She felt the warm dirt between her toes, leaning back turning her face at the sky. She could feel it - the deep rumble in the ground, sending seismic waves all the way up her body. "It's getting closer," she said, not even bothering to open her eyes. Her body shook and not only because of the earthquake. She could feel the back of her thighs touching the damp ground where her dress had risen up. Her long hair glinted in the sunlight, her face scrunched up almost as in pain. "Are you okay?" Naruto said, scratching his hair with one hand. "She's fine, Naruto," Kakashi said, as he sent Sakura a knowing look. "Sakura has a strong earth affinity so she is more in tune with the movements of the tectonic plates - she just feels it more - erhm deeply". Sasuke grunted, and Naruto looked doubtful. "So sort of like when it's really stormy and I just have to go outside and sense the wind on my face?" he said. "Yes," Kakashi said, "sort of like that." Naruto picked up Sakura's hastily discarded sandals and tried to wait patiently. Sasuke stood rigidly as he scanned the surroundings for potential threats.
"Are you ready to move, soon?" Kakashi asked after what looked like Naruto's third attempt to will Sakura to move by thought alone. "Sakura," he repeatedly asked, "are you ready to move? We need to reach Konoha before nightfall." "Yeees," came the slow reply, as she blinked her way back to the surface. Small tremors was still bubbling throughout her body, and the daylight seemed ruthlessly harsh. She felt as though she had just collapsed from running for her life, and she had a hard time catching her breath. When she noticed all three of her teammates looking at her, she felt her face heating up. She hastily stood up and would have landed back on her butt if Kakashi hadn't grabbed her left arm. "Easy there, Sakura, get some blood back in those legs," he said, as his eye crinkled. "Yes, Sensei," she said meekly trying to keep the mortification out of her voice. She could feel her clammy dress clinging to her legs almost as vividly as Sasuke's judging eyes but she didn't dare to look at him. "I have your sandals, Sakura-chan," Naruto exclaimed with a huge smile plastered on his face. Sakura didn't answer but she sent him a slight smile in return.