Stripped Bare (kakashiXsakura)

chapter 1

"Hokage-sama, you can't really be serious about assigning her to this job can you? She is unfit for this type of mission and the training to prepare her for such work would take more time than we could afford. With all do respect, I think it would be better to choose someone else."

The honey eyed woman raised a blonde eyebrow in silent admonishment. She understood what he was getting at for she too had felt the same way, but she had gone through the roster time and time again and her conclusion had been the same. There simply was no one else available to take this job. However, she was not expecting such a strong resistance from the man in front of her. Being a former ANBU, he usually took orders without question, trusting his superiors to make the correct choices for the good of the village. Considering her history with Lady Luck, it figured he would pick today of all days to talk back.

"I understand that you're worried Kakashi, but I believe you are underestimating her."

She folded her recently manicured hands and set them on the desk, evenly meeting the gaze of his single dark eye.

"There was a time when you knew her abilities better than anyone, but that time has come and gone. She hasn't been your student for years and I have seen her grow by leaps and bounds in the meantime. Her lack of experience in this field will no doubt make the mission more difficult, but it will by no means make it impossible."

Inexperience? Kakashi wanted to scoff at the statement. Inexperience was putting it mildly. The mission called for a girl well acquainted with the dark world of seduction and lust. His former student clearly didn't match that description.

"Since you request that I accompany the chosen kunoichi, I would feel much more comfortable with a different candidate. The Yamanaka girl or even Ten Ten would fit the profile better."

Tsunade sighed irritably, fighting to keep her cool, Kakashi was being abnormally adverse to the whole situation and she hated to be made to repeat herself. She didn't like the situation any better than he did considering the girl she had chosen was like her own daughter and she couldn't help but feel she was sending her straight into the lion's den.

Earlier that morning she had received a request for a girl between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five to come to the aid of a small club in a province between Wind and Earth Country. That particular area, though excelling in modern technology, was known to lack a consistent form of government and not many missions came from that area, most potential request going to Suna which was closer, or resorting to hiring thugs to solve problems with brute force. However, a successful mission with Leaf shinobi could possibly lead to more of the area's requests going to Konoha, a fact that was too tempting for Tsunade to pass up.

However, this particular mission seemed a little more delicate than the average assassination or attempt at peace keeping. The assignment came from a man in a crime ridden city named Fuzen Machi. Tsunade had even been there a few times considering the hell hole was a gambling hot spot. The man owned a club with exotic dancers and recently, several of his girls had turned up missing, threatening to put him out of business completely. The message had asked that a single girl arrive dressed as a civilian and shadow as an undercover dancer in search of the culprit, using feminine charm and her own body to get the answers she needed from the club's patrons.

If only Anko had been a few years younger, she would have sent her without a second thought, but there was no way the snake summoning kunoichi could pass for the requested age. She agreed Ino would most definitely have been the prime pick, except that she had left on a mission with her team nearly a week ago and wasn't due back for another ten days. Ten Ten too was gone on a simple escort mission with Neji which would last another three or four days. The one assigned would need to leave immediately.