Arc One: Seed

❀

When Sakura woke, she was buzzing with anticipation. She practically leapt out of the rickety bed and went through her morning strength training routine. One she finished that, she seated herself cross legged on the floor and began her hour of focusing her chakra to that point in her forehead. Her excitement numbed as she focused but once she had finished she felt a grin lighting up her face.

'Mission day!' She shot to her feet, changed into her layered yukata, grabbed a piece of paper from the desk, and made her way out of her bedroom. The night before, Sakura had written up her reports on her patients and gave them to Konan with a "good night!" but sleep still eluded her. So Sakura took another piece of paper and began writing down dietary guides for her patients. Since she would be on this mission for a few days, she wanted to make sure her patients were kept in a good condition so she listed foods they should be eating and how often they should be drinking. Each list was personalised for each patient under their names and she began her trek to the kitchen where she would prominently display it.

Shutting the door behind her as she was re-reading her diet lists, Sakura's steps followed her memory out the hallway and to the main area. Her focus nearly had her stumbling over Kisame in the entrance to the main seating area who was doing sit-ups. "Oh!" she caught herself before walking into the large man, "good morning, Kisame-san."

"Fuck off, parasite." Sakura's face drained of colour and her expression slackened in surprise.

"Wha-" She was cut off by a chuckle coming from the couch. Deidara sat comfortably cross-legged in pyjamas and a lax grin.

"Don't take it personally, he'll wake up soon." He rested his chin on his good palm and tilted his fringe from his face to smirk at her. Sakura stopped her trek by him, 'he'll wake up soon?' Did that mean, "he's asleep ?"

Deidara's grin showed off his teeth, "yup, he sleepwalks since his body makes sure he's moving, we've basically got it down to a schedule now. Tonight's my turn to watch him." Both their attention returned to the sleeping man who had decided he'd finished his push ups, he turned to the hallway entrance, jumped up to grab the door railing, and began doing pull ups. In between the motion, Sakura caught a glimpse of his eyes and saw they were indeed unfocused.

"How... interesting. Kisame-san said his anatomy is very like a sharks and like them, he has to stay moving, so his body had adapted to fill that need when he sleeps by having him sleepwalk." Sakura said to herself. She turned to Deidara, "what time does he often start sleepwalking and how long does it usually last?"

He shrugged, "usually starts about four hours after he falls asleep, then he's up and about for like an hour, he'll crash and then be back up four hours later." He leaned back, plucked a bowl of orange slices from the arm of the chair and plopped it between his crossed legs.

"And you take shifts to make sure he's not a danger to himself?"

"More like so he's not a danger to others." Deidara popped an orange slice in his mouth before swiping a slipper from the floor and throwing it. Said slipper smacked Kisame on the back of the head. His movements didn't stutter but he slurred out, "I said I'd do it tomorrow."

Deidara raised a hand to say 'see?' and ate another orange slice. "The guys build like a brick house with the mental capabilities of a toddler and the reaction speed of a drunk sailor. I'm here to make sure he doesn't break anything or bite anyone."

Sakura blinked as she realised her expression had been frozen in shock for that entire exchange and forced herself to step away from the sleeping shinobi. "Right, thanks for the head's up." Deidara nodded in acknowledgement and Sakura made a mental note to write this information down for when she would be researching sharks for Kisame's surgery.

As she stepped into the kitchen she saw someone familiar, "good morning Kakuzu-san." She smiled, said man was at the stovetop, a pair of saibashi in hand and his cloak abandoned for a pair of sweatpants and tank top. He looked her over briefly, his eyes settling on the paper in her hands. Sakura took notice of the stitches at the corners of his mouth but kept her fascination contained.

He gestured with a nod and Sakura took the initiative, "it's a dietary plan! I want to make sure everyone is well taken care of while I'm out on the mission."

"Mission? Pain assigned you with those two." She nodded and hung up the plan on the fridge with a magnet atop the surface.

"I had to practically beg to be allowed to tag along but yes!" She approached the stove but kept a respectable distance, she tilted her head up to meet the mans eyes. "Do you usually cook breakfast for everyone?"

He scoffed, "I've never made breakfast for anyone." She looked to the three salmon cooking in the pan. "These were about to go off and I'm not letting them go to waste." Sakura nodded and understood the man didn't want any other input over his presence in the kitchen.

"Could I help then? I've got a while before the mission." He flipped a salmon over.

"Do whatever you want." Sakura took that as acceptance and looked over the other food they had in stock. Rice was already cooking so Sakura pulled out some dashi soup stock to make the miso soup. Wordlessly, Kakuzu stood at his side of the stove and allowed the much smaller girl to do what she wanted on the other side. Confident in her abilities to multitask, Sakura checked the fridge and pulled out a few eggs from the half empty carton. She enjoyed the absence of conversation in favour of the sizzling of the stove and the odd ramble from Kisame in the other room, "but if I eat six then you'll still have four left!"

A short time later they had finished.

The two sat themselves at the dining table, both with miso soup and salad, Kakuzu with his salmon and Sakura with her plate of tamagoyaki. Just as she took her first bite into the fluffy omelette, Tobi appeared in the main area door way where Kisame was now doing push ups. Tobi in his mask and regular clothing sans the coat came to a standing stop atop Kisame's back. Sakura watched as the man went up and down, the sleeping shinobi unbothered by the extra weight. "Good morning everyone~!"

"Shut up, Tobi," grumbled Deidara.

"-ah!" If Sakura could see the mans eyes she was sure they would be sparkling. "I smell salmon, oh Kakuzu-san~" he cooed and came up to the table where Kakuzu had already finished his first salmon and was working on his second. "Can Tobi have some? Please?" He begged with hands clasped.

"No. Make your own breakfast."

"Okay~" Tobi saluted and glided into the kitchen while Sakura finished her mouthful.

Tobi, out of sight, cried "we're out of salmon!"

Kakuzu pushed his last salmon to Sakura. "I refuse to give handouts and don't you dare give him anything." Sakura smiled in a silent thank you that she felt would be appreciated more than a vocal one.

Sakura was about to ask Tobi if he wanted one of her tamagoyaki when the sound of a small voice screeching reached her ears, it was muffled from another room and speaking too fast for her to register what was being said. As it came closer, Sakura peeked to the doorway where she saw a sleepy-on-his-feet Itachi in comfortable clothes and a raven perched atop his shoulder who seemed to be the chatty one. "Am I leaving today? You said it'd be soon but how soon? Oh! Is it after breakfast? Can I have some breakfast first? I've been really wanting some-"

"Kangae. Remember what we discussed last night." Itachi's eyes were sunken and his steps heavy as he sidestepped Kisame who was trying to chew on the sandal thrown at him earlier with Deidara currently climbing up his back and attempting to snatch the footwear away.

The raven seemed to remember something because his young voice quietened down to a more appropriate volume, "that well behaved birds go on missions." This appeased Itachi, he turned to Kisame who was pushing Deidara by the chin away and keeping the sandal out of his reach. Itachi reached up, gripped the sleeping man by the chin and pulled their faces level. "It's time to wake up."

Kisame blinked for a second, he blinked again, seeming to snap into focus slowly, "ah, morning Itachi." Said man released him and continued on his trek to the kitchen, leaving Kisame to shrug Deidara off his back and sending him crashing to the floor. "Looks like everybody's up," he said, studying the sandal in his hand with a mild curiosity before throwing the foreign object over his shoulder. He stretched his arms above his head and sighed as he made his way to a wall of the dining area. "Anyone have any thoughts on the mission?" He asked, Itachi joined the table with a plate of toast in one hand and an apple and knife in the other. "You know that's classified." Itachi said, Kisame scoffed. "Who cares, our lives are on the line. Classified or not, I want to know."

The raven on Itachi's shoulder fluttered to the table and jumped in place in excitement. "Oh! Oh! Kisame! Is my mission with you?"

"Kangae," Itachi warned, and the raven calmed their jumps to a more tamed bobbing in place.

"Not this time Tiny," Kisame grinned, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"Yeah!" Tobi had reentered the room, he must have eaten in the kitchen as his mask was still on and he carried no food. "You get to go on a mission with me and our new medic!" He rounded the table to stand behind the medic and shook his outstretched hands as though presenting Sakura with a "ta-da~!" Said girl fought to keep her embarrassment of being the center of attention from spreading a blush across her cheeks. She had felt like an observer to the team dynamics around her earlier that she had been content to silently finish her breakfast and watch the interactions play out. To suddenly be put on the spot in a group with whom she knew so very little about, even to a little raven summons, she felt nervous.

"Hello, Kangae-san, I'm Sakura,” she smiled and the bird held no similar nerves because immediately he found his way from the table to her shoulder.

"Hello, hello! I haven't met anybody new in a long time," he was an average size for a raven, if a little on the smaller side but his intelligent eyes were sincere.

Itachi spoke up as he'd finished his toast and was cutting the apple into tiny pieces atop his plate. "You'll be assigned to watch over Sakura as she's crucial to the mission." Sakura almost wanted to speak up for herself, she may not remember much right now but she could feel that she was at the least a capable fighter. But one glance to the bird on her shoulder excitedly squawking "I'm a protector? Don't worry Itachi! I'll do a great job at keeping Sakura safe," that Sakura was endeared by this and smiled.

"I'll be relying on you then," Sakura was going to continue by asking about the mission details when Konan entered the room. She was without her cloak but her make up was immaculate and her comfortable clothes were a simple pair of tight pants and a long-sleeved sweater. Sakura glowed upon seeing her, "good morning, Konan-chan!"

She nodded, "good morning, Sakura. I trust you slept well? Your reports were very detailed, I was worried you were unable to rest."

Sakura shook her head, mindful of Kangae who was hopping down her arm to stop with a flutter at the plate of apple pieces for him. "I rested enough, truth be told that I'm just really ready for the mission."

Konan came to her side and gently brushed her fingers through the ends of Sakura's hair that curled over her shoulders. Thrilled that her closest friend had initiated the contact after the hesitance she showed the day before, Sakura held still and beamed. "Why don't I tie your hair up for you?"

Sakura positively glowed at the suggestion and agreed. She allowed Konan's fingers to comb her hair up, sans her fringe, and tie it into a bun atop her head. Kisame left to the kitchen, Tobi flitted around, Kakuzu excused himself to read on the lounge couch, Deidara chose to slouch on the couch with a sketchbook resting in his crossed legs and full attention on what he was sketching; and Sakura in that moment felt content.

It was over too soon and Konan patted her head to say she was done, Sakura thanked her and she took a seat beside her. "Since you're so eager, I'll give you a run down before it's time." Sakura swiveled to give the kunoichi her full attention.

"A retied wealthy man named Tomio Nakaya moved to the Village hidden in the Rain and on the journey, his granddaughter was taken hostage by bandits, he lacks the support of the village at the moment and he has been notified that his granddaughter will be killed in a week unless he pays them their demands. She currently has 5 days left before she's killed. He has sought us out as we're able to operate outside village limitations. He has offered payment in the form of money, though he also carries some influence to Petrichor Center so procuring equipment is on the table to be discussed after the mission is complete."

Sakura nodded along. "If we're working outside the village limitations, will we be avoiding Rain village?"

"Yes, due to this we will keep to the shadows and meet with the client in a small town on the outskirts of Rain village." Konan spoke.

"I see, when do we leave?"

"In about fifteen minutes. Zetsu is just finalising things with Pain before it's time to leave." She gestured to Kangae on the table. "Just for extra safety, you'll be accompanied by Kangae. Should something happen and you need to send word directly to me then just speak to him and he'll send the message."

"I'll remember then," Sakura put her finger to her lips in thought, "apart from the five day time limit we're working under, I've also got to think of Kisame-san and Itachi-san's conditions. Hopefully this mission is straightforward and Nakaya-san is able to procure what I need."

Konan nodded and tilted her head, a glint in shining in her eye, "I guess that all comes down to you."

Sakura strapped the belt with patches looped through it around the sash curving her figure. Konan had given it to her with a handful of kunai, shuriken and other necessities, they were low on scrolls and she was only given one empty storage scroll for any equipment she would be getting. She hesitated to bring up how she wouldn't be wearing the red clouded cloak the others wore, she understood she wasn't truly a part of their group. Yet. If she proved herself, this mission was successful, and she managed to pull Kisame and Itachi out of deaths grip. Then perhaps she would receive a cloak of her own and permanent position with the group. She calmed herself for a moment, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, and exited her room.

The whole group besides Hidan, Sasori, and Deidara were at the main entrance to the hideout.

Tobi looked to her before seeming to realise something as he jolted in place and alerted the group, "ah! I forgot something!" before zipping off. Sakura sidestepped, allowing him to pass her as she met up with Konan with a smile.

"Are you prepared?" Sakura nodded in response, unconsciously fiddling with the belt strap. "As ever," she said.

Pain looked her over for a second before Tobi was bounding back to the group.

"I found it! Just like I promised!" He held a conical bamboo hat with paper-like tassels flittering on it. Gently, as one would care for a baby, he placed it atop Sakura's head, and adjusting it until he was satisfied with a happy nod and "Mhm!"

Sakura adjusted the thread to dip under her chin and keep the hat atop her head undisturbed.

"I promised you a cute hat, I'm such a good senpai!" Even without being privy to his expressions, the masked man was positively beaming.

"You're not a senpai." Drawled a loud stern Deidara from the lounge room. Tobi, shocked at the objection, slumped where he stood. His shoulders hanging depressingly at his sides and head ready to fall from his shoulders.

Sakura furrowed her brow and smiled, she patted Tobi on the arm - he was much taller than her, even slumped. "Thank you, Tobi-san, it was very thoughtful of you."

Like a child would, he soaked up the praise, "Tobi is just Tobi! But you can call me Tobi-senpai if you wanna."

”Don’t you dare!” Deidara’s distant voice yelled.

"It's time to leave." Zetsu's voice cut in, Tobi groaned at the interruption. Sakura nodded and Itachi approached her with the raven Kangae on his outstretched hand. Sakura allowed the raven to find purchase on her shoulder to comfortably perch.

"Be sure to remind him when he is being a bother." Itachi said.

Kangae, likely to have just recently received a stern reminding in manners, spoke in a quiet tone. "I will do my best on this mission." Sakura would have been convinced of his restraint had she not felt the slightest excited bobbing of his body on her shoulder. Sakura met Itachi's eyes, "thank you," he accepted this and stepped back.

With Kangae on her shoulder, a bamboo hat that covered her face, two new teammates at her sides, and a mission to complete with her future handing on the outcome. Sakura steeled herself and bid the group a farewell before following the two out the door.

❀

The beginning of her team's journey was a little... odd. Sakura had startled, much to Tobi's delighted laughter, as Zetsu had all but sunk into the ground. "No need to worry, little medic," Tobi cheered, "Zetsu-chan is just scoping the path for us. While we go, they'll turn up if there's anybody in the way." Sakura nodded slowly, as if people with plant jaws protruding from their shoulders sinking into the ground to scope out the path they were going was just a normal everyday occurrence. Sakura may not remember much but even she thought that was peculiar at the very least and positively fascinating at worst.

It seemed that Tobi, and Kangae of course, would be Sakura's primary companions -which she didn't mind. Zetsu was as fascinating as they were unapproachable. Sakura hoped they could at least talk at some point but that didn't look like it would be happening soon.

On the other hand, Tobi felt much more approachable. His mannerisms and childish tendencies doing much to ease Sakura's nerves. Once Zetsu had vanished, the duo leapt into the trees and sped off. Zetsu had initially given them instructions to the direction they needed to head towards and they would be meeting them there. The plan was to meet the client Nakaya in a location near Rain village, the trip would take roughly the day to get there assuming they ran into no issues, which is why Zetsu took the lead.

While running through the trees, Tobi would occasionally voice his thoughts. "Oh that's a really big bird!" "Look! That tree looks like Kisame!" "I'm hungry... I wonder if it's lunchtime yet..." Sakura was beginning to feel like a broken record when she would respond that he should focus on the mission. It's not that she wanted to be a killjoy, she would love to take in the scenery. Maybe seeing something on this mission would help her remember something? But when her eyes drifted from the direction they were racing towards, she felt an icy guilt sit heavy in her gut. She had people who's lives were in her hands. The faster they got there, the closer she would be to saving their lives. Tobi being childish may be endearing but it was also a hinderance to Sakura's focus.

Not to mention Kangae had lasted all but 10 minutes of restraint before he too was seemingly fascinated by the environment. "It's only a forest, have you not seen many?" She asked. The raven flew near her head as she ran. "Nuh-uh! Kioku-sama's is the leader crow so he goes on all the big missions, this is my first one by myself."

"Stop!" Tobi suddenly yelled. Sakura landed heavily atop a tree branch, her eyes looking around for the reason they'd come to a stop. "What is it?" She voiced when she couldn't see anything wrong. Tobi stood atop a branch next to her, he was looking down at a low branch ahead, he raised a hand and pointed. Sakura squinted but evidently wasn't seeing what the other man was.

Tobi spoke in a hushed tone, "birds."

"Huh?" Sakura's brow furrowed and she followed as Tobi silently leapt onto the branch and crouched down low. Sakura followed his attention and saw what he was talking about. A small nest with three baby birds twittering helplessly seated inside.

It took all of Sakura's patience not to sigh, she settled for just rubbing her hand over her face. "Tobi, they're just some birds, we should keep-"

"Shh!" He interrupted, "they look ready to start flying. Don't you wanna see?" Sakura blinked, 'not really'. But instead of arguing, Sakura figured enough hours had passed that they could break for lunch. If Tobi was going to act like a child then Sakura might have to direct him like one. She crouched, even when squatting he as a very tall man so she didn't even have to lower herself far, and she spoke in a hushed tone. "Okay Tobi, why don't we have some lunch while we wait?"

He whipped around to face her, "oh yeah! Lunch time!" His tone startled the nest, he spun back in a panic and tried to hush the baby birds. Kangae fluttered down to land close by the nest, his eyes practically sparkling as he jumped from side to side. The baby birds followed his motions, perhaps thinking he was bringing them food.

Sakura sat a little further away from Tobi and the nest, she pulled out a couple of ration bars - bland and hard to chew but at least they were an adequate substitute for a meal. She held one out to Tobi, but the other man's shoulders scrunched up and he leaned away with an "eww..."

"Come on Tobi, you know we're low on supplies." She shook the bar a little.

Tobi moaned in displeasure, "can't we find a food stand or something? Ration bars are so rough and gross."

"Of course it's gross, it's good for you." This evidently didn't win the man over and Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Okay, how about if we eat ration bars for lunch, I promise I'll find us food from a food stand for dinner?" This seemed to appease the man as he came to his decision, "deal!" and took the bar. As Sakura bit into the bar and tore her head to the side to rip a bite off the stiff substance, she chewed with a mild curiosity. Would Tobi take his mask off to eat? Logically it made total sense but no one was masked for no reason. She peeked at the man only to see his back as he tore into the bar. Obviously, the man valued his privacy.

Sakura blinked and furrowed her brow at the sudden ache behind her eyes. A painful throb, the beginnings of a headache, she swallowed her bite and pressed her fingers to her closed eyes - hoping the pressure would alleviate the throbbing pain. A sloshing noise sounded close to her ear and she cracked an eye open to see Tobi was holding out a water bottle and dangling it to get her attention.

"Do you get headaches a lot?" He tilted his head, swiveling his body to give her his full attention. Sakura took a swig of the water and rubbed her lips after.

"Well... I don't know how much Konan-chan told you but I don't actually remember a lot. Of my life I mean. I don't know if headaches were that common for me before but since what happened I've been getting them at random moments." Tobi crossed his arms and tilted his body to the side as if studying her.

"Hmm... That sounds bad. But don't worry," Tobi puffed up and patted his knee. "I'm your senpai now and I'll make sure you're okay, when you start to have a headache just say the word and I'll make it better." Sakura giggled, successfully endeared.

"You're very set on being a senpai aren't you?"

"It's because until you came here, Tobi was the newbie!" He sounded like he was smiling, as though his words curved at the ends like a mouth would. "Tobi's so happy now because he's not the baby anymore!" His smile must be infectious, Sakura rested her chin atop her propped up knees - mindful of the hat on her head and papers streaming the sides of her vision - and a smile grew. "Thank you Tobi, it's nice to know you'll be looking out for me, I'd hate to be a burden."

"That's okay! Deidara-senpai says Tobi is the biggest burden so unless you do something really big and stupid to catch up then I think you'll be just fine." Sakura snorted and giggled in response. From this angle she could see slightly past him and she saw the birds nest. Kangae was hopping back and forth with two following him with their head like a game, but the third one was struggling to get up the edge of the nest.

"Uh, Tobi?" Sakura straightened up.

"Mm?" the man looked behind himself, "oh one's up! I wonder if he'll fly or fall to his death."

Sakura shifted to a kneeling position as the bird all but flung himself off the branch, it clearly wasn't ready for flight and the second it leapt, Sakura swung under the branch, chakra focused to her feet, and caught the bird as she stood upside down on the branch. "Ooh, nice reflexes." Tobi peaked to her over the edge and held a thumbs up - he looked from her standing upside down and adjusted to a thumbs down so she would see it as a thumbs up. Sakura sighed and held the baby bird close. "There, there, now. Someone was a little eager." She stepped around the branch until she was right side up. Kangae jumped back onto her shoulder. "We were playing but I don't think they're ready to fly yet."

Sakura carefully deposited the baby bird back to his siblings, she looked at Kangae curiously, "can you understand them?"

The raven rubbed his beak with a wing, "yep! But they're still babies so all they really say is 'mommy' and 'food' , it's not like I can talk with them."

Sakura felt bad that she didn't have any food the baby birds could eat on her. "So can you understand other animals or is it just birds?"

"Just birds, other animals are stupid." The sheer childishness of the answer pulled a snort from Sakura. Kangae sounded like a child not understanding why another child didn't like his toy, it mustn't be because of their individual tastes or background, clearly they were just stupid. "Of course, I'm sorry I asked." Kangae puffed his feathers in sheer pride.

Tobi was being unnaturally quiet as he squatted, his chin cupped on his palm as his elbow rested on his knee. Sakura softened a look at the baby birds twittering in front of her from the comfort of their stick and feather built bed.

A slight rustle on the trunk of the tree behind her, just above her head level. She spared a glance above her head and Zetsu's face was a breath away.

"-Ack!" Sakura was startled and lost her footing. Luckily, she only landed on her butt on the branch she was crouching on. Unluckily, she landed on her butt on the branch she was crouching on in front of her teammates. "Bwahaha!" Tobi erupted, clutching his stomach with the force of his laughter. Kangae had also startled, ending up sprawled in the nest and becoming the victim of the baby bird's immediate attention. Sakura winced as she looked up to meet the eyes of Zetsu.

"A little warning would have been nice," she straightened herself. Zetsu's eyes were blank. The yellow should have held warmth, a comforting light, a vibrant shine, but Zetsu's eyes were as cold as ice.

They spoke, "The path is clear, running now will have us there by nightfall."

"Yay!" Tobi stood with arms stretched to the sun. He stopped and put a finger to his chin, "but I wonder if the birdy's will make it?"

"Let nature take its course." Zetsu responded before they sank into the tree and out of sight, presumably to continue their path to the destination. Sakura pulled herself to her feet, she bent and stretched a hand for Kangae to escape the curious pecking of the babies and climb up to her shoulder. "Shall we?" She asked, Tobi responded with a flourish and a deep bow. "After you!"

Lunch eaten and energy recharged, they continued their run. Kangae kept pace and Sakura resolved to find him some fruit or snacks when she could. The wind whipping her fringe and paper tassels around her face was brisk with chill, it was definitely the beginnings of winter. A chill as the sun achieved its peak and began to fall, cold enough to leave her skin feeling cold to the touch but not freezing enough to warrant wearing warmer clothes just yet. Eventually the trees began to thin, the forest was reaching it's end and after some time the two shinobi were on the ground.

They slowed their pace and basked in the sun's lowered glow through the grey clouds as they came to a village. Or the husk of one. The buildings were weather worn and most dilapidated. The wood splintered and frayed the further out the homes were. As Sakura walked side by side with her teammate she could see clearer that off past this field of wooden homes was the village hidden in the Rain. It was sectioned and separated from this smaller village, one long pathway to connect them but it was clear the separation was a deliberate choice as Rain village looked much better off.

From this distance, Sakura could only really see tall buildings peaking through the breaks in the distant trees that did little to hide the village, clouds blanketed the sky and the taste in the air told Sakura that a sprinkle of rain wasn't far off.

It mattered not because all she needed to know about Rain village was that they would be avoiding it. As shinobi who were permitted to operate around village laws, they had to avoid as much attention as they could. This village however was small and rural, much easier to stay unknown and to meet a client who likewise wanted to avoid any larger village's attention.

"Oh! Over there! I found Zetsu-chan!" Tobi spoke up and pointed to Zetsu who emerged from the ground near a house. "Thanks for waiting," Sakura offered but Zetsu merely brushed her off. "The client is waiting inside, I will remain out here to keep an eye out for eavesdroppers." Sakura nodded and Tobi saluted, Kangae was cleaning his feathers presumably to make himself look nice for his first impression of his first client. Sakura gently rubbed her thumb atop the crown of the ravens head to help brush down the feathers there as Tobi knocked on the door with a happy "housekeeping~"

There was a muffled sound of confusion and Sakura knocked her fist against his chest as a reprimand, Tobi giggled and scratched the back of his head as Sakura spoke for them. "I'm sorry about him. Nakaya-san? We're the team assigned to your request."

A man spoke, "oh, please come in." Sakura slid the wooden slider door open.

Seated at a low table with chairs that creaked with the slightest movement was an old man. The man was sunken, his cheeks hollow, his frame slouched, his grey hair shortly cut and his eyes a heavy copper weight when he met hers. He was hunched over but upon the teams entry he pulled himself up to a polite stand. His knees wobbled with the effort and his huff of breath with the motion was that of a sick man holding himself together with a trembling grip. The only thing 'well' about this man was his attire, a black suit trimmed to his perfect measurements, a golden lining etched and patterned the vest, a violet flower blooming in such a vibrant hue that even dying the moment it was cut, it felt healthier than the paper man in was attached to. The only thing that could hide his rich attire was the brown outer cloak of a yukata thrown over the arm of his chair.

As the only medic in the room, Sakura was giving the man her full attention, mentally looking him over for the cause of his condition.

"Thank you for coming, please, sit." His tone held a nervous titter as he gestured to the chairs across from his own.

Sakura offered an apologetic smile along with a polite bow. "Thank you. I hope you weren't waiting too long, we came as fast as we could."

"Yeah you look pretty close to death." Tobi remarked as they took their seats.

"Tobi!" Sakura reprimanded with a pointed look before turning back to their client. "I'm so sorry about my teammate, please don't mind him."

"Oh no need," Nakaya waved his hands with a furrowed brow, "truth be told I have seen better days. I only wish I had some tea on hand to offer you."

"Well I'm a medic if that helps? I'd be happy to take a look at your condition." She was dismissed with a shake of the head, though soft gratitude could be seen in the warmness of the man's eyes.

"As kind of you as that would be, I'm to be officially registered to temporary residence in Petrichor Centre soon and would rather we discuss the mission I'm asking of you." He pulled himself up straighter in his chair.

Sakura nodded in understanding, "yes, of course. We've been given an overview already but if you would tell us yourself of the details then we can begin at once."

"Very well." He took a deep breath, Sakura picked up a slight wet rattle upon the inhale, a sign of a chesty cough he was trying to repress so he could speak unhindered. "My granddaughter Kiaria and I were residents of the Village hidden in the Stone you see. A peak family that owned a mining business that earned us enough profit to be where we are now, unfortunately I lost my son and Kiaria's mother in a tragic incident when she was very young and now she's the only family I have left. About a year ago I sold my business to a competitor as Kiaria was uninterested in taking over the company and the market was becoming harder to compete in. Luckily we own enough money for me to retire comfortably on and for her to pursue whatever future she wants. But for a few years now I've been slowly getting sicker. I wasn't sure what was wrong but I tried to live with it, thinking whatever it was would pass. But recently it had only worsened and it was Kiaria who convinced me that it was best for us to seek help in Petrichor Centre as Stone's hospital was ill equipped to handle my condition. We saw the best solution was to completely upheave and move to a permanent residence in Rain."

Sakura crossed her hands neatly over her lap as she listened with complete and total attention.

"As you can imagine, it was quite dangerous for a peak family to completely uproot themselves to a new home. I hired Stone shinobi to escort us part of the way there, as far as their jurisdiction went, since due to the move that meant we were no longer Stone citizens. We stayed in a small place called the Town under the Overpass. We had planned to wait there for a few days as though the majority of our possessions were being delivered through a trusted delivery business, we carried on ourselves a few things we needed on our person at all times. However when we arrived, my condition worsened, I was so ill that I was losing consciousness. Kiaria decided to take responsibility and instruct the people we hired to transport us. The group we hired needed the days we were planning to wait in order to organise a large enough group to guarantee our possessions and our safe travel. She instructed the group to take me straight to Rain for my own health and she reasoned that the rest of the hired group would arrive only a couple days later to bring her and our possessions another day. It was a terrible decision to make but with a heavy heart I... left her behind."

He took in a shuddered breath and held his head in a hand. "I can't believe I left her. She's just a little girl. She's only twelve. My little girl... and I left her." Sakura's heart ached for the despair that weighed the sick man down.

He coughed wetly into an embroidered handkerchief and struggled to get his breathing under control as he was close to tears. Sakura leaned forward and offered in a soothing tone, "please, take all the time you need."

He shook his head into the handkerchief, hating that he knew every second he wasted in his own despair, it was more time his granddaughter was in danger. He took a few breaths before pulling away from the handkerchief and continuing.

"It was two days later that I received this." He pulled out a letter from his breast pocket. Sakura unfolded the paper and read.

We have your granddaughter and if you value her life you will follow our instructions.

You will not notify any shinobi.

You will go on with your days as you normally would.

You will send a civilian to us with 50,000,000 ryo in exchange for your granddaughter's safe return.

If you deviate and go against any of these rules we will be forced to kill our hostage.

You have 7 days to send the ransom to the Village under the Overpass where your civilian will wear the necklace we have provided.

Be a smart man and do as we say.

Attached at the bottom of the letter was a thin chain necklace with a large amber stone, and resting beside the necklace wrapped in a white ribbon was a crudely cut lock of curled copper hair. Sakura read over the letter again, Tobi leaned over her, his head resting atop her shoulder, so he too could read the ransom note. Kangae was doing a great job of staying quiet and he remained on Sakura's other shoulder.

"Alright Nakaya-san, there's a few things we can glean from this." He held his handkerchief in a tight grip, he nodded, his desperate eyes meeting Sakura's.

"Yes, please, I've not had many interactions with shinobi so any and all insight is more than appreciated."

"Well first off, these bandits have certainly done this before since they have a whole process." She picked up the long-chained necklace, "this is how they would identify their targets and lets us know they or their leader hail from Stone where amber is common in jewellery."

Nakaya nodded solemnly, "I suspected as much but I couldn't be sure."

"What I'm paying attention to however is the rules they've given you with no way of knowing if you were following them," Nakaya stiffened, frightened by the implication and Sakura looked to her teammate at her side. "Tobi, could you please ask Zetsu-san to scout the area. I suspect our client is being kept under watch."

"Roger!" Tobi saluted and dipped from the seat to the door where he stuck his head out to speak with Zetsu.

"You don't - you don't think someone is watching me do you? I couldn't get an audience with Rain's representative since my citizenship papers haven't been finalised yet so no government would hear me out in time."

"I strongly suspect you're being kept under watch, though my estimation is only one person is trailing you. The fact that they wanted a civilian to head the transaction lets us know that the bandits are not especially large in numbers. Civilians are less aware of shinobi's capabilities thanks to how secretive villages are, peak families like yourself however have more likely seen shinobi skills or have been protected by them before. They're relying on civilians' ignorance and fear of what these bandits are capable of to keep them in line. They're most likely planning on ambushing the civilian once the ransom has been given and killing them to tie off a loose end. Did you seek an audience with the Rain government in person or through a letter?"

"Letter. I - I was worried they would know I tried to get help if I went in person so I kept any communication through letters."

Sakura nodded. "That was a smart move."

"Zetsu-chan says they've already found a rat!" Tobi spun from the door and Sakura stood up.

She turned to Nakaya who had also stood up and she held up a hand, "please stay in here." He was hesitant but his uncertainty was swallowed with a nod and he seated himself back down. Kangae who had been comfortably perched on the girls shoulder leapt to the table between the chairs, flaring his wings out and said "don't worry! I'll protect the rich guy." His tone was filled with the kind of bravado that Sakura felt a child would have when saying they could use a knife by themselves in the kitchen. So she exited the room but left the door open.

Tobi nudged her with his elbow and said quietly, "why don't we both interrogate the rat? I wanna be the bad cop." He clicked his fingers and it was clear in his tone he was smiling. Sakura wondered if the childish man was capable of being a 'bad cop' but she was new to the team so she decided to go along with it. "Ok Tobi, let's give it a go then."

She stood in the doorway so that she could keep their client in their sights as Zetsu held a man bound by what looked like thin wooden roots wrapped around his body and keeping him from struggling. Zetsu threw the man to the ground in front of them. His hair was a mess, freshly bleeding scratches on his arms shows he tried to fight back but was quickly dealt with, and his frantic eyes looked up at his captors. The most noticeable feature adorning the man was an old scar, a healing pink cut, it stretched across his face like a fine brush stroke starting from the corner of his eye and stretched across his lips to stop a the dip of his chin.

The white papers fluttering on Sakura's hat kept most of her head from view but upon meeting her eyes, he must have deduced his case would be best pleaded to her if he wanted any mercy.

"Please!" His voice cracked, "I don't know what's happening! I was just looking for a place to eat and this - this plant guy grabbed me!"

Tobi put his finger to his chin and tilted his head with a thoughtful "hmm..." He squatted down to the mans eye level and leaned into his limited personal space, "but if you were just looking for a bite to eat, how come you were found on a roof?"

The man was momentarily frazzled, sputtering to uselessly grapple for an arrangement of words he could force into an acceptable excuse.

"I - I - I was, it was getting dark! And - and I - I thought," despite his best efforts, he could only offer a pathetic dribble of words as his response and Sakura decided that she could at least put him out of this misery.

"There's no point arguing, my teammate caught you spying on our client. Tell us, have you notified your partners of his actions?" She asked, trying to keep her voice level so she would be taken seriously.

Seeing she wouldn't grant him the verbal shovel to keep digging himself deeper, he saw his only salvation was to reach for the hand she'd extended. Her open tone led him to believe if he only cooperated then he would be let go in the best case scenario or just left behind to be released later at worst. But he looked from her eyes to the ground, a stubbornness biting at his lip and refusing to allow his mouth to open to save himself.

At this resistance, the roots gripping his body visibly tightened and he cried out a pained "-agh!"

"You should answer our questions," Zetsu said, deathly calm, "for your own sake."

He struggled uselessly for a second before looking back up at Sakura, "I... I haven't," Immediately he was constricted again by the roots, so tightly now that not even his voice had room to escape his throat. The grip loosened for a second long enough for the man to plead, "I swear! I've been watching him since we sent the ransom and I figured he was coming here for a civilian to complete the drop off!"

His reward was the roots loosening enough for him to slouch forward and allow his chest to swell with air again, his breaths deep before he continued, "I didn't get the chance to run back to tell anyone before... You captured me." He pulled his heavy head from where it hung and once again looked into Sakura's eyes, pleading for her mercy.

Tobi, still squatting and seemingly not bothered that their captive had looked past him to only focus on their young medic, looked up to her as well. "What do ya think? Think he's telling the truth."

Sakura examined the man over, "I believe he is, he seems to have a good grasp on the situation."

"Yeah!" Tobi said and hoisted himself to his feet, "besides if he isn't then we can just squeeze him 'til he goes Pop!" He imitated the action with a popping of his lips and exploding motion with his hands. Their captive startled at the nonchalant way Tobi was describing his potential death and his eyes shook in fear.

"So now you're telling us the truth, where's your base?" Tobi tilted his head in question.

"I - I don't know." Feeling the phantom tightening of the roots before the silent threat could choke him again he was quick to add, "I swear! I'm a new recruit, a bunch of us only joined the group about a week ago when these other bandits asked if we wanted to help for a share of a big score! I haven't even seen the base!"

Tobi deflated slightly at this answer and the captive felt his blood run cold, his honest answer seemed not what they had wanted to hear as Tobi crossed his arms. "Ah, if you're that low on the food chain then you can't really tell us anything important then can you?" He sighed. "We should just get rid of him then." Sakura furrowed her brow, she didn't want to needlessly kill the man, bandit or not, he seemed genuinely afraid. Perhaps Tobi was just bluffing and threatening the man to gain more information out of him.

Terrified that they would follow through on the threat to make him pop, he hurried to speak up and defend his continued existence. "Wait - Wait! I - I can tell you more! Ah - um, ah! They wanted a civilian to do the drop off so they could kill them and tie up a loose end!" He stammered, any hope slipping from his desperate grasp as Tobi waved a hand like swatting away his offering.

"Boo, we already know that." Tobi spun around and began stepping back into the open house holding their waiting client and threw over his shoulder in a casual tone, "ah well, better kill him."

Sakura remained silent for a second longer, but the open and primal fear screaming in their captives eyes had her taking a step closer to him and speaking up. His mouth hung open and twitched at the edges, as if ready to form the words that could save his life, if only he knew what they were. "You said that you were hired by another group of bandits, what can you tell us about them?" Once again, she was offering him a lifeline and this time he latched onto it with both hands.

"It was a small group! About six guys but two men were in charge, I never actually met the main guy that was holding the hostage - But I met the right hand! He's the one that hired us and knows where the base is! The base has the leader, his other four guys and the hostage. He's a guy named Kenji, got a brunette kinda buzzcut and brown eyes and he's got a black sash around his head." He looked desperately from one of Sakura's eyes to her other, reading for any sign that he would be allowed to live.

Tobi peaked his head out the doorway and Sakura looked back at him. "That's good information." She offered with a small smile before switching her focus back to their bound captive.

"The exchange point's location is in the Village under the Overpass," Sakura held up the amber necklace. "This is a way of identifying the civilian is it not?"

Seeing the door to his survival opening a little more with each question she offered, the man was quick to nod and add on any possible information that came to mind. "Yeah! Kenji said someone would be waiting at the entrance to the town. When they saw the target, they would lead them to a secluded spot to complete the drop off."

Sakura tilted her head, "you keep saying 'drop off' instead of 'trade' or 'exchange'." She pointed out. The implication being that they never intended to trade the money for the hostage, rather they were planning to just kill both the civilian and the hostage and take the money. She pocketed the necklace.

Tobi leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms, "oh~" he sing-songed. "You think they weren't even gonna give the hostage back, maybe they're planning to ambush us when we get there!"

"Well considering the group hired a bunch of newer people for the score, it's likely they're hoping Nakaya-san complies with only sending a civilian but are preparing for a fight if he doesn't." The bandit's face paled and he hurried to plead his case.

"I don't know about that! I was only meant to keep an eye on the target! Nobody told me about any ambush, I swear!" He was cut off from further grovelling by Zetsu tightening his restraints, seemingly annoyed by how loud he was becoming.

"Think there's anything else in him?" Tobi quirked his head. "Or if we made him pop he'd be empty?"

"That seems like everything important he knows. We'll just have to split up so one of us follows through with the instructions while the others take out any ambush, then we catch this Kenji guy and force him to take us to Kiaria-san."

"Okie dokie!" Tobi saluted, evidently finished with being 'bad cop' now that they had all the information they needed to work with. However his cheery tone made Sakura freeze, "Go ahead and kill him!"

The roots became incredibly tight and the man's eyes became so wide that the whites of them were all Sakura could see. "Wait!" She hurried, "he complied, we don't need to kill him." She pleaded, first with Tobi and then with Zetsu who remained emotionless as they responded.

"Leaving him alive would be foolish, he would only return to his comrades and warn them of us. It would be best to be rid of waste before it festers." The roots tightened and the man's voice was a horrible wheezing sound that lacked any air, making near no sound was more unsettling than any scream he could hope to offer.

"I understand that but there must be something else we can do!" She turned to Tobi, hoping at least she could appeal to his humanity. Sakura understood that being a shinobi meant that death would be a close friend, comrade, and enemy. But to kill someone who posed no threat and had done everything they asked, one who looked deep into her eyes with the desperation only a man clinging to life held, she felt her soul ache at the thought of his needless death. She was a medic first and a shinobi second, she would always save a life before choosing to end one.

"Mah…" Tobi sighed, shaking his head and gently cupped her shoulders in his wide palms. "Tobi understands. But what else can we do?"

Sakura struggled, biting her lower lip as her mind hummed with possible solutions. The man's head flung back in a silent scream as the sound of a crack told Sakura that one of his arms had broken in the death grip the roots held him in. In that instant she blurted out, "Rain!"

Tobi tilted his head in question before looking up at the dark clouds above, the sky had darkened significantly and soon the nearby street lights and the lanterns hanging near homes and shops would be all the light they had. "Not yet I don't think but it probably will later." He said quizzically.

Sakura shook her head, "no, the Village hidden in the Rain!" She sounded out to emphasise her point.

Tobi hmphed and put his hands on his hips, like he was scolding a child he said, "you know we're supposed to avoid Rain village."

"I know! But if we were to drop him off, bound, and just on the outskirts of Rain village then they would take that as under their jurisdiction. They would see a bandit clear as day and take him into custody, by the time he would be let free our mission would be long finished. Zetsu-san is incredibly fast and can blend in so if they drop him off they can do so without being seen." She explained, staring into the hole where Tobi's single eye was, hoping he would take her plan to heart. He mulled over her words for a moment, scratching his head, kicking the dirt, tilting his head this way and that, all in deep contemplation.

"What do you think, Zetsu-chan?" He voiced and their only response was a low tone that sounded more like a growl or groan than words. Though it clearly meant they disagreed on the charge that killing was a much more efficient way of dealing with the problem.

Tobi grabbed Sakura around the shoulder and pulled her close to his side, "well I agree, let's leave him in Rain!" Tobi cheered and Sakura felt an incredible weight lift from her shoulders.

"Thank you," she sighed and Tobi giggled. The roots reluctantly loosened their grip and the man collapsed into the dirt, mud splattering as he landed. The roots broke from the ground and wrapped around him like rope. Feeling a little bad, Sakura brought up her hand and focused her healing chakra to it, she crouched to the man's side and touched his arm that was indeed broken upon inspection. Knowing she didn't have much time as she was probably already pushing against the limits of Zetsu's patience, she numbed the broken arm and allowed the bone to realign. Rain was a staple in the medical field so they wouldn't let even their captives be held with broken bones. The least she could do was numb the area until the Rain medics could heal him. The bandit groaned in response, the depth of his eyes slowly focusing on the medic tending to him, a silent thank you held in the warm browns that Sakura knew was there.

She rose to her feet and thanked Zetsu. "I will take them now. Leave soon around the western border of Rain. I will reconvene when able." They said before gripping the now unconscious man by the roots at his back and turning to leave. Sakura sighed, deeply grateful and she and Tobi turned to re-enter the creaking house.

Nakaya's head shot up, Kangae snapped his attention to them with his feathers still fanned out before registering they were not enemies and he righted himself. Nakaya patted his sweating neck with his handkerchief and nervously asked, "is everything alright? Am I safe now?"

"You are, we've taken care of the spy and gleaned more useful information." Sakura offered to ease his nerves. His sigh was one of clear relief. "We'll be ready to depart soon since we have four days until the deadline is up and it will take us about half a day to make it to Overpass." She was happy to report as Kangae climbed back up her offered hand and onto her shoulder.

"That's wonderful news then," Nakaya said.

Sakura brought up a finger and worried her bottom lip, "my only concern, Nayaka-san, is your safety. Perhaps one of us should stay behind for your protection while the others complete the rescue?" That being said, who would stay? Sakura could as she wasn't essential to the mission outside of being the medic for her teammates and presenting Nakaya a list of medical items they wanted as payment. But as the new member, Sakura doubted Tobi or Zetsu liked the idea of her being left alone, would one of them stay instead?

"Oh," Nakaya smiled and waved a thin hand with a frail wrist. "There is no need to worry about that. You see, before Kia-chan and I left, the CEO of the company I sold my business to offered to give me hired help as a show of good faith. Sadly I was too naïve to think we didn't need any service help at the time. But this situation... I fear it could have been avoided had I accepted the assistance. So I sent word back to her and she has promptly dispatched the hired help she once offered. By the letter's word they will be arriving here tonight to care for me."

Sakura lowered her hand and likewise dropped that concern, "that’s wonderful. In that case my teammates and I will find some dinner here before we head off for Overpass."

Tobi butted in, "probably best we go by ourselves and you stay here, don't wanna be seen in public with some weird shinobi do you?" He laughed to himself, clearly implying that the over 6ft tall man with a swirled orange mask on his face was indeed the 'weird shinobi' he was talking about.

Nakaya nodded, "yes, I truly mean no offence but I would very much like our business to remain out of the public eye."

"Of course Nakaya-san, your secrecy is important to us. We'll leave you now and I recommend you stay here until your help arrives." Sakura stood and bowed respectfully.

"Thank you so much, words cannot begin to show how grateful I am for your help." Nakaya stood with shaky knees and bowed as much as they allowed him to.

"Good thing we don't need words, your money will be all the proof we need!" Tobi laughed before he was cut off by Sakura elbowing his side and apologising on his behalf.

They left, sliding the rickety wooden door shut behind them and stepped out onto the street. In that short time between interrogating the bandit and that final conversation with Nakaya, the sun had reached its resting place, a chilled fog had begun seeping into the air around their legs like water colour spreading across a canvas, and there was a slight wet taste to the air. Sakura held out a hand and tiny droplets of rain decorated her open palm in their cool touch.

Kangae, fluffing up his feathers free from the fresh droplets, shuffled his body through the papers of Sakura's hat until he stood safe and dry by her neck. "Can we get something for dinner? I'm hungry."

"We will, I'm curious about what food this town has." Sakura said, bringing up a finger to help him brush his feathers back into place.

"Well this place is called Mud Town, they probably don't have much good stuff." Tobi mumbled, clearly disappointed.

"You never know," Sakura offered, "every town has to have some kind of markets, I promised you some real food for dinner so let's have a look around."

"Okay- oh! " Tobi jumped in place, he reached a hand into his other sleeve and pulled out a hat that matched Sakura's. He put it on his head proudly and spun to face her. "Now we both have cute hats! We match!" Sakura couldn't even laugh at his simple excitement because she was too taken aback that the hat that circles his head with fluttering papers had somehow fit up his sleeve.

"Tobi, where were you hiding that?" She asked befuddled.

"In Tobi's sleeve, silly!" His body lit up like a firework and he pointed out, "look! Food shops!" and he sprang ahead like a bundle of suspended energy finally let loose. Sakura shook her head with a fond smile before she hastened her steps to catch up to her teammate.

They had come to a calmer stroll down a dimly lit street lined with restaurants and food stalls. If they could be called that, it looks like there were at most three restaurants, if having decent shelter from the rain was all that separated an eatery from a stall. Each stall was manned by at most two people but the majority with only one, and each only had protection in the form of a simple umbrella large enough to keep their equipment safe from the elements. The way Sakura could visually see each individual stall and eatery was the single lanterns hanging under the umbrellas providing a bubble of warm red glow to search for in the light spattering of rain. The ground below was quickly turning into mud under their feet, the smell of rain attempting to dampen the aroma of food but the sheer number of eateries providing too much to be completely drowned out. Behind the stalls stood houses made of incredibly cheap and broken materials, the windows sealed shut and doors locked tight. Most likely the homes that belonged to the people out on the street, their cooking equipment where they had put their money instead of the poor living conditions behind them. When one relied solely on one's job and in such a clearly poor town, they considered their patchwork and hole ridden homes a luxury.

The entire street was both damp and aglow, muddy floored and umbrella protected, shoddy woodwork based buildings and equipment being tended to by hardworking individuals who looked invigorated in their efforts by anyone who passed by. It was by no means a street packed with people, but the earnestness of the character seeping into the bones of the structures and people who manned them was what charmed Sakura and told her that they would find a good meal here.

Tobi practically bounced from stall to stall and Sakura hurried to keep up with him. He came to a screeching halt at a food stall manned by one single man. The umbrella was large and a loud red colour illuminated against the rain by the glow of an equally red lantern, it was large enough to cover the two cooking stations the man stood between and a small counter top in front with two seats available.

Upon becoming the centre of their attention, the man lit up, "welcome! We sell amazing donburi here! I have Gyudon, Oyakudon, and Tendon as the specials of the day! But I'm sure if there's anything you've got a hankering for then I'll see what I can do!"

Sakura smiled at the thought of a warm donburi for dinner and it was clear Tobi was also sold on the thought. "Oh~" Tobi sang, "do you have katsudon?"

"Yes I do!"

"Do you have tamagodon?"

"I do!"

Tobi listing off all the different donburi that came to his mind had the subsequent effect of piquing Kangae's interest. Said raven shuffled between the papers on Sakura's had to stick his head out and get a look for himself. "Do they have corn!?” He asked, his little legs bobbing in excitement, "can I have some corn!?" Sakura settled him down with a finger brushing away a stubborn paper-slip from his face and said. "I can certainly ask."

"Do you have-"

"Tobi," Sakura interrupted, "I think this gentleman has a lot of donburi you like, which one do you want?"

He stuck a finger to his chin and churned over his options for a moment before settling and hitting his open palm with a fist and an "ah! Tobi would like the gyudon!" 'the very first option then, after wasting the man's time with all those questions,' Sakura mentally sighed.

She stepped up with an apologetic smile, "I'd like the tendon please, and would I be able to have a side of corn?"

"Absolutely! That'll be just 1010 ryo," he smiled. Sakura paused for a moment, realising in her hunger and excitement that she had absolutely no money to her name. Her panic was brief however as Tobi spotted her expression and seemed to come to the opposite realisation that she had.

"No need to worry! As a good Senpai, Tobi will cover dinner!" He dug into his sleeve and like before, Sakura didn't know how, but he pulled out a coin purse and counted aloud and deposited the appropriate amount of money in to the mans awaiting hand. He took the ryo with a hearty smile and "Thank you! Have a seat and your food will be ready within the moment."

Sakura nodded and took a seat on the tall wooden stool that wobbled under her weight in the mud.

"Thank you, Tobi." She said and her teammate giggled in response.

Kangae peaked out from her hat again to look at the man working quickly on the tempura for Sakura's meal. "Is the food ready yet?"

"Not yet," Sakura shushed him, "we just sat down."

The man looked up briefly to see the bird, "oh wow! You don't see that everyday." 

"A summons?" Sakura asked.

"Is that what they're called? You must be shinobi then." He spoke neutrally, returning his attention to his cooking but seemingly at ease to juggle a conversation on top of his task. "Are you a part of the Rain villages relief effort then?"

"Relief effort? Ah, no, we're just travelling through." She answered with a slight shake of her head.

"Shame you're stopping here then, not much in Mud Town as you can see. But good for my business I suppose haha!" He ended with a laugh and Sakura smiled politely.

"What's the Rain relief effort about?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, her interest thoroughly piqued.

"Well it was the first rain only a few days ago, - ah you're not locals so you probably don't know." He said as he scooped out some rice into two awaiting bowls. "In Rain, the first day of the season or the 'first rain' is always the worst of the year. Winter started only a couple days ago and the first rain in the main village got so heavy that it ended up spreading out and causing a mudslide in a small town not too far away. We were lucky it didn't spill over us or we would've ended up like them. It's sad really, it was only a small poor town not much unlike ours but they say hardly anybody survived." He said and wiped the back of his hand on the red scarf wrapped around his forehead.

"That's terrible," Sakura said as she leaned on the countertop, but the sudden wobble of the unstable wood had her immediately jumping off and putting her weight back solely on her chair. 

"It is, but since Rain village is the main village for us, they're dispatched some shinobi in a rescue and cleanup effort. Here's to hoping they can do something," he held forward two steaming donburi and sobered up with a smile and "order up! hope you enjoy!"

The tendon smelled delicious, Tobi bounced in his seat next to her, wobbling a little as they took the offered chopsticks. "Thank you, it smells amazing." Sakura beamed and the man reached over to place a small sauce serving dish full of sweet corn next to her meal.

"And order up for the little fella," Kangae practically leapt from Sakura's shoulder at the sight of the corn and hardly threw out his own thanks before stuffing his beak full of the vegetable.

The tempura crunched deliciously in Sakura's bite, the outer shell's crispiness hiding the batters juicy taste. She chewed and the fish was freshly hot, she breathed out small puffs of hot air to help her eat. She could just wait for the meal to cool down but good food and hunger were keeping her from that sensible decision. She hummed as she shallowed and the man practically beamed at her reaction.

Upon stuffing her mouth with some of the rice, Sakura peaked her eyes to the side. Logically Tobi must take his mask off to eat his dinner and with his food being as fresh and piping hot as hers, he couldn't just wolf it down like the ration bars they'd had for lunch. Once again she found herself face to face with her curiosity. She knew the man would probably be angled away to eat his dinner in privacy like before. She knew she should respect that and just go about her own meal.

But there was a small part of her mind just felt like she had to know. With her mouth full of rice, she cracked her eye open ever so slightly, looking to the side...

"Ah, that was delicious!" Tobi patted his stomach and resting atop the table was his empty bowl.

Sakura practically choked on her rice. Her throat attempting to cough up her food, her alarm at his speed and slight disappointment at not seeing what his face looked like, all made her blush in both pain and embarrassment.

"Ah!" Tobi took notice of her struggle, "are you okay? Don't die on Tobi! What will he tell the team!?"

Sakura shook her head and pounded a fist atop her chest to force the rice down. Once under control, Sakura was about to tell Tobi that she was alright but a splitting sting of pain stabbed through her brain. She gripped onto her forehead, tensing her fingers in the hopes it would ease the sting.

Either she was still feeling the pain from her concussion or something at this dinner was triggering her headache to flare up.

The sting felt like it was holding two kunai against the sides of her head and slowly pressing them harder and harder. The pain was so present that it would be a shock to pull her hand away and find no blood.

However she knew her concussion had subsided, she'd given herself a good lookover with her own medical chakra and found she was fine. But what could have caused this pain? Had she experienced something familiar without knowing it?

Tobi placed a hand on her shoulder and shook gently, trying to get her attention.

'What could've even triggered this headache? The donburi? Was donburi a significant meal to me? No... I don't think so. But... All I was doing was eating with Tobi, what's significant about that? We were talking about what happened in that poor village but that's about it-!'

"Oi!" Tobi managed to snap Sakura out of it and held up a cup of water the food stall man had given him with a concerned look on his face. "Drink, drink," Tobi said, his concerned tone pushing the cup closer into her hand.

The cook nodded and resumed his work cleaning Tobi's bowl, "yeah, don't need you choking on my cooking, that'd be bad for business." His eyebrows knit in concern but he offered a smile and Sakura gulped down the water.

She pulled the empty cup away once she'd drained it and worked for a second to get her breathing under control. "I'm okay, Tobi, just a little headache."

"Ahh, not again. Tobi's gonna have to do something to stop them! Just tell Tobi what he did and he'll stop it!" He said sternly but Sakura shook her head.

"I think... I think you're okay Tobi." She offered the empty cup back to the man with a polite nod of her head. That train of thought she'd been having... Could it be...?

"You wouldn't mind me asking something, would you?" She voiced and the food staller shrugged. "Happy to tell you anything I can."

"What was the name of that town we were talking about?" She asked.

"The disaster one that's gone? That was called Soil Town since they could grow a lot of stuff there. But since the first rain hit them so hard, I hear that apparently they found huge chunks of limestone under there, so it wouldn't surprise me if some companies started mining for that and renamed it Town on Limestone. Since y'know when bad things happen to smaller villages they tend to be remembered for that instead of what they once were." He said, wiping the cutlery dry.

'Could it be... Was I from Soil Town?' Sakura furrowed her brow and thought it over, 'this could be completely circumstantial. But I don't remember much about my childhood so I could have grown up poor, and if I grew up in a town associated with Rain then that could explain where I learned to be a medic. Also Konan found me a few days ago. She did say she couldn't find anyone else and now I'm hearing there were no survivors... Is that why that headache hit me? Was it because I was in that disaster?' Sakura winced under the thought and Tobi immediately pulled her attention away.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it!" He said. "You're gonna give yourself a worse headache and Tobi doesn't like to see you like that."

Kangae also shuffled up, with a flap of his wings he landed on Sakura's chest and crawled back under her hat atop her shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't see you were hurting. Itachi said my mission was to keep an eye on you so I'm sorry." Sakura felt a pull on her heart and nuzzled her cheek against the raven's head.

"It's okay, I'm okay now. I'm sorry to make you worry." Sakura wasn't sure what to make of her discovery, it was still a theory so she figured she should put it in her back pocket for now. With luck they would pass Soil Town and she could get a glimpse for herself if anything there looked familiar, and if not then after the mission she could ask Konan herself.

There was a brief nip of pain on Sakura's earlobe, "ow!" Kangae released the earlobe from his beak.

"Every time I start losing you, I'm gonna nip you!" He said with a determined puff of his feathers. "That'll help!"

"You don't have to bite me," Sakura muttered, trying to be annoyed at the summons by fighting to keep her smile down.

He shook his little head in response, "nu-uh! I gotta take you seriously!"

Sakura sighed, giving up on her protest and giving in to the bird, "alright, if it'll make you feel better then you can nip my headaches away."

The seriousness was quickly dropped like water rolling off a duck's back, Kangae fluffed up with a pleased "Yay! I'm helping!"

Tobi voiced, "hey! Don't take Tobi's job!" but the summons ignored him, too content to bounce happily on Sakura's shoulder to acknowledge the whining man.

"You're pretty odd shinobi, I gotta say," the vendor said, amusement pulled his lips to a smile. "Not knocking on your skills, whatever they are, but I haven't met that many shinobi in my days and you're some very colourful people." He ended with a chuckle.

Sakura took a second to imagine what they must look like. A young woman in a bamboo hat with paper tassels and a childishly talkative raven at her shoulder, walking side by side with a man over a head taller than her in an odd cloak and even odder spiral mask and matching hat. Heaven knows what the civilian would think if he saw Zetsu as well. Sakura found herself smiling, her cheeks warming. They were an odd team weren't they?

It didn't take much longer for Sakura to finish her dinner and with a polite bow from her and an overenthusiastic wave from Tobi, they bid the happy food vendor a good night and left. Mud Town it seemed didn't really have main entrances or exits, the town itself was so open that one could easily just wander in and out. The only real gate was a wooden structure like that of a doorframe but twice the size and standing in isolation at the beginning of the path towards Rain village. Since they were avoiding large villages they likewise left that path alone, Sakura only catching a glimpse of the structure and pathway from afar as they left the village.

Since the sun had set, the air was crisp with a light rain and looking to save energy and chakra, the two decided they would travel on foot for a few hours until they came across a safe area to set up for the night. Tobi explained that since they were circling around Rain, they would be arriving in Overpass at roughly mid day if they rested and ran the rest of the way. They would have day's to spare to rescue Kiaria. What they needed now was to think of a plan.

They knew thanks to their captive that the bandits would be separated into two groups, the group that would ambush them and the group that held Kiaria. So what would their first move be? Should they spring the trap and take it from there?

Sakura wondered at that moment what her teammates' fighting capabilities were. She walked beside her companion as he prattled on about the differences between cupcakes and muffins, a topic he evidently had a lot to say about. "I mean why does only one of them count as breakfast? I've seen Deidara-senpai have a muffin in the morning but then he makes fun of me for having-"

"Tobi," Sakura finally interrupted, a gentle but stern tone, "I was thinking, why don't we go over strategy? I mean, we're not really sure what we're expecting from this ambush so maybe we should think of a plan?" She offered.

Tobi threw his previous conversation over his shoulder without a care and was immediately taken in by the new topic. "Oh~ That's a good idea!"

"I think it would be best if we spring the trap and take out the ambushers." Sakura started, speaking slowly, as if confirming each word for herself was what she wanted to do.

"Does Sakura like fighting?" Tobi cocked his head.

"I... I think I enjoy fighting, I feel like there are parts of fights I like but as a medic first I'd like to avoid fights if I can." She nodded, agreeing with her statement as she said it.

"Then why do you want to fight the ambush? Why not follow them back to their base." He asked.

Kangae spoke next, "I'll protect you if you get in a fight so get in as many as you wanna!"

Sakura giggled at the summon's encouragement, "it's not that I want more fights than we need, it's just if that ambush group is made of the new recruits then they probably won't be professional if their leader stops communicating after we take him down. Knowing the size of the score they were promised, I wouldn't put it past them to just go after Nakaya-san himself and I don't want to risk any bandits going after him. I think we need to take down everyone associated with this kidnapping to make sure Nakaya-san and Kiaria-san will be safe." Tobi nodded along with her explanation.

"Mhm, Tobi agrees!" Sakura reached into her yukata's side pocket and pulled out the necklace with the large amber stone, she felt the weight of it in her palm.

She looked the stone and chain over before pondering aloud, "do you think this is compromised? maybe they've inscribed a seal on it or something to damage the wearer?"

"Tobi thinks these bandits are too incompetent for that."

Sakura nodded, "I agree, I mean, they did only assign one man to watch over their target."

"Yeah! They're dumb!" Kangae chirped, wanting to be a part of the conversation but not having much to contribute.

Sakura pocketed the necklace again, "what do you think our chances at beating an ambush look like?" She asked the taller man.

"Well Tobi isn't sure what Sakura's fighting skills are like and Tobi gets a little scared when he fights a lot of people." He pushed his two index fingers together in a sign of shyness before perking up, "but that's ok! I'm sure we'll be okay. We're shinobi and we'll protect each other!"

"That's a nice thought, Tobi." Sakura smiled.

"To make Tobi feel better, why don't you tell me what you can do?" He crossed his arms behind his back, bent closer to Sakura's eye level and kept pace next to her as they walked the forest path in near darkness. Sakura wished the light rain sprinkling from the sky and dancing on the trees around them would clear up soon so she could make a light but they would have to make do with the full moon as their only light source for the time being.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well I know you're a medic and a super good one at that to have Konan-san boasting about your skills," Sakura felt her cheeks redden under the warmth of such praise. 'Konan boasted about me?'

"-and you said you think you enjoy fighting, so what can you do?"

Sakura thought about it for a moment, "I'm... not entirely sure. I feel like once I'm in a fight it will be like muscle memory."

Tobi hummed along, "what about weapons! Do you think you use any in particular? Like swords or axes or something?"

Sakura slowly shook her head, she hadn't thought that she held any specific training in weaponry and she didn't feel like a kenjutsu user or anything. "I don't think so? I feel like I primarily use my hands, I think I'm trained in taijutsu and the standard kunai and shuriken. Like I said, above everything else I'm a medic first. But as for master level weapons like swords or axes, I don't think I do."

She expected Tobi to either deflate in disappointment or comfort her by exclaiming how that was alright and he'd protect her. But oddly, Tobi did neither. His mask was at her eye level, his back bent low to reach her, and his posture held him low at a sure level of discomfort just to match her. He was silent, his steps not faltering in their pace alongside hers, and she couldn't even hear his breathing. Sakura had felt nothing but safe with Tobi. But in this moment of silence, she didn't know what to think. She couldn't see his eye, but it was as if he was looking though her.

Suddenly he straightened up to full height, and Sakura jumped at the speed his spiralled mask slipped from her vision and returned to the place she had to look up to see. "Ah well! Maybe someday you'll get a cool weapon or something."

Sakura found herself chuckling under her breath, as though the air had been sucked out of her and only now could she breathe again. "Yeah, maybe someday."

"Ah" Tobi held up a gloved hand, "the rains stopped! We should set up camp for the night." Despite the hat he wore, he held his hand above his eyes and scanned around where the two had come to a stop. He lit up and pointed off to a fallen tree in the not too far distance, they'd separated from the path a short while ago so setting up a place to sleep in the forest wasn't an awful idea. "Over there! Let's sleep over there!" He sped off before she could even respond.

Sakura sighed as he ran, she nearly jumped at Kangae's voice from his place on her shoulder, "he zoned out a little back there, do you think he had a headache like you?"

"I... don't know. It was a little weird but he seems okay." The man was attempting to push the log from its place wedged up against two large rocks it sat atop but feeling no budge he gave up and instead reached into his sleeve and pulled out a tarp that he threw over the log to act as a tent.

"If he does that again do you want me to nip him?" The raven offered.

Sakura waved her hand in a dismissive motion, "I don't think you'll need to, he was probably just lost in thought."

"Okay," Kangae said. Seeing how dark it had become, Sakura pulled out a slip of seal paper from the pouch on her waist that had a fire seal scribbled on it in black ink. She held the slip between her two fingers and sent a tiny pulse of chakra into the paper. This allowed it to catch fire at the top but only a small one that would take longer to burn to the base. She held up this small light source as she made her way to the makeshift tent Tobi created and now sat cross-legged under.

"We can rest for a couple of hours and if the rain is still gone in the morning, we'll run the rest of the way." Sakura said as she dropped to her knees under the tent. Tobi held up a thumbs up, "sounds good! Tobi's not that sleepy so Sakura should take the first sleep."

Sakura pulled out a storage scroll Konan had given her that held a blanket, "thank you Tobi. Truth be told I was starting to get a little sleepy after dinner." Tobi held his hand out and Sakura gave him the fire seal, she then began flattening the ground before laying out her blanket to body length.

"Do you think Zetsu-san will reconvene soon?" She asked as she held out her arm to allow Kangae to hop down to the floor where Tobi placed the fire seal to slowly burn up into their campfire. Kangae sat close to the fire and happily began grooming his feathers while Sakura took off her hat and propped it up against the tarp.

Tobi shrugged, "Zetsu-chan will find us when they want to, Tobi's worked with them a lot and they always turn up when they're needed so you shouldn't worry." Sakura took off the extra outer black layer atop her yukata and rolled it up to be her pillow.

"I guess that's good to know, I hope I didn't annoy them earlier." She muttered as she laid herself down and pulled the long part of the grey worn blanket over herself.

Tobi took his hat off and put it beside hers. "You're okay, Zetsu-chan is a bit creepy but they do listen."

Sakura nodded her head on the makeshift pillow, Tobi sat comfortably illuminated by the fire that had grown enough to give them a little reprieve from the complete darkness of the forest surrounding them.

Sakura's eyelids grew heavy, finally allowing herself the comfort of laying down was immediately pulling her into the clutches of sleep. The warm glow of Tobi cross-legged and looking out into the forest across from her and Kangae shifting from the fire to a spot atop her blanket was the last thing she saw before a long yawn had her eyes closing. She muttered out, "I was a little worried... that we had dinner without them..."

The occasional crinkle of the fire, the shuffling of the leaves on the trees around them, and the comfortable noises Kangae made as he nuzzled into the blanket. They lulled Sakura deeper and deeper into sleep and distantly Tobi had replied to her, "that's okay, they probably wouldn't have liked what we had for dinner anyways."

How right Tobi was, and how was Sakura to know? How was this disillusioned girl to know what he meant by that? How was she to know what Zestu had been doing whilst she was enjoying a warm meal in fun company.

The plant human creature had left them after their interrogation but once out of sight, they had turned from the path and not in the direction of Rain village. The bandit, though numbed to the pain in his broken arm, had the senses to slowly realise that he was being taken out of sight. Dread settled in his gut like lead dropped in the ocean. He had been dragged from the floor until only his toes were touching the dirt below. The cold eyes of the being that held him were void of emotion. An indifferent predator, uncaring at the struggles of the injured man held aloft like a child. His arms shook. His legs kicked. The being's jaw opened but didn't stop where that of a human's would. The sound of bones cracking echoed from the mouth, and the captive could only compare them to the sound that his arm had made when it had snapped. The jaw kept lowering and lowering, unhinging. Undisturbed by the breaking of its bones. Slowly, he felt the dirt beneath his toes move. Held imprisoned, he felt his body hold itself completely rigid, as if realising before even he did, that he was being dragged closer.

An instinct in his body tried to protest, his toes dug into the dirt but the constant pull was slow and unyielding as skin scraped on mud, as nail's caught and tore, as fear was gripping him by the soul.

The captive's vision blurred through his tears. The colours blended and the thing in front of him uncaring. He couldn't scream as the roots held his body still. Soon all he saw was a mixture of white, green and a deep blackness where the mouth should be.

He felt a fear so deep and primal, he could only hold all of this fear, this hopeless terror, this certainty that he was staring his death in the face; in one breath. "please." His voice was pathetic, it scratched its way out and left his throat raw until it fell from his lips more of a breath of air than a voice. The desperate plea of a breathing dead man as his vision, his senses, his soul, was encompassed and consumed by a cold black nothingness.