Sakura sat at the kitchen table in Sasukes house, watching the green pulsing glow coming off her finger. She could barely contain the smile that was on her face. Sasuke was making something for them to eat. Occassionally he would look back at her with a smirk.
After the trauma of the past few days, Sakura felt that there was nothing that she could do. She had decided to try her hardest and figure out how to phase, but if she was honest with herself, she thought that she would be searching for answers in the dark. Thought with the help of a soft spoken vampire with eerie pale eyes, she now saw a path.
"How long are you going to be doing that?" Sasuke asked as he placed a plate of food in front of her. Her smile only spread further.
"I don't think I can stop. It's amazing isn't it." She did stop though, and started to eat the chicken and rice that were in front of her. The food still hurt when she swallowed, but she pushed the pain aside. "I want to go train after Kakashi leaves." He sat down across from her, his brows raised.
"Don't you think you should give it some time?" He asked as he began to eat. Sakura chewed her food slowly and shook her head.
"No, if Hinata's right I want to clear the constrictions as soon as possible." She sat and pushed her food around with her fork. "I just think that the sooner I figure out how to phase the better. I feel like there is going to be a calm before the storm comes." Her eyes remained on her plate. Sasuke just looked at her and grimaced.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence, but Sakura couldn't help from randomly smiling at herself. Sasuke would just glance at her, with a worried look then he would continue to eat slowly. Once they had finished he collected their plates and went to the sink and began to wash up. There was a soft knock on the door and he sighed.
"Not use to so many guests?" Sakura laughed.
"No," He said and walked to the door. Kakashi came walking in and gave her a smile.
"Sakura, how are you doing?" He kept the smile on his face, but his eye fell a little but as he looked at her.
"I am alive." He raised his eyebrow at her, then gave her a small nod. Kakashi took a seat at the table.
"The information that you gave us was given to the council, they of course took a while to decided on what actions that they wanted to take. Currently they are sending out teams to the surrounding territories that are not a part of the alliance, to see if there has been any activity that we should be aware of." Kakashi said and he ran his hands over the mask. Sakura and Sasuke stilled as they listened.
"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked.
"There are no plans for our teams now. They just requested that we focus on our training and be prepared for anything that is to come." Sakura nodded. "I know it's not much, but we have to trust in the actions that the council takes." Kakashi almost spat the last part out. They all took a deep breath in. They sat there in silence, none of them knew what to say.
"What time do we start training tomorrow?" Sakura whispered. Kakashi looked up at her.
"Are you up to it?" He narrowed his eye at her.
"Nothing is going to come from me doing nothing. Plus, there are a few things I have to work on." She smirked and Kakashi cocked his head.
"Well first, I think I know how I can phase." His brow shot up at the statement. "And I guess I am a medic." She lifted her hand and showed the pulsing green glow. Before he could think Kakashi grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand forward. She clenched her teeth at his touch.
"But you are a wolf," He murmured while he examined her hand. Sakura gave him a quizzical look.
"I am aware of that," She pulled her arm out of his grasps.
"Wolves don't have medics. There is no known case." His eye widened as he looked at her. "Well, it's not like they would need them. In most cases phasing would take care of wounds."
"What do you mean there is no known case." Sasuke questioned.
"Just what I said, I don't think I have ever heard of a wolf that could use chakra to heal." He let out a sigh, a thoughtful look on his face.
"There has to be some wolves that can heal, being a healer isn't rare. Every race has some within it." Sakura's brow pulled down, a soft frown showing on her face.
"I don't know," Kakashi looked her up and down. "Perhaps there have been, but the wolves never wrote anything about it or told anyone."
"Well you said that they were secretive." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. Kakashi narrowed his eye at her, it felt as if he was searching her, for something. With a sigh he broke his gaze and looked away.
"Phasing? How do you plan on going about that?" Sakura explained to him what Hinata had saw in her chakra network, and how she said that she could open up the constrictions. Kakashi nodded his head.
"If you shattered your network when you were a child you shouldn't have survived." Kakashi pondered. Sakura pursed her lips.
"That's what I said. I don't really have an answer for that."
"Perhaps you had your healing abilities even at that age." Sakura shrugged again.
"Well we will never know for sure, I just want to focus on what I can do now. So what time are we training?" She tapped her finger on the table.
"I suppose we can use the wolves field at nine." Kakashi said, and leaned back in his chair. Sakura smirked at him. "I to get going, see ya guys tomorrow." Kakashi gave them a nod, and then made his way out. Sakura looked over at the clock, it was nearly seven thirty.
"Do you want to go to the training grounds?" She asked Sasuke as she started to stand. Sasuke gave a loud sigh.
"I don't think that you should train today." He ran a hand through his inky hair.
"Well I think I should." She gave him a cold smile. "I had my breakdown time, and not I need to train." She said as she pushed her shoulders back. "You don't have to come if you want."
"Fine, let me get changed." He scoffed, and headed up the stairs. She leaned against the counter and smirked.
They made their way through the village and into the surrounding forests. Sakura was eager to begin training, she felt as if she had no time to spare. They made a quick detour to her tent so that she could change into her uniform. She dressed quicky, taking a moment to breath, knowing the scars on her arms were once again on display. With one last breath she left her tent and was suddenly she was knocked over, on top of her were three warm, furry, heavy bodies. Their teeth chattered, yips and snorts filled the air.
"Ugh, get off of me." That is when she felt it. She felt the relief within the wolves when they saw her. She felt the concern and worry that filled them. She grabbed onto a neck and pulled the beast to her. "I am so sorry, I didn't know that you chose me." They finally got off her and snorted as she got up. She looked and saw that Sasuke was watching the scene with wide eyes. She smirked at him.
"Seems the pups were a bit excited." She laughed as she ran her hands over their flanks.
"Pups?" He said as he looked over the large wolves. She smiled at him then turned to the brothers.
"Ok my hansom boys, I am sorry that I left you. I didn't know, and I won't leave again without telling you. I have to go train for an hour or so." Three sets of golden eyes burrowed into her. They let out chuffs and snorts. "We are staying on pack grounds, just going to the training grounds. You ready?" She looked up at Sasuke and he gave a small bob of his head.
They started to head out of camp when Sakura looked behind her to see the three brothers following, Sasuke looked a bit taken back by being followed. Sakura just shook her head. She had a feeling that there was nothing she could say that would keep them in camp. They walked quietly to the training grounds. Once they arrived Sakura had the wolves stay in the tree line.
"Umm, I'll let you know what I am planning to do. I want to use chakra to enhance my blows. So I don't know if you want to spar?" She asked running her hand over her chin.
"Hand to hand then?" He asked.
"Hand to hand," She nodded. They parted and each took defensive stances. Sakura pushed charkra through to her fists. She could feel it pulse, she pushed as much as she could. Sasuke blinked his eyes began to glow red. Sakura pushed back the nausating feeling when her stomach dropped when saw the red. She crouched and readied herself. Then Sasuke was coming at her. She dodged and parried each blow he attempted to land. She attempted a blow, but he had pushed her fist away and it hit the ground with an explosion. Both eyes widened at the force of the punch.
The sparing went on for a few hours. Sakura was becoming increasingly frustrated that she was not able to land a blow on Sasuke, but he was breathless once they had decided to stop. They sat in the field each panting.
"I knew you were majorly holding back at me when we spared the first time," She said as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
"I didn't activate my sharingan that time." He smirked at her. She snorted at him
"I should probably be heading back. I am sure that Kiba is waiting." She got up and stretched. "Thank you for coming out with me." She gave him a smirk.
"Hn," was all the reply she got. They walked back to her camp, flanked by the three large wolves. `She would look over at him and smirk. His face remained emotionless, but she could see his eyes soften when he would look over at her out of the corner of his eye. She was expecting him to leave her at the edge the camp, but he had walked her all the way to her tent.
"Hey I just wanted to say thank you again for the past couple of days." She said as she shoved her hands in her pockets
"It was nothing," Sasuke shrugged.
"It was something." Sakura softly frowned at him. "Sometimes people just need people to be there, not talking or consoling, just there so you know your not alone. You know." She then smiled at, hesitantly her hand went out and grabbed his, giving it a light squeeze. He gave her a small smile. "I should go find Kiba." She noticed his face tighten a little, she let out a sigh.
It didn't take long to find Kiba. He was over at the fire pits grabbing something to eat. Once he saw her his face dropped a little, then he pulled it into a smile.
"Hey Sakura," He said pulling her into him. "You look better, but your eyes are still kinda gross." He chuckles
"Way to make a girl feel special." She smiled at him. He returned the grin but it slowly began to fade.
"For real, are you ok?" He rubbed his hands up and down her arm. She looked at him and nodded, her eyes wide.
"I will be," He gave her a sad smile and kissed her on her forehead.
"Are you going to need anything tonight? Do you want me to sleep in your tent?" His eyes searched hers.
"I don't know." She answered honestly. "And I don't have another cot, I think we are a little too old to be sharing one." She smiled softly at him.
"It's ok, I can pull my mattress and put it on the ground." Sakura just wasn't in the mood to fight, and she knew he would insist. She nodded in agreement and Kiba ran off to his caravan. She followed him and offered to help. He just shooed her away carrying the bed by himself.
The remainder of the night was spent with the pack in front of the many campfires that glowed around the grounds. Sakura got some questions as to what she had been doing the night before, but for the most part people just let it go. They didn't even question the broken blood vessels in her eyes, just usually asked if she was ok an left it at that. It was a relief not to be around people that saw her breakdown and acted like she was broken.
Kiba and Sakura decided to turn in for the night. Kiba had fallen asleep right when he laid down, which was like his special talent. He could sleep anywhere any time. Sakura laid in bed listening to his soft snores. She also could hear Akamaru and the brothers rustling outside the tent. She got up and opened the door. She let all four in putting her finger up to her lips letting them know to settle quickly. She laid back down, surrounded by her boys and she smiled and willed herself to sleep.
She woke up screaming again. Kiba was holding onto her hand stroking her hair whispering that everything will be ok. She tried multiple times to go back to sleep, but it would always end in the same way: He screaming and Kiba attempting to calm her down.
The next morning she dragged herself to the training field flanked by the brother. The appearance of the three large grey wolves had startled Kakashi and Naruto, but they soon accepted their presents and began training. She would spar with Sasuke then Naruto. Kakashi had tried to give her some pointers on how to push her chakra through the constrictions, but he admitted that such exercises were something that only she could do. So once Naruto and Sasuke began to spar she found herself meditating on the side of the field focusing her chakra. They trained long and hard, only going home once the sun began to set.
This routine was followed every day for three weeks. Sakura not sleeping, or screaming at night, then training as hard as she could during the day. She was making some improvement with her chakra network but not nearly as much as she wished. The sparing was beginning to pay off though. She had no issues keeping up with her team mates. Naruto began saying that she had monster strength. She would normally just nod and smile, but it did bother her, since she had a bad habit of thinking of her self as one. The whole team began to work incredibly well together. They covered each others weaknesses, not the Naruto and Sasuke had many. They also got along surprisingly well. Just like with battling, they covered each others personality well.
"Sakura, you can't keep doing this. You are wearing yourself far too. You don't sleep, you train like a mad woman." Kiba shook his head, and he ran his hand over his face. "You are going to break." He met her eyes.
"I am not going to break, I am fine Kiba." She snapped at him, she did notice that he had dark circles under his eyes. "If you want to go back into your caravan that is fine." She crossed her arms. It was the middle of the night, and she had just awoken as usual screaming. She didn't want to keep Kiba up, but there was nothing that she could do about it. That is besided sending him away.
"There has to be some thing that you can do. I mean even if you can't get rest, you can't train like you are." His eyes were brimming with concern.
"What I am suppose to do then Kiba? Just sit here and not be prepared when something happens." She ran her hands roughly through her hair, then she sneered at him. "Plus if there was an issue with MY training don't you think that my instructor would tell me that there is an issue?" Kiba sighed at her.
"Come on, listen to yourself. Do you even know what you are preparing for?" She snorted at him. "Have you told Kakashi that you haven't been sleeping more then an hour or two a night?" She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Then how the hell is he going to know what is going on? Your not the only one not sleeping Sakura" She snapped her head up and narrowed her eyes.
"I apologize that you aren't sleeping, if it is affecting you so much, seriously go and move back into your caravan." Her face was tight her nostrils flaring.
"You know that is not what I meant." Kiba said with another sigh.
"No, it's fine, don't worry about it ok? I'll be fine." His face dropped.
"Fine Sakura, but when, and I do mean when, you burn out, don't come running to me." He huffed then stomped out of the tent. Sakura sighed and sat down on her cot. She was exhausted, but she felt there was nothing left to do then power through it. One of the brothers lifted their head from the ground and let out a whine.
"Ohhh I don't need to hear it from you three either." She glared at the wolf. He looked at her and gave out a snort, she snorted right back.
She sat in her tent waiting for the morning to arrive. Once it was there, she got ready and she made her way through the forest to the training ground that her team had decided to make their field. Her arms and legs felt heavy and her head felt empty. She yawned as she walked into the open field. She looked around and it seemed that she was the first to arrive. That was typical though, it seemed Sakura or Sasuke were always the first there, then Naruto, then Kakashi. She took a few more steps in, then sat down. Two wolves sitting on her left and one on her right. She pulled some long grass and began to braid it. She closed her eyes and smirked.
"Hey Sasuke," She said with out even turning. She was growing accustom to her teams scents and chakra signatures.
"Hn" He said as he took a seat next to the wolf on her right. The beast chattered his teeth in acknowledgment. She could feel his eyes on her.
"Are you doing ok?" He asked as he began to look down the field.
"I am great," She lied. He looked back at her and narrowed his eyes.
"Hey Naruto," She greeted him just as she had Sasuke.
"Hey, what's going on Sakura, Sasuke?" He asked as he jogged over. Then he sat in front of her "Holy shit Sakura, you look like shit."
"I am fine!" She found her hands curling into fists. She looked at Naruto his eyes were wide.
"Sorry Sakura, it just looks like you don't feel well." He gave her a toothy grin and scratched his neck.
"I am fine, just having a hard time sleeping." She sighed and uncoiled her fists. She heard Sasuke grunt next to her. "Anyways let's get to sparing, who wants to go." They rarely waited for Kakashi to start anymore. She saw Sasuke stand up and walk to the middle of the field.
"Guess I get to take a nap," Naruto said as he leaned back with hiw hands under his head.
"Or you could practice your marksmanship." Sakura snapped. She made her way to the center field, pushing her chakra in her arm an her legs. Sasuke looked at her and gave a small nod, letting his eyes bleed into the red of the sharigan. They both went into a defensive stance. A second later both of them were charging each other. Sasuke's movements were quick and precise. Sakura was able to block most of the blows that attempted to land. Though when she was throwing punches and kicks they were far off their mark and easy for Sasuke to dodge. He clicked his tongue at her in an annoyed manner. The noise made Sakura's blood boil. She came after him faster, putting more chakra behind her blows. He jumped back an raised an eyebrow. She clenched her jaw, pushing all the chakra she could into her foot. She kicked out her leg lifting it above her head and let it slam onto the ground. A huge crack started from the point of impact. Earth flew up as the crack quickly zig and zag to Sasuke, making in stumble. She scowled at him then fell to her knees panting.
Sasuke walked up to her and offered his hand. She batted it away.
"When is the last time that you slept?" He glared at her, letting his hand move back to his side.
"I don't know, before I became part of this fucking team." She grunted as she stood up. He just looked at her, searching her eyes. He blinked and deactivated his sharingan. He raised his eyebrow. "Kiba has been trying to help." She sighed out, rubbing her eyes with her palms.
"Hn," He nodded. "Perhaps you should work on your mediation." She glared at him again and walked away with a huff.
"That was quick," Naruto said as he sat up.
"Shut up Naruto!" She snapped and took a seat at the edge of the field. She flopped down and looked to see Naruto and Sasuke starting to spar. She scowled at them, then she felt the fur press pass her, a low whine coming out. She felt that the brothers were agitated and worried. She sighed.
"I am just tired." She pressed her hand into the on of their fur. "My fuse is just really short right now, I am sorry." She looked up to at her team mates spar. "I should probably apologize to those two later." Another whine passed one of the wolves mouths. "I know..."
She positioned herself and began meditating. That is how she spent the rest of the training day, flexing her chakra.
When Sakura got back to camp she grabbed whatever food that was already made and went into her tent with the brothers on her heels. Her stomach dropped when she saw that Kiba's mattress was removed. The guilt started in her stomach but then spread through her body. She sighed and changed into a tank top and pajama pants and threw herself on to her cot. She laid there for a few hours just staring at the ceiling of her tent. Listening to the breaths and whimpers coming from the wolves around her.
Saukra started to go into the stage between being sleep and wakefulness. She now fought sleep no matter what. Every night she had seen her pack destroyed, and she had been tortured. She fought the haze that was filling her mind. She thought that she heard something outside her tent, but she was in a state where she couldn't tell what was in her mind and what wasn't. She laid there and debated on whether she should get up and look, but then again the brother would surely have heard the noise, wouldn't they?
Then there was a rustle at the tent door, she put her arm up over her eyes and sighed. "Kiba?" She asked. There was no answer. "Kiba, if you are fucking with me I am going to neuter you." She heard a the flaps of her tents open, she sat up an peered into the darkness. Her heart began to pump faster. Why wasn't he answering? "Kiba" She whispered. She reached for the hurricane lamp next to her, and lit it. She grabbed her chest as she breath hitched in her throat.
"Sasuke, what the fuck?" She took a breath in, then she glared and the wolves laying on the ground. "And what the fuck brothers?" One wolf just lazily wagged his tail. She looked back at Sasuke. "Man that was such a creeper move!" He took a step forward into her tent.
"I thought that Kiba was in here, and I wasn't sure what was... going on." He said, he kept his gaze on the floor. "Where is Kiba? I thought you said he was helping you sleep?" She bit the inside of her cheek at the question.
"We, well uh, had a fight. I was not being very nice, and I kicked him out." A frown spread on her face. She looked up at him, and he was still staring at the ground. What the hell was wrong with him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see how you are doing." His gaze went from the floor in front of him to the three curled up wolves. She was getting irritated that he wasn't looking at her.
"What is the issue here? Why aren't you looking at me?" She ran her hand through her hair. Sasuke looked into her eyes, but then his eyes flicked quickly to her chest then back. Her hand lifted and then realized that she was only in a low cut tank top. She froze she was like a deer in the headlights. She closed her eyes and took a breath in. Keeping her eyes closed she asked, "So why are you here again?"
He kept his eyes on her face. "Sakura, I know that you haven't been sleeping and it is obvious. You can't go on like this, you are probably doing more damage then good at this point. You are starting to have issues with keeping up. How are we suppose to be a strong team when you can't sleep?. " She still sat there with her eyes shut.
"I can't sleep, I can't keep going through it. EVERY night, I see it all over again. What am I suppose to do?" she whispered and slowly opened her eyes.
"Let me help you then," Sasuke said as he walked forward and knelt in front of her. "Please, let me help you." She looked into his eyes and bit her lip. His eyes stayed focused on her eyes. She rubbed her face with the palm of her hand. "And you are starting to get extremely unpleasant to be around." He smirked at her. She scoffed at him.
"Fine, what do I have to lose?" She sighed and pulled her blanket up over her shoulders. "Same as last time?" He nodded at her. He looked down at the blanket covering her and let out a breath.
"Okay, ready?" She nodded at him through heavy lids.
She was in the white room again. Her stomach twisted a little remembering what had happened the last time she was in a space like this. She turned her head looking for Sasuke. She finally found him, his face was stoic as he looked at her. She then looked down and saw her smooth skin. She sighed at the sight.
"Do you have any place you want to see." He asked as he walked up to her. She stood too tired to make a decision.
"How about you choose this time." She yawned, this wasn't like the last time when she wasn't tired here, but then again it had only been a few days since she slept, now is has been just over a month. He stood pondering for a few moments. Then they were suddenly standing in the middle of a cherry field. Sakura took a breath in looking around at the clouds of pink that hung from the trees. She twirled around and took it all in.
"This isn't what I was expecting." She said almost in a whisper. Sasuke stood and watched her look around a smirk on his face.
"What where you expecting?" He asked walking even closer.
"I dunno, maybe a cave with some coffins," she smiled at him.
"Hn," He sat down on the fallen petals. Sakura sat next to him.
"This is really beautiful." She continued to look at the trees. "Is this a real place?" He gave her a nod.
"This is near a vacation home that we own. My mother use to bring Itachi and I there every year when the blossoms bloomed." She smiled at him as he stared ahead.
"You lost her didn't you?" The smile faded as she asked. He nodded.
"I am sorry," She picked up a petal and stroked it between her thumb and index finger. He gave another nod.
"It was during the attacks that happened after your pack was... She had been out hunting and she didn't hear the warning. She was ambushed right outside the compound. We killed who attacked her, but it was too late." He frowned as he looked down at the petal filled ground. "Kakashi lost his dad that day also." She took a deep breath and looked at the horizon. There was a long silence between them.
"Have you been back?" He shook his head.
"No, Itachi has a few times, I just don't think it would ever be the same, like the flowers wouldn't be as beautiful or the air as sweet." Sakura gave him a sad smile.
"Well thank you for showing this to me." She placed her hand over his. He looked over and gave her a smirk He spread his fingers so that hers intertwined with his. That sat in the cherry orchard for a while just taking the scenery in.
"Do you want to walk?" Sakura asked as she stood. Sasuke let out a grunt and stood up next to her. They began to walk in silence. As they had come to know each other the silence bothered Sakura less and less. She realized that Sasuke was a person of few words, but when he did speak them they held meaning and not just mindless chatter.
"I wish I could help you more," Sasuke sighed. Sakura frowned as she looked at him.
"I am ok," She sighed
"No you aren't." Sasuke shook his head. She grimaced at him. "Maybe you need to talk to some one?" She swallowed thickly.
"I.. I don't know... I.. " She could feel the waterline of her eyes begin to fill. "I just can't breakdown, I can't be weak." Sasuke turned to her.
"It's not weak, you are not weak. It's also not weak to admit when you need help." He said taking her hand in his. She flinched at the contact, but this time he didn't pull away. "Maybe talk with Ino." She shook her head.
"I have seen her a couple of times, I think that she may be having her own issues because of it." She began to chew on her cheek. They continued to walk, both thinking, but not knowing what to say.
"So all three of those wolves sleep in your tent every night." He stuck his hands in his pockets. She smirked.
"The brothers have taken over," She laughed. He looked over at her and smirked.
"I thought your tent was small before, but with those three it's tiny." He snorted at her.
"Well I am sorry that we all can't live in mansions like the Uchihas." She winked at him.
"I have a three bedroom house, and I assure you, it is not a mansion. You should see the house Itachi and my father live in." He smiled at her.
"I don't think I want to. It'll make me think my tent is not more then a hole in the ground." She laughed.
"It is isn't it." He actually grinned at her.
"Hey! That's my home you are talking about!" She gave him a small shove. He smiled.
"Oh I know," He pushed his shoulder into her. She smiled and her green eyes lit up, she turned to him to give him a shove, he grabbed her wrists before she could push him. He pushed her against a cherry tree. She kept a smile on her face but her stomach began to fall. He was smiling at her looking down. His body was pushed against her. She could feel his breath on her face.
Slowly the smile on his face began to fall. His eye's began to darken as he looked down at her lips. He raised his hand and ran his fingers over the back of her neck, down her shoulders and traced her arms. He licked his lips. Sakura's breath was coming in ragged and as her she looked at him with wide eyes. Slowly Sasuke bent his head down to her.
The moment she felt his lips brush against hers, she willed herself out of his illusion.
Hello everyone! I know I sound like a broken record, but thank you again for the faves, follows and reviews! I appreciate them all, even the ones that don't like my story! It's cool I realize not everyone will like it, which is good, because how boring would the world be if everyone like the exact same things! Thank you for taking the time out to let me know what you think!
Well we now know who I ship lol. I do love them together, I can't help it!
This story is going much slower then I anticapated, but I think that if I were to speed it up there would be just too much too fast. So I am sorry if some people think that it is too slow. I also didn't want to spell out all the mythology of the world in the first few chapters. Now I think I am rambling.. I gotta get going.
Once again thanks a ton! hope you enjoy! Have a great weekend!
