DISCLAIMER: None of these character belong to me!
Thanks for the wonderful reviews guys! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I had this chapter written for a while but I was unsure if it was good enough to upload, lol. Sorry for the long wait.
LAND OF ENCHANTMENT
Chapter 2
Walk Away
It's been three days since the reunion of Team Seven and since my abrupt flee from the hospital room, we haven't been in the same room again. I heard from Tsunade-sensei that it took them two days to thoroughly interrogate Naruto and Sasuke. They didn't seem to be holding anything back and only when Tsunade-sensei mentioned Sasuke's older brother, did she get a reaction from the young Uchiha. He wasn't able to avenge his family's deaths; someone had beat him to it, or at least that's what the rumors say.
"Sakura-chan?"
I turned around and came face to face with my best friend and childhood rival; Ino.
"Sakura-chan! When did you get back?" She pulled me into a tight hug before pulling away to look me over.
I gave her a big smile before replying, "I came back about six days ago." I gave a sheepish grin at her pouty glare.
"And you didn't try to find me or call me or anything?!"
"I'm sorry, Ino-chan! I was so busy and then Naruto and Sasuke came back and I was so distracted." She raised an expectant eyebrow and I let out a long sigh. "I know. There's no excuse. I should've told you." I grinned as I slid my arm around her shoulder and began walking down the dusty street. "So, what have you been up to?"
Her pout turned into a big grin, "Well, last year I entered to become a Jounin and guess what? I passed!"
I gasped as my eyes widened and I stopped in my tracks, "Am I the only one who isn't a Jounin?!"
"Well, no. You and the rest of Team Seven. At least you're a chuunin, that makes you the highest rank in your team." She let out an annoying giggle and I pushed away from her with my nose crinkled.
"Oh, shut it, Ino-pig! I can still kick your ass!" I began to walk down the crowded street again with my arms folded above my head.
"Oh forehead-girl! Remember to respect your superiors!" Ino sing-songed after me as she jogged to catch up. After a few seconds of girlish laughter, we fell into step beside each other letting the silence roll over.
"So, Sakura. What have you been up to? That mission of yours took quite a while to finish. I'm glad you're back." She gave me a genuine smile and I looked away, feeling uncomfortable.
"Uh, it's not quite finished yet, Ino. I just came back for a little guidance. I'm gonna be gone in a few days and I don't know when I'll be back." After a little while of waiting for her to say something I glanced over at Ino and saw she was watching her feet as we strolled down the street.
I noticed a small twitch at the corner of her glossy lips before her voice broke the silence, "Remember how we used to fight over Sasuke? How we threw away our friendship for some silly boy? It's funny how much we were willing to sacrifice for someone who didn't even give us a second glance." Her wistful murmur of our past almost brought tears to my eyes. I looked forward as she continued, "I feel a bit pissed at how much time we lost with each other because we were too busy chasing after that depressing Uchiha." She stopped to turn towards me, her eyes bright with glistening tears, "Sakura, promise me you'll come back. Promise that you'll finish that mission quick! I'm missing you too much." She pulled me into another tight hug so I wouldn't notice the tears streaming down her cheeks but I felt them fall on my shoulder but I didn't say anything.
I nodded as I pat her back soothingly and when she pulled away, quickly wiping her tears away, I gave her my brightest smile, "I promise, Ino-chan."
The rush of air as my feet pounded against hot sand. The blaze of a midday sun in a cloudless sky. I felt the sweat soak into my already moist clothes and my hair stick to my sweaty forehead and neck. As far as my emerald eyes could see was only hills of sand. The sun soaked into my brain and mirages appeared in the distance. Hallucinations of paradise and safety, of friends and dead family. I fought with unconsciousness, for if I saw black, my life would be over and my mission unfinished. I used my diminishing chakra to soothe my aches and strengthen my mind. I fought not to forfeit and before long, the far away mirage didn't disappear and I took my first step in paradise.
The uncomprehensible chatter of the room beat into Sakura's head as she entered the bar. Ino had convinced her to attend to the celebration she and Tenten had organized for the reunion of Rookie Nine and Gai's Team. It was the first time in over seven years the twelve childhood friends had been together. Sakura had argued that she barely knew any of the others besides her own team and Ino but Ino had insisted that without her, there wouldn't be a Rookie Nine and so Sakura had reluctantly agreed to show up.
As she casually scanned the room for Ino, her annoyance grew at the crowded bar, noticing that there were a lot more people than just twelve, celebrating. She managed to pick out a few familiar faces but the majority of the room was unknown to her. When her search for Ino didn't seem promising, she gave up and moved to lean against a wall next to the bar.
At the corner of her senses she heard, "What'll it be?" but she didn't pay it any mind until, "Oy, Cherry Blossom! What'll it be?" cut through her senses.
Sakura turned towards the bartender, a plump little bald man with a thin black mustache and the beginnings of a unibrow. She casually glanced around and then motioned to herself as if saying, 'Me?'
"Yeah, you. Are ya gonna have somethin' or not?"
"I'm fine, thanks." Sakura turned away and heard the man grumble something about cheap kids. She just let out a sigh and when a few more minutes passed, Sakura pushed away from the wall and made for the door but then stopped abruptly when Naruto and Sasuke entered.
She almost fell into a panicked frenzy before disguising her chakra and losing herself in the crowd. She found an empty table towards the back and she slumped into the chair that was against the wall and faced it in the general direction of the door. She leaned her cheek in her palm and rested her elbow on the table and molded her expression into an entirely bored look.
A few minutes passed before Sakura was startled out of her slumber by the voice of Team Seven's old sensei. She only realized she had fallen asleep when she opened her eyes. She looked up lazily at Kakashi's half hidden face, his one eye crinkled in amusement as he took a seat next to his old student.
"Sakura, so good to see you having such a great time." He leaned back in his seat as he looked his former student over.
Sakura glared at Kakashi as she straightened herself and swiped at a bit of spittle at the side of her mouth. "Good to see you too, Kaka-sensei."
Kakashi narrowed his eye playfully, "Please, don't call me that. It makes me feel old."
"Well, I'm sorry Kaka-sensei, but I just feel so much more closer to you when I use our old nickname for our dear old teacher." She forced a giggle down at his exasperated look and after a while, their comfortable silence grew strained.
"Why are you sitting here alone?"
Sakura shrugged as she casually ran her eyes over the room. "I couldn't find anyone so I just came to the back to wait till someone found me, and look, it worked." She let a smile grace her features as her green eyes met his dark one.
"Ah, well you know, I saw a rather large table on the other side of that crowd where I think you would know most of its occupants."
Sakura's smile faltered as she took in what he said. She gave him a hesitant nod which triggered him to stand up.
"Come, I'll show you." He leaned against the table with an eyebrow raised expectantly.
Sakura huffed an annoyed sigh before shuffling to her feet. Somewhere deep down, she was really nervous at confronting her old comrades again, especially her old teammates. Her breakdown in the hospital kept flashing through her mind as Kakashi led her through the throbbing crowd to where she immediately picked out the loudest table that happened to be her old friends, or old acquaintances, she didn't really consider them friends, only Ino; she was the only one she truly knew.
She took a deep breath and swallowed hard as she and Kakashi approached the table. A few steps away Ino noticed them and yelled out for Sakura excitedly. Kakashi stopped and turned to face Sakura, his eye crinkled in a grin.
"I'll see you later, Sakura, I think I see Gai and Asuma over there." He winked knowingly and hurriedly lost himself in the crowd.
Sakura stood stock-still, staring after him, her eyes almost wide in fright. 'I hate him.'
"Sakura-chan!" Ino's shrill voice reached her through the noise and Sakura slowly turned towards the dreaded table. Everyone was staring at her, everyone was there. All eleven.
Before she knew what she was doing, she felt her wobbly legs start to move towards the table and she could have sworn her vision began to sway.
The rest of the night was a blur. She probably drank about one mug of beer and two glasses of hard liquor with three shots of sake.
She had never drank before in her life.
All she remembered were the curious stares from everyone and the same questions of where she was all those years. Naruto and Sasuke never even attempted to speak to her and she made no indication that she had any thought of even looking at them! She mostly talked with Ino and Tenten and there were a few long discussions with Lee that she had no idea about what. She did remember, however, the new confidence in Hinata as she and Naruto giggled in their little corner as well as the busty brunette that kept rubbing herself on an impassive Sasuke.
She remembered something about the appearence of her Tsunade-sensei and then waking up back in her familiar single room apartment with a splitting headache that made her see double and caused tears to well up in her eyes.
As she glanced at the clock after soothing her headache with some of her healing chakra, she almost fell off her bed. It was 2:00 in the evening and in less than nine hours she would be leaving for Saarik again, not to see Konoha for who knew how long.
She stumbled off the bed, almost tripping in her tangled bedsheets in her hurry to get to the shower. In less than a half and hour she was dressed in her usual attire and out of the apartment, heading for the Hokage's building. She stopped by one of the local bakeries and got some breakfast to eat as she walked, finally calm when she realized she had previously taken care of all the extra errands of resupplying herself for the journey back across that blasted blazing desert.
As she took her last bite of the delicious pastry she had bought she heard the unique voice of Naruto around the corner before she saw him and, of course, Sasuke turn the corner. They were walking down the street while she was walking up.
They met her eyes about the same time she found their's and she knew she couldn't poof herself out of this one. As they walked closer, Sakura had decided to just ignore them but Naruto called out to her instead.
"Sakura-chan! How are you feeling? You had a bit to drink last night, huh?" He let out a forced laugh and Sakura just stared at him with dead eyes.
"Hai, Naruto, I did have too much to drink, but you see the advantage of being a medic-nin is that you don't have to worry about hangovers and silly little nuisances like that." She gave him a sickingly sweet smile before casually glancing around the bustling street.
Naruto gave a hesitant nod before glancing at Sasuke who just shifted his weight to his other foot before crossing his arms in a bored manner. He stared at Sakura with a blank expression and she couldn't tell whether he was annoyed or amused.
After the silence had dragged on for too long, Sakura let out a hasty breath before breaking it, "Well, I'll be seeing you guys later. I have business with the Hokage."
But before she could make her getaway, Naruto stopped her again, "Hey, Sakura-chan, I heard you were leaving. I heard you were on a pretty long mission and you're not telling anyone what it is and you're leaving again because of it."
Sakura clenched her fists as she thought of that loud-mouth Ino. "Hai, Naruto. I am leaving again. And just so you know," she turned her head to look at them before continuing, "this mission doesn't concern anyone but me right now, well, for at least at the moment it doesn't. Once it's over, everyone will know, I assure you. Once it's over, it'll concern all of Konoha." And without a second glance she puffed out of the street, leaving behind a whirl of cherry blossoms as her only evidence of her being there.
That night at eleven thirty, a figure clad in red and black made her way out of the Konoha gates, her pink hair gleaming in the moonlight as she disappeared in a rush of silent footsteps into the forest, her direction to the east.
End of Chapter Two
I know this one was a little short but I thought it was a good spot to stop. The next chapter goes back a few years and a few of my own characters make their appearances! So watch out! I hope no one was OOC or anything. I tried to keep them in character but oh well, if they're not, too bad, it's my story. LOL.
Tell meh what you thought! REVIEW!
yuru
