I OWN NOTHING. Masashi Kishimoto owns the characters, places, and everything in general.
Chapter 25
Sakura sighed as she studied the two sleeping boys. Naruto was curled up and had become this cute little bond boy in his slumber. While this moment was easily the most relaxed she had ever seen Sasuke. She couldn't help the way her eyes lingered on his creamy skin and the contrast of it with his ebony hair. She longed to reach out and run her fingers through it. It was a furious internal battle, of which Sakura's logical side won. She let out another sigh and stared outwards trying very desperately not to look back at the sleeping raven. She instead studied the open area around them, and smiled as the easily visible area was obviously trapped, and well.
It's almost been one whole day since they collapsed... we have at most one day more...
She felt her smile fade as small flitterings of presence at the edges of her senses. She knew there were people trying to hide their presence, but they were also failing.
Two... No.. Three people... hovering just at the edge of the clearing... She opened her eyes to ensure herself that they were keeping their distance.
She leaned against the roots that created her cover, and began to fall into oblivion when a sudden rustling caught her attention. A squirrel scampered quickly out and towards the tree. Calmly, she launched a kunai at it, to redirect it back into the bushes, and away from her traps. She leaned more carefully against the roots, when she felt the presence more forcefully. She just waited, and was rewarded. Two ninja lept from their hiding spots in the bushes and were flying at her. She smiled and cut a string, causing a web of binding thread whip upwards, efficiently catching her prey. Then, a third presence shot upwards towards the tree, and above her thread trap. This time, she spun and cut another rope, and a massive log fell from the highest limbs and took him out with a very satisfying thud, and crash.
"Sorry. I really can't allow anyone to get close here.." She said with quiet strength, and pulled on more strings. These caused more threads to flicker upwards with explosive tags attatched to them.
"Good bye." She formed a seal.
"Kai." The explosions filled the air with choking smoke and dirt.
"It's going to take a lot more than that, little girl, to finish us off." A female voice, strong and annoyed cut through the choking smokescreen. Then, the dust settled revealing two male ninja and a female. All three were glaring at the pink haired girl.
"Who the hell do you think you are? You're pathetic little traps have no effect on us." Sakura stood and stepped out of the "camp."
"Sumimasen. I'll just have to try harder then." She spat, and took a defensive stance. The other girl shook her head at the other nin.
"She's mine." She snarled, and leaped at Sakura. The pinkette stood stock still for a second allowing the other girl a false sense of security, then she slid to the right. As she slid, she brought her hand up and swung it with all her considerable strength. A small smile lit her features when she felt it connect with the other girl's face. She shoved her back with everything she had, and smirked as she flew for meters before slamming into a tree with a satisfying crash.
"Kin!" The Oto nin with spiky black hair ran to her side and caught her as she fell.
"Dosu! Kin's still alive!" The black haired boy growled and laid the girl gently daown. He bought up his arm, and pointed an open palm at her.
"You're going to die here." He growled and Sakura moved she dived to the left and threw several kunai at him. He dodged the first two but the third caught him in the shoulder. He cursed and backed up to yank it from himself. Then as his eyes flashed back at the pinkette, Sakura was already in front of him, her fist drawn back and coming in for the kill. Then the ground at their feet exploded upward knocking her and him backwards from their positions.
"What was that?" Sakura swore as she regained her footing, and balance.
"Ah.. That was my personal power..." He raised his hand and she noticed a small circular thing in his palm.
"What?" She glared at him.
"Lets just say that this little things in my palms allow me to project vibrations in a very effective way." The other boy smirked.
"Really?" Sakura returned with her own smirk.
Crap... Long ranged fighter? Ok! Calm down! Breathe... Need a plan.. She thought desperately as those hands came back up, pointing directly at her. She flashed through seals as fast as possible.
"Clone technique." She ducked backwards as the clone appeared in front of her and launched several shuriken and kunai at the boy before disappearing into a puff of smoke. The weapons were deflected before they reached him, and he gave her an answering snarl while he waited for the smoke to clear.
"Heh, you're not really that tough... can't even take out a little girl properly.." Sakura called from behind the smokescreen. The boy raised his hands, then his eyes became clouded, almost as if he was seeing something not there. As the dust cloud fell, Sakura stood tall and watched with an amused smirk as the boy fell to the ground.
"Genjutsu?" A calculating voice cut through her victorious smile, and another ninja appeared next to the boy. He was covered in bandages and only one eye was left uncovered.
"Kai." He commanded and touched the other boy. THe spiky haired one jumped a little and sat up.
"Dosu?"
"Genjutsu. She seems to be more than just a little bit dangerous." Dosu stood back and let the other boy stand up and shuffle forward.
"Be more careful, Zaku. I won't save you next time."
"Ah... Got it." He raised his hand once more, and Sakura stood firm.
I won't let them get hurt.
"Decapitating Airwaves." This time she saw the powerful blast of air pressure. Then, she felt two arms wrap around her, and yank her upwards. The world spiralled and she heard an explosion.
"Hah, such pathetic attempts! Only cowards dare strike a lady!" She blinked as she heard the loud abrasive voice. She turned and gasped as she saw the bowl haired boy, standing next to her.
"Lee!"
"Sakura-chan! Stay still. There is only one of them left." He said it calmly, and she gasped as she realized that there were only of them still standing.
"It would be better if you just left, boy. I didn't come here to kill you. Just the other boy over there." Dosu pointed back at the unconscious boys.
"I will not let you harm Sakura's precious friends!" Lee snarled. The bandaged man shrugged then shot forward. He slugged a punch at the jumpsuited boy, who dodged backwards.
"Too slow!" The bandaged man sneered, and flicked an exposed metal arm band. Lee cried out in pain, and fell backwards gripping at his ears. After a moment, he sat up on his knees.
"I will not allow you to hurt Sakura-chan's precious friends." he repeated fiercly, but she heard the slight slur in his words.
"Do you know what my technique does?" He chuckled as the boy swayed again.
"My arm band, the Melody Arm, allows me to absorb or magnify sound waves. Add in a little chakra and I'm able to direct said sound waves. My first attack hits the inner ear, causing nausea, vertigo, disorientation, and pain." He sneered and continued to move closer to them.
"I'll kill you first, since you seem so chivalrous, then you're little girlfriend, then her friends." Dosu dropped into a punch stance and launched another power strike, this time Lee punched into the ground and pulled up a massive tree root as a shield. Sakura shivered as the other boy laughed and leaped over it, landing next to them.
"Nice try lover boy. But its over." He drew back his fist, and for a second Sakura felt her mind go blank.
Sorry, guys... I guess I couldn't stop 'em...
But his punch never came. She glanced up and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. Sasuke was holding the man's elbow, in a furious grip, with his sharingan active.
"Who're you going to kill?" The raven spat through teeth grit in hatred.
"What?" Was all Dosu had time to say, as Sasuke let go of his elbow and appeared in front of him, gripping his shoulders and jumping upwards slamming his knee into his chin and sending him flying backwards.
"The hell you can kill Sakura..." He growled and turned to see her. She could only stare, then she broke.
"Sasuke!" She launched herself at him, completely disregarding how stupid she looked.
"You're ok! And you saved me!" She mumbled into his shirt, and she felt him gently pat her head.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine and so are you... Who? What're you doing here?" She broke from her hug at his confused statement.
"OH! Lee-kun! are you ok?" She let of Sasuke and ran to the wounded boy, who smiled at her.
"I am fine, as long as you are Sakura-chan..." He murmured. Quickly, Sakura looked him over and breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Its just your ears them?"
"I'm ok. I'm already starting to feel better..." Sakura hushed him and began to pull him towards the shelter. She stopped when she felt Sasuke's stare.
"Are you going to help me, or do you want the boy who saved me to stay out here?" His eyes narrowed to slits, and she felt her eyebrow shoot up in response. He stepped forward and snatched him out of her hands without a word, and walked forward to the shelter. They had just reached the entrance as the protective root shield Lee had pulled up, was blow to pieces by a vicious blast. The explosion sent all three sprawling.
"Heh. Stupid Leaf brats. I'm still able to fight." Zaku grinned ferally. Sakura got up to protect her friends when she screamed as a vicious tug on her hair brought her fallign to the ground.
"Stupid cow. How dare you strike me?" Sakura looked up in fright as the familiar voice fell on her ears, it was the female Oto nin.
"Stay still. We only want to kill the Uchiha boy." Zaku said with a violent smile. Sakura almost cried, but was saved as the girl behind her yanked on her hair again.
"How does a girl desiring to be a kunoichi, grow such long hair? Don't you know, unless you're skilled it just holds. You. Back." She pulled on the long pink tresses with every word causing more shrieks to rip from the pinkette's throat.
"Sakura!" Sasuke jumped up only to dodge as Zaku blew up the ground under him. Zaku howled in joy as he pointed his hands directly at the raven. Panic lanced through Sakura, then it subsided as she felt the calm tempered resolve flood her. She flicked her hand down, grabbing a kunai, and pulled her own head down, then severing the long strands. The female nin, Kin, stared as the pinkette launched herself and tackled the raven to the ground.
She closed her eyes expecting an explosion that never came. She looked up as she heard Zaku grunt in pain.
"How in the hell is anyone supposed to get a decent sleep around here." Naruto spat in plain annoyance. Not bothering to wait for the answer he let go of the arm he had been twisting, and drove his foot into the strange boy's gut with all his might. He almost smiled as the boy coughed up a bit of blood.
"NARUTO!" He spun and pushed the boy into the oncoming missiles at Sakura's scream. He looked aroudn the boy as he fell and felt pure rage flood through him. A girl stood there glaring at him holding Sakura's long pink hair. The girl lifted up her hand with senbon in it, ready to throw, and he moved. He, and Sasuke he noticed, appeared in front of the female and kicked her backwards with all of their considerable strength. He glanced back and saw the boy start to move, and flashed back over to him and stomped on his arm with relish.
"Heh, little home wreckers. I was in the middle of a particularly good nap, and you went and ruined it. On top of that, I wake up to hear Sakura-chan scream, and you trying to attack Sasuke. Not the best way to get on my good side." He ground his foot harder into the tender elbow joint, until he heard the other boy release a grunt of pain. Naruto spun and kicked the boy up into the air, and watched him land with a hard thud some feet away. Suddenly, there was another one by him, holding the girl over his shoulder.
"Ah... Sumimasen... It appears that we will have to cut this short." He hefted a small heaven's scroll, and threw it through the air.
"A small compnsatory fee... for your troubles..." Naruto snatched the scroll out of the air, and glared at the boy, while trying to ignore a blinding burst of pain in his brain.
"Get the hell out." He growled and only breathed a sigh of relief when they vanished from sight. THen, he steeled himself and spun with a large smile on his face.
"Look! We finally got one!" Spinning the scroll in his palm, he saw his friends glare at him.
"Baka!" They cried together, and tackled him. He groaned in pain under them.
"Please... off.. now..." He moaned. Sasuke punched him once before getting off of him and dragging him back to the shelter. Once inside, both he and Lee sat quietly trying to regain their bearings. Naruto sighed when his world stopped spinning. He began to slowly stretch out his body, starting with his legs and worked his way up, satisfied that the small stretch hadn't made him sick, yet. He rolled his neck, only to feel slight restraint, he reached up and felt his fingers graze the softness of bandages.
"He bit you." Sakura said as she strode in with fruits and edible roots.
"Cause you're stupid." Sasuke said answering his blank look, and he threw fish onto the ground.
"That man was aiming for me, remember." At that the blond's eyes widened.
"Oh... Right... the creepy dude..." His hand unconsciously gripped the side of his neck.
"Yeah.. I put the bandages on you." Sakura came closer and began to unwrap them.
"There was the strangest thing on your neck, in the middle of the fang marks." Naruto glared at her, and she continued to unwrap, and when the last of it was removed she ran a finger over his unblemished skin.
"Wow... Naruto... you heal fast! I don't even see a mark at all!" She smacked him in the arm.
"Oh, and by the way... What was that thing you used? It looked like... well... Like Mokuton no Jutsu.." Her eyes had clouded a little, and Naruto laughed.
"Sorry, Sakura! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, not Senju. I don't have the Kekkei Genkai for Wood. No that was... a special technique... I learned it at the same time I learned the Shadow Clone technique." He rubbed his head and stuck his tongue out.
"What does it do?"
"Well that was the Thorned Barrier... It creates a shield of Demon Rose Briars, whose thorns are as sharp as steel, and release a chakra binding poison. If you get scratched by them, the poison begins to repress your natural chakra. Unfortunately, that guy must have had some massive chakra reserves to fight the poison like that..."
"You were hurt too..." She deadpanned.
"Yeah, but Itachi-san always said I have a ridiculous amount of chakra." He stick his tongue out again, and Sasuke punched him in the head.
"You learned that from the forbidden scroll." He said it simply, and Naruto dropped his arms.
"Yeah... I learned the whole tier except I didn't really master the last one... Its kinda dangerous... I'm hoping that Ojii-san will let me look at them again. 'cause there is more than just the Living Tier Sealing Ceremony. There's an Earth's tier and Heaven's tier. I want to learn all three, they look like amazing techniques." Naruto leaned back and smiled slightly.
"I see... So Naruto-kun is also a genius as well..." Lee said it softly, and surely. Naruto sat up and wrinkled his nose.
"Lee don't make me puke. I'm no genius! I'm just lucky! I had some really amazing teachers is all. Itachi-san taught me a lot of Wind techniques so that me and Sasuke could perform Collaboration techniques. And I learned Taijutsu from Fugaku-sama, who I think taught me just so he could punch me with impugnity... Nah... I don't have very much talent... You wanna see real geniuses? Go see the Uchiha people." He started off growling. but ended with a non-commital shrug, and leaned more comfortably against the roots.
"Yo, I'm going to sleep ok? Don't die. I ain't going to save ya, this time." He yawned and rolled into a ball, and was soon snoring.
"He is a genius..." Lee's head shot up at Sasuke's statement.
"What?"
"Naruto... He is a genius... Most definitely, even Itachi-niisan agrees. He won't admit it... Don't aske me why, and he refuses to show it, unless completely necessary. He really doesn't care what other people think. He's had a tough life."
"He doesn't seem like a genius... I mean compared to you and Neji..."
"Yes... Well... I have a certain ability that gives me certain advantages... However, the Sharingan only puts me on even grounds with Naruto. He has this inhuman stamina, and like he said, ridiculous amounts of chakra. Also, he has quick eyes, and superb instincts. In battle, he's like nothing else you'll ever see." Lee remained quiet for a moment.
"When he said he could see our fight?"
"I have no doubt that he could, and probably keep up with us as well. I'll tell you right now, he's much faster than I am." Sasuke said with a wry smile.
"Plus his eyes are almost as quick as the Sharingan." Lee whistled.
"Then, why is he not considered a Genius?"
"Among my family, he is." Lee's mouth dropped.
"Naruto simply does not believe he has the talent he does have. Its not self depreciation, he knows he is good. He just doesn't think he can stand in the company of those labeled as Elite, namely my brother, and many of the Hokages." Lee shook his head.
"I am confused."
"Ah, don't worry about it. Just hope you aren't asked to fight him anytime soon. He has found some inspiration for fighting, and has become quite the scrapper." Sasuke muttered with a small chuckle.
"No one really knows what goes on in that head of his... So you're in good comapny." Sasuke finished setting up the fish on sticks in the ground, and formed seals.
"Fire Style: Fire Stream." He breathed out a small stream of red hot fire and baked the fish. Handing one to Lee, with a smile, he spoke again.
"I guess I owe you another one Lee. You give me a good lesson in underestimating enemies, and now you save Sakura."
"I would save her anytime." The fuzzy eye browed boy announced, to the chuckles of both Sasuke and Sakura.
"But really Lee. Thank you." Sasuke locked eyes with the other boy to convey his heartfelt gratitude. Lee just smiled and ripped into the fish with relish. The three fell silent as they ate. Then, when he was done, Lee stood.
"I must go. My team will be looking for me." He got up and smiled before vanishing. The two shook their heads before looking at each other, and blushing.
"Umm... Thanks Sakura..." Sasuke mumbled, his eyes desperately searching for something else.
"Huh?"
"Thanks for ... uh... protecting us.. and ... uh.. well saving me." He turned to her and was pleasantly surprised by the soft look in her eyes.
"Of course Sasuke. You have become a dear friend. I'd do anything for you." She wrapped her arms around him. He sighed and leaned into her touch, satisfied and yet not.
"Ok. Now kiss her." Naruto sniggered from his place. Sasuke sent his friend a withering glance as the pinkette jumped out of his arms and blushed a furious scarlet.
"Really?" Sasuke growled.
"Shut up. Pass me some fish, teme. I'm starving." Sasuke didn't stop glaring.
"Fine. I'm sorry I killed your moment and your moves, now pass me the food!" The blond practically growled back.
"Do it again, and I'll bury you, dobe."
"Love you too, Teme." Naruto repllied and dug into his food, and Sasuke shook his head at him, and shrugged an appology at the pinkette. She smiled, and her eyes glittered, almost as if in promise.
Later...