A few hours later, the team was helping their client at the inn where the cart filled with wood was being inspected …

  After being insulted by said client complaining to them for quote ‘being too young and incapable of protecting him as the mission requested’ and Kakashi having to explain to said client that it was because of them being children that he was getting a Jounin for the price of a chunnin, that the man shut his mouth …

  Jay rolled his eyes at the man, but he couldn't help but stare at the mule being harnessed … it was a mule drawn cart and the mule didn't look like it moved, the animal exuded an aura of laziness that would make a Nara look like an active person …

  [Jay] - This might take longer than a week … -

  Jay's complaint got him a giggle from Sakura and an Uchiha eye roll, with Kakashi not even bothering to stop reading his porn …

  They just finished piling up the expensive wood in the cart while the client fiddled with the mule …

  Their client, the great bridge builder Tazuna, was already visibly drunk as he fiddled with the belts on the mule, missing the holes with unsteady hands …

  [Jay] - Do you need help ? -

  Jay asked, slightly annoyed.

  [Tazuna] - Shut it pipesqueak, I got this … this young generation thinks they know everything … -

  Jay tuned out the man and went back to his own mindscape to try and pass time …

  ***

  Kurama was getting quite used to inhabiting the Entity’s clone jutsu … despite Kurama's misgivings and pride … the pleasures of flesh won him over … he just couldn't go back to living without the countless sensations a true body gave him …

  Kurama could only be angry at himself for falling into the trap laid bare by Entity Jay … Kurama took a bite of that poison and he couldn't even say he regretted it …

  Having a proper body, with proper sensations … it was something Kurama wasn't prepared for … it was living in a way he never lived before, smell, taste, touch … Sage give him strength, touch … the different parts of the body and all the ways to appreciate the sensations …

  Even the sharpness of pain on that First moment where the Entity Jay showed Kurama everything he was missing …

  Kurama knew what Jay's plan was, Jay wasn't even hiding his intentions, Kurama was told point blank what would happen if he let himself waver … But even that warning was a bait, a poke at Kurama's pride … What else could Kurama do but snarl at the insolent thing pretending to be Human and take on the challenge ?

  Kurama thought that he already knew what it entailed, what would await him … Kurama thought that if humans were doing it every single day of their lives, it couldn't be that hard to get used to it … but Kurama's denial had limits … he was overdoing it when he popped the clone jutsu while pleasuring himself … but that bliss ? Why did the Sage make him so void of sensations ? …

  Kurama refused to ask Jay to make another clone jutsu so soon, it was an admission of weakness and Kurama refused to give even more leverage to the entity … But despite all his pride and rage, Kurama quickly succumbed to his own weakness as he felt the constant cravings while back inside the Seal, his own majestic form, for all its power and glory felt … flat …

  Kurama, the mighty nine tails was relegated to puppeting a clone of a human meat sac while everyone else thought of him as Jay's weird clone jutsu experiment … Kurama knew now what it was to experience ‘living’ and to go back to things as they were before ? … No …

  Living amongst humans as a human was … an experience … even though Kurama spent most of his time inside Jay's apartment …

  Why would Kurama bother interacting with the meat sacs always watching him ? … Food was delivered to his door, the ‘TV’ always had something on it and whenever Kurama felt like it, he could go to the backroom and appreciate the warm water falling into his skin while he experienced the bliss of touching that cursed touch …

  Kurama felt like he was back into his early days where he was treated as the Deity he was inside his old temple … only this time, Kurama could actually experience what that life was supposed to feel like …

  Kurama vowed to learn how to replicate those sensations with his own majestic form instead of the pathetic meat bag he was forced to wear …

  But until then, Kurama was going to keep living as Jay's ‘weird’ clone jutsu experiment …

  At least he was making progress with changing his own form inside the seal, Jay's insistence of him learning the corrupted Ninshu that the humans called Ninjutsu was starting to bear fruit as Kurama was finally able to use the ‘transformation’ one with a few changes … being made of pure chakra had its benefits for Kurama was able to give his majestic form an equally majestic member …

  It was during this proud display that the cursed Entity Jay decided to pay a surprise visit …

  ***

  Jay blinked his eyes at what he was seeing …

  [Jay] - Really ? That's the first thing you learned to do ? Priorities I guess, just try to take it easy, I'm being asked some very pointed questions about puberty thanks to you … Well, do enjoy we talk some more later, someone is shaking me … -

  Before Kurama could think of a response Jay was already gone from the shared mindscape …

  ***

  Sasuke was snapping his fingers at Jay who seemed to be completely zoned out waiting for the client …

  [Sasuke] - Hey, Hey … -

  Sasuke tried shaking him a little and that seemed to work.

  [Jay] - What gives ? -

  [Sasuke] - I was asking if you got pillows and soap on your seals, Sakura was going through the standard gear we got from the armory and evidently, creature comforts were not part of it … Are you okay ? You zoned you pretty badly right now, it's almost time to leave, do you want to take a nap ? -

  [Jay] - No, I'm fine and don't worry about the comforts, as soon as I learned how to make storage seals I got myself packed to the brim with anything I might need … I got spices, pillows, bedrolls, extra tents … -

  Sakura approached them after checking her bag with the storage scrolls she rented …

  [Sakura] - How can you afford all this ? … -

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  [Jay] - My clone jutsu, remember ? And don't forget I'm ‘apprenticing’ under Itachi-san, helping him do all that paperwork on the daily is basically a D rank mission commission for me … -

  Jay smirked.

  [Sasuke] - Wait, you're being paid ?! -

  [Sakura] - That can't be legal … -

  [Jay] - Nop, perfectly legal, I posted the mission request and put the paper with all the other paperwork we were doing … If that one was signed by mistake or not, well, me and Itachi are the ones dealing with some of Konoha's budget and I can surely find money somewhere to pay myself for doing good work … -

  Sasuke and Sakura were looking at Jay with faces full of disgust …

  Kakashi on the other hand only nodded with sagely wisdom …

  [Kakashi] - Now now my cute little genins, let's leave the ethics behind Jay's legal paycheck for later, the client is coming back from the bathroom and we will be leaving Konoha, I expect everyone to be sharp, this is your first mission outside of Konoha's walls and while this is a simple C Rank, anything can happen, understood ? -

  Team 7 nodded, postures a little bit more erect them before.

  [Kakashi] - Good, our mission officially begins … -

  Kakashi pointed forward towards Konoha's gate … The excitement crashed as soon as they saw the mule slowly pulling the cart.

  [Sakura] - That was dissapointing … -

  Jay and Sasuke snickered while Kakashi was back to reading his book …

  *** *** ***

  The first day of travel was an experience for Sakura … sleeping on a flimsy tent while not being able to cover herself because of the anxiety of being surprised at night and not being able to get up quickly enough because she was cocooned in her blanket made for a shitty experience, deciding that she might as well get out …

  Sakura took a seat beside the one responsible for the first watch … Her sleepy face and uncontrollably yawn betrays her tiredness …

  [Jay] - Can't sleep ? -

  [Sakura] - I can't get comfortable enough to relax, I keep thinking about being jumped while cocooned in my blanket … -

  [Jay] - Can't blame you, getting out of a comfy wrap with any speed is an exercise in futility … want me to knock you out ? -

  Sakura gave Jay a deadpan look …

  [Sakura] - I prefer not having my brain starved of blood so no, thanks … -

  They did fight between themselves and Jay tended to be quite serious when they were actually training hard … Apparently, Kakashi agreed with the mentality of ‘why tap ? go to sleep’ …

  [Sakura] - … Stupid males … -

  Sakura muttered.

  [Jay] - Sasuke is included in those you know … -

  Jay received a punch in his arm for the snark … Sakura wouldn't say she was any closer to actually being in a relationship with her Prince, but they were becoming good friends …

  [Sakura] - I still can't believe how little sleep you need … Is that a Jinchuriki thing or a Jay thing ? -

  Jay shrugged.

  [Jay] - Can't say, it's not like I know any other Jinchuriki to make the comparison … -

  He got another punch in the arm for it …

  [Jay] - You know, Sasuke bruises easily with how pale he is, you should take it easy … -

  Jay smiled as a tired Sakura gave him another half hearted punch …

  [Jay] - Come on, you need to sleep, shoo shoo … -

  Huffing, Sakura got up …

  [Sakura] - … Fine, I know when I'm not wanted … -

  And went back to her tent to try and sleep the rest of the night …

  *** *** ***

  The next few days passed mostly the same, but when they were coming close to the shore, something got their attention despite the boredom … A fallen tree was impeding their way … but there was something weird about it that Sakura was the first to point out …

  [Sakura] - … How did that tree even fall like that ? -

  Kakashi saw that the team was now paying extra attention … Situations like that are prime opportunities for bandits to ambush caravans, it was a common tactic after all and the academy taught them that …

  Deciding to give the team a taste of real combat, Kakashi went in to spring the trap, whoever it was, didn't know a Jounin was passing through … Kakashi palmed a storage tag with one of konoha's signature logs, ready to ‘substitute’ if necessary … Kakashi would generally plant a few explosive tags on said log for good measure, but he wanted to see how his genins would react in live combat …

  [Kakashi] - Don't worry about it, let's just move this trunk out of the way and get going … -

  Kakashi turned back towards his genins who were completely focused now … Kakashi focused a bit of chakra in his ears to listen to what they were muttering to each other …

  [Jay] - He didn't make us move the tree, it is definitely a trap … -

  [Sasuke] - Definitely … -

  [Sakura] - Kakashi sensei would never take initiative to work without an ulterior motive … -

  [Sasuke] - Definitely a trap to us … -

  [Jay] - Get ready, he will spring that at any moment now … -

  Kakashi rolled his eyes, his genins had no respect for their sensei, no respect at all …

  Kakashi touched the tree trunk with the intent of moving it and as soon as he applied enough force to lift the thing off the ground, Kakashi felt something moving out of an inconspicuous puddle at the sides of the road … Two sharp chains covered in spiked blades flew towards Kakashi …

  Kakashi focused his chakra on the storage tag he had in hands while also performing a Dash Kata with a minor clone jutsu and an área genjutsu just to make sure everything felt real for those first few moments … a picture perfect substitution worthy of a seasoned Jounin …

  ***

  Sakura swallowed a scream when she saw the chains wrapping around Kakashi and being pulled, severing his body in two …

  Even knowing that it was probably fake, didn't change the surprise she felt at seeing how quick someone could simply die …

  The sound of flesh ripping and bones broken made a pit form in her stomach …

  Sakura reflexively took a step back, her body going through the motions of palming a weapon and getting into a stance, hand already half forming the seals needed for a genjutsu to distract and buy time for the team …

  ***

  Sasuke's sharingan was active as soon as Kakashi stepped in to remove the tree, as if their lazy sensei would ever offer to do manual labor out of the good of his heart …

  Even though Sasuke had his sharingan, he still saw what he saw … chains wrapping around their sensei and shredding him … Sasuke was already purging some of his chakra to dispel what was clearly a genjutsu, for there is no way their sensei would be done like this …

  The chains didn't stop, like living snakes, they went to wrap around Jay, who was the second closest … Sasuke saw Jay's chakra flare and he dashed back to Sasuke's side leaving a burning piece of paper behind … the Chains collided with each other but somehow didn't tangle and immediately started retreating, but the tag Jay left behind was quicker …

  The explosive tag went off with a sharp snap that only a high quality tag had, it was enough to rattle and crack the metal of the chains that were still returning …

  The impact was enough to disrupt whatever technique was being used to control the chains like that and Sasuke didn't waste the opportunity …

  Sasuke tossed a shuriken with ninja wire, just like Itachi taught him to … his Sharingan helped Sasuke tug on the wire and control the projectile to curve, the shuriken wrapped around the chains making sure the weapons were stuck together and unusable … by the enemies …

  Sakura focused on one of the figures, finishing the handseals for a small genjutsu while the rest of her body flowed chakra into the chain of motion necessary for a good textbook throw … Chakra contracted her muscles with a snap and her arm sprung forward launching a Kunai with great speed dead center into her target …

  She felt the genjutsu hold for a moment before it snapped, but a moment was all that was needed for her to score a hit with her Kunai, the enemy was able to dodge but she still scored a hit on his shoulder, the Kunai clanged off the armor protecting it, but Sakura put in enough force to dent the armor even on a glancing hit, if she was able to get it dead center …

  Sakura felt a shiver at the notion that she almost killed someone … but that sentiment was washed under the adrenaline as the enemies dropped the now useless chains into the ground and went on the offensive …

  Jay and Sasuke readied themselves but the ninjas jumped above them, each tossing Kunais that went way off target … where were they aiming ?!

  Jay's sharp cry and motion made Sakura snap at attention …

  [Jay] - THE CLIENT ! -

  Jay tossed a shuriken that exploded mid air, pushing away the projectiles that were going for Tazuna, who was still frozen in fear on top of the cart … somehow the mule was quietly waiting for the chaos to stop …

  Sakura felt another pit in her stomach, they forgot about the client …

  Sasuke didn't miss the opportunity with the airborne opponents, focusing chakra on his lungs, Sasuke released the Jutsu that was a signature for any Uchiha … the Fireball …

  A gout of chakra imbued flames bloomed up and engulfed the enemies for a moment … an explosion of steam told them that they were able to protect themselves with a water jutsu …

  But with their vision impaired by the curtain of steam, Sakura and Jay saw the opportunity …

  Jay dashed inside going on the offensive, a spear emerging out of a plume of smoke, Jay simply thrusted into the steam curtain, hoping to hit something …

  A grunt of pain told him he was successful … but clawed gauntlets snapped out of the steam curtain breaking the spear before Jay could do much else …

  The team turned their motions and retreated farther, surrounding Tazuna and getting ready …

  [Jay] - Give me a opening … -

  Jay said, taking a kunai and striking a pose . . His chakra flowing in a familiar motion that they knew after training together … Sakura and Sasuke already saw what that was …

  The steam cloud was already dissipating when the enemies burst out of it, tossing shurikens in their direction to cover their advance …

  Sakura tossed her Kunai to intercept one of the projectiles while she finished the handseals for another genjutsu …

  Sasuke did the same, using his sharingan and dumping way more chakra then needed to shortcut the need for handseals in his genjutsu …

  Their enemies stumbled for a moment, but as Itachi and Kakashi always told them, a moment was a moment too much …

  Sakura and Sasuke felt the air around them be displaced by Jay's lightning clone jutsu … the clone cost a lot of chakra and lasted for a single second if that … but on that single second, the clone moved with the swiftness of lighting …

  Sakura could only see a blur, but thanks to hers and Sasuke's genjutsu, the enemies failed to perceive the build up of chakra on Jay … and in that moment that the genjutsu brought … Jay's spawned two lightning clones, each with a Kunai in hands, each hammered a Kunai into the eye of one of the enemies up to the hilt before dispelling, leaving a scorching and very fatal wound on the enemies …

  They spent a few extra moments just there, looking …

  Sakura felt bile raising up her throat as the adrenaline crashed down … but before her anxiety could settle …

  [Jay] - Well … that happened … Is everyone good ? -

  Jay's nonchalant question and relaxed demeanor immediately made Sakura angry …

  [Sakura] - You … you … you IDIOT … -

  Sakura was huffing as her hands trembled … She spared a look at Sasuke who was still watching the bodies, his Sharingan locked in place as he appeared to be stuck …

  [Sakura] - Sasuke-kun ? -

  Sakura put a hand on his shoulder which was enough to break the spell he was in …

  Sasuke turned to her, his blood red eyes were still mesmerizing to Sakura …

  [Sasuke] - Hmm … yes, we are good … good job Sakura, you were amazing … -

  Sakura felt warm spreading to her cheeks at Sasuke's compliment … but her moment was broken by Jay …

  [Jay] - If the lovebirds are done, we have bodies to loot and Kakashi sensei to find … I just confirmed that what we saw were his remains were instead wood, probably from a standard konoha log … -

  Sakura huffed and Sasuke grunted before a few claps sounded out from behind the cart, making Tazuna give a strangled cry as Kakashi revealed himself to be right there …

  [Kakashi] - Magnificent job my cute little genins, you dealt with those bandits splendidly … that's what I would say if those two were simple bandits, but from their combat prowess I would say they were chunins and this is a bit too much for a C rank mission … especially since those two were clearly after Tazuna and not the cargo, as they didn't retreat after my cute little genins showed a lot more resistance then they planned for … so tell me Tazuna-san, is there someone after you ? Because this was supposed to be a C rank mission and while unexpected circumstances happen, this looked a little bit too planned for my tastes … -

  Sakura felt a shiver in her spine when her sensei’s chakra engulfed them, there was an almost overwhelming sensation of dread in the air … and Sakura knew she wasn't even the focus of Kakashi's attention …

  Tazuna didn't fare much better, the old man broke down in tears of fear and a plea for help …

  Apparently, this mission was a little bit more important than what he told Konoha's administrative staff …