Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any lyrics used in this story.
Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
Intro lyrics belongs to Amanda Lee
Ending lyrics belongs to Amanda Lee
the HEROIC age
' I was never right for the hero type of role
I admit it ,
With my heart shivering in fear
I can see today's reflected in each past TEAR ,
Once in my dreams
I rose and soared ,
No matter how I'm knocked around or beaten down ,
I will stand up - RESTORED ,
Because you're here with me ,
Our dreams will soar free ,
FOREVER . '
Episode " 0 2 "
Sasuke grunted when he woke up, scrunching his eyebrows together as his head felt like it was going to explode any second. He opened his eyes to reveal the dark obsidian color hidden behind the lids. When he realized his surroundings he narrowed his eyes slightly at the unfamiliar place. Sasuke glanced down only to see he had been covered in a thin blanket, as he was moving to sit up a voice pushed out any other weariness he had felt.
"Don't move yet."
The solo-er hissed at the pain on his side just as the words left the strangers mouth, he glanced to the direction of the voice only to meet a shadow hovering over him. He eyed behind the figure to see the night sky's light shining through and he concluded he was in cave, "Who are you?"
"Someone who saved your life," came the quiet reply. He could hear the movement of something scraping against another before fire appeared before his eyes.
From the now lit up bonfire he could see the stranger more clearly, his savior was indeed a female, more so a slim one and from what he could judge from her knelt down position she was seemed tiny as well.
He watched as she moved from the fire towards him, his eyes narrowed although he wasn't sure if she could even see his dark eyes but nonetheless gave the best glare he could possibly give in his current state. She knelt down before him before reaching her hand towards him in which he responded with his, grabbing her wrist. Sasuke heard her sigh, "I'm only going to change your bandages."
That made him blink in response before letting go of her wrist and he could hear himself asking again, "Who are you?"
Since their distance was much closer and there was a somewhat lighting for the place he could see her lips turn upwards into a smile before repeating, "Someone who saved your life.." she trailed off as she continued on with the task at the same time being sure to not injure her patient any further.
Sasuke grunted, it was not the answer he was looking for, he looked away before muttering a soft 'thank you' to his savior whose name he did not know. She smiled lightly at him before pulling away to see her finished work, "Get some rest," she could see his wary gaze at her at which she rolled her eyes, "don't worry I'm not going to bite you or anything."
Although he did not have any trust towards this person he knew it was at least something that she saved his life and that he was still alive. So he looked at her one more time before turning over and laying back down and closed his eyes, silently hoping that his aching body will be alright by the time the sun rises.
The girl, satisfied that her patient was finally resting, grinned and added a few more sticks into the bonfire before finding a comfortable spot near a wall to lean her head against and stared out into the entrance of the cave.
Asuma glanced at his team only to find them all with downcast expressions, he bit the inside of his cheek as he knew the female of their group blamed it on herself. He sighed before placing a hand on her shoulder that was sagging, "Don't worry Hinata, I'm sure he's fine." Hinata on the other hand merely shook her head and silent tears trailed down her cheeks.
Lee and Chouji glanced at each other before frowning, they had return empty handed and that left Hinata even more guilty thinking it was cause of her that Sasuke had disappeared, probably dead for all she knew. "Let's go into the nearest town and ask if anyone has seen him, maybe he's in town." Chouji suggested. Asuma nodded, 'I hope you're alright kid.'
At the slight hope given to her, Hinata quickened her pace hoping that the boy who had risked his life for her had not been killed.
"Hinata, wa-" Lee was cut off by Asuma who shook his head at him, "It's best we get there as soon as possible, if he's not there we should also ask around to see if anyone's seen him."
"Hopefully we find him, if not Hinata is going to be guilty for the rest of her life," Chouji muttered.
Lee nodded before frowning again, "I just hope Sasuke-san is alright.. if he's still alive."
The other two made no comment but all three began quickening their pace as well to follow their female comrade.
This time he cracked open his eyes he could see the cave in a brighter light with the sun rising indicating that it was morning. Sasuke blinked several times to allow his eyes to readjust to the different lighting before glancing around for the girl. His eyes narrowed slightly to see that she had disappeared, immediately he checked for his weapon only to find it lying near him. Attempting to get up, he winced slightly at the pain on his side and mentally cursed.
"I told you not to get up."
He glanced up to see the girl carrying a bucket of water or so it seemed to him, Sasuke also noticed the weapon attached to her waist belt, 'Rapier user, heh'. But what caught his attention the most was this girl had pink hair. The girl placed the bucket near him before kneeling down again and reaching for his bandages. The girl merely laughed lightly as she took notice to what he was staring at, "Yes, it's natural." This caused Sasuke to look away, seemingly ashamed for staring. She laughed again, "Don't worry about it"
"Sasuke," He muttered hoping she would understand, and understood she did because he saw her smile softly, "Sakura."
He blinked as he glanced at her hair again before looking at her, "Suits you." in which he only got her to smile again.
"Well, your injuries seem to be okay. Just be careful and don't make any sudden movements or you'll reopen them. You should go to the nearby town and get a proper medic to check you over." After finishing double checking his injuries she took a piece of cloth out of her pocket before dipping it into the bucket of water and gently wiping his injuries.
"What happened?" he questioned as he was quite thankful of her for being so gentle and even taking her time to help with his wounds.
"You were fighting a winged beast.." at that something in Sasuke's mind clicked, memories of the fighting flooded his mind, "Was anyone else hurt?"
She grinned before shaking her head, "No, luckily I was passing by too, the beast looked like he was ready to eat you but I got you out of there in time."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "So it's still alive?"
"Yes.." Sakura frowned, "we should be okay though, it doesn't really come out during the day time."
Sasuke was about to get up again only to be pushed down by Sakura, "Don't move! Your wounds still need to be bandaged."
"It needs to be killed," Sasuke winced at his sudden movement before settling down allowing the girl to band aid his injuries again.
"Let your wounds heal, what could would it do if you just charge straight at it while injured still?"
Sasuke made a 'tsk' noise as he knew that was true, he was worried about the elder man he had met and his teammates. He hoped that they did not cross the path of the beast and made it safe and sound elsewhere, further away.
"Why are you helping me?"
At this Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly as if to ask: did you really just ask me that? When she saw that he made no move to change the topic she merely sighed, "Why wouldn't I help someone in need?"
"I could have been a burglar, murderer or some sort of criminal."
"But you're not."
At that he had no comment.
He watched the fire flicker in front of him; his body ached to be stretched or returned back its original active-ness. However his mind was more focused on the fact that it was dark now and Sakura was still not back. And he knew that winged beast could be roaming around outside now as the sun had set and the sky enveloped itself in darkness again.
"I'm back."
Sasuke looked up, relieved, at the pink-haired girl carrying a wooden basket of items. He glanced curiously at the basket wondering what was inside before she smiled and muttered something related to 'dinner'.
He watched as she set the ingredients out before cleaning out the fishes she had caught and rubbing some leaves together on top of the fish before finally cooking it on the fire.
His nose caught the scent of a delightful aroma that caused his stomach to grumble, only to earn him a soft laugh from the girl across from him. Sasuke turned away in embarrassment but turned back again when she gave him the cooked fish muttering a quick 'thank you'.
Sakura smiled at the boy, "You're welcome," before taking her own cooked fish.
The next morning Sasuke was the first to wake up. He stretched his arms before getting up, checking over his wounds that seemed to be fully, if not nearly, healed. His eyes trailed to the girl who had saved him before grabbing the blanket and placing it on top of her tiny frame.
He was thankful for her saving his life that was for sure, but he also did not want to trouble the girl anymore as she had been taking care of him as he healed – even going to grab food for them during the night where she could've been attacked.
He grabbed his weapon and put his black coat on before walking towards the entrance of the cave, only to glance back once to make sure Sakura remained sleeping. His eyes lingered a little longer before he turned around and left.
When Sakura woke up she blinked seeing the blanket on top of her. She frowned when she realized her patient had left to god knows where and from what she could see it didn't seem like he was going to come back.
She sighed but prayed he was going to be alright by himself. The pink-haired girl got up stretching slightly and just as she was packing up her stuff getting ready to leave she barely caught the sound of footsteps coming.
"You're awake."
She blinked before glancing up to see Sasuke, "You came back."
She saw him raise his eyebrow at him, "I wouldn't leave you defenseless."
At this she couldn't help but smile, "Thank you," in which she merely received a nod, "how are you feeling? Are your wounds okay?"
"Yea, thank you"
"Mm, don't mention it.." she glanced at the basket in his hand and this time she was the one who raised an eyebrow, "what do you have in there?"
"Breakfast," He muttered before removing the cloth on top revealing berries.
"Umm.. Sasuke-san."
"Just Sasuke is fine."
"Okay.. um Sasuke.."
He gave her a questioning look before she started smiling widely, "Did you get these berries from around here?"
The raven-haired boy slowly nodded as if he was answering a question and was not sure what was the right or wrong response.
"They're all poisonous."
He mentally slapped himself before putting the basket down and turning away, his cheeks turned into a light pink shade due to embarrassment.
She only grinned, "It's the thought that counts," grabbing her stuff she waved to him, "come on, I'm sure there's some rabbits we could catch around here."
Sasuke frowned, disappointed because he had wanted to thank her for taking care of him only to be backfired, he shook his head and followed the girl out the cave.
Sakura eyes were squinting from the sudden brightness the sun gave off compared to the lighting in the cave. She blinked several times allowing her eyes to readjust before gesturing to the boy to follow her and placing an index finger over her lips to signal him to be silent as well.
He followed her silently and watched as she quietly took out throwing picks. Sasuke followed where her eyesight was and just as he was about to take out his own throwing picks to assist his eyes picked up slight movement to the right before he lunged forward, grabbed Sakura and rolled several times to the left, just in time to avoid a clawed hand slamming onto the ground where she previously was.
Sakura could hear Sasuke curse under his breath and as she turned to the sudden intruder her eyes widened before whispering, "Winged beast.."
She glanced upwards to the sky for a quick second, "It's daytime though, I don't understand.." Sakura trailed off as she drew her rapier out just as Sasuke drew out his sword.
Sasuke glared up at the beast and watched it narrowed its eyes at him, "Stay close."
The beast seemed to recognize Sasuke before letting out a roar and charging right for them, he was about to grab Sakura's hand and pull them both out of the way only to see she had back flipped out of range of the beast. 'Agile' he thought before jumping to the right to avoid the charge and watched the beast slam into the tree that was behind them.
He heard Sakura land behind him with a soft thud, "I'll distract him and you aim for its weak areas."
"Understood."
Sasuke stood up straight from his battle stance position before walking slowly to the beast who had just pulled his horns out from the tree. It saw Sasuke approach and roared fiercely again. Sasuke took this time to charge ahead and ducked just as the beast swiped at him before slashing its arm with his sword earning him a cry of pain.
Sakura immediately took advantage of her light weapon and agility to counterattack a swipe that was aimed for Sasuke before attacking the beast on its weak areas 'chest, head, legs..'
The duo continued their attacks until the beast roared again and used its hand and slammed Sakura a few feet away.
"Sakura!"
"I'm okay!" came the reply just as she flipped and landed on her feet skidding to a stop a couple feet away.
Sasuke cursed when the beast slashed its claws at him and he quickly used his sword to block the incoming attack.
"Sasuke! Switch!"
"Wha-"
He didn't even have time to finish his sentence before he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder and from the corner of his eyes he could see Sakura, using his shoulder as a leverage, had begun 'poking' the beast.
He jumped a few feet back and narrowed his eyes before realizing she wasn't 'poking', stabbing was more like it, because of her light weapon and her agile movements she was continually stabbing the beast in a quick fashion, looking like she was poking because of the quick movements.
The beast roared angrily before trying to swipe Sakura away who took advantage of the beast missing, used his clawed hand as a leverage and jumped backwards landing near Sasuke.
Sasuke smirked, "Not bad."
Sakura grinned, "You too."
They glanced at each other before they both jumped out of the way from an incoming slam.
Sasuke scanned the beast before realizing that Sakura's quick stabbing abilities had done a number of injuries on the beast already but the most effective one was right in the middle of the beast's chest.
"Sakura." He called out as he kept his eyes on the beast for any sudden movements.
"Yes?"
"Distract him."
"Understood."
He only blinked once before he saw the girl was already near the beast and had begun slashing at its legs and arms to catch its attention.
Sasuke took this chance to charge forward and just as he was about to drive his sword right into the effective spot in the middle of the chest the beast roared but this time it knocked back the duo several feet away.
The beast bent forward before a pair of wings appeared on its back, roaring again it turned to face the duo, glaring and eyes flashing red.
"I was wondering where the wings were."
Sasuke gave her a look which she merely grinned, "What? It wasn't called a 'winged beast' for nothing!"
He shook his head lightly before they both watched the beast flapped its wings, enough to provide a powerful wind forcing the two to stab their weapons into the ground and hold onto them in order not to be blown away.
"Damnit," Sasuke muttered before the wind blowing finally stopped and the beast was flew upwards out of their range.
"I have an idea."
Sasuke gave her a questioning stare and she smiled at him, "I'm going to need a boost though."
Understanding her idea Sasuke smirked, "but first, we need to damage its wings." Sakura took out her throwing picks as did Sasuke. They both turned to look at each other before nodding and ran forward to a close enough range for their picks to reach and began firing.
Not seeing the incoming picks some pierced the wings and the beast roared before flapping its wings to blow the other ones away. And just as it was about to retaliate a flying Sakura went straight for one of the wings, slicing it in half. The other wing, injured slightly and not being able to withstand the weight forced the beast to come crashing down onto the ground.
"SASUKE!" the raven-haired boy smirked before stabbing his weapon into the ground and reached out to catch the girl.
"Oof!"
"Good job," Sasuke smirked at her as he placed her down on the ground before grabbing his weapon again.
Sakura grinned, "Good throw." The two then turned to the struggling beast that was lying down on the ground and growling in pain. They looked at each other before they both stood on top of it and drove their weapons right into its chest.
"That was fun," Sakura grinned as they watched the fallen beast particles be absorbed by both of them.
"Aa," Sasuke muttered as he withdrew his weapon back into its sheath on its back.
"Well then, you don't have to worry about that big guy bothering anyone anymore."
"Thank you."
Sakura raised an eyebrow before tilting her head in question at the male who was looking down at his feet, "Thank you for saving me, taking care of me, and for helping me defeat it."
Sasuke looked up at her when he heard laughter, "It was no biggie, don't mention it."
"Where are you heading to?" he heard himself ask, "Mm, nowhere particular.. probably going to the nearest town, I'm famished!"
Sasuke smirked, "I'll escort you."
"Eh? You don't have to trouble yourself!"
"You saved my life."
"We saved each other! Did you see how big that beast was?!"
"I still owe you breakfast."
Sakura giggled, "I believe it would be brunch now."
"Whatever you want."
The pink haired girl smiled before turning towards the direction of the town and gesturing for the male to follow, "Well then, come on! Let's get us some food."
"Whew, I'm bloated!"
"You barely ate anything."
"I have a tiny appetite okay!"
"Whatever you say.."
"Thanks for the food though!"
"Anytime."
Sasuke saw the glint in her eye, "Anytime?" he heard her repeat and he grab the cup of tea before raising it to his mouth and nodding slowly afraid of what she might have meant – after all he wasn't made out of money.
Sakura started laughing, "Y-your expression! Priceless!"
"..Hn."
"Is that even a word.."
"Shut up."
Sakura grinned, "Does this make us friends then?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes at her, "What do you think," he watched her prop her elbows onto the table and used her hands to hold her face up as she leaned forward, "I'd like to think so!"
The raven-haired boy only shook his head, "We are."
He watched as her grinned widened further before he placed his cup of tea down, "What are you going to do no-"
"SASUKE-SAN!"
They both blinked as they looked towards the owner of the voice only to see a figure launching themselves onto Sasuke.
Sakura blinked.
Sasuke blinked.
He was about to pry the figure off of him before the figure released him and started crying. That was when he realized the familiar face, "Hinata?"
Said girl's name continued sobbing, "I-I thought y-you were d-dead!" she sniffed all the while using her hands to wipe away the never ending tears.
"Oh thank god, we thought you were gone, don't scare an old man like me," a new voice said with relief followed by two other people.
Sasuke glanced at the new figures before getting up, "Sorry for worrying you guys."
"We thought you were dead," Lee choked he bit his lips to hold back the tears.
Chouji placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "We're glad we were wrong though."
Sakura watched the interaction between them before smiling and getting up herself, catching the attention of the newcomers and Sasuke's.
Sasuke moved to stand next to her, "This is Sakura, she's the one who saved me."
Asuma whistled, "The almighty solo-er needed saving? I'm shocked, names Asuma." He grinned as he shook hands with the girl who in turn smiled and bowed politely.
"Hey, I'm Chouji, nice to meet you," Sakura smiled as she shook his offered hand.
"T-thank you for saving him. My name's Hinata," both girl smiled at each other.
Lee on the other hand had a breakdown, "SASUKE-SAN WHERE WERE YOU HIDING THIS BEAUTY! MY LADY YOU LOOK LIKE A GODDESS FROM HEAVEN, MY NAME IS LEE IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU!"
Sakura sweat dropped before laughing nervously and letting Lee take her hand and placing a kiss on it, "Nice to meet you too.."
"Lee you're scaring her," Sasuke muttered before reaching over to release Lee's grasp on her head and in return he got a thankful smile from the girl.
Sakura smiled, "It's nice to meet everyone," she turned to Sasuke still smiling, "I'm glad you found your friends again. I'll be on my way then, do take care of the wounds you may still have."
The group of team mates waved their good-byes, well Lee was being overly dramatic, and Sasuke muttered a quick 'be right back' to them before following the girl.
He reached and grabbed her wrist gaining her attention as she turned back and glanced at him with a questioning look.
"Where are you going?"
She only smiled, "Who knows."
"It's dangerous out there alone."
"I'll manage."
"What if another winged beast or something even stronger comes at you? It's not safe."
Sakura smiled and patted the hand that was holding her wrist, "I'll be okay, return to your friends. I'm sure they were worried sick and leaving them now wouldn't be the best option."
Sasuke frowned even though he knew that was true he didn't want to let her venture out of town by herself.. especially after he himself tried solo-ing a winged beast and look how he ended up.
"Will I see you again?" he whispered.
Her eyes sparkled and her smile made her face light up and that's when Sasuke noticed her bright green emerald eyes, "Of course, I'll find you whenever you need saving again" she teased before grinning, "be careful, okay?"
Sasuke nodded before releasing her wrist and just as she was about to turn around and continue on she heard his quiet voice, "Don't die, Sakura."
He only received a light kiss on the cheek and a smile as the response.
' Even if the world turns on you
And won't believe a word you say ,
And even if they make you wear
A CROWN of THORNS upon your head ,
I will stand and be the one
To wipe away those TEARS you shed
And when someone's hurt you ,
Let me be the ARMS you can run to ,
So everything that makes me WHOLE
Belongs to you ; I'll give my heart and soul
I'm YOURS . '
A/N: I had a big writer's block for this I didn't know what to write about anymore but I was reading other fanfictions & brought this story back to life, hope you guys enjoyed it!