Receiving a swift kick to the side that he was unable to block, Sasuke let out a grunt before pivoting to the side to avoid being struck again. Hand-to-hand combat wasn't a problem for Sasuke, but he was much better at ninjutsu than taijutsu. And fighting with a handicap wasn't what Sasuke had in mind when he asked—well, demanded—someone to spar with him.
But Rock Lee was only trained in taijutsu, so to make things more interesting, the man had offered to fight against him in hand-to-hand combat only. Sasuke had readily agreed, eager at the chance of training with someone else after so long.
But now, having to resist the urge to make hand signs and perform ninjutsu was starting to frustrate him slightly. He had to admit it: he was a little rusty, but he was catching on quickly.
So when he spun and caught the back of Lee's knee with a side kick, he had to hold back a grin of satisfaction.
Lee made a squawking noise before stumbling forward. He was just about to catch his footing, when a conveniently placed stick caught his heel and sent him tumbling into the ground, face-first.
From the sideline, Hanabi began laughing, unashamed of her childish prank. "I can't believe you didn't see that!"
Sitting himself up on the ground, the lanky man frowned, "What was that for?"
Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little annoyed as well. He needed to train hard, and train fast—he needed to regain his old fighting styles back, and quickly. He didn't care much for practical jokes, or as he liked to call them, idiotic distractions.
"Oh lighten up," she grinned at him from her place under the tree. "It was just a little twig."
Lee picked himself up off the ground, brushing the dirt off his clothes before picking up the stick and tossing it in the other direction, away from Hanabi. "I know I do not go on missions with you very often, but I think I understand why you're always teamed with Kiba."
Hanabi looked at him suspiciously, "Yeah? And why's that?"
"Kiba says the reason you act out is due to the fact that you trained too much as a young child, therefore you are prone to act childish more often, even though you are an adult now."
"Well Kiba's getting his ass kicked next time I see him," she mumbled to herself, crossing her arms and glaring.
"I do appreciate your youthfulness though! But—"
"Not when we're trying to train," Sasuke spoke, looking at the girl with an annoyed expression. Turning his attention from her pouting form back to Lee, he readied his stance and the two started once more.
They trained—practical joke free—without a break until it was a little bit after midday. After a couple hours, Hanabi had switched places with Lee, in order to give the man a break, and to give Sasuke another fighting style to combat.
Finally being able to fairly use ninjutsu, Sasuke came to the conclusion that he liked sparring with her better.
They were eventually interrupted by a long call through the air.
"Lunch is served!"
The two ninja who were currently sparring paused, both of them deactivating their kekkei genkai as they spotted their incoming guests. It wasn't until he saw Sakura, trailing behind Nori and walking beside Shikamaru, when he frowned and crossed his arms.
"I brought you all sandwiches," the old woman said, handing each of them a carefully wrapped sandwich. Sasuke took his wordlessly before placing it on his pack and facing a certain kunoichi with a stern look.
"Why are you up?"
She rolled her eyes, "Nice to see you too, Sasuke."
When sunrise had broken, Sakura had finally lain back down on her spot on the couch and fell back asleep, never once releasing Sasuke's hand. Sasuke though, did not go to sleep at all; instead, as soon as he saw the taijutsu expert, he'd proposed to train, which the man readily agreed to—a bit over enthusiastically too, much to Sasuke's annoyance.
"Sakura!" Hanabi jogged up to the group, towel draped lazily over her shoulder as she wiped some sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. "Look at you!"
Sakura grinned, lightly hopping from one foot to the other as if to emphasize the progress she'd been making with the healing of her injuries. "And watch," holding her hands out in front of her, she paused for a moment, concentrating on something. When her hands lit up with a light green glow, she let out a laugh, "I'm gaining my chakra back little by little."
"But you still need to rest," Sasuke said, almost as if unimpressed with her recovery. Where truthfully, he was quite impressed and extremely relieved too, he was just uneasy with her already up and walking around so soon after having her injuries healed.
"I know that," she shot him an annoyed glare of her own, "I'm not here to join you guys, just to provide moral support." Then her face lit up as if she suddenly remembered something, "Oh yeah! And we've got good news!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Shikamaru pulled something out from a pouch on his side. He didn't recognize what it was until he saw the Sand Village insignia on the back of the paper. Eyes widening, he made sudden eye contact with Sakura, only to see her already staring back at him with a smile on her face unlike any other.
"It's from Gaara," Shikamaru said, turning the message around for a quick moment for the others to see. "I'd sent him confirmation that we'd found Sakura, and further information on our mission as a whole. I also asked for him to reply if Kakashi's team had reached Suna yet."
"And?" Hanabi said eagerly, urging him on.
"He says that they've been sending him messages periodically, keeping them up to date with their location." Shikamaru scanned the message once more before folding it up once more and tucking it under his arm. "When he sent us this message they had reported being two days away. Meaning—"
"They could already be there by now," Sakura said with a wide smile, cutting him off. "They could be in Suna right now."
"Could be," Shikamaru gave Sakura a stern look, "we don't want to assume things."
"Knowing Kakashi," Sakura only stared back at Shikamaru with another grin, "if he said two days, he meant two days."
Shikamaru just shrugged, "I'm just trying not to get anyone's hopes up by relaying potentially false information."
"Yeah, I know," Sakura dismissed his concern quickly before turning back toward everyone else, still smiling, "there's another thing too. We're leaving tomorrow."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "Tomorrow?" Lee asked, voicing aloud everyone's surprise. "That is so soon."
"We have to start heading there now. It's a three day trip."
"No," Sasuke said sternly, "you're not fully healed yet."
"I'm as close to fully healed that I'm going to get," she retorted, not skipping a beat. "My bones are mended, I can walk, and I'll be ready to run by sunrise. We're leaving tomorrow and that's that."
Without another word, she stalked off in the direction in which she came. Sasuke wasn't sure if her heavy, stomping footsteps were due to her sudden anger or whether or not it was just her trying to emphasize her point: she was healed almost completely. Nori smiled warmly toward all of them before turning around and slowly following the frustrated woman out of the woods and back toward the village.
"It's no use," Shikamaru said after a couple minutes, "I've already tried talking to her about it, but there's no way she's going to listen."
"We need to give her at least another day than that," Hanabi said, concerned. "I mean, I know her healing is going well but even with medical ninjutsu, you still need to rest."
"I'm almost positive that if we don't leave tomorrow—as a team—then she'll try and find a way to leave on her own." Shikamaru kicked a nearby stone, watching it roll a few feet away before hitting the trunk of a tree. "She wanted to leave today, but I convinced her that tomorrow would be better and that we needed time to prepare."
Sasuke stalked off back toward his gear, looking down on his sandwich and disregarding it completely. He was relieved to hear from Suna, and to hear that Katahana could very well be in the village at that very moment, but the doubt was still there. He was frustrated over the fact that Sakura was being stubborn; she needed to rest for longer to gain back more of her strength, and he knew that she knew it too.
He only waited for a few minutes after that before walking up to Rock Lee once more and demanding another sparring session. If they were going to be travelling the next day, he needed to get as much training in as possible. He was finally getting the hang of real combat again, and his hands and fists were itching for the rush that the adrenaline would bring.
A part of him was eager—excited even—about their departure the following day. It would bring him closer to being able to find Masaru and killing him along with each and every one of his lackeys.
It would also bring him back to his daughter.
Everyone had retired early that night, in order to be fully rested and ready for their journey the following morning. The plan was to wake up just before sunrise in order for them to make good timing. It was a three day trip, but Sakura had worked alongside Shikamaru to try and establish a shorter way to Suna. Their new course would take them only a little more than two days; if everything went according to plan.
By the time midnight rolled around, only two people were still awake.
Sasuke stared at Sakura with a dull, tired expression, watching as she paced across the room, walking to the window and then back again. She stretched her arms and shoulders as she did so, working out the kinks in her sore, still-healing arms.
"Sakura…" Sasuke groaned, leaning his head back against the wall behind the couch. He currently sat on the couch, watching with exhausted eyes as she walked around the room.
"I'm not sleeping until I can rotate my arms in a full circle," she spoke in a rushed voice as she carefully lifted an arm and swung it back slowly, bringing it back in front of her, "without it hurting," she added, wincing slightly.
"You're going to reinjure yourself."
"No I'm not. It's common for physical therapy to be slightly painful," she switched arms as she walked, "my body needs to readjust to moving around."
"But at a slower rate."
"Don't have time for that," she replied, annoyance clear in her voice. She shot him a frustrated look, never once halting her feet or arms.
"And how are you supposed to protect yourself if you can hardly move."
"If it comes down to it, I can hold my own," she didn't look at him once as she spoke, instead focusing on her stretches.
"Sakura," he sighed.
"I'll be fine," she snapped. She paused for a moment, faltering in her motions, before frowning to herself and resuming her walk.
Sasuke has to resist the urge to sigh again and instead stood up, walking over to her and stepping directly in front of her. When she ignored him and went to walk around him, he stopped her by grabbing her shoulders.
"Sakura. Stop." He kept his grip loose, but squeezed her shoulders once firmly, to let her know that he wasn't joking around. "You need to sleep."
"I can't," she said, easily pulling a shoulder out of his grip. "I can't sleep, Sasuke, so you stop it." He did not remove his other hand, keeping his grip firmly on her upper arm.
"It's going to be okay," he said quietly, looking down on her with a soft expression. "Things are going to be alright."
"I can't—I just can't," she stopped speaking when she began to choke on her words. "Damnit," lifting a hand to her face, she covered her eyes and turned her head, refusing to look Sasuke in the eye. She stood her ground for a long moment, working hard to keep her composure, until Sasuke spoke again.
"Hana is going to be alright."
As if the words were the key to unlocking a dam, a series of intense emotion flowed out of Sakura at that moment, freezing her where she stood. She kept her eyes averted, her hand resting against her forehead, as her shoulders shook with her quiet sobs.
He knew she hated crying in front of him. She had confessed it to him all those years ago during one of their nights in the woods together.
"I don't like being seen as weak or useless, just because I show my damn emotions more than others," she'd thrown a rock across the clearing, embedding it into a far away tree with her frustration. "But when people see me cry, it's as if they're looking at the words 'WEAK' tattooed on my damn forehead."
So as she stood before him, shaking her head in anger as she willed her tears to go away, Sasuke knew that she was embarrassed—ashamed even—at her display of emotion. He did the only thing he could think to do.
Wrapping his arms around her, he gently pulled her into a hug.
He could hear the sharp intake of breath that caught itself in Sakura's throat as she stiffened at the contact. Sasuke frowned, glancing down at her pink head just beneath his. Her hand had dropped once more to cover her eyes again, and her other hand was now lightly gripping the front of his shirt. He could feel her hand shaking through the thin material as she attempted to keep herself composed.
It had been years since he'd held her like this, and even so, she'd always been the one to initiate contact. This was the first time he'd ever been the one to hug her. And as he held the shaking woman in his arms, his chest tightened.
"She never stopped loving you."
At that moment, Sasuke hoped that Naruto's words weren't true.
He didn't deserve her love. He never had. For years and years he did nothing but push her away, denying her feelings for him and rejecting her affections. He hardly even wanted to think about how many times he'd been the cause of her tears.
After another long moment, Sasuke hesitated at first, but eventually leaned down slightly, pressing his cheek against hers, his mouth directly beside her ear. "You're not weak, Sakura."
A small sob escaped her mouth as his words registered with her, "I—I…" letting her hand finally fall from her face, she kept her eyes closed tight, as if she could keep her tears locked within her. But as a tear escaped, she shook her head in frustration before pressing her face into his chest, burying herself in his arms.
Sasuke did not say anything; he didn't have to. Instead he stood there with her in his arms, holding her tightly as she clung to him desperately, crying softly into the fabric of his shirt.
Eventually, he lost track of time. But Sakura's cries eventually quieted, her grip on his waist loosened, and her breathing steadied itself out.
Sasuke wished that he could stand there for longer, holding her in his arms; something about the intimate gesture made him feel comfortably warm. It was as if this was what was right in the world, it was something that he needed. But he knew he couldn't indulge, he couldn't lose himself and allow himself to be overcome by emotions—he couldn't be slowed down.
Pulling away from her slightly, he looked down at her face just as her eyes reopened. She stumbled slightly, catching herself before Sasuke had to steady her. As she let out a long yawn, rubbing lightly at her tired, reddened eyes, he had to repress a smile. She was practically dead on her feet.
Gently, he reached forward, bending down slightly as he gathered her into his arms. Sakura said nothing, only allowing herself to rest her head against his shoulder as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
Leaving the apartment, Sasuke carried her up the stairs, almost surprised when Sakura said nothing and instead kept her tired eyes focused in front of them, watching as he closed in on his apartment.
Walking through the doorway, he quietly noted the location of the rest of his teammates. Hanabi was out cold on the couch, buried up to her neck in layers of blankets, whereas Lee and Shikamaru each occupied a small space on the floor in front of the couch.
Carrying his feet lightly across the floor, he stepped into his room, closing the door swiftly with a foot, before approaching his bed.
She'd been sleeping on a rickety old couch for days now. She needed a real night's sleep.
Leaning over the bed slightly, he lowered her carefully onto the mattress, removing her arms from their spot around his neck. She still said nothing, but when he looked at her face he only found her eyes trained on his face, a look of exhaustion and confusion swept upon her. He averted his eyes as he reached over her slightly, grabbing the comforter and covering her in the thick, warm material.
"Thank you." Her voice was so quiet, so soft, that Sasuke had almost missed it. Meeting her eyes once more he pursed his lips, nodding once before straightening his position. "Wait," before he could step away from the bed, she grabbed his hand, pulling it back towards the bed, "don't go."
Sasuke stared back into her half-lidded eyes, biting the inside of his cheek. He couldn't stay here with her. He shouldn't stay—he couldn't allow himself to get distracted by anything, even Sakura. He turned his head toward the door and took another step, effectively pulling his hand out of Sakura's weak grasp.
"Sasuke," halting his motions he turned toward her as he heard the sound of sheets ruffling, "please." She was now sitting up, leaning against her hand as she looked toward him with a desperate expression. "Please stay."
He swore silently to himself as he broke eye contact with her, instead gazing out toward the window on the opposite end of his room. He wanted more than anything to be able to deny her his company. He wanted the ability to turn right back around and walk out of the room without another thought.
He wanted to honestly say that he didn't feel anything towards her.
Walking around the opposite side of the bed, he slowly climbed in, sitting himself on top of the covers, leaning his back against the headboard.
But he'd promised himself a long time ago that he'd stop lying to himself.
Sasuke waited as Sakura covered herself in the blanket once more before scooting herself closer to him, only stopping when the tip of her nose was only inches away from his side. Once she paused, pulling the blanket tighter around her, he lifted his arm and hesitated.
"She never stopped loving you."
As gently as he could, he lowered his arm, resting it above her pillow, as he ran his fingers through her hair, trying to bring her some comfort in one of the only ways he knew. As his hands moved, she was asleep within minutes, her face becoming peaceful as her worried expression faded completely and she fell into unconsciousness. Sasuke could hardly believe how much Katahana really reminded him of Sakura.
In her sleep, she scooted herself closer to him, snuggling up against his side. Sasuke forced himself to look away from her face as his chest tightened.
They'd be on the road soon. Then they'd travel as fast as they could to Suna, and they'd finally be reunited with Katahana.
Things would start getting better soon; things would be okay.
They had to.
Jumping awake suddenly, Sasuke immediately turned to his right, only to find a sleeping woman still curled up beneath the covers. Letting his head fall backwards, he looked up at the ceiling and willed his breathing to calm down. It was common for him to have nightmares, but for him to have such vivid dreams about Sakura—about losing her, specifically—wasn't only out of the ordinary, it was downright terrifying.
But with a light touch, he brushed the tips of his fingers across her forehead and down her cheek, as if to confirm the fact that yes, she was there and yes, she was alive and well. Allowing his eyes to wander, he took note of the sky beginning to lighten in the distance; daybreak was not far away.
Slowly removing himself from the bed, he made his way into the main room only to find Shikamaru and Hanabi already awake. Shikamaru looked over at him from his spot by the windowsill and nodded toward Sasuke, acknowledging his presence. He was fully dressed and appeared to be fully awake as well.
Hanabi on the other hand was still groggily sorting through a few items in her pack, only taking note of Sasuke's appearance when she turned around to pick up her sandals.
"Oh," her tired voice cracked slightly, "hey Sasuke. I didn't know you were up here."
He'd looked away from her before she'd even finished speaking, disregarding her and giving his attention to Shikamaru, who was currently approaching him.
"Lee's downstairs with Nori. I think he's helping her pack food for us for our trip." As Shikamaru spoke, his eyes wandered from Sasuke to his bedroom door and back again. "Sakura wasn't downstairs when I checked earlier, so I'm assuming she's…"
"Sleeping." Sasuke answered brusquely, crossing his arms.
"Ah," Shikamaru nodded to himself, "well we're planning on leaving within the next half hour, so we need to make sure she's up soon."
"I can get her stuff together for her while she sleeps for a little longer," Hanabi offered, standing herself up and stretching her arms over her head. "She needs the rest more than we do."
"Sounds good," Shikamaru agreed, "I'm going to send one last message back to Konoha before we go."
Sasuke idly made his way down the stairs after Shikamaru, stopping at Nori's apartment and walking into her kitchen. He found her fixing some sort of meal together before handing it to Lee, who stood beside the woman, towering over her tiny frame.
"Good morning, Sasuke," she said without turning around to see him. He was going to nod to her before he realized that she still wasn't looking at her; then he decided that it didn't particularly matter anyway. Not choosing to remain in their company any longer he walked into the main room to gather his pack so he could prepare himself for their trip.
He felt oddly eager, the excitement of their departure coursing throughout his body; from his fingers all the way down to his toes. His muscles waited in anticipation for the exhilarating run. He was more than ready to finally hit the road.
Arranging and then rearranging his weapons he traveled back up to his apartment, only to find Hanabi helping a still-drowsy Sakura arrange her items. He only watched for a quick moment, looking away after seeing Sakura wince from bending down too quickly.
Rummaging through his closet, he grimaced as he thought to himself. There were so many ways that this trip could go wrong. He wasn't an idiot; he knew Sakura was merely putting on a tough façade in order to keep everyone from worrying about her.
The others may have been buying it, but Uchiha Sasuke wasn't a fool.
After changing clothes and making the final adjustments to his gear, he walked back out into his apartment, only to find it cleared out and empty. Fully prepared, he went to Nori's apartment, only to find it practically empty as well. Hearing the low hum of voices, he glanced out the window only to see everybody already outside, making their final preparations.
Before he could turn to walk out of the apartment, the sudden appearance of Nori before him halted him in his steps.
"You've got quite a trip ahead of you," she said with a smile, handing him a small bundle, "there's about a day's worth of food in there; don't let it go to waste now, you hear?"
Sasuke looked down at the package in his hands, expression softening as he looked back to her face. She stood smiling up at him as he carefully placed the food into his pack before turning back toward her.
"I swear," she laughed to herself once, a short cackling sound, "you Uchiha are one hell of a bunch."
Sasuke could feel his mouth drop open slightly as his brow furrowed with thought. He'd never mentioned that he was an Uchiha to her. And he was almost certain it had never come up in conversation since he arrived here with his team.
"Oh, don't look so surprised, boy. I've known who you were since the day I saw you back there in the street. You don't honestly think I'd just pick any random stranger off the side of the road now, would ya?" She laughed to herself again, as if enjoying her own joke. "No, you're the splitting image of your mother."
Sasuke stood shocked, trying to keep his head from spinning and his thoughts from careening out of control. She had known who he was? She knew who his mother was?
"I married an Uchiha when I was young, very young." She shuffled over to her kitchen table as she spoke, pulling a chair out and sitting herself down. "By the time I was 19 I was pregnant with my third child. But when I was twenty-two, my husband died—he was killed in battle during the 2nd shinobi war. Being young and widowed, I basically went mad. My late husband's sister took in my children and I left Konoha for a while. About ten years to be exact.
"I came back to find that my eldest daughter had followed in my steps and married young. She was already a mother at sixteen to a beautiful baby girl." Nori paused to herself, still smiling. "She was named Mikoto after my late-husband's mother."
Sasuke felt his mouth go dry as he listened to her speak. The likelihood of this being true was extremely rare; but she did not once falter with her words. She knew exactly what she was talking about. There was no way Sasuke could doubt her.
"I won't go into too much more detail," she said, waving a hand dismissively toward him, "but I stuck around for about another ten years or so, until my son was killed in battle, just like his father had been." She paused, shaking her head and frowning. "I wish I had stayed in the village, but I couldn't do it. I left right before your mother graduated from the academy. I never returned, but I heard years later about the massacre. I returned only once, just after the memorial service to pay my respects."
She let out another cackle, "You don't know how crazy it was when I saw you in the street that day, boy. I would recognize an Uchiha from anywhere, but you resemble your mother so much it's ridiculous." Her expression softened as her laughter died down. "You've been through hell and back boy. That's a sure thing. But let it be known that you, and that daughter of yours, are the last of the clan, the last of a powerful legacy.
"There are so many others like me out there, who were friends or family to the Uchiha in some way, and like me, they want more than anything to see that clan redeemed." She stood up from her seat and walked up to Sasuke once more. "Boy, I couldn't think of any better person to trust the future of the Uchiha with, than you." Patting his cheek affectionately one final time, she turned and walked around him, placing items back in their spot and cleaning up her mess from cooking. "Now get going—your friends are out there waiting for you."
Sasuke was frozen from shock, still unable to fully process what he'd just heard from her. But somehow, by sheer willpower possibly, without a word he managed to drag his feet out the doorway, down the stairwell, and outside. Mind still reeling, he tried to shake his confusion out of his head as he stared at his teammates before him.
It appeared as if they'd been waiting for him, almost all of them sporting curious expressions. But once it was apparent to them that he was not going to say a single word, Shikamaru nodded to the rest of them, and without speaking, they all departed.
As they ran, Sasuke tried to blank out his mind. He tried thinking about the wind, the cool, invigorating feeling it had upon his skin. He tried focusing on the noise of the forest around him, with the birds beginning to wake and the animals starting to move. He tried focusing on anything else but the present.
But when a flash of pink shot out ahead of him, he couldn't help but get dragged roughly back to the real, living world.
He watched as Sakura ran ahead of him, her hair flying out behind her, her legs racing and her body shooting through the trees. Out of his peripheral sight, he saw Shikamaru and Lee share a look.
Sakura was running faster than the rest of the group, her speed more than what was deemed appropriate for team travel. Sasuke knew as well as the rest of them that there was a reason teams always travelled together; one being that they needed to stay close in case of attack from enemies. The other reason being that most ninjas traveled at different speeds. In order for the team to stay together a common pace had to be set, and currently, Sakura was on the verge of completely abandoning the team, her speed too fast-paced for the rate of travel at which everyone else was currently abiding by.
Shikamaru shook his head in exasperation as he sped up a bit more; Sasuke assumed he was going to tell her to slow down. But before their team leader could do anything, Sasuke jumped forward, meeting his eyes, and stopped him.
"I'll handle it."
Without waiting for a reply—or even needing one, really—he quickly sped up, his speed matching Sakura's. As he ran alongside her he looked toward her, waiting for her to acknowledge him.
"Sakura," he called, waiting for her to direct her attention to him. She spared him a quick glance before resuming her sprint. "Sakura, slow down."
She glared at him, pushing off of a thick branch and launching herself ahead of him a good distance. Sasuke was right behind her, getting a bit frustrated with her stubbornness.
"Sakura," he was at her side once more, "you need to slow down."
"We need to get there quickly."
"And we will. But you're going to wear yourself out." He paused, watching as she did not slow her pace. "If you don't slow down, you're going to be exhausted by mid-day." She still did not acknowledge him. "It's going to take longer to get there if you do this; longer to get to Hana."
Sakura winced as his words reached her ears. She swore silently, keeping her head focused on the ground below them as they ran. After a minute Sasuke was about to speak again, believing that she still needed more of a reason to slow down, when she looked over at him and nodded once.
As she slowed down slightly, her pace decreasing at a steady rate, she kept her head low, refusing to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry."
Sasuke had barely heard her apology, but before he could reply Sakura was back with the rest of the group, running silently alongside Hanabi, her head still down.
He felt sorry for her; deep down he knew that all she really wanted was to get to Katahana, and to get there as soon as possible. It was only understandable that she was being impatient and a bit stubborn.
Slowing his speed as well, he fell in step in between Shikamaru and Lee, keeping his eyes ahead and his senses on alert.
In only a matter of days, they'd be in Suna.
A/N: Sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated. This month my main focus has been on my series of one-shots for SasuSaku month called My Heart Is Here. You can go check it out if you'd like.
But in all honesty please don't be surprised if I don't update every week. At the speed in which the story is developing, it probably won't be too odd to see new chapters two weeks apart or so. Remember, this story is a work in progress, so your patience is super duper appreciated!
Other than that, I hope you guys have been enjoying the story. Same thing goes for the manga. As for me? I just want Gaara to show up at the damn battlefield. Like literally that's all I care about at this point. Although a cute NaruHina or SasuSaku moment would be sweet too. But mainly I just want my baby to show up and kick some ass with his sand.
Again, thanks for the patience! Please review.