Something about Sasuke attracted her. In fact, it attracted almost every girl in Konoha. Perhaps it was the intense, dark look in his eyes, or maybe the "devil-may-cry" attitude he treated everyone with. He was talented, smart, and cool. Whatever it was about him that enamored so many girls, he was nonetheless swarmed by them. He often had difficulty going home through the thick throng of girls, praying for him to even breathe within a five mile radius from her. Sakura wasn't bothered by any of these girls. Sure, they were after the same boy she was infatuated with. They were just fan girls, she assured herself. No competition at all. All the other girls simply admired him as a celebrity, star struck by his fame, especially since he was the last surviving Uchiha. She couldn't feel threatened by the masses, because she had what they didn't. Love. Pure, honest-to-goodness love. Every morning, she nearly skipped to the Academy, thrilled to see her dear Sasuke's face. Sometimes, she was brave enough to speak over the sound of her pounding heart to greet him, and he would look at her—straight into her soul—and greet her as well. Every day of the Academy was pure bliss, as long as Sasuke was there. And he always was. She would expect nothing less of the top rookie of the year.
Her only problem was Ino. The confident blond infuriated Sakura to no end. Ino had the uncanny ability to appear just when Sakura thought she might get to talk to Sasuke, one-on-one, and then the mood would die. However, Sakura saw it as more of a test of time, than an actual competition. To put it nicely, Ino was completely boy-crazy, while Sakura had eyes for one person. Sakura loved Sasuke more than anything, and a small crush never won in the face of true love. So she took the brunt of Ino's attacks in her former best friend's attempt to sway Sasuke, and fought just as fiercely. Sakura absolutely refused to let Ino mislead her love, even for a second. She vowed to protect his heart, never stopping once to wonder if he wanted her to protect it. When Sakura was put on a team with Sasuke, she felt as if she were rising from the Earth; and right into Heaven. Even if she was also on a team with Naruto. That hyper-active boy just didn't know when to quit. He always picked fights with Sasuke, and he always lost. Sakura just couldn't understand the hatred Naruto felt of Sasuke. They were always fighting over something.
Just like they were as they waiting for Kakashi-sensei that morning.
"Let's go, Sasuke! I'm going to pound you into the dust!" Naruto boasted proudly, making Sakura roll her eyes. Where did he get all that false confidence from, when he always lost?
"Like you did the last time we fought? Face it, idiot, you're never going to beat me," Sasuke replied, standing in a relaxed stance, his arms crossed casually. He glanced over at Sakura and gave her a smirk that said, 'This idiot is hopeless'. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and nodded a little too vigorously.
Naruto pointed at Sasuke aggressively. "Watch it! I'm going to wipe that smirk right off your face! Believe it!" he vowed, using his trademark phrase.
Sakura sighed loudly. "Oh, come off it, Naruto. You know you can't beat Sasuke. He's simply too good," she said fondly, looking over at Sasuke as she spoke. He wasn't looking at her, however, and she felt her heart drop a little in disappointment. She was hoping he'd give her another glance. Just one more.
"Sakura!" Naruto whined. "What's so good about this jerk? He's not that strong! He just got lucky because he was born with a stupid advantage!"
Sasuke smirked. "I don't have to use my Sharingan to beat you anyway. I could do that with one hand tied behind my back. Idiot." He gave Sakura another glance, nearly causing her to faint in happiness.
Naruto lost his temper. "I'll destroy you! Believe it!" he declared, and shot off like a bullet in Sasuke's direction. Whatever Sakura though about Naruto, she had to admit he was fast. She was sure that he could tear a person apart with his speed alone. Not Sasuke of course! Sasuke leapt into the air as Naruto came at him, and swung his foot hard to Naruto's chin once the distance closed. Naruto flew into the air, flipping in a way that would make a professional gymnast cry with envy, and sprawled on the ground. Even half-winded, he still managed to get to his feet (perseverance was another one of Naruto's qualities that left Sakura in awe of him, even if she did think he was a stubborn idiot).
"Guys, will you stop it already? This is stupid!" Sakura called out to them. They were probably going on a mission today, and they would be too tired to be of any use if she let them fight as they usually did.
They paid her no heed, and were about to go at it again when Kakashi finally made his grand appearance.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, there was this pretty girl struggling with a heavy box, and, as a gentleman, I was obligated to help her," Kakashi explained in one of his famous excuses.
"Gentleman, my ass," Sakura muttered under her breath.
"What was that, Sakura? I couldn't quite hear you," Kakashi asked, cupping his ear with one hand.
She forced herself to smile. "Nothing at all, Kakashi-sensei!" she said, her voice dripping with sarcastic sweetness.
"You're always late, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, pointing at their tardy teacher to punctuate his statement. Sasuke remained silent, like he always did.
Kakashi decided to ignore Naruto's accusation and Sakura's sarcasm. "I thought you three would be excited today, since we're going on another escort mission," he informed them.
The three of them tensed just a little, Sakura most of all. "Another escort mission?" she asked, as if she couldn't quite believe it. A small tremor ran through her body as she remembered how Sasuke had nearly died, and how she was so useless every time they encountered an enemy. She didn't think she could handle another mission like that. Sasuke gave her a strange look that she couldn't quite read. It seemed almost… Excited and eager, but not in any way that she could think of. The look frightened her a little, but she shook it off. Sasuke was probably just excited about the mission, with none of Sakura's reservations.
"Don't worry; it's not going to be like the last one. We did some extensive background check, and assessed the importance of the person in question. It's just a child who came to visit his father in the village, who is a ninja. His father had to go on a mission before the boy could go home, so we're going to make sure nothing happens on his way home," Kakashi assured them.
Naruto groaned. "Aw, that's so boring!" he whined.
Sakura punched his in the head. "Shut up, you idiot! I, for one, don't want to go on any more 'exciting' missions for a long while!" she said. Sasuke gave her another look.
"That's probably because you're weak," Sasuke told her. His cold words froze her blood and her heart stopped. Weak? She knew she wasn't strong, and she was almost useless in the field, but somehow, hearing the love of her life say those cruel truths hurt worse than her self-realization. She looked away from him, fighting back the tears stinging her eyes.
"What the heck, teme? Why did you say that to Sakura?" Naruto jumped to her defense. His quick response embarrassed her even more than being called weak by her crush did.
Sasuke made a noise that sounded like he didn't really care how Sakura felt. "I'm just telling her the truth, so shut up, dobe!" he retorted.
Naruto looked as if he was about to start another fight. "That's no reason to hurt her like that! Sakura is really smart, and nice, and she really cares about you!" he said.
The Uchiha rolled his eyes. "I don't need anyone 'caring for me'," he said. "I need to get stronger, so I can kill that person. Hanging out with weaklings like her isn't helping me."
Sakura wanted to run away, to get away from the hurtful things her beloved Sasuke was saying. Her feet remained rooted to the ground, every muscle in her body tense, as if preparing for a physical attack in addition to Sasuke's verbal one. A small buzzing in her ears blocked out nearly every sound, except for Sasuke's voice. Her head spun, until she thought she would pass out.
Naruto was preparing for another retort in Sakura's defense. Somehow, she found her voice just enough to snap, "Naruto, just shut up! I don't need you to defend me, idiot!"
He immediately fell silent. Sasuke smirked at his cruel victory. Sakura caught her breath and immediately felt sorry for yelling at Naruto. He was just trying to help her, and she was such a bitch to him. Later she would apologize and mend things, but at the moment she focused on not breaking down into a sobbing mess, and giving Sasuke hard evidence of her emotional weakness as well. She needed to stay strong, at least until night fall.
Kakashi gave a short cough to remind the trio that he was still present. "Anyway, we leave in two hours, so make sure you prepare appropriately. The journey will take about a weak there, and then another week back. Pack lightly," he advised.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura forced herself to say. "Why do we need to escort this boy home? Can't he just wait in the village until his father comes back from the mission, and then go home, or his mother picks him up herself?" she asked.
"I don't really know the details," Kakashi admitted, "but I do know that the father is on an extensive mission, and for some reason, the mother is very anxious to have her child home as soon as possible. As for why she can't pick him up herself, I don't know." He shrugged, putting an end to the speculation.
"See you three here in two hours."
Sakura could barely concentrate as she gathered her things. She just couldn't get her mind off of Sasuke's cruel words. Somehow, she needed to get stronger, if only for Sasuke's sake. Every day, she would train, and practice her jutsu, so she could at least be average in Sasuke's eyes. After the escort mission, of course. She needed to save her strength and chakra for protecting the boy from whatever dangers might befall him. Regardless, the mission shouldn't be too tough. The most difficult part would be the fourteen days required to get there and back, plus the amount of time they stayed at the client's house to recover. She frowned. It was strange that they were going so far for a mission that it took seven days to get there. Usually, the longest distances were two days on foot. Wasn't there a hidden village closer to the client? She shrugged it off. Rather than fret over insignificant details, she should be looking forward to spending the next couple weeks with Sasuke. A weight in her heart prevented her from doing so, and she sighed. Maybe things would get better during the mission.
After packing, she went into the kitchen to bid farewell to her parent, a daunting task considering their dispositions. While her father was a ninja, who'd encouraged her to enter the Academy, her mother was a civilian, who was convinced that Sakura would die if they were apart for more than five minutes.
"Bye, mom and dad. I'm off for my mission," she said, entering the room.
Her mother immediately burst into tears and wrapped Sakura in long arms. She felt suffocated with maternal love. "Oh, be careful, Sakura! Come home safely, ok?" she wailed.
Sakura gingerly detached herself from the worried woman. "Don't worry mom, it's just a simple escort mission. No enemy ninjas. It'll just take a while to get there and back. Besides, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei will be there," she reassured her mother.
Her dad fixed her with a stern look. "You be careful and protect yourself from those boys! You don't know how a man will get when he's away from any other women for an extended amount of time!" he said.
Sakura blushed heavily. "Dad! They aren't like that!" she protested. Then she remembered Kakashi-sensei's fixation with Icha Icha Paradise, and silently corrected herself that her sensei might actually be the type of man her father feared, but decided to keep that information to herself.
She decided to get out of the house before her mother (now extra worried because she would be surrounded by only boys for weeks) locked her in her room forever. "I have to go now! I'm going to be late!" she said, and dashed out of the house before either of her parents could protest.
Once a safe distance from her house, Sakura slowed to a walk with a sigh of relief. That scene was worse than when she went on the escort mission with the bridge builder. Then again, it was probably because of that mission that had her mother so worried. She arrived at the entrance gate of the village first. She sighed, and resigned herself to wait until the others showed up.
She didn't have to wait long. Sasuke was the next one to show up, soon after she arrived. She blushed softly, and avoided eyes contact. Even looking away, she could feel his eyes on her. She gulped, feeling awkward and nervous, not knowing quite what to say. Naruto came next, breaking the tension and beginning a comfortable chat with Sakura, who was glad for a reason to ignore Sasuke. Surprisingly, even Kakashi-sensei showed up on time. A small boy of no more than nine followed close behind.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're actually on time!" Naruto pointed out, in a slightly obnoxious voice. Sakura felt ashamed for him and glanced at the boy, who didn't appear offended by Naruto's rude behavior. In fact, the boy seemed to not care about anything. His dark grey eyes held an indifference for the world—the apathetic gaze of an observer. His brown hair was tossed in a careless way and he stood with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.
Kakashi ignored Naruto's comment. "This is our charge, Tamaki. Tamaki, this is Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke," he said, pointing to each of them in turn.
Tamaki looked at each of them without really seeing them. "Hello," he said dully.
"So, are you all ready to leave?" Kakashi asked them, more as a formality than an actual question. When they each gave a small nod, he signaled for the gates to open. "Let's go then."
Sasuke and Naruto walked in front, each wanting to lead, but trying to stay with the rest of the group. Kakashi lagged a little behind, pretending to be oblivious to the world, but at the same time taking in every small detail. Sakura kept pace with Tamaki.
After a few minutes of silence, she tried to make small talk. "So, I heard you were visiting your dad in the village," she began awkwardly.
Tamaki didn't even glance at her. "Yeah," he said evenly.
"Did you enjoy seeing your dad?" she asked. He only shrugged. She felt her heart sink a little as she realized that the conversation was dying fast. She pressed on. "Do you live with your mom most of the time, or your dad?"
This time he looked up at her, with an incredulous look on his face. "My mom of course, what kind of stupid question is that? My dad is a ninja," he said, and then looked away again.
Inside, Sakura was seething, but she forced herself to keep a straight face. She was really beginning to dislike this kid. She didn't think it was a stupid question. Both Sasuke and Naruto were living without parents, so it wouldn't be so farfetched if this kid lived alone some of the time while with his dad. "Is that so?" she said carefully, her voice strained.
"Yeah," he said. She gave up on talking with him.
After a few more minutes of walking in silence, Tamaki looked up at her. She decided to ignore him, but his gaze grew more intense. She looked down at him.
What?" she asked, almost rudely.
"You have pink hair," he observed.
She resisted the urge to answer sarcastically. "Yes it is. And before you ask, it's natural. I don't know how, but it is," she said.
"Pink hair is dumb," he said, and looked ahead again.
She stared at him open-mouthed. "Excuse me?" If she was a cat, she would be hissing, claws extended for a fight.
"I don't really like you," he said, still in that apathetic monotone.
There was really no retort for that. If it was Naruto, she would just punch him, but this was a nine-year-old kid. She decided that she didn't dislike him. She hated him. The escort mission was going to be painful, for at least seven days.
(A/N- Well, that's it for the first chapter. It was going to be much longer, but this seemed like a good place to stop. Until the next chapter!)