Snitch [Naruto]

[08] An Idea.

[Unedited]

When the clone dispersed, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stood there, absolutely bewildered. Find her? What was this, a game of hide and seek? It was absurd.

"Ha, this'll be easy!" Naruto boasted and made the Kage Bunshin hand sign, a smirk growing on his whiskered face.

But when he tried to make the clones, he faltered, the exhaustion from the fight  probably getting to him. Naruto tried once again and was only able to make about five successful clones, but that just wasn't enough for him.

"Naruto! Don't wear yourself out, idiot! Let's just do what [name]-sensei said and use teamwork." Sakura snapped, her jade green eyes glaring at the blonde haired boy in annoyance.

Naruto smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a dirt-covered hand, "Heh, yeah, sure.."

Sasuke 'hn'ed and cooly crossed his arms, the breeze blowing his black bangs away from his pale cheeks for only a few seconds. Sakura's eyes sparkled with awe at his handsomeness, the butterflies in her stomach going crazy over the Uchiha.

Naruto scoffed at Sasuke's show of prettiness and crossed his arms, turning in the other direction begrudgingly.

This was going to be a long four hours.

• • •

[name] shuffled through the papers in the cream colored folder, carefully skimming through her information and setting aside the pages of her past she was willing to share. She knew the three members of Team Seven would be looking for ways to find her, and if they were going to do that, they needed to actually find out more about her. So with the Hokage's permission, she was able to obtain her files and do what she wishes with it.

There weren't many files in her record to begin with, so picking out ones that didn't reveal too much was a bit difficult. So far she had a portfolio that listed all of her basic features; height, weight, birth date and place, parents/relatives, etc., a little biography written up by the Kage himeself, and four S-rank mission reports selected from the lot of twenty.

She neatly slipped the papers back into the folder and gently folded the ones that she wasn't going to use, and slipped it all under her arm. She jumped rooftops until she reached the Hokage Tower, entering the building and heading towards the Hokage's office. She knocked respectively before entering, peering into the fluorescent lit room and seeing the Hokage sitting there and working on paperwork.

He looked up from his work and smiled when he saw [name], a kind gleam in his eyes as he put his pen down.

"Hello, [name]. How was the exam?" He queried curiously, clasping his hands together politely.

"It did not go as planned." She replied, a slight frown on her face.

The Hokage nodded understandingly; he had expected that much. He didn't ask any more questions, as he knew what she was there for, and simply went back to doing whatever it is that Hokages do.

[name] walked over to a filing cabinet that held all of the files of prisoners that currently resided in Konohagakure's massive prison. She technically wasn't supposed to be running around freely, but she definitely wasn't a prisoner either. She didn't question the location that her files were to be found and continued on with what she was doing.

[name] saluted to the Hokage and let herself out the door, a slight smile on her face. The deed was done and now she could relax in her self-proclaimed hiding spot. The timer was set for four hours and if they failed to find her, then they could kiss their chances of being ninjas goodbye.

• • •

"Ouch! Sakura-chan.."

"Usurakontachi."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

This was still going nowhere very fast.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had yet to figure out a way to find something, anything to help with the discovery of [Name]'s hiding place. It's not like they've known her for a couple of years or whatever, and she was from another village for crying out loud! It was like trying to find the green apple in a pile of some other green apples.

Sakura sighed and crossed her arms; if they weren't going to come up with something, she would have to.

"Let's find out more about [name]-sensei. We hardly know anything about her, so maybe we could go ask the Hokage to pull up a file or two?" Sakura suggested intelligently, almost seeming mature for once.

Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but he liked her idea.

"Good idea, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing a thumbs-up her way.

She ignored Naruto and looked towards Sasuke for approval, and he just nodded in silent agreement. Sakura squeaked in happiness, mentally noting that coming up with good ideas was what got Sasuke's attention.

The raven-haired boy began to walk towards the Hokage Tower, his usual stoic look on his face.

"Hey, hey! Do you think [Name]-sensei is more interesting than she seems?" Naruto asked, beaming at the pink-haired girl eagerly while he awaited her response.

Sakura simply rolled her eyes and began to walk off, not bothering to wait for the boy. Naruto deflated and stood there for a moment, staring at Sakura's retreating form with a sad pout. Not long after, he followed his two teammates, a lingering trail of rejection  floating behind him.

He'd try to get her attention another time.