Caught in Midair
Yugao
Summary: Some days, you just don't want to be noticed.
Author's Note: Shortly after being inspired by Cyberwolf's fics, among others, I decided to try my hand at SasuTen – a second time. This time, it's a one-shot, no Neji (sorry man, you just get in the way!) and dedicated to the readers of Overcrowded Hallways. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading that! Thanks loads.
Disclaimer: I own neither Sasuke nor Tenten.
She was watching his every move intently, he knew. Every kick, every parry, and even every breath – her eyes were on him and a single movement out of place would be glaringly and painfully obvious. He couldn't afford to make a mistake.
Sasuke rose suddenly from where he was, pushing himself up until it seemed he was suspended in the still, motionless air. From his pouch he pulled eight kunai, masterfully setting them in the notches between his fingers. As he felt himself starting to fall, he turned and released each throwing knife successively, and every time, he perfectly hit each of the eight targets she'd set up.
He fell backward and landed on his feet, skidding a little from the speed of his fall. Those weren't the only targets around though, that much he knew; she'd set up a few a little out of sight to challenge his accuracy and dexterity. She'd even been kind enough to tell him exactly how many there were: seven. And each one was subtly tacked to trees surrounding the clearing, just well out of sight. He smirked.
It was so thoughtful of her.
He ran with lightning speed towards the nearest tree, a kunai at the ready. He kicked, sending him jumping from one tree to another, his eyes darting from here to there, searching for at least one target. Once in his search he chanced a glance at her, saw her smiling at him playfully, a laugh in her warm brown eyes…
And he almost missed it. She was tricky like that.
Luckily, he saw the target before he missed it completely, and threw the kunai with deadly accuracy and split-second speed towards it. It hit home. He looked at her triumphantly, but she was still grinning, knowing there were six more targets he hadn't yet spotted. Ooh, how she infuriated him with that smile of hers. Infuriated him in a way only she knew how.
He jumped up again, in search of a second target. Earlier she had assured him that all the targets she put up there were within a one meter-radius of the clearing outskirts, so all he had to do was be watchful. He kept a sharp eye out for another conspicuous black-and-white target amidst all the greens and browns of the forest. He ignored her as she held a hand to her mouth, suppressing giggles. He'd only just be distracted.
The second target was relatively easy to find, on a low-slinging branch of a tree. He hit it smoothly, easily, and the kunai found its way to the bull's eye. He smirked again at the thought that she had tacked it there to go easy on him or something. He'd show her that he wasn't the kind of person you went easy on.
As he leaped onto a free branch, he could feel himself slipping slightly out of balance. Panicking but not allowing it to show, he cast a nonchalant glance at her from where she was still watching him. She tilted her head knowingly, and her eyes still carried that mischievous look that yelled, "I saw that." But she was silent, at least verbally, as she stood there folding her arms across her chest.
He had to stop himself from heaving a sigh of relief. At least, if she did see his slight lapse in balance, she didn't dare say so. He turned back to the task at hand – there were still five targets he hadn't found yet, and he'd be damned before he'd let her win. His dark eyes scanned the trees around him. They were at most only half a meter apart, which meant that the targets could encircle the first two rows of trees on each side of the clearing.
He moved quickly, examining each tree for a second or two before moving on to the next. He was just about to give up on that certain tree when a flash of white caught his eye. He turned to look; the third target was a few feet below him, close to the ground. Had it fallen, or – no, he discovered, it had been tacked to the roots to catch him off-guard. He sent her a glare, with which she replied with a lighthearted smile. If she was planning to rile him up, she was doing an excellent job.
With a sudden idea he took to the highest branches of the trees, just so he could see practically everything from the bird's eye view. He cast her a sardonic smile, and she paled slightly. His smirk became a genuine smile, and he even chuckled at the priceless look on her face. He knew as well as she did that his idea was pure genius.
Quick, fast-paced movement coupled with lethal accuracy and even more fatal precision let him hit the next three targets in rapid succession. The angles at which the targets were set up varied, but that didn't quite matter when you were Uchiha Sasuke. Whether it was high in the upper boughs, on the tree-trunk, or even lower, he hit them. And there was only one target left unfound.
He was going to win, and she wouldn't be laughing anymore.
His brow furrowed as he passed the last tree within the one meter-radius. But how was that possible? He couldn't have missed any. Clearly there was a mistake. But as he stared back at her curiously she merely shrugged and smiled. No, it was there somewhere. He just had to look harder and outsmart her.
He looked around; back at the trees he just passed. He turned on his heel and started to trace his movement to see if he'd missed any. But no – every target he saw had a kunai driven into the center. He hadn't missed any, but as he counted them: one, two, three, four, five, six. There were seven targets, but he had found only six.
But he wasn't about to let her know she'd won.
"There," he said in a mental whisper. The one place he hadn't checked in his thorough search of the last target – a knothole deep into a tree-trunk. He chanced a look inside it, found the last target, and smirked as he threw the final kunai into the paper bull's eye.
Having found all seven targets, he returned to the clearing where she was waiting, with her hands on her hips. She gave an exasperated sigh. "Well, I guess you win this one. I suppose that means I've got to try harder next time."
He replied with a noncommittal grunt as he subtly tried to approach her. Yet for all his tact, his nervousness suddenly made invisible a root that protruded from the ground. Before he could react, he tripped on it, and he fell face-first into the damp, moist mud, staining not only his clothes but his face and hair as well. He hardly dared get up to see the look on her face.
"Are you all right?" her voice was gentle as she pulled him up to a sitting position. He sat there with his eyes to the ground, glad at the very least that the mud hid his reddening face. She had found a handkerchief from the knapsack she had brought along, and started to wipe the mud away from his usually pale face. "I'm really sorry," she said honestly.
He shook his head. "I let my guard down for a moment."
"In any case, you did great. I'm impressed," she said, her task done. She folded the mud-stained handkerchief inwards and returned it to her pack. "We should do this more often. Training together, that is," she began, but seemed to realize she was inviting herself to spend more time with him, and stammered, "That… that is to say, um…"
He offered her a smile. "Maybe tomorrow."
"Thanks," she laughed nervously. "Tomorrow, then."
And as he watched her walk away, he wondered how it was that in spite of her loss she still ended up winning.
Author's Note: I humiliated Sasuke, hahahaha! Sorry, it was too tempting to resist. Also, the intelligent reader may have noticed Tenten's name wasn't mentioned in the whole story. It creates a sort of effect… go figure. Please tell me what you think of it!