Shiver: A Collection of Oneshots


Number: 03
Title: Kunai
Words: 1,096
Rating: T for language, violence


03: Kunai
Just be patient.

Sakura flicked her tongue out to lick the blood that dripped onto her lips. She cringed. Damnit. Though it was a small wound, it was enough to cause plenty of bleeding, most of which wanted to get into her eyes. She tightened her headband in hopes that it would apply greater pressure to the gape on her forehead. Careless – she threw a simple kunai, a kunai full on at Kakashi. Of course he would easily repel it back at her, smacking her right in the face like an idiot.

The man paused and looked up at her, eyeing out her injury no doubt. The sight of blood made him lower his book slightly, he seemed almost taken aback. Now! Raising her fists, Sakura made a mad dash at him, shifting from side to side as she gained speed.

"Put that damn thing away Kakashi! Treat me seriously!" She went to reach for the orange covered novel in his hand, immediately he pulled it out of her grasping fingers, blocking her with his other forearm. Grabbing that arm and using it as a brace, the kunoichi raised her leg to send a vicious kick to his chest, leaving him no choice but to drop his book and block it.

They stood there for a moment, collecting their breaths – Sakura gripping onto Kakashi's arm tightly, and him holding on to her shaking foot in front of his stomach. Blood drizzled down the girl's forehead, dripping off the tip of her nose. Before her sensei could relax slightly, she kicked off of him and skidded along the ground a couple feet away – offensive stance not lost.

Bending down to collect his fallen possession, Kakashi chuckled slightly witnessing the intense glare his student was giving him. She was rubbing her forehead, smearing red all over her frail skin. Frightening determined today, apparently.

"Alright Sakura," He placed the book back where it belonged in his pocket with a shrug, "You have my full attention." But she was gone. Kakashi went to the defensive, glancing around attentively for any flash of pink. His ears perked. There! He turned around and threw a kunai at the approaching kunoichi, but she disappeared into a puff and a log at the contact. Substitution Jutsu? The patter of feet from behind him made Kakashi spin around and block a blade from ramming itself into his chest.

Green eyes met his and laughed. She was holding something – it was sizzling. Shit! However it was too late, the smoke bomb blew up in his face, and clouded the surrounding area in a puff of purple. Crouching low and reaching up to his face, the jounin lifted up his headband to reveal his ace. He had no choice but to use his sharingan in such a situation. To have to use it against Sakura – now that was unexpected.

With the smoke clearing and his perceptive red eye now showing, it was easy for him to spot the form of his student dropping down from above. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to block, but she hit him so hard with her knees that the force itself sent him toppling backwards. She landed on him with a thud, and tried her best to restrain him with her body weight.

Panting, she looked down at her sensei on the ground beneath her and grinned. It was victory. Kakashi was very surprised, pleasantly surprised at the advancement in skills and taijitsu in the girl. And the way her cheeks were flushed with exhaustion and pride made him almost happy he had let her win.

"Sakura-chan," He sang up at her with a pant. She blinked down curiously. Lifting his leg under her, the man placed his own knee against her stomach. "You did good. But..." And with strength that was almost ten times her own, he pushed up hard, sending the girl flying backwards for metres. He got to his feet and immediately gave chase. "Let's see how you do on the defence!" Growling but with a smile, he raised his hands in an attempt to fight as soon as she reached the ground. Sliding – but still on her feet – Sakura had only but half a second to dodge a punch coming from her sensei. He was too fast for her; she could barely block his punches let alone the combination of them with heavy kicks.

Keeping one of her arms raised to take the majority of the shocks of his blows, she went to reach into her pocket and quickly withdrew a kunai – but she was way too slow. With a shove Kakashi was now putting all of his body weight into her chest and blocking arm, it was so much her feet was digging into the ground creating small ditches indicating how far he was pushing her back.

Damnit! She gritted her teeth. She lost, it was impossible now. And with that, her feet lost their hold on the dirt, and with a final push from Kakashi, they fell to the ground in a jumbled heap.

"Hmm... you need a little work on defence yet." Kakashi huffed above her. His face was shadowed due to the sun being directly behind him, but Sakura knew he was honestly surprised to find her holding a kunai against his throat.

"You need a little work on not letting down your guard, Kakashi." The girl panted up at him with a genuine smile. A tired chuckle escaped his lips. Hunching over even closer down to her, the jounin felt his shoulders lock and back scream in pain. He winced – did she get him? And then with sudden realization he opened his eyes again to find Sakura blinking up at him, a blush across her face. They were close, too close – Kakashi's hands placed on either side of her head, fingers slightly entangled with her now dirty hair. Even his knees were invading her personal space, squeezing her small legs in between them as he hung above her.

Making the move to silently climb off of her, Kakashi paused as he found a hand clutching tightly to the collar of his vest.

"Don't." A whimper left her chapped lips. She was pleading, begging him – and he found his body unwilling to move. What was it, the dire need to do anything she asked, just by staring into her unwavering bright eyes? But she was frightened, and she shouldn't be. Reaching to her cheek and rubbing away the single tear that managed to fall, Kakashi smiled down at her.

Don't worry, it's alright.