This was just too much. Not only did she have to strip for strangers, but her own teacher would be watching as well.
Her cheeks were warm before but now they positively burned at the thought of dancing on a pole in hardly more than a scrap of fabric as Kakashi looked on.
This was without a doubt, turning into the worst day of her life and she found herself wanting to deliver a bone shattering punch to the man's face just so he couldn't watch her dance.
But that of course, would be unprofessional and she would only have to use her chakra reserves to heal him anyways so she remained standing quietly, trying not to scream.
"You are to leave as soon as possible," Tsunade continued, noting the scarlet state of Sakura's face and feeling a little sympathy for her flustered apprentice. However, she had one final blow to deliver.
"Sakura, I have left all matters of training in required fields for this mission in Kakashi's hands. You won't have time to do it before you leave so you must do it on the road. If you have any questions at all, please ask him. The success of this mission lies in your ability to apply those skills properly."
She was dumb struck, her gaze switching from Tsunade to Kakashi as she desperately hoped this was all one big prank. She felt tears begin to form in her eyes as pure mortification overwhelmed her, but she blinked them back angrily.
They both knew she was inadequate in the fields of expertise that this mission required and yet they were sending her on it anyways, and if that weren't enough, she would have to learn the tricks of the trade not from another woman, but from a man, and not just any man, but Kakashi, Konoha's resident pervert.
The urge to send a fist through Tsunade's desk and reduce it to nothing but a pile of splinters was so strong that her hands twitched at her sides but she fought down the urge as she choked back the tears.
"The two of you will leave in the morning," Tsunade announced. She turned her head to Kakashi and gave him a condemning glance. "And I trust you will not be late."
The lanky man gave a curt nod.
"Yes, Tsunaded-sama."
"Well then," she said, glad this meeting was finally over. "You are dismissed. Pack only what you need for the journey there. Dajuku will provide provisions and appropriate wardrobe for you upon arrival."
Sakura fought down a bitter laugh. She should have said "the appropriate lack of wardrobe" considering what she would be doing.
Kakashi stood and immediately withdrew his usual orange book and Sakura wondered just how many of those scenes would be inspiration for her future training.
She was about to follow Kakashi out the door when Tsunade called her back. Instead of punching a hole through the door in frustration, she took a deep breath and walked back to her desk.
Tsunade could see she was on the verge of tears and didn't blame her. Sakura was still surprisingly innocent considering she was nineteen and had been a shinobi for her entire teenage existence.
It killed her to rip that away from her so suddenly, thrusting her into such a dark world, but it had to happen sooner or later and she knew the experience, though painful, would aid her on her path to becoming a superior kunoichi.
"Sakura, I know this is hard for you, but I truly believe you can do this. I would not have assigned you this to mission if I didn't."
The younger medic nodded, her throat raw with the need to cry but she would not break down, not here in front of her mentor.
"I assigned Kakashi to go with you because he knows you well. He is a professional and he will act accordingly. You don't need to hesitate if you have a question. He's on this mission to support you."
"I know," Sakura said, her voice coming out in a choked whisper.
"Good girl," Tsunade smiled, taking her hand in her own and squeezing it in a rare display of affection. "Go make me proud Sakura."
The kunoichi nodded, giving her a half hearted smile that didn't reach her emerald eyes.
Without another word, Sakura left the room, closing the door quietly behind her, leaving the blonde Hokage alone.
Tsunade rested her elbows on her desk's wooden surface and took her head in her hands, hoping fervently that the decision she had made was the right one.
XXXXX
Konoha was by no means a large city, although at was a little on the big side as far as villages went. Unfortunately for Sakura, that fact worked against her and the news of her upcoming departure with Kakashi spread fast.
Luckily, nobody seemed to know what her mission with him entailed and whenever anybody asked, she curtly replied that it was classified.
That only worked or so long because when Naruto heard she would be leaving, he tracked her down in no time, running to meet her as she wearily walked home.
"Sakura-chan!" he cried happily, grinning from ear to ear idiotically as usual.
"Hey Naruto," she replied with far less enthusiasm. All she wanted to do was go to bed abnormally early and enjoy her last night in her own room for quite some time but Naruto would have none of it.
"I heard you'll be leaving on a pretty long mission with Kakashi-sensei huh?" he asked, cutting right to the chase.
"Yeah," Sakura grumbled. "Tonight is my last night here."
Naruto seemed to think for a moment and she could almost see the wheels turning behind those blue eyes.
"You haven't been on a mission in a long time. You're always stuck in that hospital all day."
Her temper was shorter than usual thanks to the large weight that has just been hefted onto her shoulders and so she was already on the verge of punching his lights out.
He just had to point out that she spent most of her life behind hospital walls didn't he? Along with the lack of missions, why didn't he just add a social life and a boyfriend to the list of things she didn't have?
"You must be excited to finally get to leave town," Naruto continued cheerfully, oblivious to the vein that was starting to throb in her forehead. "And since it's with Kakashi-sensei, it's probably high ranked too."
Sure it was high ranked, but they weren't paying her nearly enough for what they expected her to do.
"So," he pushed on. "What do you have to do? Escort someone? Rescue a prisoner? Steal something valuable?"
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