Pulling My Weight

Chapter 22 || Conflict

Somehow, Sakura and Genma managed to intercept the retrieval squad right after they'd gotten out of a confrontation with a doppelgänger of Uchiha Itachi. Kakashi looked resigned, Chiyo eyed Genma suspiciously but smirked at Sakura, while Naruto was baffled.

"Sakura-chan?" he asked, blinking rapidly. "What are you doing here? Did baa-chan send you?"

Sakura winced, having forgotten Naruto's annoying lack of respect for higher authority, but tried to smooth out her expression before she replied. "We had a mission around Grass and Rain, then got supplementary orders when we got to the border. Officially, we're here as your back-up." She said, trying to keep her frustration at bay when Naruto looked ready to argue something, then was surprisingly saved by Kakashi of all people.

"And unofficially?" he asked, tone sharper than Sakura reasoned it had any reason to be and she knew that it didn't escape neither Chiyo nor Genma's notice. Deciding that she wasn't paranoid, she smiled placidly and metaphorically dug her heels, all the while maintaining eye contact with Kakashi until Genma noticed and picked up where she left off.

"I believe that is up to the team leader's discretion." He intoned, perfectly civil though with a slight iciness in his gaze that made Sakura want to hug him.

Something unreadable passed through Kakashi's visible eye, then he gave a curt nod and ran.

When they approached the sealed entrance to the cave, Sakura swayed from the sheer magnitude of chakra that she could sense from within the cave, then squinted at the fuinjutsu on the rock as means of distraction.

"MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL!"

(The string of expletives that left her mouth and the handful of kunai she sent flying in the direction of the noise were largely ignored, apart from Genma who met her eye and started shaking with suppressed laughter. Sakura made a point to step closer to him and stamp on his foot. Hard.)

They both elected to ignore Kakashi filling Gai and his team in, and opted to focus on the writing on the wall.

"Simultaneous trigger-release seal?" Sakura hazarded, frowning. "With... three triggers?"

"Four." Genma corrected. "It's a strong self-sustaining seal which means the triggers draw power from the main matrix. The outer pattern also uses cardinal directions so I'd hazard that each trigger is located north, south, east and west from here respectively, and no further than a mile out."

"That's a good starting point. But removing the triggers will only disable whatever trap is keyed in the boulder but won't actually address the issue of the massive boulder blocking the way. Any ideas on that?"

At that, Genma grinned. "Well, it's a good thing we've got a little pyro on our hands, hm, kid?"

Sakura blinked a few times, trying to make sure she heard right, then smirked. "You want me to blow up the rock."

"I want you to blow up the rock." A moment passed between them, a flash of mutual understanding and amusement, before Genma turned back to the rest with a loud clap of his hands, "Alright here's what's going to happen-!"

And while he was doing that, Sakura was trying to dodge Chiyo's knowing, Machiavellian smirk and Kakashi's silent, blank gaze that she could feel on her face, telling her he'd overheard her and Genma's discussion. Sakura sighed and dropped to kneel on the ground, pulling out her tags and brush and set to work, channelling all her fear, her frustration at the situation, her worry for Gaara and Kankuro and Temari's mental state, her confusion at what it is the Akatsuki really wanted until she blinked. Paused. Focused on the tag. Then cursed.

She may have overdone the destructive power in the seal.

Sakura considered the matrix again then shrugged. Oh well.