Hey guys! Whew! Finally got this chapter done, I know it's not as long, but I figured it was a good place to stop it at. New characters introduced, tell me what you think about it(:
I woke up with a massive headache, one harsh enough to make me fall back onto my pillow again. It was late, and I realized I must have slept through the entire day. Lifting my head up and placing my hand on it, I focused healing chakra, hoping to soothe away the pain. Then I remembered: I got drunk last night. No cure to a hangover. Growling harshly under my breathe I sat up, and looked around the room.
The bed in front of me looked like a bear had slept in it, but it was empty. Of course he wouldn't be here when I woke up. Something had probably 'come up' and he was gone. But then I heard the sliding glass door slip open, and there he was, a towel loosely wrapped around his waist, his body dripping wet. He must have just come out of the hot spring.
"Uh…" He murmured, noticing that I was up – and staring at him. Tearing my eyes away from him with much effort, I put my head in my hands and cursed under my breath. When I looked up again, he was in the bathroom, the door tightly closed. Why did he have to be so hot? It obviously didn't help the fact that he acted like a total jack ass last night.
I finally forced myself out of bed, and stretched out my stiff muscles. From the bathroom I could hear the raining noise of a shower, and figured he was going to be in there a while. Probably fifteen minutes at most. Not wanting to waste my time waiting for him and then having to see him in another totally awkward meeting. So I gathered up a pair of undergarments and shoved them in a little gym bag along with some toothpaste, brush, shampoo and conditioner , and slipped out of the room, headed straight for Kakashi's door right next door.
I walked in to find Kakashi sitting on his bed, face in his hands like he just got up, right near the edge. Shirtless. He didn't look up when I just barged in, didn't even flinch, which shouldn't really surprise me in the least. Kakashi was like that, trained much more than I.
"May I use your shower, sensei?" My tone was quiet, betraying all the anger I felt building up inside me. He waved his hand like he could care less, but right before I walked into the bathroom, he lifted his head and said "We're leaving shortly," then, without fully looking me in the eyes, gave me a sly smirk. Before I could question why were we leaving in broad daylight and not nighttime, he held his finger to his lips, a commonly known gesture for 'shh', and made a hand movement for me to hurry up and get into the shower. I did as I was told, gave him a quick smile and 'thank you' and slipped into the shower.
Later, as we all stood around in the woods waiting for the big jerk face to hurry up and get his ass over here, I was even more annoyed that I had to go into 'hiding' with him. I guess the thing that annoyed me most was that I didn't even get a good reason as to why we were acting so scared of these losers. They didn't seem so scary to me. Okay, well maybe a little scary. Or a lot. But still! We have Lady Tsunade, and Asuma, and Jiraiya-sama, and all these powerful shinobi in our village, why do we have to act all scared of two measly shinobi?
"Sakura," I turned around from glaring at the tree to face Kakashi. Seeing my face, he gave me a soft smile, something I could just barely see through his mask. He took a slow step forward to me, in a comforting sort of way.
"You'll be fine, just…" He wandered off, at loss for words when The Jerk finally arrived. I let out a silent groan and turned around, so I wouldn't have to look him in the eye.
"Well, it's about time," One of the ANBU grumbled, getting a laugh from the other, as well as me. Kakashi turned around to glare, but stopped when Naruto simply replied "Are we ready to go?"
"Yes," Kakashi said in a low voice, I think hinting Naruto shouldn't be very loud. The two ANBU and I disguised our snickers with coughs, which only made us want to laugh even more. Finally, Kakashi turned to glare at all of us, but I could see in his eye that he was trying hard not to laugh. I smirked at him and looked away, finally stopping my snickering.
"Yes, we are ready to leave, let's go." Kakashi repeated, his voice just a smidge louder than earlier, but not half as loud as Naruto's was just a moment before when he asked if we were ready to leave. Then, Kakashi pointed forward and took off, and we all followed him. For me and Naruto, we followed him to our 'home' - something I hoped wouldn't last all that long.
We arrived a short later that night. It was nothing really. Basically, we were out in the middle of nowhere. It was a clearing in the woods, which I didn't understand at all. Where would we sleep? Where would we get our food? Where would we bathe? But before I could voice all these questions, somebody already beat me to the punch.
"Uh, Kakashi-sensei? I don't mean to sound rude, but this is where we'll be staying for who knows how long?" It was silent. Even I didn't want to just come out and ask it – it seemed incredibly rude. I mean, weren't they only doing this for our own safety? Apparently Kakashi didn't feel the same way as he simply answered "No, this is where we'll be resting for the night, Naruto."
"Wait, resting? I thought you said we'd be at our destination today, er tonight." I said, annoyed that I'd have to spend another night with Naruto. Although I didn't see any hotels around…
'That's right, Sakura-chan, we're not staying at a hotel. We're gonna sleep right our here on good 'ol Mother Nature." Kakashi shot me a sly smile, once so cocky I could plainly see it through his sleek mask, and I shot him a scowl.
"Alright, but I call the sleeping bag alone. Over…here." I walked next to a nice big oak tree, and stomped on the ground, as if marking my place. This got a laugh from the two ANBU who gestured to the tall fat oak tree about four feet away from me.
"Hm, alright." Kakashi said, claiming the spot under probably the fattest oak tree, probably so he could have a nice back rest while he reads his smut books. I was just about to make a snide comment about his chosen spot when Naruto placed his own sleeping bag about a foot away from my spot. I looked up at him, not saying anything. He was turned around, so he couldn't see me staring a hole into his back, but he must have felt me staring at him because he turned around, a cocky smile on his face.
"What? Is there a problem?" He asked in a sarcastic tone. And, I had to admit, the whole sarcasm/cockiness looked sexy on him. But it's not like I'd ever admit that out loud. Cause I definitely will not. Ever. An owl in the distance hooted loudly, demanding to be heard. The forest was silent, and I was just about to tell him exactly what the problem was when I got interrupted by – whom else? – Kakashi.
"Settle down, guys. Let's all get some rest, we'll be leaving early in the morning, so rest up." With that, he crawled into his already set up sleeping bag, and – of course – took out one of his smut books.
"Uh, Kakashi-sensei? What about dinner? A fire?" I asked, starving and quite cold.
"You just ate eight hours ago, Sakura-chan," His tone made him sound like an annoyed village parent scolding their greedy young. "And a besides, a fire would give us away. We can't have that, now can we?"
"Plus, we won't be staying here long enough for one, anyways." One of the ANBU added, matter-of-factly. I groaned and placed my head in my hands.
"Okay, okay." Still mumbling to myself, I unfolded my sleeping bag and snuggled in for a good night's sleep. Little did I know that it was not going to be a good night. Or that I'd barely get to sleep at all. Why is that? Oh, just a little thing I'd like to call…
Loud snoring blasted in my ear the whole time we rested. And every time I even tried to like, push his head to the other side to lessen the loudness and quality I heard of it, I'd get that feeling that if I kept touching him, another memory would force itself upon me – and I did not need that tonight. Especially in front of Kakashi, not to mention those ANBU. So all rest period long, which consisted of probably, oh, maybe five-six hours, I heard Naruto's animalistic snores, which, to me, sounded very much like an angered bear. Occasionally, I could hear that at least on (maybe even both) of the ANBU agreed with me, as they would grunt and mumble "dear god, shut up" or "for the love of god."
In the early, early morning of the next day, Kakashi woke everybody up. I felt like I could just about die, and when I grumbled out "When will we get there, Kakashi-sensei?" he replied "Well if everyone hurries up, tonight." Looking forward to sleep and rest later on tonight like little kids do for Christmas morning, I clapped my hands loudly, and nudged Naruto up with my foot. I can't say I didn't enjoy it. Finally, he woke up, grumbling and cursing under his breath, but I could care less. He'd kept me up all night with his obnoxious snoring, so he deserved cold water splashed on his face like they do in the movies. Too bad there was no water around here.
"Naruto! Hurry up, we're getting a move on, we have no time for anymore delays," Kakashi ordered, giving him a slight glare with his eye. Naruto rolled his eyes cockily, but quickened up his speed while picking up his bed. After just a few minutes, it looked as if no one were even here, and so we set off. For the last time, possibly, for a long time.
"We're just about here, guys." Kakashi's light voice whispered into the still night. We'd been traveling since early this morning, but like Kakashi said, we'd had no delays so we were just about there. I couldn't see anything different, there was no change in landscape or anything, but I also didn't see any one else, either.
"Alright, here we are." Kakashi came to a sudden halt, standing right in before a clearing in the woods. I gaped at him like he was an idiot. We were expected to stay in a clearing? What? I was just about to complain and question him when Naruto opened his big mouth.
"Here?" He asked in a tone that said he didn't have any intentions at all of staying here.
"Yes, Naruto." Kakashi's voice was annoyed.
"In a clearing?" Naruto questioned.
"Oh, just stop complaining, damn!" One of the ANBU shrieked in a loud whisper. Everyone turned to look at him. His face showed no remorse for his sudden and unexpected outburst, instead it showed annoyance. He turned to Kakashi and said "can't we just show them and report back to Lady Tsunade?" Then it was our turn to look to Kakashi. He let out a low sigh and shrugged, like he could care less. Then, looking up to face us, he held up his hand in midair to the side of him. It was as if he was leaning his arm against something, but that was impossible. For a jutsu like that to be performed, it takes a whole crap load of chakra.
"Here, is an invisible gate to your new home," He shifted his gazer to Naruto, who looked intrigued enough to actually be paying any attention.
"Once you go in, you won't come out unless one of the four who put up this gate, come to get you." He looked back to me.
"Now, you need not worry about anybody getting in, trust me, no one can, apart from the four who made it, and those who've been granted access. The only way you're getting in here now is because Lady Tsunade's father was one of the four to put it up, so it accepts her blood. Any questions?"
"Is there anyone else in there? Or would it just be us?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
"Yes, there are other people in there. But they are there as well, to hide from something their village saw as dangerous." He answered, then turned to look at Naruto.
"Questions, Naruto?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Alright, then.
"Wait! When…when will we get out?"
Kakashi looked at me, and there was a long pause. Then, with a swift movement of his hands, the gate became partially visible. What happened next was a blur. Kakashi wrapped her in a tight, unexpected hug, and he murmured something she didn't catch into her ear before backing away from her to give Naruto a goodbye. The two ANBU came up to here, bowed, and one of them muttered "I feel bad for you," while the other said "You were a pleasure," then, I was being sucked into the gate along with Naruto.
We landed with a harsh thud in a new world. Naruto grumbled curse words as I sat there, astonished by this new surrounding. I was on soft, comfy grass, with tall trees surrounding me and beautiful exotic flowers blooming everywhere. I could hear a small waterfall somewhere to the far east of me, and birds cooing above in the trees.
"Wow…" I murmured, so quietly only I could hear. Naruto got to his feet and held his hand out, offering to help me up.
"Hello there,"
I jumped at the voice, which definitely didn't come from Naruto. Looking around for the voice, I found a tall, very well built guy with jet black hair that hung just above his piercing grey eyes. He walked forward until he was right in front of me, offering his hand out for me. With a light blush rushing up to my cheeks, I accepted it, and he helped me up with a swift movement of his arm. I sucked in a breath of air in surprise.
"My name is Yamada Takashi, and you are?" His voice was so rugged, so manly, so intoxicating. I heard a short huff from Naruto, and then he replied in a cold tone "Uzumaki Naruto. And that's Haruno Sakura." Takashi didn't even look in Naruto's direction, instead gazing at me warmly.
"Sakura, eh? Like the cherry blossom? What a beautiful name." I giggled a little and felt myself blush yet again. Again, I heard Naruto let out a frustrated huff.
"Who are you? Where the hell are we?" He questioned in a harsh tone. This time, Takashi did look over to him, and smoothly untangled his hand from mine and stepped towards Naruto.
"I already told you, I'm Yamada Takashi, and you, Naruto are here in the Land of Heiwa." Naruto let out a scoff and crossed his arms in front of him.
"I know your name; I want to know who you are, exactly."
Takashi laughed.
"You're a cocky little thing aren't you?" He chuckled, and then added "Let's get moving, it'll be nightfall soon, and dinner will be coming up real quickly."
The village we arrived in was quant and lively, bustling with different people walking around picking up groceries, little kids laughing and playing, and older kids walking around talking and laughing. I'm actually pretty surprised at how many people I'm seeing; I wonder why they were here, what was going on in their home village that was too dangerous for them to be there.
"…And here is the Village Hall. This is where we hold special events and meetings. This is also where we'll be eating tonight to celebrate your arrival." Takashi pointed to a tall brick building which had a big clock built into it above the double doors. There was a cluster of teenagers hanging out on the steps, laughing and joking loudly. Some of them ogled us as we passed by, some completely ignored us. I heard Naruto mutter something among the lines of "How annoying," but I dismissed his sour attitude.
"And…." Takashi droned on, but someone familiar caught my eye. It was a red-haired female with black glasses, staring dead at me, her pinkish-red eyes wide. As soon as she caught me looking at her, her head snapped around, and she disappeared into the building behind her. Interrupting Takashi mid-sentence I asked "What's that building?" I jerked my head towards the building I just saw the girl disappear in. Takashi flashed a smile towards me, and then in an even voice he answered "That's your new home."
Okay, I really hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you think about the new characters!!