Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I don't think anyone would have died, and if they did, there would have been tear marks smudged into the manga books:P OK, so I don't cry over deaths, but this disclaimer has to do with the title, and I'll just shut up now! ;P On to the story!!
AN: But, before that, I have two things to say. One; Itachi and Sasuke have not encountered just yet and two; HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PieciesHateScorpios!!!! This chapter is dedicated solely to you:)
Recap:
"Next stop is Mist. We'll keep planning from there." Sakura reminded them before she shut her door and they all went to their beds, sleeping soundly through out the night.
End Recap
Lightning, Earth, Wind, Water, And Fire
Ch.7 - Sound? HEBI?! Eep!
A straight month of training, searching, and staying at random hotels across the countries went by and not a single other member had been recovered. Since the first four in their group of five already had jobs (Hinata: scout; Ino: new girls; Tenten: treasurer; and Sakura: leader), Temari had taken on the duty of holding onto prized/important, expensive, or just special items and keeping track of night shifts. She was also a big influence in their next village to stop at, because she was the oldest in their group so far and she had traveled much more than the other four.
"Sakura..." Tenten started, turning slowly to their pink haired leader. "I know that you don't want to go there, but I think it's our only option left. Honestly! We've checked every single possible country, except... there."
Sakura's eyes steeled. "No way. Nuh-uh." she stated firmly.
Tenten sighed in defeat and Hinata sped up a bit to take Tenten's place. "Y-you know Kura-chan, I think Ten-chan's right. We should go to-" she was cut off by Sakura turning her head.
"Sorry, Hina-chan, but I can't go there. I really can't." Sakura sighed, knowing what was next.
Ino raced up and took her place. "Forehead girl, you may be the leader, but it's a majority, as well. We are going to-"
"No Ino-pig!" Sakura almost screamed that.
Just as the three were going to accept defeat, Temari ran up next to Sakura on the other side, and spoke in a very firm voice.
"Stop being childish, Sakura. We are going to Sound."
Sakura nodded her head rapidly and edged a little closer to Ino, in fear of Temari's voice. "OK, OK. We'll go! Hurry now!" she called out and doubled her already fast pace.
Temari chuckled, while the other three looked at her weirdly for a moment, before they also doubled their pace, joining their leader ahead.
"Works every time!" Temari grinned, then quickly caught up to the rest.
About two hours later
Sakura started slowing her pace. They were tiring out and they still needed to train for that day and set up camp.
"Hinata?" she called to dark haired friend a bit behind her. "Can you scan with your Byakugan for a good training spot a place to sleep?"
Hinata nodded and activated her eye technique with a faint whisper of 'Byakugan'. "Hai."
That had been part of their routine every day; running as far and fast as they could, stopping only when necessary, training, and honing their powers - so far to no avail - and then setting up camp, eating, and finishing it all up with sleeping and taking turns for look out.
"There's a well spaced clearing to the east." the Hyuuga heiress told them, pointing diagonally to their left. "It looks perfect." she smiled.
Sakura grinned. "Awesome! Maybe tonight we can retry our powers..."
Ino nodded her head rapidly. "I sure hope so, eh Tema-chan?" she asked, throwing her arm gently over the blond fan user's shoulders. I had taken about two weeks for the two to warm up with each other, but it paid off the two were practically inseparable! Of course, there were still some tense moments. Especially when a certain lazy genius' name was mentioned...
"Of course. It is why we're all together, right?" Temari confirmed and lightly pushed Ino's arm off her neck; it had been tilting her slightly, and if she hadn't, they both would've ran into that big sleeping man.
Wait a minute! Sleeping man?
All five of the girls seemed to notice at the same time, and came to a halt quickly, landing in the clearing Hinata was talking about.
"Umm..." Sakura started, backtracking slowly until she came back to where that man was. "Hello?" she asked unsurely.
The man jumped up, startled, and Sakura was taken back at his height. "Who are you?!" he asked her loudly.
Suddenly, Ino, Tenten, Hinata, and Temari all jumped out from behind the bushes, and landed right beside Sakura.
The man seemed unfazed and his chakra was high, proving him to be a shinobi and a rather strong one at that! However, his chakra seemed... evil. Dark. His hair was slightly unruly and he had huge muscles, but they weren't bulky. He was tall and big, yes, but he wasn't fat. He actually looked quite fit, just like a good shinobi should be, excluding those that needed to be... ''big boned', in Chougi's words', Ino mused.
The girls were about to speak when they all tensed, excluding the man in front of them, feeling three other chakras heading their way.
Sakura cursed inwardly. They all knew that they were too weak to fight in their currently tired state. Sure, they could take on this man if they all worked together, but four? No way!
"Guys, we better go... and fast!" Tenten told them, turning around and started to drag the others with her, when they realized that they hadn't acted quick enough.
"Yamette (1). Who are you?" A different Male's voice called out. One that they all recognized very well.
Fearing that it was who they suspected, they were about to leave with out turning around to face him, when they heard another voice. A feminine voice. An annoying voice.
"When he asks you something, ANSWER IT!" the voice practically screeched that at them.
Sakura took up the courage and spun slowly around with the other four. Their suspicions were correct.
"S-" she started, then stopped. Taking a deep breath and held all emotions out, she restarted. "It's polite to tell your name first. You of all people should know that..." she paused. "Sa-su-ke." She said it in a mocking voice, sounding out each syllable.
Sure enough, the last Uchiha, the third Uchiha traitor of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke stood there in all his pride and glory. And a redhead hanging off his arm like no tomorrow?
"True enough, but you already know my name..." Sasuke stated. "Sa-ku-ra." he mocked back with a smirk.
The redhead's eyes steeled. 'No one has ever gotten a full sentence out of Sasuke-kun except Suigetsu! And this is even with emotion. How does that pink-haired freak know him and why do they speak so freely together?'
Sakura frowned, she wanted so badly to hug him or at least cry and tell him how much she missed him, but no way. This was her moment. She was not going to be weak.
Sakura glared. "What do you want, Uchiha?" she snapped, taking the proud Uchiha back slightly.
"Hn. What are you doing here?" he ignored her question.
She tried again, also ignoring his question. "Who is your new team?"
"Answer my question." he glared back.
"I asked first." she stated, smirk crossing her pretty facial features.
"Hn."
"ARG!" she threw her arms up in the air.
The two teams watched the fight, looking back and forth seeing who would win. Both were extremely surprised that she had kept him talking that long.
"Alright." Sakura grinned, turning to the first man that had started this whole mess (in the girls' opinion, actually it was their curiosity and the location picked). "Watashi wa (2) Haruno Sakura. What are your names?"
"Me?" he asked and Sakura nodded. "Juugo, nice to meet you Sakura-san. That's Suigetsu and Karin. Apparently you already know Sasuke-sama, though." he smiled.
"Yes, thank-you Juugo-san." she smiled back then turned to Sasuke who was busy glaring at the two. "Ha!"
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" Sasuke asked roughly.
Temari stepped up. "It's none of your business, traitor. What are you?"
Sasuke scowled at her. "Hn."
Sakura sighed. "What if we tell you and you tell us in return?"
Sasuke turned grimaced. "Fine. We left sound, killed Orochimaru and we're currently heading towards Itachi."
"To kill him?" she prompted and he nodded. "Good enough. We're traveling to find some... certain females that possess... certain powers."
"How vague." Suigetsu laughed.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed in agreement and Tenten continued for her. "We're part of a group called the Female Prophecy and-"
"Female Prophecy?!" Karin squealed. "No way! I didn't know it actually existed."
Tenten continued. "-We're searching for the others. There is supposed to be three more, but so far, it's just us five."
Karin grinned. "Can you test me or whatever? Please?" she pleaded.
The five glanced at each other for a moment, with out speaking, then they all turned back to her at the same time and Hinata took it upon herself to take out the element cards from 's backpack.
"Here. Just channel your chakra into it, and we'll see what happens, okay?" Hinata asked, handing the card to the ecstatic redhead.
She nodded happily and took a moment to examine the card.
Ino sighed. "It's not going to bite." she scoffed. "It'll tell us what element you are, and if you have all five, then you're one of us." She paused then mumbled, "I doubt it, though..."
Karin caught it and lightly glared at the blond haired blue eyed teen, before channeling her chakra into it, determinedly.
The reaction of the card was immediate.
Three hours later
Karin rushed back into the clearing from gathering wood.
"Tee hee!" she giggled, making the other people in the campsite, except Juugo, who was reading a random book (AN: who knows where he got that...?), raise their eyebrows. "You guys were right! I am in the Female Prophecy!"
"Yep, the cards never lie, and I reactivated mine." Sakura grinned, stepping up behind her. Her hands were also full of wood, but she was drenched head to toe in water.
Yes, Karin was in their group, and though the girls weren't as excited as Karin, they were at least relieved they had found their sixth member. The spent about two hours going over the book that Sakura had received from Tsunade, and the last hour setting up camp. The girls had joined into Hebi's193" value"He bi's, He-bi's, Heb's, Hebe's, Herbie's, Herb's, Herby's, Hobie's, Hubie's, Hobo's, Hob's, Hub's, Debi's, Hedi's, Hube's, Haber's, Hobey's, Huber's, Hubey's, Herbs, Heir's, Bi's, He's, Hi's, Hobos, Eb's, Habit's, Hobs, Hubs, Hew's, Hui's, Heirs, Hobbies, Hubbies, Hobbs, Habits, Heb, Bis, Hes, His, Herbie, Hubris, Hebe, Hess, Hers, Hews" / group until the next morning, then they'd head back to Sound, Karin leading the way.
"Ano... Kura-chan?" Hinata started slowly, taking in her emerald eyed friend's disheveled appearance.
"What's with all the water?" Tenten finished, trying not to laugh at Sakura wet white shirt and threw her a jacket to cover up before any of the other guys came back, since Juugo obviously wasn't paying much attention.
"Hmmm?" Sakura's brow furrowed and she looked down. "Ohhh!" she laughed. "Apparently I have a lot of water skills."
Hinata and Tenten laughed with her. "Well, that book of yours did say that we each had at least one main skill." Temari analyzed, stepping up beside her, carrying two buckets full of water.
Sakura nodded thoughtfully. "True. Maybe one of mine is water?"
"Who knows." Ino giggled, carrying some freshly filled water bottles. "But I sure hope I get to have the lightning element."
"Wouldn't that just be perfect for Ino?" Temari snickered to Tenten, who agreed with a laugh.
Ino glared. "Oh, thanks, guys." she deadpanned.
Just then, Sasuke and Suigetsu got back, both holding large piles of wood.
"Who has fist watch?" Suigetsu asked.
"Now that we have a bigger group for the night, we might as well have two watchers per shift." Sasuke stated, devoid of emotion once again as he started the fire and prepared their supper.
"Sure, makes sense." Sakura agreed.
"You know, Sasuke-kun," Karin crooned. "You could come with us..."
"Hn." he grunted.
"That means 'no'." Suigetsu sighed and Sasuke was glad that Suigetsu was the only person outside of Team 7 that understood his 'Hn's and 'Aa's.
Sakura chuckled, grabbing her cooked food (AN: didn't take that long, did it? 0.o Super food! lol), then suddenly started missing Naruto. Naruto was the first in their team to understand Sasuke's 'language', Sakura following and Kakashi last. She sighed. "I'll take first watch." she stated. "Ino, you next, then Tenten, Hinata, and lastly Temari."
The girls nodded then Sasuke faced his Team Hebi for one of the last times while Karin was still in it. "Suigetsu, you're second, then Juugo twice, then Karin. I'll go first as usual." he smirked and Sakura scowled at the thought of him taking the same watch as her.
"On second thought-" Sakura started, then was cut off by Sasuke.
"Might as well turn in now. I'll wake you up when I'm done, Suigetsu." he said and the others nodded, packing in and heading into their respective sleeping areas.
"H-hey!" Sakura protested, but Sasuke smirked.
"What? You scared of me? You seemed fine earlier, hmmm?"
She glared hard, then quickly turned. "I'm fine, thanks." she snapped, back facing him as she sat in front of the fire, trying her best to ignore the raven haired man, handsome chest showing through the sound clothes. She had just taken her first actual look at him since they re met, and he wasn't that bad to look at... 'In fact, he looks quite... nice.' she partially admitted, not wanting to use exact words, in fear of a blush.
Sasuke's smirk widened slightly and he sat beside her.
'Ohhh, this' be a long night.' Sakura groaned inwardly.
As the shifts went by, not much chatting went between the watchers. Sometimes the occasional boring topic or past came up, but it was pretty quiet. By about six in the morning, they all got up and packed their belongings.
As they said their goodbyes, Sakura couldn't help but say, "I hope you come back to Konoha once you're done with your ambition. Naruto would definitely appreciate it, Sasuke-kun." She didn't even notice the forbidden '-kun', but as they parted their separate ways, she whispered so quietly, only Sasuke heard, even though she didn't want him to. "...And so would I, Sasuke-kun..."
"Alright, girls! Keep up. We can make it to Sound in two days if we go fast." Karin called out, setting an extremely fast pace.
Sakura grinned evilly, forgetting that goodbye, while the other four shivered. They knew what was about to happen. "Oh, we can go fast." she laughed. "Believe that." With that little statement, she passed Karin effortlessly, throwing a heavy matching set of weights to her. "Keep those on."
Karin's eyes bulged. "Eep! Do you know how heavy these are? And look how fast!" she protested, holding the weights with both arms.
"Yes, and we're all wearing them. Come on. We could make it in just one day!"
Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and even Temari all groaned. Oh, yes, they knew what that meant and they knew that they'd be in for hell!
"Darn you, Sakura!" Ino screeched, then mumbled, "Leader? Yes. Deadly? Yes. Strict? Yes. Mean and harsh? ANOTHER FREAKIN' YES!!"
They all raced on, catching up to their laughing leader. Definitely hell...
--
AN: Yepperz, it's out and done on Feb. 28th, as promised to PieciesHateScorpios. Happy B-day again and hope everyone likes it. Long, ne? Rofl What will happen next? Wait til March 4th, my b-day! Lol See you all then! ...And yes, I know I said I'd make it the longest chapter, but I had way to much homework and this was the most exciting and adventurous chapter so far. So ha! Lol
Translations:
1) Yamette : Stop
2) Watashi wa ... : My name is ...
This chapter is actually not dedicated to my reviewers this time, but I thank you all the same (has anyone else noticed that this list is getting slightly longer?):
ClOUdNiNE9, PieciesHateScorpios, deepcutfighter, Lady V-chan, Luka1Sakura, and PR Sakura
Thanks so much guys! Each and every review is greatly appreciated.
- Cady
