathing hard. She wiped the sweat that formed instantaneously on her forehead and stood up shakily.

Sasuke was beside her now too, he gripped her elbows and helped her steady herself.

"What was that? Were you poisoned?" He demanded, facing her and scanning her form.

Sara shook her head weakly. "No, it's really okay. That seal just takes a lot out of me."

Kakashi's lone eye flashed at that. "Then why did you use it? This is your first combat, you shouldn't compromise yourself. What seal was that?"

"Er...an indestructible protection seal?" She mumbled sheepishly, looking down.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, frowning. "What's the name of the seal?"

Sara bit her lip, shaking her head. "Well...I don't have a proper name for it yet. I just call it protection seal."

He looked at her incredulously, his eye widening and his brow rising high up. "That was an original seal?" He exclaimed, shock visible on his usually calm demeanor. He looked at the seal on the ground again, then the seal on paper that she was holding.

He exhaled exasperatedly. "Seals." He muttered, shaking his head. "Of course, your secret skill had to be a complicated and advanced one that might need clearance."

He cleared his throat and talked in a louder voice, addressing her. "Sara, you need to show me all the seals you brought for this mission. We'll talk about this later when we reach our destination."

Sara's nerves fluttered, feeling like she was in trouble. She knew that sealing required higher level skills, and you'd need all kinds of clearances to get books on them in the libraries. But sealing was one of the things she was really passionate about in this world. She hoped that she wasn't in too much trouble. She bit her lip as her mind raced with possible excuses she could say about where she learned these things.

"She wasn't keeping it a secret sensei." Sasuke piped up, surprising everyone present. But he held a firm gaze on Kakashi. "She used to make her seals in front of everyone in class back then and read about them in the open. She just didn't use them in exercises so Iruka sensei couldn't note them down."

Sara grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly. Sasuke glanced at her, and she mouthed the words 'Thank you', keeping her head down. Sasuke sighed and shrugged.

Kakashi blinked, nodding at that. "Okay, that's good then." He paused, then turned to Sara. "You'd still need to talk to me about it Sara." His voice softened, looking down at the fidgeting girl. "You're not in trouble. Don't worry. It's just that if the higher ups hear about this, they might restrict you. So let's talk about what you should do. Okay?"

Sara nibbled on her bottom lip nervously, but she nodded her head. Kakashi ruffled her hair fondly, giving her a small reassuring smile. For Kakashi, even if Sara was mysterious and deliberately hid her abilities, she had never given any hint of disloyalty or menace. As a matter of fact, she had always demonstrated proper kunoichi values and actions. She worked hard in every mission and she adored her friends and their team. She brought out more personality from the shy Hyuga girl, she always involved Naruto and made him feel acknowledged, and she even managed to drag the anti-social Uchiha to whatever they were up to. She even went the extra mile of buying him food. Kakashi knew she wasn't that well-off so the gesture was greatly appreciated.

She grew up in Konoha and she never stepped out of the village. All her files and records are out for everyone to see. She was a normal civilian with a big heart and a great potential. Kakashi knew that maybe she could just be a really good spy, born and raised to lie. But Kakashi's gut told him that Sara would be a traitor as much as Kakashi would hate Icha Icha. Maybe he was being biased, because the sweet girl had done nothing else but glow in everybody's presence. She was a beacon in their team. So Kakashi was comfortable enough to trust in that gut instinct.

It was still strange that she hid her skills though. Every ninja prided themselves with their abilities. So Kakashi would still need to talk to her to at least get an understanding of what she was trying to do.

On the other side, Naruto was eyeing Sasuke scornfully, noting the disheveled appearance of the avenger even after he made the first attack.

Sasuke noticed this, smirking as he caught Naruto's eye. "Hey, are you hurt, Mr. Scaredy Cat?"

Naruto balled his fists as he glowered back at Sasuke. "Whatever, Stalker! Watching Sara chan like a hawk in the academy!"

"YOU-"

Sara's hold on Sasuke's hand tightened, pulling him back as he tried to descend towards Naruto. "Sasuke. No." She threw a stern look at Naruto too. "And quit it too Naruto."

"But he started it Sara chan!" Naruto complained, stomping his feet angrily.

Sasuke shook his head, pulling his hand away from Sara. He shot one more glare at Naruto before walking away. "Hn."

Sighing, Sara approached Naruto and eyed his bleeding hand. Somehow, the brothers still managed to scratch him when they appeared behind him. "Does that feel alright?" She asked softly, worry shining in her eyes.

Kakashi grimly crinkled his nose as he stared at Naruto's hand. "There's poison on these guys' nails. We need to take out the poison right away."

Naruto blinked in confusion, his brows furrowing as he stared down at his hand. He was used to his fast, regenerative rate, so he might have been conditioned to feel a little invincible.

"We have to open up your wound and leech out the poisoned blood. Don't move that much or the poison will spread throughout your body." Kakashi told him. Naruto gasped, his face morphing into horror. He immediately turned to Sara and shoved his hand on hers.

Kakashi decided to ignore his queer minions and proceeded to address the elephant in the room. He turned towards their client, who had been eerily silent. "By the way Tazuna San."

Tazuna jumped in surprise, his eyes widening at the sudden mention of his name. "W-What is it?"

He tilted his head and regarded the older man seriously. "I need to talk to you."

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Kakashi tied up their attackers securely to a tree.

"These guys are chuunin class ninja from the Hidden Village of Mist." He informed the rest of them, eyeing the two brothers who were currently glaring vehemently at them. "They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter the cost."

One of them sneered at Kakashi. "How are you able to detect our action?"

"Well because he's Kakashi." Sara said with a big smile, waving her hand to her sensei's direction. She was in the process of bleeding out Naruto's hand to extract the poison.

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. "Not now Sara chan!"

Sara sighed theatrically, making a face. "Fine. Because of the puddle then."

Kakashi smiled back at her and nodded approvingly. "Correct. So you did notice after all, Sara chan." Sara grinned at him shyly. She was still a little embarrassed at being told off earlier. But she wasn't one to dwell. Besides, she always knew that someone would call her out because of her seal making at some point. It was for the best that the one who did was her teacher. So she was still happy at the way things turned out.

Kakashi turned back to the brothers. "It hasn't rained for the past few days, and it's sunny today, so a water puddle shouldn't exist."

"Honestly, you guys should have set the puddle up by the bridge. That way, the water could look like it came from the river." Sara piped up, her eyes focused on Naruto's bleeding hand. Naruto winced but he didn't pull his hand away.

Kakashi threw her an amused look. "Good job advising the enemy on how to assassinate better."

Sara winked at him and smirked. "We're ninja. It's what we do. Rub on our enemy's faces why they suck. We can brag to nobody else anyway precisely because we're ninja."

Naruto frowned at that. "That's bad sportsmanship though, talking them down after you defeat them."

"There's no sportsmanship in ninja work." Sasuke commented from the far side, his arms crossed and his eyes glued at the tied-up enemies.

"There are morals and values though." Naruto replied, throwing a disapproving look at Sasuke. Sasuke just shrugged.

"Anyway, we're getting off topic." Kakashi interrupted the beginning of another argument. It was a harmless topic, but he really needed to confront their client first. "I needed to know who the target for these two was. That's why I let the enemies move about first, just to see who they will attack."

Tazuna visibly swallowed. Kakashi stared at him. The client's obvious nerves were a bad sign. "W-What do you mean?" Tazuna stuttered, not even bothering to look indignant at the coming accusation. He looked pale and nervous.

"In other words, were you being targeted or someone from our ninja group? We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninja. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers." Kakashi pressed, watching the man blanch and shiver at his words. "This is a mission that's above a B rank. Our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B rank. It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details. This wasn't part of the mission."

Kakashi gestured towards the kids. "As you can see, D rank missions employ children. You purposely allowed these kids to protect you, knowing that you need to be protected from dangerous people."

Tazuna looked faint, his eyes widening as he glanced at the kids again who were merely looking up at him with wide eyes. Or at least, Sara was.

Naruto and Sasuke both scowled at Kakashi.

"We're not kids." Naruto grunted, gritting his teeth angrily. He wanted to jump up to make his point but Sara held his hand firmly. Sasuke nodded stiffly, his fists clenched.

Sara threw a disapproving look at the both of them. "Of course we are. We're 12. Maybe we're mature. But we're still children."

"Aw Sara chan!" Naruto complained, looking at her with teary blue eyes. "Don't side with Kakashi! I thought you're always going to side with me!"

Sara shrugged and tried to keep a straight face. "Well not anymore since you froze during battle." Naruto flinched as she said that, looking hurt by her accusation. It was a low blow, yes. But Sara was encouraging him to make his nindo soon. She was starting to worry because it didn't look like he was going to. She wondered if her friendship with him made him feel a little too comfortable. He needed to realize that he had been weak and useless. He needed to be pushed to make his vow, the same promise that would change a lot of hearts in the future, and thus save a lot of lives.

"S-Sorry." Naruto mumbled, looking down with remorse. Sara almost gave in. She really didn't want to discourage him. Not when everyone had done nothing but that in his whole life. Not when his big blue eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Sara had faith in him. Completely and irrevocably. Not just because she knew that Naruto would inevitably become a hero in the future. But because even if she didn't know what would happen, this boy in front of her had the biggest heart and the biggest determination. There was simply no doubt that there was no stopping him when he set his eyes on a goal.

But right now, he was just a little boy. He was afraid and confused. And Sara would prick him a little if it meant giving him his push.

So Sara simply shrugged, letting go of his hand and standing up. She looked down at him as she crossed her arms lazily. "Eh it's okay. Sasuke and I will protect you on our way back to the village, in case we get attacked again."

Sasuke raised his brows at her questioningly. This kind of comment normally came from him, and Sara wasn't one to bait Naruto. But Sara was determined to push Naruto. She almost grimaced at her words. It was demeaning and arrogant to say it, but she was relieved to see Naruto's stunned expression, morphing into shame, then into determination.

Naruto's expression hardened. He stood up as well and stared straight into Sara's eyes. He raised his chin, his lips trembling. He was giving her a betrayed look. But Sara just stared back coldly, not breathing. She knew that if she exhaled, she would end up crying. She was goading the hero of this story after all. But more than that, she was insulting her sweet, bubbly friend.

Naruto was just staring up at her, so Sara decided to give him one more push, even if she felt like crumbling under his sad gaze. Shrugging and starting to turn away, she called out to Kakashi. "This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the village to cure Naruto."

Naruto finally snapped at that. His hands flew to his holster as he grabbed a kunai. Sasuke twitched and moved to step in front of Sara, probably assuming that Naruto was about to stab her. Noticing this, she threw Sasuke a bewildered look, which was enough to make him pause in his advance. She couldn't believe that Sasuke actually thought Naruto would hurt her in any way. Sasuke still had some trust issues to work through then. She mentally set up their morning trainings to include not only chakra sensing but also more teamwork exercises. Stupid exasperating Team 7, she inwardly groaned.

Sasuke was frozen because of her warning look, but Naruto continued to move, so he looked away from Sara's glare and raised a hand, probably to stop Naruto striking her. But before he could do anything else, Naruto raised the kunai high up and brought it down to his own open poisoned palm.

Sasuke's mouth actually dropped open at that, probably too surprised at their blonde teammate's antics. On Sasuke's part, he was scolding himself for assuming that Naruto would do anything harmful. Of course it was just something idiotic and dramatic again. He shouldn't have assumed anything else.

Sara shot Sasuke an I-Told-You-So smirk, which he rolled his eyes to. He stepped away and resumed watching the bound enemies. He would determinedly ignore the Dobe, whatever show he was presenting. With an audible "tsk", he turned away and crossed his arms grumpily.

"Why am I so different?" Naruto sobbed, clutching his bleeding hand with tears forming in his sea eyes. "...Why am I always... Damn it."

Sara stepped away from him, giving him the space he needed to clear his thoughts. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from smiling. A wave of relief flooded her chest as she watched the Naruto she knew; brave, determined, and stubborn.

Naruto turned back towards them, determination glinting from his wide blue eyes. His whisker marks looked as apparent as ever. He grinned his usual feral smile while digging the kunai deeper into his palm. Sara twitched at that, her hand raising on its own towards him.

But he only moved away from her, staring back defiantly. "I should be stronger. I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced techniques every day. I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me. I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things. I'm not going to lose to Sasuke. Or to you, Sara! I vow that to this pain in my left hand. I'm going to protect the old man with this kunai." He declared, raising his bleeding hand proudly, his smile not even hinting the pain he must have been feeling for it.

His wound was really starting to look bad. So dropping all pretenses, Sara grabbed his palm against his will and smacked his head lightly. "Stop that. Why are you such a drama queen?! You'll end up infecting that hand!"

Kakashi sighed, staring at them with amusement. "Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly...But you're going to die from loss of blood if any more comes out."

Naruto gasped, his face turning completely purple. Sasuke snorted, shaking his head exasperatedly at the scene.

In one single move, Naruto got Sara locked under his arm and he shoved his hand back to hers, frantically whispering for forgiveness and pleading for her to help him.

Sasuke closed his eyes from his corner, muttering "...annoying dobe."

Kakashi turned up at Naruto's side. He leaned over him and smiled innocently at the shaking boy. "It's not good if you don't stop it right away. Seriously."

Naruto started flailing his arms around and screamed. "No no no no! I can't die like this. Sara chan! Sara chan! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please save me!"

Chuckling weakly, she gently took his injured hand and patted it gently. Naruto's lips were still trembling, but he stilled under her touch, taking short shallow breaths in small whispers.

"Calm down, okay? It'll be okay, promise." Sara told him softly, her face morphing back to her normal sunny expression, her earlier arrogant demeanor vanishing from her face completely.

Blowing out a breath, Sara focused on Naruto's hand and willed her hand to flicker green. She started to sing a tune before she touched his hand, incase her chakra molded all wrong again and she ended up hurting him. The soothing melody relaxed Naruto completely, the subtle chakra within it taming his usual energetic flow. When her healing chakra touched his hand, it was cool and meditative. He sighed tiredly, feeling all the pain disappear.

Kakashi sucked in a breath as he watched this, shooting another exasperated look at Sara.

"Sara, medical ninjutsu too? Seriously?"

Sara paused in her singing, grinning shyly at her teacher. "Mmmm...Sorry Kakashi sensei?"

Kakashi grumbled under his breath. "Unbelievable. Another form that might need clearance." He cleared his throat and shot her a bemused look. "We're definitely going to have that talk, Sara chan."

Sara winced slightly, but she nodded her head meekly at that. Naruto guffawed, looking amused.

"The one time that Sara chan gets scolded, it's because she's too awesome!"

Sara flushed red and lightly nudged Naruto to stay still. She kept her head down and refused to look at anyone's eyes while she healed him. She was slightly pouting.

Sasuke smirked, watching Naruto continue to goad Sara about her 'awesomeness'. It was probably his revenge on her for goading him earlier. But instead of insulting her, which would probably not get a real reaction from her, Naruto wisely chose to keep complimenting her instead, knowing that their talented teammate was very embarrassed about being directly praised. Kakashi just shook his head, muttering about "shy little girls." and "secretive kunoichis." and "heart attacks."

But he watched the process with fascination. It was obvious that Sara wasn't very adept to it yet. He could feel the light genjutsu in her song, probably as a back-up in case she messed up. Sara was clearly a very smart girl. She knew how to compensate the lack of skills by maneuvering around to what she was good at.

Soon, Naruto's hand was well and he breathed a big sigh of relief. "Whew! That was great Sara chan! I didn't feel hurt at all by it!"

He raised his hand and noticed that there was still a clear mark on his palm. "But Sara chan, I have a scar?"

"I'll remove it when we get back to Konoha." She said simply with a small smile. The scar was important after all. In the anime, Naruto would freak out again when Zabuza arrived. But he would see the scar and get over his fear, finally turning fearless in the rest of the series. Sara wasn't sure if Naruto would freak out again now. But in case he did, Sara left the scar there.

Sara sighed, feeling exhausted from all the plot control management. And this was just the first high rank mission. And this was just the first battle in that mission. There was a second one soon after they crossed the waters, against Zabuza himself. And another one at the bridge after a week or so. Sara briefly considered just standing there like Sakura did. If she stayed still, maybe she didn't need to do much damage control on anything she might change.

But she dismissed the idea when she imagined herself just standing at the sides like a cheerleader while her badass team gets the action. Damage control was worth it as long as she got to feel like a true kunoichi who spent all of her waking hours torturing herself around Konoha to get to where she was now. She wouldn't waste her chance. Being in team 7 just meant her challenge was greater.

Besides, she already caused some subtle changes anyway. Her team clearly acknowledged her. Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't come to save her like they did for Sakura in canon because they knew she could handle herself. She'd probably die if she actually stood still. Or they'd probably expect her to be the one to come saving them. She chuckled to herself for a moment before dismissing that thought. The boys in her team as of now would get maimed first before they ask for help in combat.

Seeing that all of his little genins were fine now, Kakashi turned back to their client and started interrogating him. Sasuke inched closer to them to listen in.

Sara, on the other hand, kept Naruto beside her as she carefully cleaned up the wound. It wasn't bleeding now and the poison was completely out. It was probably completely fine now, but she didn't want to risk an infection.

"Sara chan." Naruto said, looking at her with a serious expression.

Sara blinked up at him, her eyes widening in panic as she regarded his injured hand once more. "What is it? Did I hurt you again? Sorry! I can sing again if you want?"

Naruto shook his head, grinning at her. "Naw. You did fine! Don't worry about that!" He paused, taking a deep breath as he stared at her directly. "What I want to say is...you can trust me next time Sara chan! I made my vow, see?" He held up his hand to show her the scar she deliberately left. "It's my promise! You, me and that teme will save lives together next time! Just like we practiced!" His expression became somber again as he exhaled frustratedly. "Sorry if I froze. I just...I was scared. If Kakashi sensei...we just. We could have died."

Sara marveled at the fact that Naruto was actually telling her this. Naruto was not as closed off as Sasuke, but he wouldn't just blurt out his weak moments to anyone like this. Perhaps Naruto really trusted her. Or maybe Sara had acknowledged him without a second thought before, so now he didn't want her to change her opinion of him. So he wanted her to understand.

It was touching, but saddening too. She didn't want Naruto to feel upset about it.

Sara put a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing fondly. "It's okay to be afraid Naruto. Everyone is afraid of dying. As ninja, we'll just grow into it as we get more death-defying missions. We'll be braver next time."

Naruto pouted, looking away with shame in his eyes. "But you weren't scared, Sara chan. Sasuke-teme, I could understand. They say the he saw his whole family die! But you and me, we never experienced that. But I froze, and you didn't."

Sara sighed. This was one of the consequences of being competent in their team. While she didn't directly compete with the boys, they always compared themselves to her, like she was the meter of being a good ninja. It was pressuring because she was far off from where she really wanted to be. And she was definitely far off from where they would be when the war comes. She had a feeling that no matter how hard she trained, she would never be up to that level. Heck, the Sage of Six Paths gave them power. She knew that their idolism of her was just a childhood rivalry that they'd come to realize as silly in the future.

Not that she'd let them get away with it. She will work as hard as she could to be up to scratch, if nothing else. She already had some ideas on what she would form herself to be. But still, she wished they'd just look onto Kakashi, because he was the real strong ninja at the moment.

But if Naruto was feeling bad about it, then she couldn't let it pass.

She smiled warmly at the usually sunny boy and patted his hand lightly.

"I used to be scared." She admitted to him quietly. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about this. But he looked up at her with those troubled eyes, and she found that she didn't care if this caused her trouble later on. Naruto never dwelled on negative emotions by using them to push himself forward as motivation. But it didn't mean that he didn't feel bad about it anyway. This was a rare window he was showing her. He wasn't as thick headed as most would assume. He was just a little boy who also got hurt and who also had self-doubts, just like everyone else.

"I remember I was really sick when I was young." In her past life, but he didn't need to know that. "And I would often go to the hospital. I met a girl there, and we used to visit each other's rooms. We had the same sickness you see."

She closed her eyes, remembering the little girl she used to play with. She looked like an angel to her, so happy and radiant all the time. Sara could remember her pale blond hair, and the way she always tied her hair in a crown braid, circling her head like a halo. She had bright green eyes that danced with joy and warmth. She was very petite, and often times Sara wondered if the wind could blow her away. But she twirled around on a windy day at the hospital gardens, and Sara knew that the wind would merely caress the little angel, because she was special.

"Melody! Melody! Let's visit the grandpas on the East Wing! They said they will tell us stories today!" The angel told her in a surprisingly soft voice, like a lullaby on a cold night. She pulled her out of her room, giggling excitedly with the brightest smile she had ever seen.

"Eh eh? You were sick Sara chan?!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Sara nodded, her eyes still dazed from the memory. "Yes. I was sick. I was young and I hated being sick. I wanted to play like the other kids. But I can't. So I was really miserable." She took a deep breath, her voice turning melancholic. "But she was there. She was sick like me. But unlike me, she was happy. She loved every day of her life. She didn't envy the other kids who could play outside. She was happy to stay inside and read books. She was happy for the rare times we could actually go out and feel the sun. She was happy if it was raining, and she will snuggle inside a thick blanket and tell me stories."

"I want to play in the rain too." Melody said sadly, watching the lively kids at the window, jumping in puddles and laughing loudly. "Why do we have to be sick? Does God hate me? Why am I sick? Why aren't they sick?"

The angel looked at her with her green eyes, frowning at what she said. She waved her hand, telling her to come sit beside her. Melody, sniffing and rubbing her teary eyes, sat beside the other girl, grumbling at the unfairness of it all.

"Let's read a story Melody. I'll open the lamp and we can pretend we're having a camp fire!" She said with enthusiasm, handing her a book while she took the lamp from a small table.

Melody pouted and threw the book away, crossing her arms. "I already read that book! I don't want to read it again!"

The angel tilted her head and opened the lamp anyway, putting it between them. "Then let's make our own story! We can make it however we want it to be!" The light of the lamp glowed on the other girl's face, her smile glimmering kindly, warming Melody's heart there and then.

Sara wasn't always as happy and optimistic as she was now. When she was between 4 or 5 years old in her past life, she was sad because she could never go anywhere else but at the hospital. Somehow, she knew that she was really sick. She knew that she was going to die. Her parents and the doctors always looked at her sadly.

But they also do that to the other girl. She knew they were the same. But her young mind was struck by how content the angel was. She was never upset. In fact, she played around and lapped up every minute of every day, as if she knew that the end was coming near.

"We were dying." She told Naruto, who gasped at the revelation. "Me and the girl. The kind of sickness we had..." She paused, remembering the days when they were both growing weaker, day by day. She grew sulkier and angrier the harder it became. But the other girl just grew happier.

"Melody." Her mother called her, squeezing her hand softly. "Come on sweetie, you have to eat."

Melody angrily shoved her plate away, feeling a shot of satisfaction as she watched the food splatter on the floor and the glass plate breaking against the tiles. "Why? I'm going to die anyway, aren't I mom?"

Her mom sobbed, shaking her head quickly and tried to wrap her in an embrace. She struggled against it, glaring venomously at her parents. Her dad sighed, holding her arms firmly as he sighed tiredly.

"Stop that Melody. Say sorry to your mother and eat your food."

She was about to retort something nasty again when she heard the angel on the other table. Her eyes were closed but she held her mother's and father's hands. She had a small content smile on her face as she sniffed delightedly at the food in front of them.

"Lead the prayer little angel." The girl's mom whispered. She perked up happily and started her prayer in a melodic voice.

"Thank you for the world so sweet. Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the birds that sing, Thank you God for everything!"

Naruto nudged her, waving a hand in front of her face. "Sara chaaaaan. Hellooooo? And then what happened?"

Sara giggled. "Sorry Naruto. I was just remembering." She cleared her throat and sighed. "Anyway. Our last year is almost up-"

Naruto inhaled sharply. "What do you mean your last year?! Were you supposed to die? But you're alive now?"

"We were only supposed to live until we're 5 years old." Sara said, her voice only a whisper now that Naruto had to lean in closer to hear her. "People with our sickness usually never last for longer."

Sara folder her hands and looked up at the sky, a serene look setting in her face. "I remember her last day. I was playing with her the afternoon before. We were allowed to go out at the hospital garden. She looked really pale and she looked thinner than ever. Her eyes were sunken, and she was shivering. But she still looked happy."

"Melody, when I die, I will be with the wind in the sky." The angel told her as she watched the sky. "I will travel with the clouds, making funny shapes so other children can guess them. I will fly around the world, swimming across the sky and go cloud hopping!"

Melody shook her head, her eyes widening. "Don't say that! Maybe...maybe we don't have to die yet! We can't die yet!"

The angel just tilted her head and smiled at her. "We will all die someday. It's nothing to be afraid of."

Melody's lips trembled. "But...But but but-"

"We're only afraid to die because we're afraid of what we'll leave behind." Sometimes, Melody would look at the little angel and wonder if she really was just a 4-year old kid. She always sounded wise. "Maybe something unfinished. Maybe something unfulfilled."

Melody's face scrunched up at that. "Un...Unful...Unfulfilled?"

"Yeah! Like something you didn't do before you die. Did you read that book you said you wanted to read in the hospital library?"

Melody blinked slowly. "Umm...no?"

"Did you get that ice cream you wanted at the cafeteria today?"

"...no?"

"Did you tell your parents that you love them today?"

"I...er...No."

The angel frowned at her disapprovingly. "Then you gotta tell them when they visit later! You never know if we'll still wake up tomorrow!"

"Oh...uhmmm...okay." Melody mumbled, thinking about that. She did love her parents, even if she was angry at them all the time. She definitely didn't want to die without telling them that she loved them.

The angel jumped up, wobbling slightly on her feet before pulling Melody up with her. "But before that, we're going to make the most of today! Let's have tea under that tree! Maybe we can invite some grandmas and grandpas to join us!"

Melody smiled, giggling. "Okay."

The next day, the angel didn't show up to meet her at the garden anymore.

"She's up there now." Sara told Naruto, pointing up at the clouds. "Sometimes, I wonder if I should have died at that time instead. She was the nicer kid after all. I was bratty. But then I thought about what she said. If I died then, I would have been unfulfilled. I still didn't do everything I wanted to do. But that kid..."

She smiled at Naruto. "She made the most out of every day of her life. So she was happy." She held both of Naruto's hands. "I'm not afraid, Naruto, because every day is a complete day for me. Maybe I still have some dreams, but I treat my days one day at a time. Of course, it would be too bad if I actually die. There's still so much of this world that I want to experience. But if I die, then I die. At least I know that I went down doing my best at everything that I do."

She took a deep breath. "So today, let's make it complete. Naruto, I want you to know that I love you."

Naruto blinked up at her in surprise. Sara just laughed and raised her head. "Sasuke kun!"

Sasuke looked over at them, disrupted from listening in on Kakashi's interrogation.

Sara winked at him. "I love you Sasuke kun."

Sasuke immediately flushed, his whole face turning completely red. He scowled at her and turned away.

Naruto snickered at him. Kakashi, hearing that declaration, paused and glanced at her curiously.

Sara raised her hand. "Sensei, I love you!" Kakashi raised his brows, looking amused. She looked at Tazuna and beamed. "Tazuna san, I care about you." Tazuna, who was clearly having a hard time during Kakashi's interrogation, managed to give her a small smile.

Then she frowned at the Demon brothers. "I'm sorry but I don't feel anything for the two of you. I hate you a little for trying to harm my team but I could forgive you since you're just doing your jobs."

The enemies looked at her bewilderedly. Naruto laughed out loud.

Turning back to Naruto, she opened her arms wide. "You see, Naruto? If I die now, at least I told the people I love that I love them."

Naruto looked thoughtful at that, but he nodded anyway. "Okay, so then I love you Sara chan?"

She grinned, nodding approvingly.

"Oy Teme! You're okay!"

Sasuke pretended not to hear them, his ears still red.

"Kakashi sensei, you're awesome. There, I said it. Still not your fan though."

Kakashi's eye crinkled in his usual happy smile, shaking his head at their trip. He knew that Sara was once again helping out Naruto to sort out his values like she always did. So he let them be. He'll explain the situation with Tazuna later to them. Or perhaps Sara already guessed about a lot of parts anyway so he'll just get her to explain it to Naruto.

Then Naruto jumped up on his feet and pointed at Tazuna.

"And you old man! I also care about you! I made a promise with this injured hand!" He showed them the scar proudly. Sara giggled, realizing that leaving the scar there had its purpose after all.

"We will save you and guard you from these bad guys until your bridge is complete!" He declared, hands on hips.

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head in disagreement. "Naruto, you can't just decide that-"

"Actually sensei, I agree with Naruto." Sara piped up, also getting to her feet. "We now know that terrible men are after Tazuna-san. If we leave him now, he's in danger. I say we continue this mission."

Sasuke walked over to them, still looking sulky, but also a touch determined. "I also agree with this."

Kakashi watched the unfaltering expressions on his team of genins. He was fine with continuing the mission. But having them with him made him a little wary of it. He was an ex-ANBU captain, but he had 3 kids with him. If someone powerful actually went after them, he'll have trouble trying to save everyone. But he also knew that the 3 wouldn't back down on this. He had ultimate authority of course, but he had the feeling that they'd actually go without him if he refused.

Sara tilted her head innocently. "Besides sensei, you know you can handle this with your eyes closed." She gasped in a show of surprise. "Oh! One of them is already closed and you still could have kicked everyone down."

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Fine fine. No need to butter me up. We'll continue for now while we gather more information about this mission."

"YATTA!" Naruto yelped excitedly. "Stick with us old man, you'll witness heroes in the making."

"Watch him and you'll witness a dumbass freezing in battle." Sasuke scoffed at him.

Naruto just stuck his tongue out. "Just you watch Teme. Next time, you'll freeze because my behind will always be infront of you from now on!"

"Ohhh here we go." Sara groaned, stepping away from the boys to block out their new argument.

She looked up at the clouds and spotted a cloud shaped like a bird.

Oooooh look angel, I see a bird!

After smiling up at the sky, she concentrated her gaze forwards again. The mission was not over yet. A stronger enemy would come after their boat ride later. She watched Naruto who was not sad anymore, and Sasuke who looked as competent as ever. Kakashi stood tall behind them, ready to jump in his team's defense at any notice. And of course, she was all prepared too. She knew they were all ready for anything.

Taking a deep breath, she smiled widely as they reached the docks.

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