Chapter 08: The Cut
Sakura cursed as she dodged the sudden kunai that was thrown her way. She was bouncing off of trees and such, only to stop on a tree, look at her opponents, then bounce away with another curse.
I may have extra senses, but obviously, my fighting skills need some work…
Suddenly she tilted her head, a kunai that was aimed at her barely missed her cheek. Her dark, emerald eyes glared out at the three nin in front of her.
"Look, she's running scared of us!" One boy said. He seemed to be the more cockier of the two males—he also had the less muscle.
"Shut up, Zaku!" The other male snarled towards his teammate, only to be flipped off. He rolled his eyes.
"Che, she's so weak. Why're we fighting her, Dosu?" the only female asked, sneering at Sakura who only ignored her as she tried to think of how to win this.
She had a very limited amount of Ninjutsu…her taijutsu wasn't that good, even though she was fast….perhaps she could use that speed to her advantage?
Her Genjutsu…well, she didn't have good Genjutsu, but she could try it at least…
It never hurts to try anyway.
Well, the Genjutsu hadn't worked.
In fact, it seemed to backfire. The sound-nin only got angrier.
Lovely.
Sakura flipped backwards, dodging Kin's punches and kicks. Sakura continued to do her aerobatics; she was so consumed in what she was doing, in fact, that she missed the "oshit" faces of Zaku and Dosu.
On the next back flip of Sakura's, she was caught in midair by…
…sand?
Sakura's mouth opened in an 'o' as she was dragged down beside the red-haired man.
His lips were tightly held together, his eyes glaring blankly at the three ninja's in front of him.
Dosu cursed to himself. We were only told information about few people—Dosu closed his eyes and sighed. Sadly, this person was one of them.
Gaara glared at the three ninja, causing two of them to tense up. "This girl is my prey. You are not to harm her."
"Hey Brat, that's our prey, not yours." Kin snarled, holding onto her kunai harder.
Dosu, in a sudden fit of anger—or was it fear?— grabbed onto Kin's hair and yanked her back. She let a yip fall from her mouth. This action of Dosu caused a massive argument between the team.
In the midst of their argument—in which all three teammates were now arguing—Gaara looked at Sakura with a cool look in his eyes. Sakura was still sweatdropping at what he'd said earlier.
So he only saved me so he could kill me, huh?
"I thought you would have been able to take them." Gaara deadpanned, eyeing the black eye and the faint trail of blood under her nose and down the side of her mouth.
She sighed and rubbed the back of her head softly.
"Yeah, I thought so to." Sakura grumbled to herself, aware of Gaara's scrutiny.
"Why were you not able to take them?" Gaara asked, looking towards the quarreling team.
Sakura was silent for a moment before she looked towards the tree. Gaara followed her glance and, although he didn't show it usually, he understood. Gaara made a sound in the back of the throat that almost sounded like "oh."
Sakura then glanced at Gaara. "Where's your other two teammates?"
This time, it was Gaara who was silent for a few moments. "They are my siblings." Gaara admitted slowly, making Sakura blink at him in slight confusion.
"They allowed you to be teamed with your teammates?"
Gaara remained silent at that question. Instead, he opted to answer her first question. "They do not know I am here." Gaara once again admitted, although this time, Sakura saw the slight downward pitch of his eyebrows, showing his slight sadness.
Sadness for what, Sakura thought softly I may never know.
Finally, the quarreling team ceased.
Gaara's head suddenly whipped towards the tree Sakura's teammates were under. There, he sensed a very malevolent chakra beginning to swirl.
Gaara nodded towards Sakura. "Your teammates are beginning to wake up. I shall take my leave now."
Sakura nodded and smiled at Gaara, thanking him. She turned back around, only to hear a swirling sound. She didn't have to glance behind her to know that Gaara had fled the scene.
Sasuke slowly stood up, the purple chakra swirling around him. He slowly stepped out from underneath the tree, and Dosu's face cracked into an even larger "OSHIT" face.
Sasuke glanced her way before pointing at her. "Who caused you harm, Sakura?"
Sasuke's eyes showed the sudden anger and deep sorrow and-and..
Well, something else. Something Sakura didn't understand.
Pein clinched his fist, unconsciously smashing the pen in his hand. Konan eyed the pen in his hand and felt deep sorrow for the inanimate object.
That pen will never be the same…
Pein's thoughts were elsewhere, though.
That damn Uchiha has fallen for my little sister…
Pein clinched his teeth together harder.
Maybe all of them have.
Back with Sakura, Sasuke finally got his answer.
"It was me, dipshit. What're you gonna do 'bout it?" Zaku said loudly, causing Sasuke's head to whip towards him.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Silence." Sasuke said harshly, which, strangely, made Zaku shut up.
W-Why won't my body move? Damn it!
Zaku's finger twitched but that was the extent of his ability to move.
Dosu eyed Zaku, wondering why his teammate wasn't moving.
Kin sneered at Sasuke, throwing a kunai at him. Sasuke merely zoomed to the side, glaring at Kin.
Kin's eyes widened fearfully as he suddenly began zigzagging towards her. She could hardly keep up with him, although he seemed to be playing with her.
T-The only reason why I can even see him is…is because he wants me to see him kill me!
Kin's eyes widened in shock before they rolled into the back of her head. In the split second of Kin falling, two things happened. The first thing to happen was that Dosu caught her. The second thing was that Sasuke's kunai clashed with Dosu's sound-emitter, causing the metal to clang loudly. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, but otherwise, he wasn't affected by it.
"Sasuke-sama, we were sent here to only test you." Dosu muttered to the boy, making Sasuke's eyebrows raise in question.
"Oh really? Then what was the point of harming my teammates?" Sasuke snarled, his Sharingan turned on—flaring.
Dosu winced. "We saw her as a nuisance in our testing, so…"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and suddenly he whipped away from Dosu, building up chakra—quickly—for a fire Ninjutsu.
Before he could even begin the handsigns for the jutsu, he felt a hand on his shoulder. In his adrenaline high mind, his head whipped around, only for him to see his female teammate.
His eyes unconsciously narrowed as he let her name slip from his lips.
"Sakura."
Dosu cursed in his mind. Shit, he's in love with the girl and we nearly killed her!
Zaku, strangely, was still frozen in his spot. His thoughts mirrored his fellow teammate's thoughts.
Sakura smiled softly at Sasuke, before turning him around by pulling on his shoulder. He easily complied, seeing as she seemed to be the music that calmed his inner beast. She rested a soft hand onto his cheek, which he seemed to lightly push into with closed eyes.
If Sakura hadn't been as afraid as she was at that second, she would have thought that he was a cat—just without the purring.
Sakura stepped closer to Sasuke, softly caressing his cheek.
Sasuke opened his eyes slightly, revealing his glazed onyx eyes.
"Are you..not afraid of me?" Sasuke muttered slightly, gazing into her eyes.
Sakura didn't answer, but she hoped he wouldn't look too deep into her eyes—if he did, he'd see her fear.
"A bit." Sakura admitted softly, making Sasuke mutter a soft apology.
"Sasuke, it's time to calm down." Sakura hummed softly, resting her palm on his cheek again, her fingers buried into his night-like hair.
Sasuke "hrmm'd" before he sighed softly, the curse marks receding from his body. The sound ninja took that moment as a cue—they fled. The moment the marks were all clear from his body, Sakura moved away from him, appearing beside Naruto under the tree. Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he blinked in confusion.
Who was that? Sasuke blinked once more before thinking, Her voice was…so soothing…so goddess like…
Sasuke turned his head slightly, not seeing anyone. He turned back to the tree, only to see Sakura bunching her long hair into a ponytail.
"Sakura?" Sasuke called out, heading towards the tree. She seemed to tense for a split second—something he caught, surprisingly—before she continued to try to bunch all of her hair in a low pony tail.
"Yes, Sasuke?" She asked him, before using one hand to keep all of her hair in place while she moved her other hand further down her hair, before wrapping it around her fist.
Sasuke tilted his head at her.
"What happened?"
Sakura paused and looked at him, her eyes glazed over with sorrow.
Sorrow over what? Sasuke wondered.
Sakura didn't answer but told him to come help her with something. He stood beside her and mentally asked her what she wanted.
"Take out a kunai and cut my hair, Sasuke."
Sasuke gaped at her.
Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if his new curse mark would have some sort of effect on his emotions. "Did I stutter, Sasuke?" Sakura asked him coldly, making him twitch once.
His twitch told her that he understood her. He slowly took out a kunai and held it fresh against the thumb side of her left fist.
"Are you sure, Sakura?" Sasuke asked her lowly, hoping she'd relinquish her request.
"Yes, Sasuke. Just do it." Sakura ordered, only adding "please" as an after thought.
Sasuke sighed and finally complied to her request.
An hour later, Sakura sighed softly, fingering her freshly cut hair.
She heard a soft groan and she looked down, startled.
Naruto tilted his head, his head almost falling off of her lap. She was on her knees, sitting on the calves of her legs, giving Naruto a slope to lean his head on.
Even though she didn't acknowledge it, she noticed Sasuke shooting Naruto jealous glances every once in a while. She felt a twist in her stomach, wondering what she was feeling.
She petted Naruto's head, whispering for him to wake up.
"Sakura." Sasuke called softly, looking towards the clearing. Sakura looked at him and tilted her head, letting him know that she heard him. "Don't tell the dobe what happened to me."
Sakura eyed Sasuke for a moment before she nodded and began walking to the clearing. She needed some air—away from her team. "Alright."
"S-Sakura-chan?" A strained voice called out, making Sakura whip around.
"Naruto!" She called out, before phasing to his side, making Sasuke tense and eye her oddly.
How does she move so fast?
"What happened?" Naruto mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, the wet piece of cloth falling onto his lap. He lifted the fabric up and looked at Sakura, wondering what it was.
Sakura cleared her throat. "You had a fever and a good way to bring down a fever is either a cold bath-" Naruto blushed lightly, thinking about how she could've given him a cold bath. Sakura shot Naruto a glare, taking the fabrics and putting them back up on the string. "-or using cold, wet wash clothes on your showing skin." Sakura finished.
Sakura shook out the cloths, trying to make them become dry faster. The dry cloths were put in a pile in the clearing. She would burn those once she was able to.
The only cloth that was still relatively wet was the one that had just fallen off of Naruto.
Sakura took that cloth off and began to shake it vigorously, making her look ridiculous, but she didn't mind. It had to be done.
When the cloth was dry—or, well, as dry as shaking it can get—she put it with the other cloths before taking the string down and taking the henge off of it. She scrunched her nose, wondering why she used a scroll as a string.
Aren't I just the smartest cookie in the cookie jar?
Sakura shook her head at the thought. Surprisingly, the scroll wasn't even wet. She smiled lightly and then turned it back into a roll of bandages. She carefully wrapped the bandages around her forearm and then turned to her boys.
"I hate to announce this, but we have a problem." Sakura cleared her throat, making the boys tilt their heads at her.
"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, a hand on Sasuke's shoulder so he could stand up straight. He was still slightly off balance.
Sakura looked away, off towards the distance at the tower they desperately needed to get to.
"Today's the fourth day."
The boys stared at her for a minute before they gaped.
"What? Shit!" Naruto yelled, hobbling towards Sakura. Sakura sighed and eyed his condition. She pouted and then went over to Naruto. Naruto watched her for a minute before his eyes widened whenever she picked him up. "W-What're you doing, S-Sakura-chan!"
Sakura sighed and nodded to Sasuke, who was slightly wide-eyed at Sakura as well.
"Come on. We have to get to the tower ASAP." Sakura then headed off towards the tower, Sasuke in tow. Naruto's eyes were comically wide as he hooked an arm around Sakura's throat, making her eyebrows twitch in annoyance. Her lip twitched in annoyance at Naruto's yell.
"S-Sakura-chaaaaan!"
Sakura stopped at a trail. She looked at a tree to see five markings on it.
"Really? God damn it!" Sakura yelled, letting go of Naruto. Naruto "oof"ed at Sakura dropping him and pouted up at her.
"Mou, Sakura-chan, is something wrong?"
Sakura eyed Naruto like he was some sort of idiot. She looked back at Sasuke to see the confused look on his face as well.
She pouted. I thought it was just the sun that made this part of the forest extra bright. I won't underestimate something like this again…next time, I'm listening to my senses.
"We're in a Genjutsu." Sakura deadpanned, causing Naruto and Sasuke to pause. They looked around them and cursed as well.
Sakura put a hand on herself and muttered the release word, all the while fluctuating her chakra.
As a sudden though, and as if reacting on instinct, Sasuke and Naruto put a hand on her, fluctuating their chakra as well. Naruto, of course, had the least chakra control of the three, but he tried.
With the three combined, the three broke the Genjutsu—
And just in time, to. A voice whispered in Sakura's mind.
Sakura eyed her surroundings, seeing the mere magnitude of clones.
Shit. Sakura cursed mentally, wondering how they were going to get out of their mess.
"Look, brothers!" One of the clones said before gleefully laughing, causing all of that person's clones to laugh with it.
Team 7 winced, all of them now wondering how they were going to get out of this mess.
"I wonder how many scrolls they have on them, ne, brothers?" Another "brother" asked, before him and his clones began to laugh, causing the laughter to stretch—possibly—for miles around them.
Suddenly, the ground shook.
"Go!" A male's voice called out, causing Sakura to whip her head towards the sound of the voice. There, she saw a rather angry and pissed off Deidara, riding a medium size bird.
Sakura smiled at him "Thanks!" she called out, before pulled on her teammates hands, racing towards the tower. On their way there, they got caught in a few traps, but before anyone could get hurt, either Sakura or Sasuke would get them out—if Sakura was in trouble, Sasuke would get her and vice versa.
Finally, they made it to the tower.
"BEDS!" Naruto yelled before plopping onto the cot. Sakura rolled her eyes before she glanced towards the door.
"I'm not feeling very tired." Sakura said softly, more to herself than to the boys. She stood up, stretched, then began walking to the door.
"Hey, where're you going, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her, sitting up in bed. The boys, un-worrying about Sakura, were in nothing but their boxers at this point. Of course, they had covers over them…
Sakura glanced at Naruto. "I need to walk around. This test was stressful." She muttered before she finally opened up the door and walked out, slipping the door closed quietly.
Naruto turned to Sasuke. "What do you think-" Naruto started, only to have a pillow thrown at him.
"Shut up dobe and go to sleep."
Sakura was walking through the doorways until she felt the chakra she was looking for.
She knocked on the door and Temari—the blonde haired girl—opened the door.
Her eyes narrowed at her. "What do you want?" she asked harshly, catching the attention of both of her teammates.
Sakura's own eyes narrowed up at the girl.
"I wish to speak with Gaara." Sakura said bluntly, causing Temari to tense up.
Temari blinked at her. "Why?"
"That's our business, Temari." Gaara said coldly, shoving her aside and more into the room. She nearly stumbled but Kankurou caught her. Gaara slammed the door.
Gaara and Sakura stood outside the door awkwardly for a moment before Sakura finally found the courage to speak.
"I wanted to thank you for….for earlier." Sakura muttered softly, looking downward, her bangs blocking his view of her eyes.
Gaara grunted, causing Sakura's shoulders to slacken. She heaved a sigh, as if some invisible pressure was just released off of her shoulders.
"I also wanted to ask you." Sakura now looked up at Gaara, her back straight and tall, and her eyes hard.
"Oh?" Gaara deadpanned, wondering how much longer this was going to go on.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "How long have you guys been here?"
Gaara was silent for a moment before a small smirk made its way to his face. "Four days."
Sakura gaped. "W-What? How is that?"
Gaara was silent and the smirk slipped from his face. "We completed the test in barely five hours."
Sakura gaped and then let out a snort. Gaara looked down at her, an eyebrow raised.
"Really? Why'd you come out there, then? To save me or something?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes. Gaara snorted at her comment.
"You are my prey to kill. I won't allow you to die by anyone else's hands." Gaara said seriously, causing another awkward silence to arise in the hallway.
Sakura snorted and turned around. "I'd love to see you try." Was all that Gaara heard before she was suddenly gone, not even a cloud of dust left behind her.
Gaara looked at the place she was before before he, himself, snorted again and walked back inside his room, not even bothering—of course—to apologize to his sister.
As Sakura lay in bed that night, she thought about her and Gaara's first encounter.
I'll spare you the minor details, Sakura thought to herself, narrating her thoughts, but when we first met…the first thing Gaara said directly to me was "I can't wait to kill you." What a happy beginning…ha!
Sakura shook her head and finally closed her eyes, sighing as she slipped into the dream realm.
Unknowing to her, a set of onyx eyes were staring at her from his bed: his knuckles white, his lips pressed together tightly, and an ache in his chest.
She's the only reason why I'm still here…
The next morning, Sakura woke up in an odd predicament…
She was smashed between two boys; her boys.
Sakura was silent for a moment before she sighed.
Naruto was over by the wall, clutching onto said wall for dear life with his leg hiked up on it.
Sasuke, though, had Sakura in his arms. His clutched-together hands were on her lower back, while her hands were placed softly on his chest.
She blinked.
When did this happen?
"mah, Sakura-chan…" Naruto murmured in his sleep, shifting on the wall. Sakura sweatdropped at the drool coming from his mouth.
Sakura turned over, so her back was to Sasuke. She lifted her foot and grinded her foot on his bottom.
"Uwahhh!" Naruto yelled in anguish as his crotch was being grinded against the wall.
Sakura felt Sasuke tense and finally begin to wake up.
"Idiot! Baka! Hentai! Pervert!" Sakura yelled in anger as she continued to hurt her teammate. Every other hit or so, she'd take her foot off of him and kick him in the back or the legs, then get right back to grinding him against the wall.
Sasuke snorted at his being-smashed teammate. Sakura froze, her leg still pushing Naruto into the wall. She peeked over her shoulder at Sasuke and smiled lightly, although it looked more like a smirk. She then turned back to Naruto, an evil glint in her eye.
"W-What'd I do to you, S-Sakura-chaaaan!" Naruto yelled out, before Sakura shoved him one more time before finally getting up. Naruto had tears running down his face. "Owwwie! Sakura-chaaan!"
Sasuke snorted again, although it sounded strangled since he was having to hold in his laughs. He got up off of the bed and stood beside Sakura, staring at the amusement sight in front of him. Ah, how he loved his teammates…
Sakura grinned and cracked her knuckles.
"You'd better be glad that I'm rather lenient in the morning, baka." Sakura hissed out, her eyes narrowed in on the crying Naruto, who was on his back and holding onto his crushed crotch.
Sasuke finally let out a low laugh before he pulled on Sakura's hand towards the door.
"Come on, Sakura." He muttered, his intent to go to breakfast. Sakura was looking at him confused and wasn't cooperating, so Sasuke had to drag her. "I'm hungry."
Sakura pouted but complied and stood beside him, although she had withdrew her hand from his clutches.
I wonder what started this side of Sasuke… Sakura thought to herself, casting a glance at the thought-about boy.
-The Night Before; 3:00 A.M.-
Team 7 was in their room, silent as a mouse, and as comfortable as a—
Snore
….as a rock.
Snore
Oh god Naruto, shut up. One duck-haired boy thought to himself as he curled himself around his pillow, burrowing his head underneath the material.
The pink headed girl was oblivious to the world. Her body was strung across the bed as if she were a five-pointed star. You would think that her head would be at the head of the bed….but, strangely, that wasn't the case.
Her head was hanging off the side of the bed. Her arms were strung out beside her, and her legs were straightened beside the wall—almost as if she was doing the splits on the wall.
The duck-haired boy, you see, was in the middle of a semi-bad dream. If you could call it a dream. He would call it nightmare.
I mean, if you call running from your blood-covered brother a dream, especially if said brother is chasing you with a sword and is grinning manically and just finished killed your whole family, then you obviously have a few problems up in your noggin. Of course, no one's judging….
Anyway, said boy was trying to find comfort in the only way he possibly could. If he could have a conscious thought during his dreams, his thought would be something along these lines: Damn these dreams.
You see, Sasuke, the duck-haired boy that we all know and love, has horrible night terrors. Usually, whenever he wakes up—even though he won't ever admit to it—he will have a few tears dripping from his tear ducts. The dreams don't usually come unless he's by himself—his senses have something to do with his dreams, oddly, seeing as how if he is around others, then he won't have dreams at all.
Of course, his dream wasn't one of those dreams. Oh no. It was even worse…let's check it out, shall we?
Dream Sequence: Sasuke
A pink bunny frolicked through the bright, flowery fields. His breathe escaped him in heaves and pants as he carried something—no, more like someone—on his shoulders…
An evil, maniacal, crazy laugh spewed from the luggage on the rabbit. "RUN FASTER, SASUKE!" The luggage yelled out happily, his eyes wide with madness and a huge grin on his lips.
"Oh god!" The rabbit yelled, thrusting his head forward so he would have some momentum. On top of this little rabbit's head was a little bit of blue and black, duck-shaped hair. "Why!" The rabbit-boy yelled out in sorrow, the boy on top of him swaying from side to side, making it all that harder.
"Move faster, Sasuke, or I'll kill you!" Another crazy laugh spewed from the luggage.
"Shut up, Itachi!" The rabbit yelled. The luggage glared down at him, his blood red eyes seemingly staring through the rabbit. The black comma's in his eyes swirled with his annoyance.
"No, Foolish Little Brother, you shut up."
The little pink rabbit seemed to whimper before it sped up, wishing he could speed away from his crazy brother, who was now resuming in his laughing spree.
"Uwahahahahaha! THAT'S IT, SASUKE! Run! Run like the little rabbit you are! Buwahahahahaha!"
End Dream Sequence: Sasuke
….Yeah…that's kind of scary. J-Just a tad bit…
And so the boy woke up, got up from his bed, and stood in the middle of the room, severely shaken from his traumatic dream.
He eyed the bed that Sakura was on and sighed softly before walking to it and picking Sakura up. She didn't even stir, she only moved closer to his bare chest. He smirked softly before setting her back down and laying himself down on the edge of the bed. Sakura moved closer to him and he held onto her happily, his eyes closing slowly.
An hour later, a groggy blonde woke up and eyed the bed, seeing the two cuddled together. Naruto scrunched his nose together and got up from his bed. He stretched and yawned loudly, although the sleeping pair didn't rouse. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.
That makes me feel lonely… the sleepy Naruto thought to himself, before deciding what to do. He walked quietly over to the bed and then slipped behind Sakura and cuddled up to her. She shifted slightly, but it didn't bother either of the boys. Naruto smiled and sighed into Sakura's hair before he fell into a dreamless sleep.
-The present-
Sakura and Sasuke walked into the kitchen, where they spotted some of the competition. Most of them were people who the two didn't even know. One team, though, the two knew very well…
"Gaara." Sakura nodded in his direction. He nodded back in greeting and Sasuke nodded as well.
And that was the extent of the Gaara/Sakura & Sasuke conversation. What an awesome conversation….
Oh, yes, note the heavy sarcasm on that last sentence, will you, dear?
The rest of the morning was spent with the trio relaxing and building up their chakra.
"Uwahh, finally!" Came a loud voice from the entrance.
Sasuke and Sakura tensed, knowing that voice.
"Oh god.." Sasuke muttered, before he shivered. Sakura turned her head to see her rival—Ino-pig.
Sakura stepped in front of the other team. "Hey, Ino-pig."
Ino's nostrils flared. "Billboard brow!"
Shikamaru and Choji walked around the two quarrelling girls, sighing as they went. They stopped in front of Sasuke.
"So, how long has your team been here?" Shikamaru asked.
Sasuke shrugged and replied "Since the middle of yesterday."
Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Troublesome. This test is nothing but troublesome."
Sasuke chuckled. "Oddly enough, I agree."
Shikamaru eyed Sasuke's expression before he turned to Sakura. He noticed how Sakura seemed happier some how, which wasn't strange, but what was strange was…
The Uchiha seemed…happy.
Shikamaru turned back to Sasuke and raised an eyebrow, questioning what the deal between them was.
Sasuke stared at him blankly, making Shikamaru sigh again.
"Hey Choji, you've gotta be hungry." Shikamaru said, pointing Choji to the kitchen.
"Food!" Choji yelled, running towards the kitchen, his arms out reached for said room.
Sasuke sweatdropped as he looked after the boy, having turned around to watch the amusing display.
Shikamaru cleared his throat before he went Choji's direction, except he stopped in front of Sasuke. Shikamaru glanced back at the Uchiha and then nodded his head a direction.
Sasuke sighed but followed nonetheless.
Sakura and Ino then turned around, only to find they were the only ones left in the room. The two girls looked at each other, blinked, then shrugged and smiled at each other.
"So, how'd your exam go?" Sakura asked Ino softly, leading her towards a couch that was in the room.
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! Well, it was awful, you see…"
-With Shikamaru and Sasuke-
The two boys had headed for the roof of the building. Shikamaru strangely knew this place…
"How do you know your way around the tower, Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked curiously, walking beside the lazy boy.
"Well…" Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "It's troublesome, but my dad sometimes makes me come to the Forest of Death to train with him." Shikamaru sighed and glanced at Sasuke's slightly startled face. "I had to memorize the tower's outlay. Troublesome father.."
Sasuke let out a chuckle and Shikamaru once again glanced at him.
The two reached the roof and as they stared out above the trees, Shikamaru sighed and turned around, leaning his lower back on the railing.
"So Sasuke, tell me." Shikamaru said, earning a confused glance from Sasuke.
"Wha-"
"What's going on between you and Sakura? Your both acting happier than usual, and frankly, it's kind of scary." Shikamaru said, looking into Sasuke's eyes.
Sasuke twitched and turned back to look out over the forest.
"Nothing's going on between us…" Sasuke replied hesitantly.
Shikamaru sighed and turned back around. "I hate to say it, but I claim bull shit." Sasuke looked at Shikamaru startled. "Something may not have happened, yet-" Sasuke blushed, so he turned his head. Shikamaru chuckled before continuing. "but you have realized something."
Sasuke sighed and stared down below them, at the entrance of the tower.
"Maybe another time, Shikamaru." Sasuke looked up at Shikamaru, and he could understand then. He wasn't ready to admit his feelings yet. "Another time." Sasuke then drifted off, away from Shikamaru and down the stairs.
Shikamaru stayed up on the roof and leaned on the railing.
Later that day, the kids were lined up inside the tower. The room they were in—well, arena—was in the underground part of the tower. Out of all the genin in the exams—who hadn't taken the exams before— only Shikamaru knew about it, but he'd never been down there.
"Attention all genin!" Sarutobi yelled out, getting all of the genin's attention. The genin were standing in lines of 3x7. There were three rows, which seven kids in each row.
"Since there are too many of you, you will go through a preliminary!" Sakura's eyes widened at this.
How the hell did Itachi know this would happen?
"We will pair you off with someone, and the winner will go onto the third exam! Are there any questions?" Sarutobi asked, his voice toned down a bit since the whole arena was silent.
Ino raised her hand and he pointed to her and called her name.
"Ah, yeah.." Ino looked around nervously and blushed. All of the sudden attention was kind of nerve-wracking. "Why aren't we waiting a few days, before starting the preliminaries? I mean, all of us are tired and…" Ino saw the look Sakura was giving her. "What, Billboard Brow?" Ino asked annoyed. Sakura grinned.
Sakura was amused. "They are doing it, because some of us will be too exhausted to fight, so it will cause the battles to go by sooner. Plus, some of the people here aren't very tired, seeing as we didn't get here on the last day, so we actually had time to rest…" Sakura let her voice trail off, causing Ino's ear to release steam.
"Why you…!"
"Girls." Sarutobi said sternly, causing Sakura to look at him apologetically, which he smiled at. Sakura smiled back at him.
"Now, are there any more questions?" Sarutobi asked before turning to Anko. "Anko, if you would…"
Anko grinned at the hokage before stepping up and yelling out to the kids, "Jump back over the railings and wait until we call your names! If you aren't fighting, please don't come into the arena for any reason! We have medical personnel standing by for any reason, so no one will die." Anko then smirked. "Well, hopefully none of you will die." A few genin gulped in fear, while all the others either smirked or just didn't show any emotion.
Sakura looked around the arena, since all the genin were now behind the rails. Anko appeared beside her, so she could hang with her "daughter."
"Hey, Anko-chan, where's Kabuto?"
Anko looked down at Sakura oddly. "Kabuto…?" Anko thought for a few moments before she remembered who he was. "Oh! Him. Well, at the beginning, on your forms, in the fine print, we said that if you wanted to quit the exam after the second exam, then you had to come to one of us Chuunin Advisor's and tell us, so we wouldn't have to deal with you." Anko smirked while Sakura laughed and shook her head.
"You have such an attractive way with your words, Anko-chan." A voice behind them sid. Anko turned around and blushed and pouted at Sakura's sensei. Sakura rolled her eyes at the obvious flirtation going on between the two.
"Oh god. Not this again." Sakura muttered to herself as she moved closer to Sasuke and Naruto, who were looking at the two sensei oddly.
"Are they…together?" Sasuke asked Sakura softly, which made Sakura shiver.
"Sorta. Off and on." Sakura said, watching the computer screen flip through multiple names. "I hope I get to fight against someone good.." Sakura said smirking, a dark look in her eyes. Sasuke eyed her for a minute before he turned to the computer screen as well. "Oh, it's slowing down!"
"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi"
Seeing as nothing changes from the anime, that I'm sure everyone has seen (the manga's the same to, I think) I'll spare you the reading time, since everything happens as it does in the anim-
"Uh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked at random, seeing Sakura's face lighten up in a weird, certain way—which could only mean one thing….
Sakura turned to Naruto and tilted her head, showing him he had her attention.
"Uh, are you narrating in your head again?" Naruto asked nervously, before seeing the blush that etched it's way onto her cheeks.
"M-Maybe.." Sakura said nervously before turning around, towards the arena.
"Will the winners come down to the arena's area?" Hayate said loudly before letting out a whooping cough.
Sakura sweatdropped but her and Naruto made their way to the arena, even though Sakura just poofed there in smoke.
Standing in the arena were nine people: Shino, Kankuro, Sakura, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Gaara, and Dosu. Sasuke would be down there but Kakashi has him in the back. They're trying to seal his curse mark again. Sasuke managed to undo it.
Sakura rubbed her temples then decided to listen in on what Hayate was saying.
"…three months to train before the actual exams start. You'll be paired off for another one-on-one round. Further explanation of the final exam will happen in the beginning of the exam. Good luck, and have a fun time traini-" Before Genma could finish his last word—his last word, Damnit!—he began another coughing fit.
Sakura sweatdropped but once they said everyone could leave, Sakura didn't take her chances for anyone, especially that weird Rock Lee kid who kept staring at her with hearts in his eyes…
Sakura disappeared in a cloud of cherry blossoms.
That night, she had a visitor…
She had been laying in bed, exhausted and completely happy and content with her results—and the fact that she was finally laying in a bed again!
Suddenly, her window slid open, nearly scaring her to death, and in slid Itachi—the black shadow in Sakura's thoughts.
Sakura sighed, relaxing her arms which had unconsciously clutched tightly to her chest. Itachi looked at her with an amused look on his face, which Sakura glared at him for.
"So, you'll train me now, right?" Sakura asked Itachi slowly, eyeing his face for a reaction.
His face split into a wide smirk. "Of course, Sakura-chan. Especially after your marvelous display against that girl."
Sakura nodded and patted her bed, motioning for him to sit down.
Sakura smirked "Why don't you remind me of my battle, hmm?"
Itachi smirked back, "Well…"
(A/N Some parts of this, Itachi won't say to Sakura, those are just points he's more or less thinking about…trust me, you'll know 'em when you see them…)
Flashback
"Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino"
Sakura bit her lip. Finally…it's my turn to kick me some ass. Sakura grinned.
Sakura took two steps back, to where she was pressed against the wall. Ino was already down in the arena. Sakura got a dark look in her eye as she kept grinning. She put chakra into her feet and almost literally stepped up onto the railing. She then proceeded to jump off of the railing.
She stood in front of Ino, a leg cocked behind her and softly resting on the ground. She was in her favorite fighting stance. Her right hand was to her side and her left arm was bent in front of her. Her body was tilted to the right.
Ino eyed her position and got into her own position, although Sakura could see a lot of holes in hers.
"Before we begin Ino, I have something to say to you." Sakura said, still in her position. All the whispering audience went silent at that. Even Hayate, who was in the middle of a coughing-fest, went silent.
"Oh? What is it, Billboard Brow?" Ino mocked, a cocky smirk on her face.
Sakura smiled "Whatever I end up hurting on you, I'll make sure the medics heal it completely, all before you wake up from unconsciousness." Sakura smirked now, her cocky smirk mirroring Ino's.
No one caught it, but Gaara's hand twitched, along with an eyebrow. He was beginning to get slightly blood lusting. Hopefully my battle is next…
Ino snorted. "Che, yeah right. You won't be able to hit me once. I'll make sure the medics heal you as well, Haruno." Ino said with a slight sneer.
Sakura snorted but said nothing more. She looked at Hayate, who understood.
"Let the battle between Ino and Sakura…begin!"
Ino was left in the arena alone. She was looking everyone for her rival.
"I know you're scared of me, Sakura, but jeez!" Ino taunted, hoping Sakura would reveal herself.
"You've already lost, Ino." Said Sakura. Ino turned around, only to see no one.
I swear I just heard her behind me though…
Sakura looked amused at Ino. Ino was turning around in every direction, trying to find Sakura, even though Sakura was walking right up to the girl.
Sakura got in front of Ino, and before Ino could turn around again, Sakura took off the Genjutsu. She grinned at the horrified blonde.
"Boo." Sakura said before she whipped around in a complete 360 degree. She lifted her leg and kicked Ino in the side of the face with the top of her foot.
Unbeknownst to her, she ended up shifting gravity a tad bit, so Ino was thrown into the farthest wall. Sakura slowly set down her leg and resumed her fighting stance, although inwardly, she was wondering how she had kicked Ino that far whenever she hadn't meant to kick her very hard in the first place…
Ino slowly came out of the hole in the wall. Hayate gaped at the size of the hole. There was a crack in the wall, leading up to the ceiling…
Well, we'll have to get that fixed pretty soon… Hayate thought to himself.
Ino slowly made her way over to Sakura, before she glared at the pink-haired ninja.
"You…" Ino growled out, before assuming a stance—oh no, not a fighting stance. A Jutsu stance.
"I'll make you pay for hurting my beautiful face."
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino called out before her soul entered Sakura's mind, causing her body to fall limply to the ground.
Sakura stumbled around, clutching onto her head.
"Get out…of…my mind!" Sakura yelled out in anger, before falling to her knees.
-In Sakura's Mind-
Ino gaped at the man sitting in Sakura's mind.
"W-Who're you?" Ino asked nervously, seeing the glare she was receiving. She saw the man's deathly sick body stand up before he was suddenly in front of her.
He put a finger underneath her chin and lifted her face up to where he could see her face.
All of a sudden, his skeleton-like body filled out with muscles, proving to make him more Shinobi-like. His body turned out to be muscular, but not too muscular. He was lean.
Ino gulped, staring into his ringed eyes.
"You have entered my sister's mind, haven't you?" The man purred out softly, causing Ino to gulp again.
"S-Sister?" Ino stuttered, unable to keep a blush down any longer.
"Ah-ha." The man confirmed before he tsked and walked back to the chair he had been sitting in. That chair, Ino thought to herself, is more like a freaking throne.
"Well, since you're here…and since you'll soon forget all of this…" Ino gulped at the threat laced in his sentence. "I'll tell you a little secret." The man smirked at Ino's obvious fear. She fell to her knees in her fear. That's right, you little insect. The man thought to himself, his red hair bouncing lightly whenever he nodded his hair, a dark smirk on his face.
"Sakura is my little sister."
Ino gaped. "B-But how?" She murmured, not wanting to offend the man in front of her.
The man tsked again. "Well, you see, whenever two people love each other very much…" The man started, before he busted out laughing. "I don't really have to explain sex do you, do I?" The man busted out into louder laughing at Ino's flushed face.
"Well, now that you know our secret…" The man started, before he was suddenly in her face again. She found herself dangling in the air by his hand on her throat.
"It's time to have some fun."
"W-What?" She sputtered, trying to get some much needed air in. The hand on her throat tightened and she gasped, trying to get more air.
"I did say I was going to make you forget, didn't I?"
The man let out a feral smirk.
-In Reality-
Sakura stood up whenever Ino's body began to jerk around. She walked over to her body and lifted her head onto her lap.
"Ino? What's wrong?"
Sakura noticed drool forming at the edge of her lips. Sakura's eyes widened.
"We need a medic over here!" She called out, fearing for Ino.
Hayate appeared beside Ino and gazed down at her.
"Haruno Sakura wins." He said hurriedly before he ushered the medics over to take Ino's body.
"I'm coming with you."
The medic declined and Sakura followed anyway.
"Miss…" The medic started. Sakura smirked at her. This nurse seemed to be the head nurse, since she was speaking for the other three.
"I said that I would make sure Ino gets healed up, so I'll do as I promised."
Flashback End
Sakura was silent as she remembered the rest of the experience. Whenever Ino had woken up, she had screamed bloody murder at the sight of Sakura's face. Sakura had flinched back and asked her what was wrong.
"She's still in recovery…" Sakura muttered to herself, pulling her knees up to her chest and laying her chin in between her knees.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her knees, which lightly brushed against her cheek. She looked up at the man staring down at her with soft onyx eyes.
"She'll be fine." He said simply.
Sakura chuckled. Short but sweet.
Sakura smiled up at him. "Yes, I am sure she will as well. I just wonder what she saw in my mind…"
Itachi looked away and sat on the bed, taking his hand off of Sakura's knee. She tilted her head at him, before following his gaze out the window. Outside, she saw nothing. In the distance, though, she could see a red-haired boy sitting on top of a building.
She saw movement below that building and suddenly, she was standing in front of the window. She turned to Itachi.
"I'll have to cut out visit short. I afraid someone's about to be killed…" Sakura winced whenever she opened the window.
Suddenly, she felt something brush against her shoulder. She turned around to see that Itachi was holding out a cloak for her. She tilted her head and him and grabbed it. It was a pure black cloak that looked to be professionally made.
She looked up at Itachi to see that he was already gone.
She smiled and threw on the cloak. She slipped out of her window and began running towards the building.
"Gaara." Dosu said, as he nodded towards the boys direction.
Gaara didn't even acknowledge him.
Dosu cleared his throat. "As you probably assume, I'm here to make sure our deal still stands…" Dosu looked up at Gaara in slight fear whenever he heard a shift of clothing.
As he feared, Gaara's hand was already reaching out towards him. Dosu's eyes widened in fear.
"G-Gaara?" Dosu asked nervously. "N-Now, w-what's the problem?"
"You tried to kill her." Gaara said coldly, causing Dosu to flinch whenever Gaara had said 'her.'
"W-We didn't know that she was under your claim, so…" Dosu saw Gaara put his hand down and he heard a shuffling noise behind him. He was scared Gaara would try to kill him with his back turned, so he refused to turn around.
"Who's under who's claim?" A woman's voice asked behind him. Dosu tensed and finally, he turned around.
His eyes narrowed. "Oh, it's only you."
Sakura let out a 'che' before she stepped up beside him. She sent a glare to him, which he reciprocated, then looked to Gaara.
"I could feel your murderous intent from my room, Gaara." Sakura stated casually, as if talking about the wind.
Gaara stared at her for a minute.
"I'd like to keep him alive, if that's alright with you." Sakura stated.
Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He asked.
Sakura grinned. "Of course. I'm hoping to get a bit of revenge for what happened during the second exam." Sakura suddenly phased to be in front of Dosu. She glared into his eyes, which he took a step back from. "He is mine to kill." Dosu glared back at Sakura and took a step closer. He held up his sound emitter threateningly.
The only thing that broke the glaring contest up with Gaara's chuckle.
"I see. I'll leave him to you, then, Haruno-san." Gaara then began to leave.
Sakura appeared in front of him, up on the buildings ledge. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Dosu took this time to escape from the two scary people.
"You may call me Sakura, Gaara-kun." Sakura stated with a smile at him.
Gaara looked amused "Gaara-kun?" He asked.
"Well, I have a right to call you what I wish, correct?" She laughed softly at his expression. He looked slightly shocked.
Gaara suddenly began walking towards her. She didn't move an inch.
"Why are you not afraid of me, Haruno Sakura?" Gaara asked, now hardly a foot in front of Sakura.
"Why? Because I can see who you are inside." Sakura almost thought about fleeing at that point, so she could give him something to chew over, but she stayed.
Gaara only remained silent.
"You're scared in this world—at heart, you're nothing but a little boy who wasn't loved enough." She looked away, towards the Hokage building.
"Where do you get those thoughts from, Haruno?" He asked her.
She didn't even glance at him. "I don't remember anything of my years before I turned eight." At this point, she did glance at him. "I can sense a malevolent chakra inside of you. Since Sarutobi loves me so, I have the ability to look through what records I want to, just so long as I ask before I snoop." She turned to him.
"So, what bijuu do you have inside of you?"
Gaara tensed, the sand shuffling around his feet.
'Kill…' a voice growled in his head. Gaara tensed and resisted the urge to grab onto his head.
"Ichibi." Was all Gaara said before he disappeared. Sakura smiled.
"At least he opened up to me a bit."
-The next evening-
"Anko-chan?" Sakura called out through the house before receiving a muffled reply from inside the kitchen. Sakura ventured inside the kitchen to smell dango.
"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Anko asked, turning around to see Sakura with the dango dough in her hands.
Sakura eyed the dango hungry and she phased in front of Anko, tore off a—large—piece of dango and then phased to sit on the couch. Anko pouted.
"I just wanted you to know. From here on out, I'll be training at night. This means, I'll need to get sleep during the day, at all possible."
Anko raised her eyebrow. "Why're you telling me?"
Sakura smiled. "Just in case you need me. You'll be able to sense my chakra. I'll have chakra nets up around the area I'm training in, so if anyone comes near, I'll know to stop training. After all, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill someone, would I?" Sakura asked rhetorically. Anko laughed and nodded.
"Alright, I'll let you get your sleep, Sakura-chan. Whenever you're asleep, I assume I need to kick out your teammates?" Anko asked, now turning around to continue making her dango.
Sakura took another bite out of her dango dough. "Of course. Ask them what they want, and if they say it's an emergency, then you can let them in to wake me. Or you can wake me up, it doesn't matter to me."
Anko nodded. "Alright, I'm fine with that."
Sakura nodded. "Now hurry up with that dango. I want to take a—large—plate with me whenever I go training."
Whenever Sakura arrived out in the forest, she immediately sensed Itachi's chakra. She followed his chakra and let out a large chakra net.
She stood in front of Itachi with the plate of dango.
Itachi eyed the dango hungrily and, before Sakura could do anything about it, appeared in front of Sakura and stole the plate of dango.
Sakura pouted and tried to grab it back, but he was already in his original place. He began to eat the dango slowly, savoring the taste.
"This tastes different than last time." Itachi observed, looking down at the dango in thought. "Anko made this." Itachi stated, now looking up at the nodding Sakura.
"Yep. Glad you could tell a difference. No one else can." Sakura smirked. "Of course, no one has such a weakness for dango such as Anko and I. I applaud your weakness."
Itachi grunted and put the rest of the plate of dango down. There were three sticks of dango left. Whenever Itachi stood back up, he glanced back down longingly at the dango. Sakura caught his glance and smirked at him.
"Now then, this is what I'll train you on." Itachi handed Sakura a sheet of paper, which she took eagerly. "The paper is set to burn in five minutes, so you'll need to memorize it now."
Sakura nodded and looked over the paper.
Training:
-Genjutsu
-Ninjutsu
-Taijutsu
-Endurance
-Stamina
-Elemental Jutsu
-Surprise
Sakura eyed the last bullet with curiosity.
"Surprise?"
Itachi chuckled before he appeared in front of her with a stick of dango. She tried to reach out for it, but the moment her fingers came close to it, Itachi disappeared.
"Damn it, Itachi." She growled softly. She heard a chuckle and pouted.
"Training begins now."
A/N WOOOOOOT. Finished!
1) Before I forget it, let me say this. If you have any questions, ask me. I won't answer them in in a "reply to review" message, I'll just answer them down here, since others may be wondering it as well.
2) If you guys want me to reply to messages in the a/n instead of sending you a message, tell me. Pleeasseee?
3) Well, since we're talking about reviews…-cheers- I'M SO HAPPY. Because of the awesome amount of reviews, I added in the Sasuke's Dream part. Of course, it may not be as awesome as I imagined it, but it was added in at the last minute. One of these days, I may edit it to be longer and a lot better. I may do that after I get this story done.
WE'RE AT 41 REVIEWS! It's one more review than Kitsune-no-Sakura At Your Service!, so I am HAPPEH. KnSAYS (lol…Kn says…) has been in the lead for EVERYTHING (reviews, alerts, etc.) for a LONG time. IT'S FINALLY BEEN BEAT. -dances-
4) I PLAN TO FINISH THIS. -squeals- I've found out something. For all of you who have the same problem as me (keep running out of inspiration, etc.), while you write, if you come up with anything for the future…WRITE IT DOWN. Like, seriously. It helps. I'm going to start on chapter9 as soon as I update this, so yeah.
Next Chapter: Chapter09: The Finish
Honestly, chapter 9 may end up being really short, so be ready for that. Chapter 10 is going to be my favorite chapter, not chapter 9, lol, whoops.
5) Lemme think here…I'm on Christmas Break, so I'll have time to write. -looks super excited-
7) Before I forget it, this story should go on until around chapter 20. I'd do a full outline of the story, but then I wouldn't want to write the story anymore, since I'd already wrote down the keypoints. So, I'll reframe from doing that…
Everyone, have a good Christmas and a good New Years and LET'S DO THIS. -dances-
8) Btw, if you like techno, go onto youtube and look up Tecktonik songs. One that I suggest to everyone is Digiben by Mondotek. It is the bomb. I'm addicted. It makes me want to get up and dance everytime I listen to it. -is listening to it now, so I have a huge urge to stop writing and dance-
Anyway, I love you all, and I hope-wait, I've said this already. Bah. Bye guys!~ -waves bye bye-
~/Takai-sama\~
P.S. Can anyone guess the surprise? Whoever gets it, I'll dedicate the next chapter to them. Or do a one-shot or something. But you may have to wait on the one-shot, since I'm writing this, but whatever. Your choice. I can't draw. So don't ask for a drawing. Sadly. Otherwise I would. Anyhoo. Have fun guessing!~
P.S.S. What the hell, ! I can't do my double hyphen deal I usually do to separate topics or whatever. I just redid the hyphens twice. Neither time did they stay. God damn it...-stabs computer-
