Chapter 2
" You're late"
Sakura ran all the way to the village gates only to see the smug Uchiha already there.
" Sorry I had to run a little errand for my mother" She caught her breath.
"Hn"
Truth be told they had an argument. Haruno Mebuki wasn't so keen on letting her daughter off on a mission alone with Uchiha Sasuke.
" But you knew his mother!" Sakura had said.
" You can't compare the actions of this generation to the last"
" Al right then I'm off!"
" W-what w-ait Sakura!" The woman yelled.
She was as trusting as the rest of the five shinobi villages. Old wounds heal hard. Sakura guessed.
The sun was just rising as they walked further and further away from Konoha. They had gone through the mission details once more before setting foot outside the village gates.
The last time she saw him walking out the village like this was the day he left Konoha. She furiously shook of that memory.
The Uchiha crest on his back illuminated as the sunrays hit. She had to stretch her neck a little to see, He had grown taller. She almost bumped into him when he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke raises a hand and waited as if he were trying to sense something. Sakura looked around her surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least not that she could see. Maybe he was used to his sensitive senses as he would have often relied on them when he was a… she doesn't want to think it…. Criminal.
" Nothing" He replied. He took a few steps foreword but not before he looked back just to make sure.
She becomes grateful for the early morning bird songs as the silence was killing her.
Once they've covered most of their walking distance Sasuke had decided they could have a break before they were to use chakra to jump through trees for the next leg of their journey.
Sakura took this the opportunity to make sure here gear and supplies were in place as she took a seat on nearby boulder. Tonzaku town will be a few meters away from here but that is not to say that they won't need their energy as tree jumping.. as effortless as it look takes a toll to a certain extent.
The rosette takes out a packed onigiri she managed to snatch from her mother's kitchen. She looked at the raven haired boy who had an alert glint in his eyes. Does he still think there's something out there?
"Sasuke-kun?"
"hm"
"Do you want anything?" she takes out an extra onigiri.
"No"
Sakura's face fell. If this was how it is going to be between them through out the whole mission she doesn't know how she's going to survive. Heck even having Ino here would have been more entertaining.A low grumble caught her attention and soon the empty space next to her was occupied.
" I didn't have break fast" He said.
She suppressed a snicker as she handed him the second onigiri. "You're welcome"
Sasuke glares and takes a bite out of the rice ball. They remained like this for a few moments. A breeze picks up brushing their hair in the cool gust. The afternoon sun shining through the gaps between leaves of the tall trees they were to conquest in a moment. Sakura noticed that neither of them was eating anymore.
"I should have gotten more huh?" She said. Sasuke just rose an eyebrow at her.
"Onigiri" she complied. " My mother had made lots"
"I see"
Another silent moment passed. She felt like it was an eternity till he spoke again.
" Is she a kind woman?"
It was Sakura's turn to raise an eyebrow. The question took her off guard. "huh?"
" Your mother"
Sakura made an 'o' with her mouth before taking the time to answer. "My mother gets on my nerves sometimes and most of the time I find her over protectiveness annoying" Sasuke frowns slightly at this.
"But" Sakura continued as she remembered the 'conversation' she had with her today. " I know she only wants what's best for me and I'm truly grateful" She wished she could have had a better start to the day with her mother. Missions like this tend to be dangerous. She would have to have her last memory be a fight.
"Hn" Sasuke smirked slightly.
"Well I guess you really have changed"
Sakura had figured that his question wasn't just for the sake of asking a question.. that Sasuke was testing her!
" What are you saying?" She asked slowly.
For the first time that day Sasuke faced her and there was a slight upturn of his lips that looked like a smile. " You once told me that you disregarded your family because they were annoying"
Sakura's eyes widened. " I'd never-" she stops mid –sentence as the memory came flooding back to her. It was the day they first met, on the bench area by the sakura tree. She had angered him that day as she rambled on Naruto being an orphan and how she seemed unappreciative for what she had. The day Sasuke had claimed he had forgotten the day he left Konoha.
"T-that day?" she stammered. " So you do remember!"
Sasuke averts her teasing eyes. " Just that bit" He frowned as Sakura started to laugh.
"Stop" he said.
"Why because you-" She head it too. There was a slight rustle through the trees and she was sure it was no animal.
" Come on let's go" Sasuke instructed. Sakura nods slightly before she gathered her supplies and strapped her travel pack around her waist.
As they neared the tree route Sasuke suddenly turned around and whips a kunai at a bush.
" I know you're there!" He roared. " Come out"
The hider came out. Not one but five men that looked like bandits.
" We have nothing to offer you" Sasuke claimed. Sakura's hands were near her waist pack just to be cautious.
d
" Oh? But I spotted a map you both were carrying a few hours back" says the tall one with a very scruffy beard.
" You saw wrong now leave us-" Sakura stops as she realizes that something was wrong. She stares at the men in front of her. where was the fourth one? Sakura turns around and sees a shorter man snatch the map out of her waist pack.
The former teammates gapes as the shorter man jumped over them and landed near his team of bandits.
" Oh! Nice one nii-san!" A pudgy man smacks the shorter man on his shoulders. Sakura stares in shock. How did he sneak up on her like that?
"Give it back!" she cries.
The bandits look at each other breaks into laughter. The oldest looking man pretends to wipe a tear of his face. "Ohh what then little girl? He faces the rest of his men and asks. " Do we really expect this skank to do anything?"
Flames spiral towards the men, it takes them by surprise but they jump away from the scorching fire.
"Now Sakura!" Sasuke shouts.
Sakura smirks as she channels chakra to her feet to give her a boost in speed. She whizzes closer towards the gang of men before gathering just the right amount into her fists before releasing the chakra all at once with a single punch to the ground.
The shorter man falls of balance and Sakura takes this the opportunity to try and grab the map from him but the pudgy looking man was right over her armed with a large kunai as he tries to strike her.
"Katon gokakyu no jutsu"
Flames blasts against the the man as he went flying before landing on the ground with a hard thud.
"outouto!" screams the shorter man. He scurries over to his fallen brother, He definitely wasn't dead as they could still sense his chakra. The rest of the bandits follows the shorter man.
Sakura makes an attempt to try and retrieve the map once more but a strong hand grabs her wrists. "No, Tonzaku town is straight up a head" Says Sasuke. " We can figure our way when we reach there"
They use chakra on the trees and hops over to tonzaku town.
When they arrive they realize that the sun was setting, despite the inconviencen they realized that they had arrived a day before the man with the medicine supplies was suppose to arrive.
" We made time!" Sakura exclaimed. No response from the taller boy. Sakura looked to her left to her horror he looked bilious.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura noticed that Sasuke had a wound on his torn right shoulder.
" It's nothing" Sasuke assured.
But Sakura wouldn't have any of it, Before he could protest Sakura started to channel her healing chakra onto his flesh.
The sensation felt odd to Sasuke as the warm glow of the green chakra soothed his skin as it healed his wounds. He noticed the determined look in Sakura's own green eyes that seemed to match the glow of her chakra. Sasuke fights not to show his smile before passing out.