Chapter 13- Sakura
"Sakura," the pleading voice was firm at the same time, leaving what seemed like very little room to insert my own opinion. I ignored him.
My eyes slid shut just before he came into view and I slowly allowed my chakra to ooze out of my hands, seeping into the ground below my toes. The drain wasn't as bad anymore but maybe I could sum that up to the fact I had very little patience to deal with my own failures today. I expected the best from myself and I'd be damned if I couldn't get it just because of the acute pain in my head. Damn the alcohol.
The sand underneath me shifted slowly at first, only a few grains rolling from side to side but they were soon joined with more and more under it was a pile of sand being lifted into the air. I heard the surprised gasp from the man but he was silenced when I pushed more chakra into the task at hand. The rough grains rubbed against the skin of my feet as more collected into the ball that was already floating inches from my face.
"Sakura!" This was a different voice; an angry one; a voice that I particularly didn't care for at the moment.
My anger peaked, the chakra freely flowing out of me and into the ground. I could feel it shifting completely under me, sand shuffling away from where I was and collecting into the air. I didn't have to open my eyes to see it; I could feel it tightening and my strength increased and certain edges becoming sharp as a kunai when my mood darkened.
"What- what is that?" Someone choked out with emotions I couldn't quite figure out. I'm sure they were all appalled to see something so… extravagant coming from their weak little Sakura.
I could practically hear the smile in my mentor's voice as he watched me from the sidelines. "It's the ultimate weapon specifically for her."
The sand rose higher and I finally opened my eyes to see nothing but the high walls of sand around me, growing higher with every ounce of power I pushed out of me to hold it up. It was almost exactly like the Kazekage's sand jutsus if it weren't for the beautiful strands of bluish-green chakra weaving among the grains. It was a work of art.
A smile that had absolutely nothing to do with humor began to form on my lips as I watched my creation grow and mold to my choosing. The anger that I thought I had under control after Kakashi's little fight with me two weeks ago began to leak out as well when I began to think about what he said.
I was going into a rage so I didn't question who I was fighting when I felt with my chakra that a kunai was suddenly imbedded in the think wall of sand. I wasn't worried, no; I had more than enough protection.
As the attack began to intensify, I controlled the sand around me to spin, lowering back towards the ground so that I could see my opponent as well as lash out further when needed.
On the opposite side of the arena stood Gaara, a very proud, very excited look on his usually calm features. He stood there with sand of his own spinning slowly by his feet as he watched me morph my power into something to be of more use in the spar; spears.
As soon as I saw his lips twitch into a smirk, I jerked forward and ran at him with everything in me. I needed to get this anger out; it weighed me down and he was the perfect one to help me with that. Gaara didn't need me to blatantly admit that I was hurting on the inside; he just knew. He knew that this is what I needed and he was more than willing to help, so why would I turn down such a selfless offer?
The chakra that ran from my fingertips forced the sand that had just been a wall to follow at my every move. The spears that I had made shot forward like bullets, damn near piercing right through Gaara's head if he hadn't moved just in time.
His own sand missiles came at me and I quickly let them absorb into my makeshift shield. We paused for a moment after that, eyeing each other to see if the other would give up the slightest clue to the next move. Gaara wasn't one to really strategize during a spar or fight; his sand was usually all he needed to keep him safe. He couldn't do that with me now, not with everything that I had learned from the past two and a half weeks of non-stop training. I had worked my ass off to get as much training as I had in. His mistake was letting me train alone; he missed me learning all of the cool stuff.
This time it was me who smirked at knowing that I had an advantage. "You should have been here Gaara; then you would know how to find me."
I saw Naruto and Sai by the arena doors, staring at me with awe-stricken expressions glued to their faces. They had no idea what I had been doing in my free time since being here in Suna and just by the looks on their faces I could tell that this was the last thing they had thought of me doing.
Gaara's eyes widened in surprise and something else as sand wrapped around my ankles and began pulling me down; the sand reaching my knees, my chest, and then my head. The sand closed around me and I quickly spread my chakra all over the floor so that Gaara wouldn't be able to pinpoint where I was. I was wary about the effectiveness at first but then to my utter pleasure, it worked.
The surprised screams and accusations from Naruto came sooner than I thought they would; his insults raging from 'what the hell was that?' to 'what the hell did you do to her?'
The feeling of my own strength and chakra gliding over my skin was exhilarating. I couldn't help the large smile that eventually surfaced when I realized how much I really did take them by surprise. None of them had any idea what had been going on and I would have been able to secretly train if it wasn't for Naruto and Sai slipping away from guard duty to come see what all the crashing and explosions were from the training area. I think I successfully took their breaths away.
"Why is she still down there? Bring her up before she suffocates!" Naruto screamed as I felt his hands desperately paw at the ground by where I had disappeared. He didn't know that I had already shifted and was now right under the Kazekage's feet. They didn't have a clue.
Gaara distinctly huffed in aggravation at Naruto's antics. "She's not going to suffocate Naruto; she's hiding from me until she decides how to strike. She has this entire arena flooded with her chakra and has made it so I can't track her with the sand. Sakura has this whole thing planned out even though I didn't intend to spar upon arriving here."
"How does she even do all of this? I didn't know she shares the same blood limit as you," Sai spoke up, the curiosity in his voice almost tangible.
"She doesn't have a blood limit; Sakura uses…" Poor Gaara didn't even get to finish his sentence as I suddenly shoved myself up with the sand and drove my fist across the bottom of his jaw in an uppercut, sending the red-head flying into the ceiling.
Cracks in the stone spread out a good ten feet from his body and as he began to fall, the clear imprint of his body was still there. I didn't try to catch him but I didn't need to anyway; his own sand caught him halfway to the ground and gently rubbed against his skin as if in a silent comfort once back at ground level.
I slowly walked over to his still body, ignoring Naruto and Sai's stupid looks, and smiled sweetly at seeing him still conscious. "Now Gaara, you aren't supposed to be giving my tricks away. I thought you would know that by now."
I received a bloody smile in return. "I just couldn't help myself. They are amazed as I am at how you've come in so little time. I don't know how you do it but I can say that you pack one hell of a punch, my dear friend." He lifted his hand and brushed the oozing bodily fluid from his split lip.
I grinned in pride, something I haven't done in a long time. "Tsunade's been saying the same thing for years!"
"I can see why," he grunted, heaving himself off of the now-still sand and pushing off his arms and onto his feet. "It's unbelievable the progress you have made since I left you to figure everything out on your own. I didn't think that you would need me to be there for you with every training session and I guess I was right. What I have seen today has definitely put you as one of the best kunoichi in the Fire Country, if you weren't one already."
I snorted. "Tsunade-sama says shit like that all the time."
He smiled lightly. "It doesn't take a much for anyone to see how amazing you are." His tone was light and soft, something I definitely didn't expect after the spar we just had. He stared into my eyes for a few more seconds before turning away, a smile still on his lips.
The way he had said that was different and in a way that I couldn't quite put my finger on. He had said it too soft, too gentle to be referring to my skills.
I quickly brushed the thoughts away before I dived too deep in them and turned to a still-frozen Naruto and Sai. I wanted to hit them both over the heads but with the dizziness that was edging its way into me, I didn't trust my feet or balance to move myself over to them.
Sai looked just as he used to, indifferent and calculating but I'd seen that look of his enough to know that he was just deep in thought. Naruto on the other hand was practically bouncing up and down in his spot and waving his arms frantically.
"Wow Sakura, that was totally awesome! How did you do that? You completely destroyed him!" he yelled, cheering me on. It was endearing, really, but I couldn't focus much on his words with the loud ringing in my ears. If anyone else heard it, they didn't let on.
I faintly heard Gaara mumble back to Naruto something along the lines of 'shut your damn mouth' but I was glaring at my feet that kept switching before four and two as my vision deteriorated. No one noticed my breath that soon turned ragged or how my body just seemed to deflate.
My limbs felt like jelly and I tried to hold myself up the best I could but eventually, my knees buckled under my weight but before I hit the ground, two strong, warm arms wound around my waist and under my legs. I was lifted into the air with ease and I knew who it was the second his scent entered my nostrils.
I don't know anyone else who smells like pine trees and fresh rain but something in the back of my mind separated it from anyone else's I've come in contact with and put it on a damn pedestal. My subconscious is a fucking nightmare.
Kakashi's face doubled up a few times and was blurry so it was hard to read the emotions in his eyes. I slumped against his chest, the anger that I held in me from the last fight with him long forgotten. I just couldn't stay made at someone who was always there to pick me up when I fell. It was impossible.
He must've been in a bad mood since even Naruto's insensitive comments didn't make his footsteps falter as he proceeded to carry me out of the worn arena and into the dull halls. Not a word was exchanged but it didn't bother me as I faded in and out of the real world and dream world.
The terrifying images were starting to appear again; red stained walls and shattered picture frames hanging limply on nails or on the floor. The lamp that was on the corner table was broken and scattered across the carpet in the living room while a familiar laugh ruble through the too-quiet house. Kabuto.
The blood staining my knees from the bodies were scolding hot against my cold skin as my hands pressed against the deep slashes in the bodies on either side of me. Kabuto's hot breath on the back of my neck sent shivers down my spine and I cried out but couldn't hear myself.
Instead, my parent's voices were surrounding me, blaming me for their violent ends. I was a failure, I was an embarrassment, I was a disgrace to the family. It was my fault that they were dead and the feeling of practically being my own kin's murderer was more painful than anything that Hidan could ever do to me.
"Sakura," a low voice murmured, waking me completely from what flashbacks and torments that were beginning to play in my mind. Kakashi hovered over me with a blank look in the one onyx eye that wasn't covered and I realized that I was already in my bed with covers pulled over my slightly shivering body.
His silver hair was defying gravity as it always was, casting a shadow over my face from the dimming light outside as the sun lowered in the sky. My breath was shaky and my hands trembled from the top of my abdomen.
"We need to talk," he added after a moment, slowly retracting the hands that he had placed on either side of me. His eye was piercing and it never left mine as he backed away from the bed and sunk down in the chair at an awkward angle. He didn't say anything for Kami knows how long so I eventually closed my eyes and just allowed the breeze from the window to drift around the room and brush against my skin.
"Your training is impressive. I guess that's what you've been doing for the past couple of weeks. The explosions that I hear every day should have been clue enough." His voice was monotonous. Kakashi was angry.
My hands tightened into the sheets as my annoyance for him grew instantly. "What else was I supposed to do? I know you don't like training indoors so it was the one place I knew I wouldn't run into you." I know how incredibly childish that sounded but I couldn't find it in me to care.
"Genma tells me the bartender is on a first name basis with you now."
I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "That is none of your concern. Obviously I haven't spent all of my time at the bar anyway. I've been training a lot."
"Training hard enough that you don't even notice me here when you pass out every night." He retorted quickly, folding his arms over his chest.
"Well you didn't need to be here every damn night, Kakashi! I'm sure Gaara has another room around here that you can crash in. I don't need a fucking babysitter!"
His voice suddenly rose to that of our last fight. "You do since you seem so damn set on working yourself into your own fucking grave!"
Kakashi's eyes softened when he saw me shrink back into my pillow, his sudden yell quite frankly catching me off guard. He sighed and leaned forward, slipping a hand towards mine and gripping my left wrist softly.
"Sakura, you don't understand how painful it is to see my favorite student do this to themselves. I can't watch it anymore. You made a significant improvement to how you were before we got to Suna and now you've learned a new technique that will surely take any enemy by surprise. You don't need to prove anything else to anyone anymore," he said quietly.
My eyes narrowed almost instantly. "I didn't do any of this to prove anything to anyone, asshole." He was clearly taken by surprise. "And don't say I'm your favorite student. Sasuke and Naruto took that position long ago," I added, looking down at the gold-tinted comforter.
After a moment of silence, there was a small shuffle before three fingers tilted my head up by my chin. I was jarred into silence from the surprise of the touch but strangely, it didn't bother me as much as it should have.
I was taken aback by how soft his expression was even with most of his face covered in a silky cloth. Maybe it was because his body was considerably less tense than it usually was or maybe it was because of how surprisingly soft his hold was on me. Either way, I had no control of my own body as I comfortably slouched back on the pillow, my anger forgotten.
"Never," he started, his voice firm but quiet, "never has Naruto or Sasuke been my favorite student. I'm not just saying that for shits and ha-ha's. While you were all annoying as hell to start with, neither of them struck me as you did. Sakura, you were the only one who didn't jump to rip someone's head off in every fight. You were the only one who truly tried to avoid fights at all costs. You didn't resort to violence for every little thing that happened. I don't know why that made me like you more than them; it just… happened."
The warmth of his fingers on my face made butterflies I didn't even know I had, erupt in my lower belly. His lone eye gazed at me with an emotion that I couldn't place. His thumb gently grazed the edge of my jaw, leaving a path of tingles behind.
"You are the strongest woman I know," he murmured, making fireworks explode in my entire body when he said 'woman.' It affected me much more than it should have but I couldn't find it in me to push him away. I really didn't want to.
My breath caught in my throat as Kakashi began drifting closer to me. My heart raced erratically in my chest and I wouldn't be surprised that he could hear it. After all, he is the great Copy Nin.
"Sakura," he whispered, the hand on my chin moved to the back of my neck while his other hand gently grasped onto my hip. Whatever skin he touched boiled with pleasure and the butterflies turned into bats.
His clothed nose brushed against mine as I raised my hand, allowing my fingers to curl against the edge. Kakashi's eyes burned with approval and his hands tightened on me when I gently began to tug the mask out of the way.
Before I could even see anything, a sudden scream echoed throughout the hallways and we jerked apart with wide, panicked eyes. The voice was that of a male's and recognized the person instantly, especially when he appeared in the doorway.
Naruto was gasping for air but the underlying fear was shining brightly in his eyes. "It's the Akatsuki," the blonde gasped, struggling to get his words out.
I barely noticed how Kakashi's hand on my hip tightened considerably.
Naruto continued, apparently not noticing Kakashi's raging expression either. "The Akatsuki are here in Suna."
My chest seized with panic and fear, the man next to me hissed with anger. I thought I had time to sort out my thoughts. I thought we had time to figure out a plan. What no one else knew though, was that I already had somewhat of plan formed. It was time to set the only thing I knew into motion.
I struggled to stand up but nearly collapsed at Naruto's next words. "They refuse to leave until they see a certain person."
Kakashi stiffened next to me, his eyes locking with my wide eyes.
"They demand to talk to you, Sakura."
My blood ran cold.