A/N: Ah, sorry I'm a little late in getting this chapter out! I meant to put it up last night, but that didn't quite work. I ended up forgetting. But, I hope you like the new installment to this story! It's not one of my longest chapters, but it's got a fair amount of length to it.
To all my reviewers:
Believeit6: Acknowledgement is always nice, though, right? Lol! I'm going to keep on acknowledging, though!
Dbzftdogfan: Well, I'm glad you like my story so far!
Zaisuro: Yup, yup! Sakura's getting back to her old self with some butt kicking! Just to warn you, though, there won't be too much fighting in this story, cause I don't think I'm really good at that sort of thing, but I will try to make it exciting! And fights are good, so there will be quite a few, though!
As for my betas, I thank you three wonderful people ( .love, believeit6, and Tori) for bearing with me through this chapter!
Enjoy, readers!
Chapter Four
"Ohayo, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura waved. She moved over to where the jounin was walking with Naruto. She had been on her way to the classroom when she had spotted Naruto and Kakashi in the rain. "Did Naruto get whatever he forgot?"
Kakashi nodded. "Hai. But you forgot something, too." He slowly walked to her, hands relaxed in his pockets. He stepped into the doorframe and out of the rain. Naruto joined him a moment later.
"You forgot your katana," the silver-haired shinobi admonished.
A nervous laugh echoed out of Sakura's lips. "Gomen, Kakashi-sensei." She looked at him a moment, and her green eyes hardened in determination. "I can't take it, sensei. I left it behind for a reason."
Silver eyebrows rose. "Hmm? Why not?"
Her look challenged his, and her arms crossed tightly. "I understand that if I want to be in ANBU, I will have to carry a short sword. But you know I'm not exactly a sword person." She had good reason, too. A Chidori sword pierced in Yamato's shoulder was not the best image whenever she tried to use her katana.
Kakashi shrugged. "I know. But, it's the Hokage's orders."
Sakura huffed, and rolled her eyes. "All right, Kakashi-sensei. But why doesn't Naruto have to carry his sword?" she complained.
The jounin's eye crinkled. "He doesn't need to carry it. Just… have it around. I don't mind what you do or where you put your swords, just so long as you have them and I don't get in trouble."
Sakura smiled. "Come here, Naruto. We'll be late."
The blonde looked up, wet hair spilling over his eyes. Though puzzled, he stepped over slowly. Sakura flipped through two seals and placed her hand on Naruto's chest. His eyes widened, and he couldn't stop his heart rate from speeding. He willed his heart to stop pounding for fear that Sakura would hear it.
His eyes widened even more as he felt the water being sucked from his clothes. His hair was still a little wet, but he was completely dry.
Sakura quickly ruffled Naruto's damp blond hair, a soft smile on her lips. She hoped he hadn't been offended by her action; she just couldn't believe how stunning he looked. She slapped her hands together as if she were wiping off dirt, hoping the action would calm her. She caught the incredulous look in his eyes.
"Naruto, I don't think the teachers would appreciate you dripping water onto the floors," she said nonchalantly.
He nodded dumbly. Sakura turned to leave, but Kakashi's voice stopped her.
"Sakura, where did you learn that technique?"
"The Water Removal Jutsu?" When her sensei nodded, Sakura waved her hand. "Oh, it's nothing, really. Tsunade-shishou taught me the technique. It's to help keep teammates, or areas of rest, or even patients dry. Should the need arise, of course."
"What's your chakra element?" Kakashi was intrigued now.
"Water." Her head cocked to the side, unsure as to what Kakashi was saying. "I found out yesterday."
"Hmm." The jounin thought a moment. "Not very many shinobi know that technique. It's mostly used by ninja with an affinity for water, and it's a very useful jutsu as well. The water is transferred into chakra as the body absorbs it."
"Y-yes," Sakura murmured, awestruck.
However, Kakashi was the only one that seemed to notice Naruto's eyes still glued to Sakura. He smiled slightly. Perhaps his student was taking his advice. Though Naruto had been quite annoying when he was younger, that didn't mean Kakashi didn't end up liking the boy. Naruto reminded Kakashi of Obito, and though it pained him slightly, it was as though he could be with his teammate again.
Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Well, I'm going. After your classes are done, meet me at Training Ground Eight. There's a map in your room. It shouldn't be too much trouble, especially since you know the Water Removal Jutsu, Sakura."
Though she didn't like the thought of training in the rain, Sakura nodded and grabbed Naruto's hand. "Great. Come on, Naruto. Now we're really going to be late." She missed the small, pointed look that passed from Kakashi to Naruto.
"Waru, waru!" Kakashi smiled. His hand made a single sign, and he was gone. Sakura, on the other hand, was busy pulling Naruto towards their class. Her eyebrows were knitted with worry. She had only ever been late to the Academy one day. She wasn't about to taint her record because of a sword.
Naruto let himself be dragged through the hall. No one liked to come into contact with him, and the fact that Sakura was holding his hand was sending fire up his arm. She hurried into the room, Naruto in tow. He noticed quite a few of the glares that Sakura received from the many kunoichi in the room, but he didn't care. He was only slightly concerned about his reputation at the moment.
"Gomen, Hiroyuki-sensei! Akane-sensei! My teacher—!"
"Hai, hai. There was a note saying that you two would be late this morning." Hiroyuki continued to face the class of chuunin.
"There was?" Sakura replied. She was definitely surprised. It was no secret to most of Konoha that Kakashi was habitually late. It wasn't that he was lazy. She only knew a little bit about what had happened for Kakashi to achieve the Sharingan, and Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted to know more. It was his own private business, but at least she knew why he was late.
"Hai. Now if you two could please take your seats? The two right here will be fine." The jounin pointed to two desks directly in the front. Sakura clenched her fist—unfortunately, it was the one holding Naruto's hand. His blue eyes widened as he hauled her to the desk.
"You're crushing my hand!" he hissed quietly once he had sat down. Sakura mumbled an apology and Naruto flexed his hand, knowing that nothing was broken. However, it would take a little while before his hand would heal from the bruise.
Half an hour of droning passed before Hiroyuki clapped his hands. "It's still raining outside, so we'll be practicing in here. There is a jutsu around the room that will absorb any water, so we don't have to worry about soaking the wood."
"So," Akane interjected, "we are splitting you into teams of two. You don't have to work with your partner, but no sparring. This is a small classroom, and I won't have you dimwits ruining it."
Hiroyuki continued. "The teams are as follows: Kazukiro Naito and Haruno Sakura…"
The pink haired kunoichi groaned. Of all people, she had to get paired with him? He was the one that had called her tiny. She didn't even pay attention to the other names called until a certain one caught her attention.
"Uzumaki Naruto and Norimino Kotone."
A scream of happiness filled the room, and Naruto placed his head in his hands. Was this how Sasuke had felt about all those fangirls? Well, Naruto certainly felt for Sasuke in this area. Those damn girls were annoying. He knew it had been wishful thinking to hope to be put on Sakura's team, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be with any other person. Ever since his three-year trip, he had been hiding his emotions, trying to prevent himself from constantly getting hurt.
He watched as a pale-haired girl came to stand next to him. A ridiculously happy smile was plastered on her face. But what confused him was the fact that her hair was a pale grey, almost ghostly, yet her eyes were sepia-colored. She was a little too large on the top half for his taste, and her hips were slightly smaller than her ribcage. She wasn't very tall—only about five feet and three inches. Her complexion was flawless, but a shade lighter than his tan skin.
By his standards, she didn't seem like much. Her personality seemed shallow—a lot like Ino's when he had first met her. She, however, had grown into a priceless spy.
His eyes flicked over, watching Sakura move over to stand by Naito, the poor chuunin that she had taken out the other day. His brown hair was slightly wild, and one of his arms was bandaged. His black eyes were studying Sakura as she walked, appraising her. Naruto felt a familiar feeling flare in his chest.
Jealousy hadn't shown itself since he and Sasuke would "fight" for Sakura's affection. The memory didn't make the feeling die as he saw that Naito really wasn't that bad looking. Sakura sat down, putting her fingers on her temples. To others, it looked as if she were troubled or in pain, but Naruto knew that was the way she thought. It was similar to Shikamaru's 'o'.
"So," a high voice trilled with girlish laughter. God, this girl's voice could kill. How high was her voice? "What should we do, Naruto-kun?" She giggled as she said his name, suddenly widening her eyes. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself properly! I'm Kotone!"
Naruto didn't look at her. His eyes appeared to be staring into space, even though he was carefully watching Sakura. He heard another giggle, and flinched. Kotone was seventeen?
"You're obviously Naruto. It's going to be fun working together!"
Sakura could hear the girl's squeal all the way on the other side of the room. In a way, she did pity Naruto, and yet she knew that Kotone was very pretty. Many of the male chuunin that were from the Rain Village eyed her secretively. A few other fangirls stared at Naruto. They were obviously in Kotone's close ring of friends.
The medic nin heaved a sigh. She was trying to remember what steps Naruto had taken to learn the Rasenshuriken. He had to put his own element into the jutsu, but he had had to learn how to properly use the wind. He had cut leaves. He had cut through a waterfall. What could she cut through?
A scowl lowered the corners of her mouth as she felt Naito's stare. She tried to ignore it and focus on the cycle. Fire, wind, lightning, earth, water, fire… Well, besides Kakashi, there was only one chuunin that possessed the fire element, and she doubted that he knew many of the jutsu associated with fire. She could try canceling out the fire, but that would take too long, and just might kill her in the process. Besides, one needed an actual jutsu to stop a fire attack.
She was already a well-trained medical ninja. Precise chakra control was especially important for that line of work—even more important than being able to hold and condense a Rasengan. Sakura already had one step down. Could she move earth? Or erode it? It sounded plausible, and it could work. But for the step before that…
The pink haired kunoichi stood, easily breaking off a small piece of the desk. If she could wet this entire thing, then she'd be on her way. Sakura was used to chakra coming out of her hands, but this was different. This was her element, and she concentrated on liquefying her chakra. She pushed the chakra into her hand, smiling in delight as she felt something wet her skin.
However, only a small part of the desk piece had gotten wet. She tried again, but no more of the wood dampened. She clenched her jaw in frustration, gasping suddenly when two hands cupped one of hers. She looked up to see Naito standing in front of her, a grin on his face as one of his hands picked up her other one.
"Look, I just want to apologize for saying what I did that first day. I guess you're not tiny, and you quite thoroughly kicked my ass. I'm supposed to be one of the most promising of my generation, too."
Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. What had brought this on? "Um… Thanks?"
Naito laughed. "So, I'm going to stop being rude and formerly introduce myself. I'm Kazukiro Naito, chuunin of the Rain Village and student of Hiroyuki-sensei. You?"
"Haruno… Sakura."
"Aw, come on! No more information?"
Pink lips pursed. "I'm being trained by two sensei."
"Was one of them that silver-haired weirdo with the mask all over his face?"
Naito grunted as a fist hit the top of his head, effectively sending him to the floor. "Don't talk about Kakashi-sensei like that! He's not a weirdo! Okay, so does read Icha Icha a lot, but he's a good teacher!"
"Kakashi? As in Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja?" Naito asked incredulously as he stood. Sakura nodded.
"Man, that's awesome!" he cried. "I've heard he's learned over a thousand jutsu! Does he really have the Sharingan?"
"Yes," Sakura mumbled, annoyed with Naito's attitude. He was seventeen and acting like Naruto had when he was thirteen. Even if Naruto hadn't decided to cut himself off from his friends, she doubted that he would be this bad. Naruto was surprisingly mature, even when he had been thirteen. She remembered the first time she had witnessed the Kyuubi, even though she hadn't noticed at the time. It was in the Forest of Death, when Naruto had saved Sasuke from Orochimaru's snake.
Orochimaru… Snake… Sasuke… Naruto…
Why did everything have to suddenly remind her of the bastard! She knew she loved him, and she wanted to hate him for defecting from the village. It had been a ridiculous idea, not to mention that Naruto's promise to her caused him to almost run himself to the ground until Jiraiya took over the blonde's training.
For a moment, she wanted Sasuke to disappear. She wished that he had never even lived. There would be no betrayal, no heartache, no awkward relationship between her and Naruto, no trying to find him.
"Hey! Hey, Sakura-san, are you okay?" Naito asked.
The use of familiarization caused her to snap out of her reverie. Naito had his hands on her shoulders, looking into her troubled green eyes. Sakura pulled herself from his grasp, mumbling that she was fine. Her eyes flicked across the room, and met Naruto's piercing blue orbs. She sucked in a breath. He knew what her spacing out had been about, and there was something troubling him. Something that she hadn't exactly noticed before.
A spike of jealously shot up her stomach as Kotone latched herself onto Naruto's arm. How dare she do that! She didn't know how Naruto acted, his personality… She knew nothing about him! When her teammate pushed the girl off of his arm, the jealousy withered, and Sakura snickered. He seemed completely annoyed with the whole thing, and Sakura suddenly realized this was exactly how she had looked when she had been crushing on Sasuke.
A ring echoed in her ears, rescuing her from hearing more of Naito's concern. Saved by the bell. She was starting to like that phrase.
00000
The two other class periods had nothing exciting, and Sakura really wondered why they didn't make the program better. Granted, it was the first year doing this, but they could at least make it interesting. Seiichi was fun despite the boring subject. He tried to make jokes. Daichi was as enthusiastic as usual about chakra elements, thankfully only mentioning fire jutsu in passing.
Sakura hurried up to her and Naruto's room, the blonde following silently behind her. She quickly put away her scrolls, and turned to Naruto. A troubled look was on his face, and it didn't seem as though he were paying attention. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he tensed in surprise. Her worried eyes met his.
"What's wrong? I know something's bothering you."
Naruto was surprised. He had tried masking his uncertainty about telling her Kakashi's news, but she had apparently seen through it. How right was Kyuubi? How well could Sakura understand him?
"I know you better than you think," she sighed.
His eyes flicked to hers. He took a deep breath, and let it out in a rush. "Sasuke is in the area. Near us in Amegakure."
"Oh." Sakura's eyes widened, and she looked at the ground. Her front teeth came to bite her bottom lip in concentration. There it was again. Sasuke. As if she hadn't been reminded of him enough. She was almost sick of him. She felt a small pit of anger flare in her chest, and her eyes flashed to Naruto's.
"We're doing this together."
He shook his head sadly. "No. I made a promise. I'll bring him back."
Sakura ground her teeth, knowing that Naruto was telling her to stand back, and he'd get Sasuke himself. She knew his stubbornness, so she at least had to compromise. It wasn't something she always liked doing, but she'd do it for Naruto.
Her fist closed around the collar of his t-shirt. "Fine. But don't you dare get hurt, or almost kill yourself because of your promise."
"My promise? But—"
She shook her head. "If your promise means that you'll kill yourself, then I don't want you to bring him back."
"But I—"
"No. Promise me that that you won't let yourself get killed."
He nodded, and tilted his head in confusion as a sigh escaped her lips and her eyes closed in relief. Her action puzzled him; he never thought those words would come out of her mouth.
Sakura knew that probably hadn't been the best thing to say, but she wanted him to promise that he wouldn't let himself die. She had already lost one teammate, and what if that teammate disappeared again after he killed Naruto? She wasn't sure what was cutting her heart worse: the thought of Naruto dead or the thought that Sasuke wouldn't come back to Konoha.
"We should go," she said quickly, whipping around and making sure she had placed her weapons' pouch on correctly. She put on an older pair of boots, unwilling to dirty her newer ones in the foul weather.
"Oh, Naruto?"
He turned, the high, uncertain note in her voice pulling him back. Her hands twisted nervously.
"Thank you," she replied softly. "For telling me."
Shoulders shrugged, but Sakura could see the small smile that touched Naruto's lips. He walked out of the room, and Sakura hurriedly followed after him.
00000
Pink eyebrows quirked dangerously. Sakura did not like standing in the rain, and the fact that Kakashi wasn't here yet wasn't doing anything to help her anger. If she got sick, so help her…
"Yo!" Kakashi used his normal greeting, raising his voice slightly to be heard above the rain. Before he could think, he was on the muddy ground, a small pain echoing in his skull. "Sakura?"
She growled impatiently. "Well, I figured I would just hit you instead of yell at you. Maybe if I hit you enough, then you'll be on time, and not make me stand in the rain."
Kakashi smiled nervously as he stood. "Waru, waru!" When he didn't get an answer from either of his students, Kakashi sighed. "Well, I came here to speak to you two privately. In this rain, our senses are a little dull, but it's harder for people to hear us."
"You brought us here to talk?!" Sakura fumed. Kakashi started nervously at her outburst, hoping that her personality hadn't taken on certain impatient characteristics of the village's Hokage.
"Sakura…" Naruto made sure his voice could barely be heard as he placed a hand on her soaking wet shoulder. He tried to understand what it all meant when his touch actually helped to calm her rage. Her glare didn't subside, though, until Kakashi began to explain.
"Take this scroll. It'll help you with finding your element much faster than what the jounin are teaching you. I know that you two don't like using your katanas, but at least come to me once so I don't have to lie. You know the Hokage's temper…"
At this statement, even Sakura agreed. She had unfortunately been subject to Tsunade's temper when she had been in constant training, and had barely made it out of those sessions alive. Still, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little irritated that she had to stand out in the freezing rain. With the scroll safely tucked in her kunai pouch, she turned to the silver-haired jounin, whose hair was now hanging down the sides of his face from all the water.
"Can we go now, sensei?"
Kakashi shrugged and smiled beneath his mask. Sakura thought about trying her teleportation jutsu, but she was already having a little bit of trouble with it. She definitely wouldn't be able to concentrate on where she was going with all this rain and mud around her. With a heavy sigh, Sakura sprinted for the academy, leaving Kakashi and Naruto to talk something else over.
After a quick shower, Sakura had once again forgotten to grab her pajamas. She was used to sleeping in her room, and wasn't used to living with anyone else, especially Naruto. She rummaged around in the drawer, trying to find her pajamas when she remembered they were under her pillow. She quickly snatched them up, suddenly frozen in place when she saw someone standing in front of her.
Naruto blinked.
Sakura gulped.
Blue eyes couldn't remove their gaze from her towel-clad body. Her skin was dry, but her hair was damp and slightly messy, as if she had just run an extra towel through it. The towel stopped a little above mid-thigh, and was tucked under itself just below her armpits.
Her skin was soft and creamy-looking. Her long legs were well developed; her calves and thighs were a bit larger than most of the kunoichi, but Naruto wouldn't have wanted her any other way. He realized that her chest was only a little larger than he had originally thought. It was smaller due to the bindings she probably wore.
Jade orbs clouded in confusion as she walked towards him, long fingers forming two hand signs before her hand touched the middle of his chest. His heart rate spiked. He felt the water being taken from his clothes and skin, leaving only his hair damp. She looked at him, eyebrows knitting together before she hurried into the bathroom to get dressed.
His heart hammered painfully against his ribcage, threatening to break through the bone that held it in place. His arms and legs felt useless, and his mind was swirling. What had it meant? She hadn't hit him, or gotten angry as he had taken in her beautiful body; she had come close to him to help keep him dry. He could still remember her scent—like cherries. Her hair was the smell of soft, nondescript flowers.
Naruto couldn't move. The images of her toweled form kept searing into the back of his eyes, but he was almost purposefully doing that. This was probably the only chance he'd get to see her like that, and he wanted to remember it.
Unfortunately, his pounding heart and breathless gasps brought one other thing to his mind. He wanted her more than anything, and not just because—in his eyes—she was the most beautiful kunoichi he'd ever seen. Just being her made everything fit into his life like a perfectly molded puzzle. He honestly couldn't imagine what his life would be like if she hadn't been near him. Cutting himself off from emotions hadn't worked—not with her. Every now and then, he would catch himself staring before roughly pushing the emotions down again.
He admitted it. Removing friends from his life hadn't changed anything; it only made him want them more. He just hadn't been able to remove Sakura. Every glare or hard stare he had given her was only because he was trying to control his emotions at her closeness, and how much he wanted to revert back to his happy self.
Maybe he still could…
His eyes flicked to the closed door. Sakura was supporting her shaking body on the sink, hoping her quick gasps didn't reach Naruto's ears. What had she just done? She had felt so utterly vulnerable, and her first thought was to pound out Naruto's eyes for staring at her. But the look in his sapphire gaze had caused her pulse to race and her blood to boil. She had never seen that look on his face, and suddenly, she hadn't even been in control of her body! Her legs had moved of their own accord, wanting to be closer to him.
The wetness of his clothes and hair had once again struck a cord in her body. Before, she had been able to control it by being nonchalant. This time, she couldn't get past the fact of just how good Naruto had looked.
At least she hadn't tried anything she would have regretted. Well, kissing him wouldn't have been regrettable, but the embarrassment and awkwardness afterwards definitely would have been. She fretted about going back into the room, but if she wanted to sleep, then she would have to suck it up. She exited the bathroom in her normal pajamas. The pants were a slick material and clung to her legs; the shirt was a little baggy, but comfortable.
She saw Naruto's eyes quickly gain interest in his bed sheets. She knew he was being polite, and that he apparently was just as shocked as she was. She crawled into bed, completely forgetting to study. She turned away, missing the blush that rose to Naruto's cheeks as he remembered again.
"Sakura, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean—"
"It's okay, Naruto," she whispered. "It's okay."
How confusing could one girl get? First, he was sure about the things she did. Now, they were in a new place, and everything was changing. His feelings were back—although he doubted they truly had left—and she was suddenly acting strange in the predicaments forced upon them.
His blue eyes flicked to her still form, the steady rhythm of her breathing signifying that she was asleep. How did one fall asleep so quickly? His breath silently hitched at how the moonlight was beginning to seep into the window, coating her skin with a milky glaze. He quickly turned out the lights, crawling into his own bed and settling after a few moments of tossing.
Naruto's gaze rested on Sakura. "Goodnight… Sakura-chan."
A wild, irrational smile parted Sakura's lips. He hadn't known she was still awake.
00000
Dark eyes watched the Academy, their owner wondering why he was actually doing this. All of his prospects were gone, and there were hardly any people that could challenge him. This was all he had left, and he didn't know if he really wanted it back. Watching would be good, though. One could gather a plethora of information just from watching.
The tree branch he sat on shielded some of the rain, but the small covering overhead kept him dry. Amegakure could really be an annoying village, especially with its nonstop rain. Besides, most of the shinobi were second rate.
Moonlight reflected for a moment before settling on a small patch of hair. He knew the base color was red, but the silvery light gave it a ghostly, washed-out appearance.
"I have news," she mumbled quietly, taking quick, furtive glances in the dark-haired man's direction. He tried not to pay attention.
"Uzumaki Naruto has a powerful technique. I cannot tell you what it does, but I know that it is deadly."
"Why did you take so long to tell me?"
"You know I can't be spotted!"
The man scoffed as he stood. His eyes peered into the sky. He would be getting wet soon, but it was only temporary. It was a problem easily fixed. "Report to me about anything else." With that, he disappeared into the rain, the covering vanishing and letting water soak the once-dry spot on the tree.
Flecks of red hair glinted in the moonlight. "Of course… Sasuke-kun."
A/N: Let me know what you guys think of it. I love reviews and they brighten up my day. Until my next chapter!
- wolf's paradise