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CONTAGIOUS Chapter Three: Permanent Vacation I

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CONTAGIOUS

Chapter Three: Permanent Vacation, Part One


Sakura crumpled to her knees, panting in exhaustion. She wiped an afternoon's worth of sweat and dirt from her brow. Sora was a true slavedriver.

Kakashi-sensei never pushed me this hard. Then again, I never had to prepare to assassinate one of the most important political figures in the world before...

Sakura rolled over just in time to avoid a senbon to the face.

"You can't quit yet, Sakura!" Sora sneered, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Your ninjutsu is shameful. How dare you call yourself a ninja if you can't even master a few lousy water techniques?"

Sakura grit her teeth. "I've used a water technique in my poison-extraction jutsu for years," she ground out.

"Yes, we've established that you're capable of supplementary techniques, but a shinobi who can't kick ass is useless at the end of the day," Sora shot back with disdain.

Sakura growled. She leapt to her feet and sent a rain of kunai hurtling towards Sora, who ducked aside. Sakura made her seals with lightning speed:

Ox-tiger-monkey-boar-snake-bird!

The gutter behind them gurgled. A basketball-sized mass of water began gathering in the air like a balloon. It writhed, roiling, shrinking and expanding as millions of tiny bubbles appeared within its depths. Steam escaped from its surface with an ominous hissing. The bubble exploded with a bang, flinging boiling water in all directions.

Sora absorbed the hot liquid with her own water shield technique. "Better. Not bad for a few weeks of training. Just imagine how much more effective it'll be at the hot spring in Kinosaki," she nodded.

Sakura fell to her knees and stared up at the gray Ame sky, which threatened a less deadly form of rain soon.

"I can think of a way to make it even better, Sora-taichou."

"Good. Save it for the battle. We leave in three days." Sora began to pack up her weapons.

"You guys haven't forgotten your promise, right?"

"Of course not. As soon as we get back, we'll help you find that lab for sure," Sora smiled. "Later, Sakura-chan!" She made three hand signs and disappeared in a swirl of red water.

Satisfied, Sakura sat up and began to gather her own things. She made the long trek back from their training grounds through Ame's crowded marketplace to her new apartment. Once home, she put fresh grounds into the coffee pot and flicked it on. She gazed out her dirty kitchen window, watching the rain fall outside. She needed to start packing; in three days' time she'd be at a hot spring in Lightning Country waiting for the daimyou. If all went well, it would be his last vacation.

It's good for Konoha, too. Kumogakure never demilitarizes, not even in times of peace. Lightning Country is unnecessarily powerful, it's a threat to everyone, Sakura's guilty conscience tried to assure her. That's why Iwagakure commissioned you in the first place. There's no need to bring morality into it.

And you don't have a choice anyway.

Still...sometimes it's hard to recognize what your life is turning into...


The pot bubbled. Sakura put her thoughts away and poured herself some coffee.




"There it is!"

"Hallelujah," Sakura grumbled under her breath. They had been running for the better part of a week, and she was beat. Lightning Country sported mountains that made Fire Country's look like pimples. She'd been forced to use muscles in her legs that Sakura didn't even know she had.

The ryokan looked very traditional from a distance: a large two-story wooden structure with a gracefully sloping tiled roof. It was surrounded by red-gold fall foliage and bamboo thickets, built directly into the mountainside (Sakura was privately impressed with whatever architect pulled that off). A glassy pond curved around the front gardens, and steam from the hot spring curled invitingly into the air from somewhere towards the rear of the building. Sakura could see why this remote little spot would suit a daimyou needing to get away — the view was breathtaking.

Sakura reluctantly pulled her head out of the clouds to address her teammates. "Shall I scout the area for vantage points or set up camp?"

Much to her surprise, her teammates made a beeline for the inn.

"No need, Sakura-chan. You remember the plan, Haji?" Sora asked as they strolled along the stone path meandering through the bamboo garden.

"Of course, love." Haji led the way up the front steps and swept the red curtain bearing the character for hot water aside. He slid open the lacquered front door and the two kunoichi followed him inside.

"Welcome!" chorused several serving girls in classy pink and cream kimono.

"Ah, thank you, but we're not guests," Haji explained. He faced the kindly-looking middle aged woman behind the desk. "I'm the new cook, and these are the two maids that Okami* Ichigawa Satsu-san requested..."

We're going to be undercover housekeepers?!

The benevolent expression of the lady behind the desk melted off her face like hot wax. It was replaced by a scowl of frightening intensity.

"You're late! All extra help was supposed to have arrived yesterday! The daimyou is due less than a week from today," she growled, stepping out from behind the reception area. She was a short woman in a regal dark blue kimono. She had graying hair and eyes that could go from philanthropic to fierce faster than you could blink.

"Ah, please forgive us! We got lost in the mountains...you must be Okami-san." Haji bowed deeply.

"Indeed, I have been the mistress of Oishiya for the last 40 years. You are?" she asked stiffly.

"Motosuwa Kazuo," Haji answered without missing a beat.

"Takahata Sachiko," piped Sora.

Everyone stared at Sakura. "Er...I'm Hana...Nakamura Hana."

"Lovely. The last thing I need right now is slow help." Ichigawa stared them down critically, hands on her hips. "Well, what are you waiting for? The servants' quarters are in the back behind the onsen. Get into your uniforms quickly, we still have so much preparation to do!" she barked.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Uh..."

Sora suppressed an eyeroll and grabbed Sakura by the wrist, dragging her down the hallway.




The servants' quarters were two spartan, simply furnished rooms, one for men and a larger one for women.

Sakura stared at the pink and cream kimono laying across a newly made futon. Her futon. She turned on Sora, incredulous.

"You have got to be kidding me. That's the big plan? Disguise ourselves as housekeepers?" she hissed.

"What's wrong with it?" Sora asked, already shrugging out of her traveling clothes.

"Oh yeah. Nobody's ever thought of that one before. I'm sure they'll never see it coming."

Sora erupted into giggles. "Sakura-chan, you need to relax. The only thing on the daimyou's mind will be whether the sulphur or mineral spring will better suit his complexion. Trust me, you'll be fine. As long as you don't have to do any more improvising anyway. 'Nakamura Hana'? That has to be the fakest alias I've ever heard...!"

Sakura blushed scarlet. "I just don't understand how you can be so blase about this," she muttered, unzipping her shirt.

"Well, it's hardly my first time assassinating a major political figure."

Sakura blinked at her.

Sora snickered, "How do you think I earned my moniker 'Sora of the Crimson Tide?' I've taken down a minor Grass Country lord and the son of a River Country daimyou (along with three elite bodyguards), but my crowning glory was two successive Water Country daimyou. Boy was I unpopular with the Mizukage!"

Sakura tried not to gape. She wasn't very successful.

Sora laughed again. "Don't stress Sakura-chan, you're with Haji and me now. The two of us are more than enough to accomplish the mission ourselves. Just hang tight and if things get messy, that's why you're here. I just want my husband back in one piece. But I'm not too worried." Sora flashed Sakura a thousand-watt smile as she straightened her new kimono and headed towards the door. "Last one out has to do the toilets!" She bolted.

Sakura made a face and put on her kimono.

It could be worse. At least it's an easy job. You got this.




"I DON'T GOT IT!" Sakura screamed, but it was too late. The last vase, balanced precariously on top of Sakura's armload of vases, tipped. It crashed to the tatami mat and shattered into a thousand expensive pieces. Sakura braced herself.

"YOU IDIOT! THAT VASE WAS WORTH MORE THAN YOU ARE!"

Ichigawa was off again, chewing Sakura out for the fourteenth time that day. Sakura hung her head and did her best to look repentant until the tirade was finished. Then it was back to work without so much as a pause to collect herself.

Sakura had no idea running a ryokan could be so taxing. She had already unpacked new dishes, washed them, repacked them, scrubbed the halls, scrubbed the private tubs, scrubbed the toilets, changed the towels, and now she was supposed to arrange flowers. Flower arranging had been her worst class in kunoichi school. Somewhere far away, Ino was laughing at her...or she would be, if she hadn't been taken over by the Stepford Virus. Now Sakura was truly grumpy.

At least she and Sora were getting a feel for the layout of the place, which could come in handy when it came time to tackle their mission. It had a main lobby and reception area with floors of gleaming wood (polished to a shine by the hardworking housekeepers) and beautiful wall hangings depicting bamboo and pine forests. Two hallways led out of the lobby, one to the ground floor rooms, the other to a large communal dining room and the kitchens. A winding staircase led to the second floor rooms and upstairs balcony, which included a spectacular view of the mountainside all decked out in fall colors. Taking the staircase in the other direction, however, led to the luxurious indoor baths in the basement. The lobby's side door opened onto a wraparound porch, from which a stone path snaked around the edge of the ryokan. From there guests could access the back gardens and outdoor hot springs. They could also reach the servants quarters, outhouses and laundry areas that way, but of course guests weren't supposed to see such things. The daimyou, who'd be staying in their best, most deluxe suite (complete with private bath and steam room), certainly wouldn't.

One other positive aspect of maids' work was that it gave Sakura the opportunity to practice her water jutsu discreetly. Vases needed filling, tubs needed scouring...Sakura was just contemplating finding Sora to ask for tips on how to materialize new water (which was harder than just using what's already there) when a familiar face appeared from around the corner.

"Haji-san! Shouldn't you be in the kitchens?" Sakura whispered, looking around for the Okami.

"I snuck away to deliver a top-secret message to you and the missus," he whispered conspiratorially.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. "Yes?..."

"The outdoor hot springs close at one am tonight, so if we make sure no guests see us...the busboy said we could totally use it." He flashed a thumbs up with his lopsided grin.

Sakura slapped her forehead. "Am I the only one taking this mission seriously?"

"Probably."

"And that's why it was a rhetorical question," she mumbled.

"So anyway, meet us in the mixed baths at half past one. And don't get caught!"

"Am I a ninja or what?!" Sakura hissed to his retreating back.

Honestly. No respect at all. Frowning, Sakura turned to the empty vase in guest room 12. She made four hand signals.

Fill with water, dammit!

There was a gurgling sound, and a moment later a small amount of liquid appeared in the vase. Sakura punched a fist into the air in victory.

Yes! Now only about a hundred more to go...

She smiled to herself and rolled up her sleeves.




The path to the onsen was lit by a row of stone lanterns. They cast long shadows over Sakura, who tiptoed through the garden like a criminal.

Oh, get over yourself. Considering the way they treat the help around here, these people deserve to have a few house rules broken. This is nothing. For example, imagine how bad they'll feel when you kill their guest of honor next week...

That line of thinking wasn't going to do anybody any good. Sakura swallowed her guilt and slipped inside the changing room.

She spotted two wicker baskets full of clothes in cubby holes along the wall. An empty crate of saké lay on its side on the tatami floor. Hooo boy.

Sakura stripped off her own clothes and added them to an adjacent empty basket. She entered the shower area and sat on the wooden stool, proceeding to wash her hair and body. She noted with delight that the ryokan's fancy shampoo left her hair smelling of lavender. Once finished, she wrapped one of the pink towels provided around herself (it was so small it barely covered the essentials) and bit her lip apprehensively. Mixed bathing was rare in Konoha (possibly due exclusively to Jiraiya's legacy) and she was unsure of the etiquette. Should she keep her towel on? Normally it's rude to let your towel touch the water...

Oh whatever. I'm sure they're too drunk by now to notice you anyway. Sakura slid the back door open and stepped out into the chilly night air.

"Woooooooo, Sakura-chan!" Sora called. Haji wolf whistled.

Or too drunk NOT to notice. Sakura was glad the dim light of the lanterns hid her blush at least, if nothing else. She scooted to the edge of the spring, dropped her towel and took the plunge in a hurry.

The water felt heavenly. It was almost too hot to handle at first, but her tired body quickly adjusted. Within seconds it was working wonders on her sore joints, dissolving knots in her back muscles. Sakura sank to her shoulders and let out a sigh. Even in the dim lighting the area was beautiful. Smooth, multi-colored stones paved the water's edge, and a little natural waterfall trickled down a rocky ledge at the far end of the pool. Mist rose off the water's hot surface, adding to the allure of the scene. The scent of night-blooming jasmine wafted through the air and went straight to Sakura's head. She suddenly wished she was on vacation instead of an S-rank assassination mission. Naruto and Kakashi would have loved this place...she sighed again and closed her eyes.

"Hard day, housekeeper-san?" Haji asked, laughing at her sedated expression.

"Yeah, actually...how were the kitchens?"

"Easy as pie. Which I got to eat plenty of."

"I hate you," Sakura answered with zero venom. The water felt too good. "But I'll forgive you because this is amazing."

"Told you it was a good idea, Sakura-san. As my wife says, you should always listen to Haji," he nodded to himself.

"I never say that," Sora snorted.

"You do when I suggest more sake. More sake, love?"

"Yes, please," she replied immediately. She turned to Sakura. "He always has the best ideas. You should listen to him."

Sakura chuckled. Haji vaulted himself out of the water and walked to the overhang where several bottles of chilled sake sat on ice. She got an eyeful of naked skin...her chuckles turned to a coughing fit.

Sora poked her in the ribs. "See something you like, Sakura-chan?" she teased.

"Ah, n-no!" Sakura stammered, blushing furiously (Nope! It's just the heat from the water!). She averted her eyes as Haji climbed back into the onsen with another bottle, which he offered to her. She accepted and took a rather large swig before passing it to Sora. "It's just that mixed baths are uncommon in my country."

"Really? How boring," Sora giggled, taking a sip and passing the bottle.

"My village is not boring," Sakura replied, somewhat miffed. "We just have too many perverts for that kind of thing."

Sora held up her hands, laughing. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend! You seem kinda attached to your village for a missing-nin though. Where are you from again?"

Sakura bit her cheek in thought before answering. Her identity was not exactly a secret; that blue-haired Akatsuki had made sure of it. With her real name, anyone could find out where she was from if they wanted to. Besides, Sakura liked these two. That warm glowy feeling wasn't strictly from the sake or the heat...they were pretty good company. She wanted to trust them.

"I'm from Konohagakure," she admitted. "How about you guys?"

"We've been all over, but I'm originally from Kiri, and Haji here is from Kumo."

Sakura blinked in surprise at Haji. "You're assassinating your own daimyou?"

He gave her a strange look. "Sakura-san...I'm a missing-nin. He's not my daimyou anymore, I abandoned my village years ago."

"Oh. Of course. Sorry." Sakura grabbed the sake and chugged the rest of it.

"I'll get more," Sora offered, climbing out. Haji was still eyeing Sakura curiously.

"Are you really a missing-nin? What brought you to Ame?"

"Er — it's kinda complicated." Sakura sank into the water a little more.

"Try us," Sora said, slipping back into the spring with yet another glass bottle — is that the third or fourth one? Sakura thought, brain fuzzy.

"She doesn't have to tell us anything she doesn't want to," Haji interjected. "Don't make the new girl uncomfortable, love."

"I'm not uncomfortable," Sakura said. "It's just kind of sensitive information. I'm actually trying to protect my village."

"After defecting? This ought to be good," Sora interjected.

"Tell me why you left first," Sakura pouted, stubborn.

"Easy. I was after some forbidden water jutsu scrolls, and the Yondaime Mizukage didn't care to just hand them over to me. So I took them the hard way," she flashed a surprisingly evil grin despite the dimples, and took another sip.

"Wow. Were they worth it?"

"Are you kidding? Way better to become a missing-nin and make off with some badass techniques than have to undergo the death matches required to graduate from the Academy at that time. I don't like to be manipulated." Sora made a face.

Sakura was caught somewhere between horror and awe. Then she thought of Naruto and laughed. "My teammate back home stole a forbidden scroll before graduating from the Academy too. I didn't think anybody else could be that strong so young...or that dumb," she snorted.

"My lovely dumb wife has left out the best part of her defection: meeting me," Haji added with exaggerated injury.

Sora pinched his thigh. "Tell her what happened."

"Well, I was a chuunin in Kumo, eating curried soba at my favorite noodle stand when my team captain found me and started harassing me as usual. I was honestly about to lose my cool when this teenage girl with these long, slender legs appeared out of nowhere. She landed on the tabletop, beautiful left foot right in my soba. She raised a gorgeous leg, and let fly the most glorious kick I've ever seen at my captain's head. From that moment on I knew I was in love."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "She assaulted your team captain, so you dated her?" she asked, scandalized.

"Oh no. She was actually on a mission to kill him, it just didn't work out. Shame, that guy was an asshole. I ran away with her instead. Never looked back since," he smiled at Sora.

Sakura had a giggle fit that she blamed the sake for.

How strange! They're legit missing nin, but they're not so different from you. Once upon a time, you pondered defecting for somebody you loved too...

"Okay, you heard our epic romance, now spill," Sora demanded, draining her sake bottle. "And I believe it's your turn to get the sake, Sakura-chaaan," she drawled, blue eyes glinting.

Sakura chugged her own bottle and made several hand signs under the water. As she rose, so did the water around her teammates. A wave crashed over them. By the time they recovered, Sakura was back in the onsen with three more bottles.

"That was sneaky!" Sora griped, rubbing water from her eyes.

"Totally cheating!" Haji coughed.

Sakura just laughed and passed the sake.

"My story's a little different. I didn't defect willingly. Something weird was going on in Konoha. An epidemic — a virus I've never seen before, infecting people and making them behave strangely. Nothing overtly bad, just not themselves. I was attacked by my own team leader, then my mentor, so I had to go," she summarized. It felt odd to tell her tale aloud, like it happened to somebody else.

"Ooh, so that's why you're looking for a lab. I thought you were just a science geek," Haji chortled.

"Well, I won't deny that, but I really am trying to find a way to save my village. There was this weird mark on the victims...I'm sure some enemy is behind it, though I don't understand how. But no way is this a natural phenomenon."

"Wow Sakura-chan. That must be hard on you...I want to help! Haji! Husband! We should help her find a lab!" Sora declared, slurring a bit.

"We already agreed to do that, love..."

"Oh yeah," Sora laughed. "Well we didn't make it official. Let's pinky swear! Sakura-chan, we promise not to abandon you until your lab is found!" She held out her pinky finger.

Feeling like an idiot but too tipsy to care, Sakura caught it in her own. Haji hooked his large pinky around the two of theirs.

"Promise!" They chorused. Sakura smiled broadly and sank back into the water.

She'd forgotten how much she missed having friends.




Sakura woke with an incredible hangover. She'd been too drunk to remember to speed up her metabolism before bed, and now her head felt like she'd stuck it in a meat processor.

CLANG CLANG CLANG! Sakura winced.

"Up up up! Everybody up! We've got so much to do!" Ichigawa bellowed, ringing a horrendous gong.

Sakura groaned into her pillow and covered her ears, but sat up. On futons all around her, groggy serving girls did the same.

Sora was the only one not grumpy. "Morning, Hana-chan!"

Sakura glared. "Looks like somebody can hold her liquor. I should introduce you to my shishou," she murmured under her breath, shedding her yukata. She'd have to wait for the others to leave the room to heal her pounding headache.

Breakfast was an uneventful affair, plain rice with egg and some pickles. Ichigawa didn't give them much time to eat, and ruined their enjoyment of the food with her squawking about the day's to-do list anyway. A small comfort came unexpectedly when Haji snuck Sakura and Sora some blueberry pie from the kitchen...and black coffee.

Coffee! Sakura danced with joy internally.

"I could kiss you," she gushed, draining her cup out of sight behind a potted plant in the corner.

"Please don't," Haji responded with a bemused glance at Sora. "I like living."

"So do I," Sakura deadpanned. "But coffee might be better."

Sakura spent the day cleaning, harassed by the Okami. She learned a special way to fold a futon, how to get sheets really white, and why cleaning the shoe rack is far, far worse than scrubbing toilets.

Unbeknownst to her boss, Sakura was getting a good deal of elemental ninjutsu training in as well. She made a whirlpool to do the laundry, refilled teapots on the sly, scrubbed the floor without a bucket, and made it rain outside to wash dirt off the stone pathways while watering the gardens at the same time. Even Ichigawa was surprised by Sakura's unexpected speed. She rewarded her with more work.

By the time evening fell, Sakura was exhausted and sore again, though satisfied with her performance. Her water jutsu had improved markedly. She was in the dining area with Haji, serving a handful of guests their supper. He passed her a steaming dish of beef hot pot when loud voices echoed from the hallway.

"But daimyou-sama, the meal is already under way, I'm afraid the chefs haven't had time to prepare for you properly..."

The door slid open, revealing a party of nine: Ichigawa, her most angelic expression belying the tense grip of one hand on her robe; six bodyguards dressed in standard Kumogakure one-shouldered white flak jackets; a tall, dark-skinned man with a mop of shaggy white hair, tattoos on both his arms, and a bored expression; and the daimyou of Lightning Country himself, dressed splendidly in traditional headgear.

Somehow Sakura did not drop the hot pot on her guest, but it was a close call.

"It matters not, Okami-san. I'm quite weary; I'll partake of whatever you have now," the daimyou insisted, waving his hand in dismissal. Two bodyguards adjusted a cushion and he sat down at the head of the table.

Sakura caught Haji's eye. She backed into the kitchen. Haji waited a moment before following casually.

After a thorough scan of the area to ensure they were alone, Sakura whirled on Haji.

"What gives!? I thought he wasn't supposed to arrive for five days?"

Haji crossed his arms over his chest grimly. "They know. Or they at least suspect. So they came early hoping to thwart any attempts on the daimyou's life..."

"But why would they feel the need for that? I thought no one knew he was even coming here at all!"

"That's true, they deliberately put the word out that he was vacationing in a coastal village this year, but Iwa knew the truth and commissioned us, right? Kumo was correct to suspect a last-minute information leak."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Okay, so they took us by surprise. No big deal. We'll just regroup with Sora and — "

"That wasn't their only precaution, Sakura. I recognize the man with tattoos — anybody from Lightning Country would. He's one of the most powerful jounin in the village, the Raikage's right-hand man and personal bodyguard, Darui of Kumogakure."

Sakura paled. "We have to find Sora."

"We do," Haji nodded. "But against someone like him, even Sora..." he trailed off, gazing at the doorway into the dining area with an unreadable expression.

Sakura's stomach churned.

*Okami is the title for the manager of a ryokan (traditional Japanese-style inn). She is usually the wife of the owner.
Title: Contagious
Rating: T
Summary: A mysterious virus spreads throughout Konoha. To escape it, Sakura must defect against her will. The chaotic misadventures of a missing-nin eventually lead her into bed with old enemies, but what if the enemies aren't so bad? Are loyalties contagious? Eventual ItaSaku.

FF.net link: [link]
Previous chap: [link]
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