The Five Steps to Falling

The Five Steps to Falling
Chapter One: Tsunade's Request

Determined jade eyes glared at their counterpart, reflected in the mirror atop a young woman's dressing table. Though her countenance remained controlled and stable, the owner of such eyes, Sakura Haruno, was flickering between apprehension and confidence internally. Not ten minutes beforehand, a messenger hawk had arrived, summoning the young kunoichi to her master, Tsunade. It included the instructions to bring all of her gear, medical and combative alike.

This was the first summons Sakura had received after completing her medical training under Tsunade. It could only mean one of two things; Either Sakura was being called upon to work her first official shift at the hospital, or she was being assigned to a team as a medic.

Fear bubbled in the pit of her stomach at the thought of the latter possibility. Sakura knew she could handle whatever medical tribulations that were placed under her capable hands, but being assigned to a team meant, most certainly, battle. Tsunade had also trained Sakura in combat, but the pink-haired youth's track record of fights was laughable at best. To be placed in a hospital with all of her resources an arm's distance away was no challenge. To be placed in an uncontrolled environment with limited resources, and furthermore, limited ways to use such resources... shivers ran down her spine at the thought.

"I can do this," she told her reflection. "I will not be a liability!" She turned from her mirror and fastened her final belt about her waist. Picking up her pack from the bed, she said: "In fact, I will be an asset to the team." With that, she closed her bedroom door and took off in the direction of the Hokage's tower.

~*~

"Kakashi, I feel I don't need to stress how serious this is," Tsunade said, turning and facing the large windows.

"Yes, Lady Hokage. I understand completely."

"Part of me feels that you don't," Tsunade replied, pivoting to look at his shocked eye. "This is more than simply apprehending a dangerous criminal. Sakura's abilities of seduction will be honed to perfection on this mission."

"Do you think that this will not be enough to take Ronin into custody?" Kakashi asked, raising his eyebrow skeptically. "Because I have full confidence that Sakura will not only succeed to seduce Ronin's son, but also to exhibit appropriate force if needed-"

"It is not who we are aiming at that I have qualms about," Tsunade interrupted cryptically. As these words left her mouth, there was knock on the door.

"Enter!" The door boomed open and Sakura entered, panting slightly from the pace she had set on her way to where she stood.

"My lady," Sakura said, and bowed deeply.

"Sakura," Tsunade replied regally, straightening a little in the chair she had just settled herself in. "You are being placed on a mission team."

Excitement and her previous apprehension flooded Sakura's chest. She nodded as Tsunade continued.

"This is Ronin Kurosawa," Tsunade said, holding up a picture of a short, balding man with a sly smile. "He has been running some form of underground crime family. They dealt mostly with drugs beforehand, but recently Ronin and his associates have dipped into kidnapping and theft, and by the means to such a path: murder. The Diamonds of the Sea have been stolen."

Tsunade held up a picture of a beautiful young woman with long black hair that pooled about her feet. She had strange, pupil-less eyes the color of sunlight on water, and about her neck was the largest diamond Sakura had ever seen, on a silver chain that wrapped several times around the female's neck.

"Forgive me, Lady Hokage, but I only see one diamond in this picture."

"That is because the other diamond is the girl. Her name is Daiya Tsuki. She is the daughter of the Sea Country's daimyou. Kakashi will give you the specifics on her bio and history on your journey." She paused for a moment to catch her breath. "Before he was murdered, a Chunin from our village managed to infiltrate the outermost ring of Ronin's crime circle and obtain some information. It appears that in three weeks, Ronin will be throwing the largest celebration that the Sea Country has ever seen put on by a private citizen, all in honor of his son's twenty-first birthday."

"Your mission," Tsunade continued, "is to earn Ronin's son's trust, be invited, on his arm, to this grand celebration, and gain custody of Ronin as discretely as possible."

"Ma'am, how am I supposed to receive this man's invitation?"

"You must seduce him, Sakura." Tsunade sighed, as if she had repeated this one thousand times. "Part of a kunoichi's job is to seduce. It is the easiest way to gain access into elite circles for obtaining information. It is, more often than not, necessary to save lives."

"What if his successful seduction relies on... carnal fulfillment?" Sakura asked, terror raising into her throat. She could not imagine offering her virgin body to a man she hardly knew, let alone the son of hardened criminal, capable of murder.

"You are to complete your mission by any means necessary, sexual favors included. Once you capture Ronin, you will return to your temporary base where an interrogation unit will meet you to gain more information on the kidnapping." Tsunade shuffled her papers into a folder and handed them to Kakashi.

"Kakashi will be your back-up, and for the journey, your guide to learning seduction. He is there to protect you, should you need it. Be advised that both Ronin and his son, Tatsuo are considered among the most dangerous non-ninja in their hemisphere. Exercise great caution. Dismissed."

~*~

Seduction? Seduction? Of all of the skills that Tsunade could have called upon Sakura for, seduction? Why not Ino? Surely Ino, with all of her worldly wisdom that she was constantly trying to impress Sakura with, would know a pinch more about the art of seducing a man. Hell, even TenTen would probably know more about this ridiculousness than Sakura.

Naturally, Sakura had taken the basics of kunoichi education. She knew how to prepare and serve tea. She knew the possible storage combinations of weapons in a form-fitting kimono. She could even arrange flowers to convey different meanings. Sex, however, was something a bit advanced for Academy kunoichi to teach children.

How could Sakura possibly lay still while a man she did not know and did not like tried to have sex with her? Was she even supposed to lay still? What did a woman do-

"SAKURA!"

Kakashi's voice broke through Sakura's internal conflict roughly as the pair walked through the front gate. When she finally looked up at him with fear in her eyes, he paused.

"Don't worry. There are things you can do to a man who abuses his power over you. Surely, you already know pressure points? It's common knowledge-"

"That's not it," Sakura said quietly. How could she explain- to a man nearly twice her age, a man who had once been her teacher, a man who had probably experienced many women's talents -that she had always imagined losing her virginity to someone she loved? To Sasuke-

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, it's probably best to see what information we have on Ronin and Tatsuo." He opened the manilla envelope, and shuffled a small red pamphlet to the back.

"Ronin is fifty-five. There are several nasty, well-publicized murders he has been tried for, and found not guilty for. He likes to appear high in society based on his public appearances and statements. Tatsuo, almost twenty-one, is his only son. There is very little information here, but several pictures. Every picture shows him with a woman with dark hair." Kakashi paused and looked over at Sakura. "We'll have to give you a disguise."

"If by disguise you mean color my hair, no," Sakura said firmly. When Kakashi turned back to argue and to, no doubt, remind Sakura of her duties, the red pamphlet he had previously hidden slipped from the back of the folder. Sakura picked it up to see, in rather bright yellow letters, "Seduction: The Critical Art". What showed of Kakashi's face reddened slightly and he shut the folder, given Sakura silence as she opened the flap to this ludacris instruction manual.