Shurikens and Summer Strawberries
By: Sakasana
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! This is just a fanfic
The trees moved simultaneously to the soft whistling of the wind. There were splotches of shade covering the dark green grass. From here, the heads of the previous Hokages were barely visible. The day was warm, bright, and perfect for lying down and looking at clouds.
A dark black haired boy was lying down in the shade. His head was slightly leaning against a tree, but he could feel the spiky grass tickling his neck. Spots of light were gleaming through the leaves, and he could feel tiny, warm rays of sunlight on his face. His sharp eyes were gazing at the clouds. He was deep in thought.
His gaze was broken when a blonde haired boy stuck his head out and blocked his view. The blonde boy wore a sheepish grin and his feet seemed to be stuck on the trunk of the tree. "Hey Sasuke. Why are you here so early?" "Eh, I needed fresh air," he replied. He didn't enjoy telling people his reasons.
Naruto jumped off the stump and leaned against the tree with one leg close to his chest, and the other leg stretched out. "Man. Kakashi-sensei is always late. He should be more punctual. Hey Sasuke, after the mission, we should make Kakashi-sensei buy us ramen for always being late!" "That's all you ever think about," replied the dark haired boy. Naruto was going to start another quarrel, but then Sakura was coming their way.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he was waving his arms furiously. Sakura waved back with a friendly smile. She was glad she had a friend like Naruto. He always comforted her. But her smile slowly faded when the other boy did not greet her or even glance at her. "Ohio, Sasuke-kun" Sakura greeted him. He only gave a nod of recognition.
She sat down between the two boys. She was hugging her knees and staring at the clouds. Sasuke stole a quick glance at Sakura. Her short pink hair was flowing with the soft breeze like soft flower pedals. Her soft green eyes were like Jade.
Why the hell am I staring at her? He quickly looked back to the scenery. "Hey, Hey, Sakura-chan. We should make Kakashi-sensei buy some ramen after the mission. What do you think?" Naruto asked in his eager voice. "Naruto, that's all you ever talk about," she replied with a sigh.
"Sorry, sorry, you guys. A black cat crossed my path and.." Naruto and Sakura both simultaneously screamed, "LIAR!" "Now you have to buy us ramen after the mission Kakashi-sensei."
"Hm…alright then. I'll take you three out for ramen." "Yahoo!" yelled Naruto. Kakashi cleared his voice and said, "Our mission today is to help an elderly women pick out apples from her apple orchard." "Eh!" said Naruto in his whiny voice. "But Kakashi-sensei, how come our missions have been really stupid!"
Sasuke was silent, but he agreed with Naruto. These missions weren't preparing him for what was to come. "You have no say Naruto. You will perform the missions that are given to you." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted.
The walking distance was not far. When they finally arrived, they saw acres and acres of apple trees. All the trees were tall and filled with apples. The apples were candy color red and looked like overgrown cherries.
Everyone but Kakashi was startled. Kakashi faced them and explained the mission. "This is a training mission. You will be using ninja techniques to obtain the apples. All the apples should be ripe so get all of them. You may use shurikens and kunais to get the apples. However, you may not damage any of the apples. Remember this is a training mission. This mission will help improve your skills"
"Alright! Lets do this!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically. "Kage-bunshin no jitsu!" 8 more Narutos appeared out of the cloud of smoke. Each one climbed onto a different tree with a kunai and began dropping the apples into the basket. Sasuke used his sharingan to locate each and every one of the apples. He tied string on his shurikens, and he threw the shurikens to cut the apple stems. His arms moved swiftly to maneuver the shurikens. Sakura used what she learned from the tree climbing exercise to reach the apples, and used her shuriken throwing accuracy to cut the apples from the trees.
As the genin were collecting the apples, the sensei was on a sturdy tree branch. His back was leaning against the tree, and his silver hair was covering his eye. His orange booklet was half-opened on his stomach. His left leg was hanging off the branch. He was lying there asleep.
5 hours have passed and they were almost done. Thank God we're almost done. Sakura thought. As she took out her knife to cut the last apple on the tree, from the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke. His Navy blue shirt was slightly damp from his hard work, and his forehead glistened with sweat. His body moved gracefully. Her cheeks showed a slight shade of red. But as she was staring, a bird swooped in front of her, causing Sakura to lose her balance.
O shit! My feet can't reach the tree. I'm going to fall! She dropped her apple and covered her head with her arms, preparing for contact.
Right then, Sasuke jumped off from where he was standing and caught Sakura. He held her close and then turned his back toward the ground, prepared for impact. His back slid across the rocky dirt and hit a tree. Leaves began falling down from the strong impact of the crash.
Sakura's eyes were closed shut, but then she opened them when she felt her hands on something hard and warm. She saw her hands touching Sasuke's chest. She looked up and saw Sasuke's face.
Sasuke was holding her waist, and his arm was securely on her back. He felt her warm soft legs slowly riding up his own legs. He opened his eyes and saw Sakura in his arms, blushing. He felt her small, gentle hands on his chest. Sasuke was not aware that he was holding onto her for so long until Sakura turned 5 shades of red.
He collected his thoughts and helped Sakura up. She brushed the dirt from her dress and said, "Thanks Sasuke-kun" her voice slowly turned into a whisper when she saw him leave without a word. And the apple slowly swayed on the ground.