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Contradicted

Chapter Three: Painful Apologies

Missions are unpredictable. They can go horribly wrong when they were meant to be simple, C Rank missions-such as that time in the Wave Country-and they can go perfectly well when you expected them to be rather difficult and the death rate to be impossibly high. Expect the unexpected. Look underneath the obvious. Kakashi taught me that.

At the same time certain circumstances lead to consequences you couldn't see coming even you were some sort of freak psychic. Consequences that could change your entire life.

Yeah, being a ninja is pretty screwed up.

Not that I'd have it any other way.

As such, that simple B Rank bodyguard mission was put back by a month, which surprised both us and Tsunade, and so we celebrated Kakashi's thirty third birthday on the fifteenth of September by waking him up with an armful of presents and arranging a party at his favourite inn with all his friends later that night. We ended up all getting trashed, and Genma damned near got me caught in his sticky lust web...luckily, Raidou saved my ass by kicking his ass, as he's wont to do when Genma gets a little out of control.

We then celebrated Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino's nineteenth birthdays on the twenty second, and that was spent having a picnic in the park and generally winding down from our crazy training regimes. Shikamaru, already an ANBU Strategist, appreciated it greatly, while Ino took the chance to flirt outrageously with the boys.

And then we all went back to doing missions and training our asses off.

And then it came.

The mission.

It changed my life.

And the life of Uchiha Sasuke.

Five years ago
5th October
3 a.m., I think...

It was late. Or really early, depending on how you look at it. Either way, every sane person was fast asleep in their beds like the good people they were. Heck, even the bad people were asleep. Although the line between good and bad is always blurred, so really, it's just easier to say that everyone was asleep.

Except the weirdo currently banging on Haruno Sakura's front door.

It wasn't Naruto, Sakura noted sleepily as she tumbled out of bed. Naruto had the spare keys, so that he could do his daily wake up call. The kunoichi staggered to her feet and slipped on her dressing gown, running a hand through her roseate messy hair in a half-hearted attempt to fix it.

Giving up on any resemblance of being tidy and presentable, she padded the short distance to the front door; inwardly cursing whomever it was up at this blasphemous hour. Unlocking the two locks, she wrenched the door open, hand moving to her thigh where a kunai was always strapped. She halted upon seeing a Chuunin she vaguely recognised as Kotetsu. The surname escaped her.

Kotetsu opened his mouth to speak, but an irate Sakura beat him to it.

"Damnit Kotetsu-san!" she said, anger sparking in her apple green eyes, "D'you know how early it is?"

"Sorry Sakura-san," Kotetsu winced, "Tsunade-sama requests your presence within the next ten minutes."

Sakura sighed, anger leaving her. "Hai, hai, sorry for snapping. I'm just a girl who needs her beauty sleep." She smiled tiredly at the raven haired Chuunin, who smiled back.

"I doubt you need beauty sleep, Sakura-san, when you're perfectly attractive as you are," Kotetsu noted as if it was a fact, and not a matter of opinion. The kunoichi raised an eyebrow at the cheesy line, but then smiled at him again. "I have to go get the others. Good luck for whatever Tsunade-sama wants you for." He said, before leaping back into the night.

"Thanks," she mumbled, going back into her small apartment to get changed. After wriggling into a pair of black combats and a red t-shirt with the Haruno symbol on the back, she zipped up her green vest over it and stepped out into the cool night, locking the door behind her.

Five minutes later found the green eyed kunoichi standing in Tsunade's office, both women fighting off a yawn while they waited for the others to arrive.

"Ohayo!" cried a blonde as he staggered into the office, "Can someone explain why I'm here at three in the morning?"

Tsunade sighed, noticing that while Naruto had managed to get changed, he still wore his bear sleeping hat. Always a kid at heart, that one. She rubbed her tired golden coloured eyes as her student snatched the hat off Naruto's head, attempting to smooth out his wild blonde locks. Normally the Uzumaki would whine and tell her to bugger off, but he simply didn't have enough energy for it at this time in the night...or morning...however you see it.

"We have to wait for two others first, Naruto." Tsunade told the normally hyperactive blonde.

"Fine, fine." He sighed, finally waving Sakura away from his wild tresses.

Within the next five minutes, Hinata walked in looking more awake than Naruto, Sakura or Tsunade, which wasn't all that hard to accomplish. The Hyuuga pushed her index fingers together and flushed when Naruto greeted her enthusiastically. How the blonde remained cheerful sounding as well sleepy was beyond anyone in that room.

"Who else are we waiting for Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked as Hinata shyly greeted Naruto back.

Before the Hokage could respond, the door opened once more and a familiar raven haired, onyx eyed, twenty one year old stepped through.

"Hokage-sama." Uchiha Sasuke greeted, eyes sweeping over the room. He sneered at the trio staring back at him with something akin to shock. Hinata gave a muffled 'eep!' and shuffled back. The incident that had occurred not even a month ago resurfaced in both the high class shinobis' minds. Hinata had spent the last month avoiding Sasuke at all costs, not wanting to face his wrath.

Because shy, little Hyuuga Hinata had knocked out big, strong Uchiha Sasuke, and neither could forget it.

Well, that, and everyone refused to let them forget it. It had definitely been the talk of the month.

"Sasuke," Tsunade said, noting the tension and saying nothing, "Good, good. Now that everyone is here..." Immediately the four formed a line front of her, awaiting her news. Tsunade resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "You probably won't know this, Sasuke, but last month I assigned Naruto a four-man B Rank bodyguard mission. Naruto asked Sakura and Hinata to join him, but because the mission was delayed, didn't choose a fourth person."

Sasuke nodded to show his understanding.

"However, I received an urgent call just half an hour from Feudal Lord Tanaka Hideki regarding the mission. He and his family need to travel to the Hidden Grass Village. The Rain Country, where they live, has gone into revolt and the family has been targeted. As such, this mission has been upgraded to A Rank and Sasuke will accompany you on the mission."

The reactions to this were immediate; Sakura let out a little hiss, performing a death glare that almost outshone that of Sasuke and Neji's. Naruto groaned at the thought of a stuck up bastard that could rile Sakura up just by being in the same room her. Hinata bit her lip and stared at the floor, inwardly cursing.

Sasuke just glared. At everyone. Including Tsunade.

"Tsunade?" Naruto said, "Will I still be Captain?"

The Hokage nodded. "However, Naruto, if Sasuke insists on something, I suggest you do it, he's not in ANBU for nothing."

There was silence. Along with more glaring.

Tsunade sighed. She sincerely hoped that each and every one of them returned alive. And it wasn't the Rain-nin she was worried about either.

"Your mission scrolls will be given to you when you meet up at dawn to leave. Shizune will meet you at the gates. Is that understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

"Dismissed."

They were out of there faster than you could say 'go!'.

6.35 a.m.

The rising sun was just glaring at her, like it was her fault it had to get up to give them light and heat. Sakura glared back, just like it was the sun's fault that she had to go on a mission with Uchiha Sasuke.

Either way, Sakura wasn't very happy as she trudged her way to the gates, travel pack settled on her shoulders and her long roseate hair pulled into a plait to keep it out of the way. She hadn't bothered to get changed, although she did shower, fully aware that probably was the last decent shower she would have in the next two weeks. Hot water was a novelty she always missed when going on missions.

"Heya Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, as she approached him. He was standing next to Shizune, who held an armful of scrolls.

"Ohayo Naruto-kun, Shizune!" she replied, taking one of the scrolls heaped in the older woman's arms. Shizune smiled gratefully at her, now only carrying two scrolls.

"Sakura-chan, how are you?" Shizune asked the nineteen year old who was something like a little sister to her. Training together under Tsunade had assured that, and the two spent a lot time together researching techniques and working together at the hospital.

"A little frustrated." Sakura admitted.

Shizune raised her eyebrow.

"Uchiha Sasuke is coming with us. She doesn't like him." Naruto supplied, taking his usual stance of resting his head on the arms folded behind him.

"Sasuke, huh?" the brunette said, "Understandable. I always dreaded the day you two crossed paths. He's rather...derogatory...about females."

"Understatement of the bloody year." Sakura grumbled.

They stopped the conversation there as Hinata and Sasuke walked towards them, a noticeable ten feet gap between them. Hinata immediately put Naruto between her and the Uchiha, and Sasuke just sneered. As usual.

This was going to be a long mission.

As they prepared to walk through the main gates, Sakura only had to blink to miss the approach of three people. Neji trudged through the gates, looking exhausted as he carried his teammate Tenten on his back, who was fast asleep. Rock Lee stumbled along beside them, large eyes half closed. Obviously their mission had been gruelling.

"Neji-nii-san!" Hinata said in surprise, "Are you alright?"

"Hai..." Neji mumbled, as Shizune rushed forward to take Tenten off Neji's back. To everyone's surprise, Neji refused to let her go. "She's running low on chakra. There's some tricky Rain-nin out there, so be careful."

"Are any of you hurt?" the pink haired kunoichi asked worriedly, as Shizune raised an eyebrow at them and instead went to help Lee.

"Nothing more than a few scrapes and cuts," Neji replied, "Don't worry Sakura, we're heading straight to the hospital."

She knew that was the most she was going to get, and nodded. She had a mission to do, after all.

4.05 p.m.

"FUCK!"

It was entirely scarring to know that it was Hyuuga Hinata who had snarled the crude word. Sakura was going to have words with Kiba; his foul language was starting to affect his sweet, normally innocent teammate. Although it shouldn't have been a surprise, they had been travelling for ten hours already and each and every one of them looked about ready to kill each other.

Sakura was currently glaring at the two males. Naruto had irritated her to the point of fury by whining about ramen withdrawals and bickering with Sasuke about which path to take when Hinata was the one guiding them, her map reading skills better than any of theirs. She was also mad at Sasuke...but then again, when wasn't she? It seemed the only person she wasn't feeling ill towards was Hinata, who had her own issues with the men.

And currently Hinata was glaring furiously at Sasuke, who was glaring heatedly back.

It's notoriously difficult to get Hinata pissed off. Normally she'll just stand there, pressing her index fingers together and turning seven shades of red. But if one pushed really, really hard, they would either be knocked out or yelled at in highly offensive language. Yes, Hyuuga Hinata was a force to reckoned with while angry.

And so Sakura and Hinata glowered.

Naruto shivered in horror.

Sasuke glowered back.

One had to feel particularly sorry for the Feudal Lord and his family. They didn't know what was about to hit them.

"Turn right." Hinata said waspishly, map severely creased and frayed with all the twisting in the Hyuuga's hands it had suffered.

Naruto, who was leading, turned right at the junction.

Sakura sighed as the foursome trudged onwards, as silent as a graveyard. They were expected in the Hidden Rain Village tomorrow afternoon, and she knew they'd have to sort out their issues by then. They needed to work as a team, and they couldn't do that if they were all livid as hell at each other.

And so, she came to a conclusion.

She stopped.

Sasuke walked straight into her. And swore loudly.

"Shut up," Sakura demanded, her voice ice-cold. Hinata and Naruto had come to a stand still upon the sound of the raven haired man releasing a stream of obscenities. "This is getting ridiculous. This mission is important. D'you know how much we're being paid? Surely you understand the precarious state of relations Konoha is having with Rain and Cloud? If we're spotted, they'll take us down. Why? Because we're from Konoha."

They stared at her. Sasuke realized what the pink haired brat was saying was completely true, but, of course, he'd never admit it.

"We're acting stupidly, we're putting ourselves in danger and our anger is clouding our judgement. I suggest a truce for the rest of this mission."

"Alright..." Hinata said softly.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed sheepishly.

Sasuke nodded, scowl still firmly in place.

"Good," she cleared her throat. "Naruto, I apologise for snapping at you. Uch-Sasuke, I'm sorry for attempting to give you a black eye."

Shock hit all of them like a barrel full of frogs. Had Sakura...pink haired, green eyed, viciously feminist Sakura apologised to Sasuke?

"Hinata."

"Er, right!" Hinata stammered, "Um, Sasuke-san...I'm s-sorry. For, you know...kn-knocking you out a month ago."

Hinata, it seemed, was back to normal.

Not that Sasuke noticed, since his head was still reeling in shock of an apology from the most unlikely person.

It was Naruto next.

"Ah, sorry, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Sasuke. I didn't mean to annoy you all." Naruto said, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

Sasuke.

Now this was going to be interesting.

"Sasuke. Apologise." Sakura demanded, arms crossed, "We all have."

He sneered, "This is stupid. Why should I apologise when I did nothing wrong?"

And people call him a genius?

"Nothing wrong?" Sakura snapped, "You conceited prat! You're the worst out of all of us! At least we care about the mission enough to swallow our pride and apologise."

"What is that meant to mean?" Sasuke bit out, both participants' tempers starting to reach boiling point.

"It meant that you don't deserve the title of ANBU Captain, let alone Jounin, you narcissistic wanker!"

That stung. A lot.

"You-"

We never did get to find out what she was, as Hinata suddenly let a yell, Byakugan activated.

"SAKURA! WATCH OUT!"

On pure reflex, Sakura's hand shot out and clasped around the senbon needle that had been whizzing it's way towards her, only inches from her neck. She swore, slipping it into her pocket as she reached into her holster, pulling out a kunai and gripping it tightly. Sasuke and Naruto were immediately on guard, whipping out their own kunais and eyes searching the area around them.

"Hinata," Sasuke mumbled to the Hyuuga standing behind him, "What d'you see?"

"Rain-nin," she muttered back, "Ten, as far as I can see."

"Shit." Naruto hissed.

"We're surrounded." Hinata added, with slight frustration tainting her voice.

Rain-nin. Ten of them. They could fight, but that would be suicide. They outnumbered them by miles. They could run, but that was also suicide.

It came down to the fact they had to move and fight at the same time.

"Hinata, stay with me at all times," Naruto muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Sasuke, Sakura, stay together."

They nodded.

As more weapons came soaring at them, one thing became painfully clear.

This was going to hurt.

*

I'd love to be able to tell you that we were okay, that we got out of it reasonably unharmed because those Rain-nin were just incompetent Genins.

But that would be lying.

And trust me, it hurt like a bitch.