*Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto, nor any characters in it, but if you work for the people who make the Naruto series and like whatever the hell it is I'm doing, please give me a job as the one I'm at sucks terribly and my boss is a slave driver who makes me work the day after Christmas, on federal holidays, and overtime without any pay.... Thank you....
A harsh wind blew across the plains, brushing the blades of grass that reflected in the moonlight. Standing at the edge of the forest was a dark figure whose clothes whipped in the wind as it passed. As the breeze swept back his hair, it revealed eyes that seemed to glow with rage. Sasuke gritted his teeth. Unsheathing his sword, he slashed a leaf caught in the breeze, slicing it in two.
Lowering his sword, Sasuke clenched his hand into a fist.
"….Uchiha…Itachi…."
Sasuke was enraged. Even after all this time, the distance between Itachi and himself seemed to have barely shortened. All of his hard work and training seemed to have gotten him no closer to his revenge, and the memory of his last battle seared into his mind like a brand. Infuriated, Sasuke sheathed his sword and looked out over the plains.
As Sasuke stood there in silence, his expression soon changed into a slight grin. Smiling to himself, Sasuke then turned to walk away, his dark figure dissipating into the shadow of the trees.
As the sun rose over the eastern horizon, the tips of its rays had just reached the faces of the Hokages that were carved into the high stone cliffs surrounding Konoha. The air was crisp with the morning dew as the early dawn cast a blue glow over the quiet streets. Barely a soul was awake as only a few old folks made their morning walks through the village. A shopkeeper opened his doors and moved slowly around the bins that would soon be filled with vegetables. As he did so, he waved to an old man who passed by, knowing that he'd be back in half an hour to buy his groceries.
Although the shadows were chilled and the streets were quiet, the Konoha Medical facility was already up and preparing for their patients. As Sakura walked down the tiled floors of the infirmary, she could hear the voices of nurses in the distance, giggling with the morning gossip. Sakura's footsteps echoed softly as she made her way through the corridor. Walking slowly along, she crossed in and out of the shadows before stopping in front of an open window. Staring out at the sky, she hugged her clipboard to her chest.
It had been a month since she had last seen Itachi. On Tsunade's orders, Sakura was to remain in Konoha to fully recover from her injuries. She did not think that it was such a good thing though. The more she was left to do nothing, the easier it was for the pain of her loss to seep into her heart as she was allowed to dwell on Itachi. Reaching down to grab her blouse, Sakura pulled it up to pass her hand over her stomach where a bruise in the shape of a handprint once lay. The absence of the bruise reminded her of her last adventure, and it made her feel lonely.
Just as the handprint had slowly begun to fade, so too was Sakura's memory of Itachi. With each passing day, Sakura found it more and more difficult to remember the tiny details that she loved so much about Itachi. The curves of his face, the smell of his chest, the feel of him lying next to her, all of these things that she made a point to remember each day were slowly beginning to vanish. Closing her eyes, Sakura tried hard to draw in her mind the shape of his eyes, and the way it would soften only when he looked at her.
Holding up her hand, Sakura looked at it. She tried hard to remember the size of Itachi's hand compared to hers. Squeezing it into a fist, she bit her lip and her eyes began to tear. After all this time, it still hurt just as much as the first day without him, and now she was left to slowly lose her grip on him like this. It felt like she was wasting away in Konoha, unable to live since she had left Itachi's side.
Putting her hand back down, Sakura took a deep breath and calmed herself. She knew that with time she would heal, and acknowledged that this was a choice that they both had made. Collecting her thoughts, she looked back out the window, only to find that there was a face on the other side staring back at her.
"Sakura-chan…" said Naruto, waving at her with a smile.
"Oi, Naruto? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Tsunade-obaachan wants me to come in for a check-up. Something about 'one cannot sustain life on ramen alone' or something like that."
Sakura giggled. She was happy to see him.
Ever since they had returned to Konoha, Naruto had never failed to visit Sakura every day. As she listened to him going on about how he didn't need any other nourishment aside from ramen, she smiled to herself as she knew he would visit her again. She knew in her heart that he did not consider this encounter as his visit.
"Well, I have to go see her now. I'll catch you later, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he climbed through the window.
Smiling, Sakura waved at Naruto before turning around to walk back down the hall.
"Oh! Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto after her. "Did you want to come to the Sakura Festival? I'm meeting up with Kiba and everyone else over there!"
"Mmmmm….Hai! I'll see you there, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto smiled and watched her as she walked away. Turning down one of the other hallways, he looked around at the signs outside the door.
"A-7….A-7…. Ah, here it is…."
Pushing open the door, Naruto peeked in.
"Ano….."
"Ah! Naruto! You're late, come in!" barked Tsunade who sat on a stool.
Naruto walked over and hopped onto a gurney. As he sat there waiting for Tsunade as she ran her eyes over his medical chart, he lightly tapped his feet on the base of the bed.
Tsunade got up and began examining him.
"Hmmm….yupp, you're going to die…." said Tsunade as she observed him.
"WHAT!?"
"….of malnutrition if you keep this up…"
"Tsunade-obaachan don't say stuff like that!" yelled Naruto breathing a heavy sigh.
FWAP!!
Tsunade smacked Naruto across the back of his head with her clipboard.
"Quit calling me obaachan!! Now, you are to eat ONE vegetable dish with every meal! That is all…"
As dusk fell upon Konoha, the surrounding forests were lit up with thousands of lights so that the color of the Sakura blossoms mixed with it to create a pretty pink glow. As villagers made their way towards the festival, they could see smoke rising from the trees, indicating where the food tents were located. The smell Yakitori and Takoyaki filled the air. The stream of smoke and smell enveloped the villagers as they approached. Blinking away the haze, they could see that the festival did not fall short of everyone's expectations.
Everyone was dressed for the occasion. Little girls were decorated with colorful kimonos and their hair was decorated with tiny ornaments while the boys wore much less fanciful clothing, but it was necessarily so as they were the ones who darted between the crowds, kicking up dirt as they went. As the sound of joy and laughter filled the air, twilight had struck and the stars above were beginning to appear.
Naruto came upon the spectacle wide-eyed and practically drooling. There were numerous tents housing different varieties of food lined up along both sides of a dirt road. Some tents housed Yakitori and Takoyaki, while others sold Mochi and Dango. Walking towards one of the tents, Naruto marveled at a stand that was selling Onigiri filled with just about everything there was to fill it with, and stacks upon stacks of bentos filled with Teriyaki fish and fried chicken. The smell that was most attractive however, was the smell of Yakisoba being fried and tossed. Naruto, following his nose, made his way directly to the stand and bought a pack. Turning around, Naruto's attention was immediately caught by a new distraction.
Not only were there tents of food and treats, but games galore. Naruto watched a tent that was filled with small giggling children who tried to catch goldfish from a basin using only a net made of paper. One small boy managed to pick up a tiny fish when a roar of applause came from the little hands that surrounded him. As the person handling the stand dumped his tiny goldfish into a bag filled with water, more children flocked to play the game when they saw that it was clearly possible to catch one.
Over at another stand, a little girl was tugging at her daddy's kimono and pointing at the Wagashi stand. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she came within inches from the candies shaped from peaches to flowers to animals of all sorts. As her father pulled out a small pouch of money, he let her pick out her favorite one, a tiny pink pig.
Naruto marveled at the joyous moment but it quickly turned to sadness. He never had anyone buy him treats like this. No one he knew, except for maybe Jiraiya, had ever bought him anything like this.
"Oi! Naruto!" came a voice from behind.
Walking up behind him was Shikamaru and Kiba.
"Wow, you're early," said Naruto, looking back and forth between them.
"I got here early with Chouji. He's already hit the Yakitori stand twice," said Shikamaru with a troublesome sigh.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion.
"Kiba, where's Akamaru?"
Kiba pointed over to the Takoyaki stand. There, Naruto saw that Akamaru stood in line behind Chouji, who was buying three sticks of Takoyaki.
As Naruto watched Akamaru approach the person worker behind the counter, the man smiled.
"Ah! Akamaru! We have your order!" the man shouted in joy.
Reaching behind the counter, the man pulled out a big stick with huge Takoyaki balls skewered on to it. After Akamaru had a firm grip on the stick, the man reached into a pouch that was tied to Akamaru's neck, pulling out some yen to pay for the food.
"WAH!!" yelled Naruto, pointing at the giant balls of Takoyaki.
"No fair…." Mumbled Chouji, eyeing out Akamaru's stick as he went by.
"How!?..." fumbled Naruto.
"Well, Akamaru doesn't always want to eat what I do, so we started this arrangement with the vendors about two festivals ago. Akamaru just goes for the food, they take the money, and he gets what he wants while I go stand in another line. Some, like that guy, prepare especially for Akamaru's big appetite," explained Kiba.
"Wow….."
As the three of them chattered on, Akamaru went and sat on a patch of grass a while away and using his paws to hold the stick, he pulled the balls of Takoyaki off with his mouth. Soon, a small voice was heard from behind the boys.
"Konban-wa," said Hinata meekly.
"Konichi-wa," said Shino.
"Osu!" said Naruto, waving at them. "Wow Hinata, that's a nice purple kimono you're wearing…"
Hinata blushed.
"…..You look pretty rather than what you normally look like…."
FHWAP!!
"OW!!" yelled Naruto. "What was that for!?"
"That's a nice way to put a complement!" barked Kiba.
"What!? What did I do!?"
Kiba shook his head. There was just no helping this one.
As the group waited, it wasn't before long that they heard giggles. Turning, they saw that Sakura and Ino were making their way up the path.
Sakura was wearing a pink kimono whose shade was slightly darker than the color of her hair. The obi that tied around her waist was a yellow gold, and her hair was pinned up in a beautiful bun. The material of her kimono had flowers and trees of the Sakura, dotted with clouds that were lined with gold. Beside her, Ino looked just as lovely. Her blue kimono was tied with a silver obi, making it seem as if she were a reflection of the moonlight. Upon her kimono were chrysanthemums, and cranes that were weaved to be in flight were flanked by silver clouds, a symbol of goodluck to the person who wore it. Coupled together, Sakura and Ino looked as if they were not of this earthly plane.
Naruto had stopped breathing. The sight of Sakura was breathtaking. As he studied every flower and thread that dotted her kimono, he unknowingly let his mouth fall slightly open. To Naruto, even with all the bustling around him, the world had seemed to fall silent, with nothing but Sakura's grace to leave echoing footprints.
"Konichi-wa!" said Sakura and Ino when they spotted the others.
Coming to a stop before Naruto, Sakura looked at the dumbfounded expression upon Naruto's face.
"Uhh…..You look very nice tonight, Sakura-chan…" muttered Naruto after a good pause.
"Arigatou, Naruto-kun," smiled Sakura as she looked up and down at his blue kimono.
"Where's my complement, Naruto?" grinned Ino, knowing the exact reason for Naruto's speechlessness.
"Ah! Komen! You look very pretty as well, Ino!" said Naruto, realizing his obviousness.
"AH!!" gasped Sakura. "Souvenirs!!"
Looping one arm through Ino's and the other through Hinata's, Sakura took off towards a tent that housed a number of eager young girls swarming about the accessories.
Sighing, Shikamaru shook his head. "Girls…."
Soon the girls rejoined them, all of them with little packages full of mementos and accessories.
"Let's go get food and find a spot to sit," said Kiba, directing the pack.
"Okay!" said Ino, slightly shrieking because of the excitement.
When they had all bought the food that they wanted, the group moved deeper into the forest to find a nice spot. Spreading out, they covered more ground so that they could find the perfect location.
As they made their way through the trees, Naruto slipped away to follow Sakura at a distance. Staring at her from afar, he noticed that she had bought a new hairpin from the shop. Looking back and forth, the tiny plastic Sakura strands flickered with the sound of a tiny bell every time Sakura turned her head. At this moment, Naruto never felt more at peace with just being near someone. As he watched her through the trees, Naruto felt that it was she who complemented the Sakura blossoms, and not the other way around.
When the group found a nice spot settle, they spread out a big blanket so that they could enjoy their food. Sharing their food, they each got to sample what the other booths had to offer.
As the girls huddled together, Hinata had a burning question that she was dying to ask.
"Ano…Sakura…" Hinata whispered. "Did Sasuke really hurt you?"
Sakura put down her chopsticks, as did Ino who looked painfully at Sakura.
"Hai….he did," answered Sakura.
"That jerk…." said Ino, sucking on the end of her chopsticks for comfort.
"So…then is what I heard about Itachi true?" asked Hinata more cautiously.
Sakura nodded.
"But, didn't he kill the Uchiha clan?" said Hinata, knowing perfectly well that he did, but trying to get Sakura to tell her reasoning.
"…He did…" said Sakura. "But….while I was with him, things were very different. He was kind and gentle to me. The way his eyes looked at everyone else was very different compared to whenever he looked at me…. I do not know what made him kill his family, but what I do know is that what I felt for him was real, and what he felt for me was real. At the time, I felt it was the right thing to do. I have no regrets, and I was confident in my decision…."
"Well….whatever your decision is, know that we are behind you," said Ino, smiling to Sakura.
Hinata also smiled and nodded.
"Arigatou…" said Sakura, sighing a deep sigh. Looking back and forth between them, she was glad to have friends like them.
"Hey, let's play hide and seek!" said Kiba suddenly.
"Hide and seek!? We're chuunin!" coughed Ino, nearly choking on her Yakisoba.
"Exactly, that's what would make it interesting," responded Kiba. "We haven't worked with each other for a long time, so it'd be nice to see what we've all got hiding up our sleeves."
"Yeah!" shouted Naruto, his mouth stuffed with rice.
The others simply smiled at the idea.
"Alright! Let's go!" shouted Kiba, jumping up.
"NO BUGS!!" said Kiba, pointing at Shino.
"NO SHADOW MIMICRY!!" shouted Naruto, pointing at Shikamaru.
"Hai, hai…." said Shikamaru, looking slightly into it. "But no using Akamaru either, Kiba."
"Fine, it's settled."
After doing a little game to determine who would be "it," they decided that Shino would be the first person who was out.
Taking off in all directions, the thrill of the chase was all the more exciting now that they were chuunin. However, Shino is a very cunning opponent, and it was not long before they were caught. All except for one: Shikamaru.
"Go Shika!!" yelled Ino.
Damn, how did it end up like this, thought Shikamaru who was hiding in a tree. I should have just given up at the start and save me the trouble….
"Shikamaru…you have been found…" said Shino from a branch above.
"Wow, how did you find me?" asked Shikamaru.
"There was a disturbance in the bugs on this tree."
"Go figure… so who's next!" yelled Shikamaru to the others.
"I'll go!" said Sakura, totally into it now.
The group dispersed yet again, and Sakura leaned her arm against a tree and began to count.
"…san…ni…ichi….Ready or not, here I ……"
Sakura had turned around. Standing right before her was a man. At first she saw a bare chest clothed over with a white gi. His pants were black, and wrapped around his waist was a purple rope.
Sakura stopped breathing. She had seen this outfit before. Freezing, the only sound that could be heard was the wind brushing through the branches above. Slowly looking up, Sakura found Sasuke's eyes red with rage as he stared back at her.
"Start running…" said Sasuke.
Sakura dashed to the side and began to run away as fast as she could.
"NARUTO!!" she shrieked.
"SAKURA!?" yelled Naruto, stunned by the sudden fear in her voice.
Taking off in the direction that her voice came from, Naruto's heart raced as he had never heard fear in her voice like that before. He felt a cold chill run down his spine and his heart told him that something was very wrong. As dodged between the trees, he was soon joined by Shikamaru.
"Naruto! What happened!" asked Shikamaru, pulling kunai from his kimono.
"I don't know…." said Naruto. The thought of not knowing drove him insane.
Soon the others were by their side, and as they neared the spot where they heard Sakura's scream, they came upon her running away from someone.
"Sasuke!" gasped Naruto.
Everybody came to a hault. The shock of seeing Sasuke again had stopped them in their tracks, and as Sasuke laid eyes on them, he too came to a pause.
"SASUKE!!" yelled Naruto, immediately charging straight at Sasuke with a kunai in his hand.
Sasuke within a second, drew his sword to meet Naruto's blade so that they locked. The others finally snapped out of the trance and began to move.
Shikamaru sent his shadow to try and restrain Sasuke. However, being to quick, Sasuke sent out a full body chidori to shock Naruto as he dodged Shikamaru's attack. Dashing towards Sakura, he met Ino in his path. Hesitating because it was Sasuke, Ino soon found his arm wrapped around her waist, slamming her through a tree. The explosion sent a puff of smoke and electricity towering into the sky. It was a wonder that no other shinobi had joined the fight by this point.
Shino sent a swarm of bugs at Sasuke, but his full body chidori took them all out in one sweep. Kiba and Akamaru were quick to join the fight as they transformed to send devastatingly powerful attacks at the enemy. However, Sasuke's sharingan was much too quick for the duo, and they were sooner on their backs than making any hits.
As Chouji sent his meat tank to Sasuke, the electric current that went up Sasuke's blade was enough to dispel the attack and it seemed as if Sasuke was the perfect weapon. Hinata's attacks were fruitless. Her need to get within range made her a disadvantaged opponent, and while Naruto and Shikamaru did what they could to make a solid blow, they too were blown back as Sasuke fearsome speed took them out.
As they all got up from their falls, it was too late. Sasuke had knocked Sakura down, sending her skidding across the forest floor to end up right before them. Wavering, Sakura stood up to face Sasuke, but before she knew it he was behind her grabbing her hair. Stepping on the back of her knee, he made her kneel in front of them.
"Naruto…." said Sasuke, his voice full of malice. "There's a message I want you to give to Itachi….I am going to kill Sakura." With that, Sasuke stabbed the tip of his sword straight into Sakura's shoulder and sent a chidori through the blade.
Sakura screamed and writhed with pain. When the electrical current subsided, she went limp. Grabbing her around the waist, Sasuke picked her up and began to make away with her.
"SAKURA!!" screamed Naruto.
Anyone who was left standing chased after them. Even though every muscle in their body ached from the electric shock, they mustered whatever strength they had left to not lose sight of Sakura.
The fight left them feeling as if it was futile. Every time they got near Sasuke, he was quick to repel them with his chidori. It almost seemed pointless to even follow him, but they stayed close, trying to think of a way to get Sakura back.
Suddenly, Naruto did something that they had never seen before. As he stared intently at Sakura in Sasuke's grasp, he managed to pull together a rasengan using a single hand. As the rasengan swelled Naruto picked up the pace, and soon he began to close the gap between him and Sasuke. Sasuke, grinning at the sad attempt, knew that Naruto wasn't quick enough to make it a hit. However, that's not what the rasengan was for.
As Naruto closed in on him, Sasuke sent bolts of electricity back at Naruto, who in turn used his rasengan to attract the electricity and wrap it around his rasengan. The point of the rasengan was not to strike Sasuke, but rather to quell his attacks to get close. Absorbing the electricity, it sparked around the rasengan, finally bringing Naruto close enough to touch Sasuke with it.
Lunging forward, Naruto shoved the rasengan into Sasuke, coming in at him at an angle that forced him to release Sakura. Grabbing Sakura's arm, Naruto yanked her into him and immediately let the rasengan dissipate to get a hold of her better and retreat. The others who followed closely were prepped for the defense.
As Naruto managed to escape the line of fire, Sasuke found himself at a loss. The amount of time that it was taking him to accomplish his mission was bothering him. Other shinobi would soon join the fight, and it would be highly unlikely that he could get away then. As the others fought valiantly against Sasuke, they were still no match for his speed, and as things began to take a turn for the worst, a new hope reigned in.
"KONOHA SENPUU!!"
Lee's amazing kick struck Sasuke's cheek, sending him straight into a tree. At last, here was someone who could match, if not surpass, Sasuke in speed.
As the other's gasped for air, Neji suddenly appeared with TenTen behind him.
"ANBU are on their way. As a priority, we had to evacuate the villagers for safe measure. When we saw the electricity shooting into the sky, Hokage-sama suspected that Orochimaru might be back," explained Neji.
"I WILL DEFEAT YOU WITH MY LOVE!!" screamed Lee, ripping a Sakura tree out of the ground and swinging at Sasuke to battle his chidori.
As the fight raged on, Sasuke began to realize that his goal was slipping. Being that reinforcements had joined and ANBU were now on their way, Sasuke took it upon himself to take his leave. Slicing at Lee with his sword, he forced Lee to look away just for a second, but long enough for Sasuke to make his escape.
"Let him go," said Neji, the only jounin of their group. "The battle is now pointless."
"Sakura-chan…." said Naruto holding her limp body in his arms.
"MY LOVE!!" shrieked Lee.
In desperation, Lee quickly picked up Sakura along with Naruto, and whisked both of them away to the hospital.
Over by a tree that had been blasted down, Chouji gently picked Ino out of the rubble and began making his way to the hospital after the others.
Shikamaru took deep breath and stood back to look at the destruction around them. He could not believe that after all this time one of their cherished comrades could do something like this, and he marveled at how easy it was for Sasuke to defeat them. In that short amount of time, Sasuke had grown to become a most fearsome enemy.
"Well," said Shikamaru scratching his head. "I expect Hokage-same will want a report…"
