"Hurry up everyone, and remember: be quiet." I vaguely hear my sensei speak a few feet away from me, yet still completely concealed in the darkness. Ever since our break from each-other, our team had grown more independent, but we were still far from not needing our sensei. I briefly hear the sound of footsteps. Sasuke. I realize as I avoid a branch sitting on the ground. His footsteps are lithe and light, whereas Naruto's are swift and forceful.
I reminisce back on how easily Naruto had accepted Sasuke back into our Shinobi family; despite his gut-wrenching betrayal just a few years back. Sure we are all 19 now, but I couldn't help but resent the boy who had tried to kill me and my comrades. Yet I still marvel at his perfectly carved face and elegant posture, but he had avoided me after re-joining the Village Hidden in the Leaves just several months ago. Of course, he had to go through intense sessions to prove his trustworthiness, but apparently he checked out. In the end, I suppose it's not that I resent him, more that I resent the way I feel about him. I can barely look him in the eye without going through the horrors of the past and wondering why I ever let myself be so focused on him to neglect the well-being of others.
Naruto and I had grown closer as we united to find him, until I began training to be a healing ninja. Which is why I was so surprised when Kakashi-sensei told me our Team 7 was regrouping to go on a mission. An A-ranked mission. I had tried to get out of it. Although I try to keep my skills as a Jounin in touch, I had to focus way more on studying for healing and therefore, was still behind my friends in terms of force and power. Yet there was something in the way Kakashi-sensei had asked me. His appearance brought back my fond memories of the team, yet when he came to see me, I could barely speak. A rush goes through me when I see him, like energy flowing through my veins. I couldn't explain it. It had first started happening when Kakashi-sensei saved my life for maybe the thirtieth time, he suddenly became more than just someone I knew. But this isn't the time for reminiscing, I realize as we all hear a rush of air above us.
Our mission was simple. There is a group of rebels hiding out in the forest, waiting for the perfect time to strike the outer wall of the Leaf Village; they are closely associated to Orochimaru. If word gets out that they were attacked, reinforcements would arrive and the village would fall. We ambush, we hit them fast and hard, and then we leave. Timing was the key.
My breath catches in my throat as I hear the rebel ninja alight on a branch high above my head. I don't move or make a sound, not even taking a breath. My hand clenches around my kunai knife strapped to my belt.
Everything is silent for what feels like forever. A low whistle emanates from the branch above me and I let out my breath when I hear the figure glide off again.
I tentatively reach around the tree and get into a more upright position. I manage to move silently over to where I heard Kakashi earlier.
"Kakashi sensei?" I whisper quietly. My heartbeat increases when I don't get an answer. "Kakashi-sensei?" I repeat. Still no answer. "Naruto? Sasuke?" I whip my head around trying to see any sign of them anywhere.
It's about one o'clock in the morning and the dark is thick around me. Humidity stains the air and the towering trees and bushes lurk eerily in the dark. Not a cricket or a toad makes a sound. It's as if the animals are aware of the oncoming disaster. A breeze wafts through the leaves causing them to rustle against each other and it grows yet darker when a cloud passes over the moon.
The only sound I can hear is my own panicked heartbeat in my chest as I turn around and around trying to find where my comrades are. I wince as my foot hits a twig. The breeze stops and it seems like the world just halted. Then I hear them. I can't tell which way their coming from but the unmistakable "clip" of ninja sandals hitting tree bark as rebels are notified of the mistake I just made.
Out of nowhere a hand shoots out of the dark and covers my mouth. I start to scream but shut my mouth immediately recognizing the smell of my sensei as he pulls me behind a tree and slams me into his chest, still covering my mouth. I ignore the rise in body temperature from our proximity as my head rests near his collarbone. Naruto and Sasuke are crouched a couple feet away, Naruto pinned behind a tree and Sasuke hanging upside-down from a branch.
"Be ready." I barely comprehend what my teacher says to me and almost think I misheard him.
There's a faint shuffle as a rebel jumps lightly to the ground beside the tree we're hiding behind. I can just see the first ninja bend down to grab the twig I stepped on when a kunai knife flies out of nowhere striking him in the back with a dull "thud."
Two more ninjas alight on the ground behind their fallen comrade and one starts to cry out; I realize the danger of this and leap out from behind the tree, throwing several shuriken. The rebel dodges quickly and throws some of his own. I duck them lithely and run up the tree beside me. From above, I take in the scene in an instant. Sasuke is taking on one of the others with his sharingan and Naruto and Kakashi have teamed up against the other. I crouch on the branch and feel the cool metal of my kunai blades as I whip them out as I shoot off of the branch. I hurl the knives at the rebel who deftly dodges. When I land on the ground he throws several punches and kicks. I manage to dodge the majority but get one good kick to the chest. I let out a moan when my back hits a tree behind me. I barely dodge the rebel's fist.
I see my opening and round-house kick the rebel as he struggles to regain his balance from his own punch. He flies back into a tree. I silently chant a substitution jitsu and crouch to the ground as my fake rushes at him getting in a couple punches before poofing into dust as a kunai knife hits her midsection. I hear the rebel utter a curse.
I skillfully move so I'm almost behind him when I realize he's chanting something too. I rush at him from behind, shuriken at hand when he turns around and points his fingers at me.
He's gone. I glance around me, adrenaline pulses through my veins as I comprehend my situation and dash behind the nearest tree glancing everywhere around me, expecting him to pop out of nowhere. I utter another substitution jitsu when I hear a rustle from behind me. I jump out from behind the tree only to stop dead in my tracks.
Kakashi-sensei stands in front of me holding his bleeding arm. I gasp at the amount of blood he's already lost.
"Sakura, help?" He asks weakly. I let out a gasp and rush towards him as he topples onto his knees. I generate some of my chakra and put my hands out, then freeze. No blue light appears. My hands are simply hands. No healing power. None. I begin to shake as I draw on more of my chakra, trying hopelessly to create some sort of healing chakra. My eyes go wide as Kakashi-sensei falls onto the ground beside me.
"What is it Sakura? Help." He asks, almost whispering. Something in my mind realizes that this situation is wrong, but my body is too busy hysterically drawing on chakra to generate healing. My breathing becomes too fast and my hands shake uncontrollably.
"Come on Kakashi-sensei!" I yell out. Tears start running out of my eyes unexplainably. My head aches and my breathing is shallow.
Then, at that second, everything changes. In one motion I find myself crouched in the middle of the forest on the ground with my hands out in front of me in the standard healing position. Tears rush down my cheeks and my mouth is hanging open. A kunai knife is embedded in my right arm. I realize that Kakashi-sensei stands in front of me and tosses the body of the man who I was fighting to the ground. He then turns back to me and runs over, kneeling beside me.
"Sakura. It was a simulation, none of it was real." I vaguely hear the sound of his voice as I draw shaking hands up to clench the sides of my face. I attempt to wipe the tears from my eyes but my fingers feel numb. I wince when I realize that Kakashi has grabbed my arm and is speaking urgently but patiently to me.
"Sakura, you need to get this knife out of your arm."
I nod dumbly and reach up and in one swift motion, wrench the knife from my arm. Kakashi's eyes widen. "What the hell are you doing Sakura? You need to remove it carefully; you're going to bleed to death."
I watch, sort of paralyzed as he rummages through his bag before reaching up and running my own hand over my wound, closing it up immediately. Kakashi stares.
"I've learned a method of quick healing, it seals the wound almost immediately; the kunai knife wasn't that deep anyway." I explain and with shaky legs, attempt to stand. Kakashi watches me carefully before standing himself and pulling out some bandages from his bag. He motions for me to follow him and we move up to one of the branches on a tall oak tree. Naruto and Sasuke are waiting on the lookout for more ninja. Kakashi pushes me into a sitting position before gently placing the bandage on my arm and wrapping it around the wound.
I wince as he pulls it tight and lets out a breath. He stashes the bandage back in his pack and speaks.
"I'm sorry I never got to teach you all how to get out of a simulation jitsu. Honestly, there isn't any easy way and it requires months of training. Plus, not many ninjas are skilled in simulation jitsu so I figured it wasn't a necessary skill."
I shake my head at him. "No, it's not necessary, I'm sorry for holding everyone back." I say miserably, I always seem to be the one who needs saving. "I wouldn't-
I'm cut off when Kakashi's hand covers my mouth again. Naruto and Sasuke both stare intently out into the darkness. I too turn to where they're facing.
