Brilliant, golden flames cast shadows that danced across the dark sands, the pleasant crackling and popping of the fire filling the chilly night air. After minutes had flown by of their silent embrace, Sakura sighed into the fabric of Sasuke's shirt, before adjusting her grip so that he leaned against her, his arm resting around her shoulder. The boy's body sagged against her, likely drained from the immense chakra consumed by the sudden awakening of Orochimaru's seal. Sakura's own reserves were practically empty at this point, and the both of them stumbled back to her makeshift campsite with great effort. Once they returned to the protective warmth of the fire, Sakura collapsed onto the sand in relief, with Sasuke plopping down just on the other side of Naruto.
It amazed Sakura how their third teammate had not so much as twitched throughout his sleep, despite the chaos that had ensued only minutes before. Naruto remained in the same exact position the medic had left him in, with his body resting peacefully on the cool sand and his face illuminated by the flicker of the fire. His skin, however, seemed to have a more healthy glow in contrast to the deathly pale color he had sported earlier, which eased her concern slightly. That's Naruto for you. He'll bounce back in no time.
A sharp sting near her gut captured her attention once more, drawing her eyes back to the bloody kunai wound soaking her shirt. I better clean this quickly, before it gets infected, she decided, pulling out a roll of bandages and some healing salve from her travel pack. She turned her attention to her raven-haired teammate, who seemed to be staring aimlessly into the fire, lost in his own thoughts.
"Um...Sasuke?" she called out softly to the Uchiha. As soon as he heard her voice, Sasuke seemed to snap out of his brooding, greeting her with curious, onyx eyes. "Could you turn around please?"
For a moment, Sasuke seemed confused by her question, but nodded in understanding when she gestured towards her stomach. He politely turned his back towards her, giving her the privacy she needed. Sakura didn't waste any time as she quietly slipped off her crimson top, revealing the full stab wound that tore across her skin. Taking a spare cloth from her pouch, she soaked the fabric with whatever water she had left and gently cleaned the wound, wincing every time she pressed too hard against her sensitive skin. Once all the smudges of blood had been wiped away, the medic carefully applied some healing salve and wrapped the roll of bandages around her stomach. Using another wet cloth from her pouch, Sakura cleaned the dried, brown blood from her shirt so that the fabric wouldn't stain.
"Okay, I'm done," she informed her teammate after she slipped on her shirt once more. "Thanks."
Sasuke responded with a silent nod, his face settling into its usual nonchalance as his dark eyes took in her appearance.
"Are you okay?" He stared at her bandaged midriff for a moment before meeting her gaze, a troubled frown gracing his features. "You can heal yourself, right?"
A shadow of a smile pulled at the kunoichi's pink lips, touched by the concern overflowing in her teammate's deep gaze. "I'll be fine, Sasuke," she reassured, moving to slip the roll of bandages into her pouch once more. "I have some chakra exhaustion, but I think my reserves will be restored soon enough."
Silence enveloped the two genin as they sat around the fire, neither of them daring to break the delicate calm that had descended over them. Sakura herself was still shaken from the sight of the black flames creeping over Sasuke's skin- the image brought up old memories that she would rather have kept buried deep within her mind. She could tell that her teammate wasn't feeling any better by the way his eyes darted around the shadowed horizon, his muscles tense and alert despite the indifferent facade he carried. I don't blame him, she reflected with a slight frown. If another team just happened to find us now, we'd be as good as dead.
Her frown grew deeper as she noticed that, every so often, Sasuke would rub his neck, his fingers lingering at the mark as if somehow he could smudge it off. Her brows furrowed in concern; her heart reaching out to the distraught boy sitting across from her. There's no way I can perform the Evil Sealing Method on that mark right now. I can barely do it when my reserves are at full capacity, and at the moment they are nearly empty. There's nothing I can do for him.
A defeated sigh escaped Sakura's lips as she laid down on the cool sand, savoring the brief moment of respite. A dull ache throbbed in her head as she surrendered herself to the full weight of her exhaustion, no longer supported by the tapering adrenaline in her system. We need to find a way back to Suna and finish these stupid exams. I don't want to risk fighting another team-
Wait.
Her body jerked back up into a sitting position as the sudden realization crashed over her like frigid water. Sasuke visibly tensed across from her, instinctively whipping out a kunai out of his pouch.
"Sakura! What's wrong?" he demanded, his alert gaze racing over her form in an attempt to locate the source of her sudden outburst. "Do you sense something?"
"The scrolls!" Sakura exclaimed, her hands hovering over her mouth as her eyes widened. "The scrolls, Sasuke! When I checked our pouches, they were missing!"
"The scrolls are...missing?" the Uchiha repeated while lowering his kunai, his voice falling to a low whisper. Sakura hastily nodded, watching closely as Sasuke's expression slowly warped into frustration.
"Damn it!" The Uchiha's eyes narrowed as he glared at a random grain of sand, his jaw clenching as his fingers tightened into fists. "That bastard probably took them while we were unconscious."
The pinkette nodded in agreement, feeling every bit of the Uchiha's vexation. "The only way we can pass now is to defeat a team that already has two scrolls," she added, a hint of hopelessness dragging in her voice. "Either that, or..." Sakura paused for a moment, her voice falling away as the roots of an idea took hold within her mind. "Unless..."
"Unless what?" Sasuke prompted, his steady gaze encouraging her to continue.
Abruptly, the kunoichi sprung from her spot near the fire, ignoring her teammate's startled call as she sprinted over to where the Sound ninja lay defeated on the desert sands.
In the previous timeline, I remember that the Sound ninja gave some sort of offering to Sasuke in order to beg him not to hurt them, she recalled, skidding to a stop when she approached the unconscious shinobi. Now that I think about it, it must've been one of the scrolls. So that means, in this timeline as well, one of the ninja should have a scroll on them! The only question is, she thought as she observed the three bodies before her, which one of them has it?
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura spotted one of the Sound shinobi sprawled out on the sands near her, his prickly coat somewhat resembling a sleeping porcupine. Torn bandages wrapped around only one side of his face, their ends falling limp as they unraveled with petals of blood blooming all over the white fabric. This one's name is Dosu, she recognized as she peered closer to the shinobi's face. Her gaze wandered over to where the crushed metal of his sound amplifying device encased his arm, the deep groves and etches in the metal showing imprints of her chakra-enhanced fingers. If I remember correctly, this guy was the leader. There's probably a good chance that if they were carrying a scroll, he's the one who would have it.
"Sakura." The kunoichi turned her head slightly to the side to find Sasuke standing beside her, his hands shoved into his pockets as he peeked over her shoulder with curiosity. "What are you doing?"
"You'll see," she replied with a slight smile, crouching down beside the unconscious shinobi. After a few moments, her teammate came to crouch beside her, his gaze filled to the brim with questions as he watched her empty the contents of Dosu's pouch onto the sand. Come on, it has to be in here, Sakura pleaded as she shook the bag free of its contents, her leaf-hued eyes searching the piles of weapons. Finally, as if answering her call, a compact, tightly-wound scroll fell from the depths of the bag into the midst of kunai and shuriken, the symbol for earth written in bold ink on the parchment.
"Got it!" she cheered. Wasting no time, Sakura snatched it from the sand and displayed her victory to her teammate, a bright grin pulling at her cheeks while her eyes lit up. "Looks like passing the exams isn't as hopeless as we thought!"
The Uchiha stared at her for a couple of moments, his eyes switching between the scroll and her face in mild surprise. It didn't take long for his lips to pull into a familiar smirk, however, and Sakura instantly recognized the competitiveness that reignited in his eyes.
"Nice work," he nodded, slipping the scroll into his pouch when she handed it to him. "Now all we have to do is wake up the dobe."
The two of them took some time to comb through the Sound shinobi's various pouches and packs, restocking their own weapon pouches with unused kunai and spare shuriken. Sakura also took the time to hunt for any piece of information or clue that could lead back to Orochimaru, or aid her in her quest to defeat the wretched snake. Unfortunately, the Sound ninja seemed to have been particularly careful about concealing any information regarding their master, and the Leaf kunoichi soon gave up on her fruitless endeavors.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura observed as Sasuke lifted one of the shinobi's headbands, his fingers lightly tracing over the symbol etched into the metal.
"Hn. So they are Sound shinobi, huh?" he murmured under his breath, his calculating eyes studying the musical note carved into the metal plate. "I've never heard of that village before."
"Its real name is Otogakure," the pinkette informed, her slim fingers rustling through the Sound kunoichi's pack for any medical supplies that she could use to restock her own supply. Without lifting her gaze, she handed a spool of wire over to the Uchiha, who silently thanked her with a nod and slipped it into his own pouch. "It's located in the Land of Sound. Not a great place to go, if you ask me."
Bits and pieces of memories from her various encounters with Orochimaru's hideouts flickered through her mind, little moments and images that she couldn't quite seem to forget even though years had passed. She remembered the musty smell, the dimly lit torches , and the overall sense of foreboding that seemed to ooze out of the endless labyrinth of hallways.
Sasuke paused beside her, a hint of confusion in his gaze as he tilted his head. "You've been there?"
Sakura stilled at his question, a brief swell of panic rising within her. Whoops.
"W-well," she started, giving Sasuke a nervous smile. "...let's just say that Tsunade-sama has told me some unflattering things about the place."
Her teammate narrowed his obsidian eyes at her response, his thoughts indecipherable as he seemed to study her for a long moment. Sakura immediately picked up on the suspicion in his gaze, and cursed the Uchiha's sharp observational skills. Why can't he just believe me?
"Anyway, let's head back," Sakura suddenly proposed, eager to change the topic of the conversation. She didn't wait for Sasuke's reply and hastily jogged back to the campsite, the faint sound of Sasuke's light footsteps following her back.
As soon as she made it back, the medic plopped onto the sand next to her blond teammate, busying herself with checking her water supply and re-organizing her weapon's pouch while Sasuke sat down across from her. The two fell back into a brief moment of silence, neither one bothering to revive the conversation they began earlier.
A particularly powerful gale roared past them, sweeping the sand around them and encouraging the citrus flames of the fire to glow brighter in the inky night. Sakura shivered as goosebumps erupted across her skin, patting her hair back into place as the wind ruffled and playing with the rose hued strands. Just as she began to shift closer to the fire, a familiar hand latched onto her and pulled her down. All of a sudden, she was engulfed into a tight, bear hug that nearly squeezed the air out of her.
"Ah, Sakura-chan," Naruto giggled, a sleepy smile resting on his face. "You're so cute. Can I get a little kiss?"
"Naruto?!" Sakura gasped as she stared at the blond with wide eyes, narrowly avoiding a pair of puckering lips. "You're awake?"
Naruto answered with a lazy hum, his eyes remaining closed as he began to mumble under his breath.
Oh, he's sleep talking, Sakura realized, rolling her eyes at the boy. What's he even mumbling about? She leaned closer to the jinchuriki, trying to focus on the sleepy words falling out of the boy's mouth.
"One...more bowl...miso...Sakura-chan...evil snake..."
"Naruto!" She broke away from his hold and grabbed his jacket, roughly shaking him back and forth. "Come on, wake up!"
"Nooooo," he whined, twisting and turning to escape her hold and return back to his sleep. Sakura only shook the boy harder, growing more frustrated when he refused to open his eyes.
"Naruto! We need to-"
All of a sudden, a foot descended out of nowhere and planted itself on her blond teammate's back, roughly kicking him forward into Sakura's arms. Instantly, Naruto's eyes snapped wide open, his mouth stretching and his eyebrows scrunching up in pain.
"Sasuke!" the jinchuriki cried in shock, whipping his head around to face his annoyed teammate.
"She told you to get up, loser," the Uchiha drawled, not a hint of guilt passing through his unflinching face. "We need to get moving."
"Geez, you kick so hard, teme," Naruto moaned as he rubbed his back, every so often turning to shoot an annoyed glare at his raven-haired teammate. Sasuke merely ignored the boy's antics, soon losing interest in the whole scene as he made his way back to his side of the fire.
Scooting away a little bit to put some distance between her and the jinchuriki, Sakura swiftly scanned Naruto's form with her trained eyes to pick out any anomalies or injuries she had somehow missed on the blond. As expected, the boy seemed perfectly fine, if not a bit confused and irritated, and in no time began to yap and chatter as if he hadn't been unconscious at all.
"Can someone please tell me where we are?" Naruto cried in confusion, his head swiveling side to side as he tried to get a sense of his surroundings. "I can't tell if we moved because everything is just sand here."
"It's a desert, Naruto," Sakura reminded as she threw another bunch of tumbleweed into the fire. The fickle flames crackled and danced with gratitude, the warm light casting long shadows onto the dull gray sand.
"Well, fine then," the boy conceded, moving to sit closer to the fire. "But still, could one of you please tell me what's going on? For some reason, I can't remember going to sleep at all. The last thing I remember is this terrifying snake-thing and it's weird, creepy eyes. Though that may have been part of my dream."
A small sigh escaped Sakura's lips before she turned her body to give Naruto her full attention, capturing his baby blue eyes with her own. "Naruto, the reason why you can't remember falling asleep is because you were knocked out," she explained, watching carefully as his eyes widened slightly. "That snake-thing was real, too. Do you remember who attacked us?"
The jinchuriki paused for only a moment before his eyes lit up with understanding, and he eagerly nodded his head. "Yeah. It was that creepy woman with that disgustingly long tongue, right? Last thing I remember, she started doing something really weird with her fingers and performed some kind of jutsu on me."
The kunoichi nodded. "That's exactly what happened. The jutsu knocked you out and the snake swallowed you. Luckily, Sasuke managed to pull you out of there and saved you."
Naruto's features slackened as absolute shock overcame him, and Sakura could barely contain her amusement as her blond teammate stared at the Uchiha with blown out eyes. "Sasuke?! Sasuke is the one who saved me?!"
A smug smirk rested on the Uchiha's lips, appearing unfazed by Naruto's surprise. "Your welcome, dobe."
Irritation flared in the jinchuriki's eyes, and before he could 'repay' Sasuke for saving his life, Sakura cleared her throat. "Anyway, after that happened, Sasuke and I fought them both for a while and..."
Her voice fell away as her gaze slipped towards Sasuke, a silent question running through her viridian eyes. A brief pause descended upon the genin as the Uchiha held her gaze, before slightly tilting his head as if giving her his permission. Sakura nodded back before fixing her attention on Naruto once more, whose bewilderment was obvious raised eyebrows and his darting eyes.
"What was that just now?" he questioned as his gaze flickered between the two of them. "Why did you stop, Sakura-chan? Are you both hiding something from me?"
"We're not hiding anything, Naruto," she reassured the boy, the panic leaving his puzzled eyes momentarily. "But...um...something did happen while you were knocked out." The kunoichi paused, her mind floundering as she tried to piece together the best possible way to convey her thoughts to her blond teammate. It's better to just show him then tell him, she decided. "Sasuke, could you come over here for a second?"
The raven-haired boy, already anticipating her train of thought, gave a silent nod and moved to join his teammates on the other side of the fire. Without her asking him to, Sasuke turned his back towards Naruto and tugged at the fabric of his collared shirt, just barely revealing the solid black designs that were tattooed into his pale skin.
"Sasuke, what are you...What the hell is that?!" Naruto nearly yelled, leaping back as if the mark could somehow reach out and grab him. "When did that get there?!"
Letting out an irritated scoff, Sasuke released his hold on his collar and turned to face the boy. "Calm down, loser," he snapped, a deep glower residing over his features. "We don't know that either."
A small seed of guilt planted itself within Sakura, and she avoided meeting Sasuke's eyes. I know I can't tell them anything, but this feels so wrong. The kunoichi chewed her lip as she pondered the growing feeling of guilt within her, her damp palms clenching and unclenching as if unsure what to do. If I tell them something, they'll become suspicious, or they may do something that has major consequences to the timeline.
But if I don't tell them...
The pinkette's nails dug into the soft skin of her palms, but she could barely feel the pain as weight of her decision burdened her mind. They're my teammates...
"Sakura-chan, you okay?"
Keeping her gaze on the sand, Sakura refused to meet her teammate's curious eyes, instead taking the time to solidify her decision. I don't want to continuously keep secrets from them. I want them to trust me, and I want to be able to trust them.
"I..." Her voice rose as she began and fell like swells of water, her throat clogged with the remains of doubt still present within her. This is it. Once I say it, I can never take back my words.
"Um...Sakura-chan?"
Her fingers tightened into fully formed fists, and her shoulders sunk as she exhaled one final breath.
"I...have something to tell you both," she finally finished, lifting her jade eyes to face her teammates with a firm determination emanating from her. Both Naruto and Sasuke stared back at her with wide and curious eyes, somewhat resembling two young fawns.
"What is it?" Naruto prompted, leaning toward her in anticipation. "You're acting a little weird right now, Sakura-chan. Is there something wrong?"
"No, but...I think I know a little bit about that mark on Sasuke's neck."
As if those words captured him in a spell, Sasuke's head perked up abruptly, his normally narrowed eyes stretching wide with shock. However, the moment slipped away as quickly as it came, and her teammate's face hid behind the mask of calm that it always seemed to possess.
"What are you saying, Sakura-chan?" Naruto prompted, his confusion written in bold letters across his expression. "How would you know anything about the mark?"
"Tsunade-sama taught me a bit about it," she swiftly answered, trying to comfort herself with the knowledge that she wasn't technically lying. That's right, just tell them half the truth. That's still not lying...right?
The kunoichi shifted as unease settled at the pit of her stomach, her gaze wandering to the fire in an attempt to avoid Naruto's staring.
"What do you know?" Sasuke nearly demanded, his face lit by the golden hue of the fire. His dark eyes stood out sharply against his pale skin, thirsty for any knowledge about the mysterious mark embedded in his neck. As she stared into his eyes from across the fire, Sakura realized that what she was seeing was the real Sasuke- a vulnerable Sasuke, who was desperately searching for something, anything, which could enlighten him about the troubling mark resting on his neck.
Something to reassure him that it would be okay, that the mark didn't mean anything or it could be easily removed.
I'm sorry Sasuke, Sakura thought, her chest tightening as she gazed upon her troubled teammate. I'm going to do everything I can to fix this. I promise.
"It's called the 'Cursed Seal of Heaven'," she explained, gesturing towards Sasuke's neck. "The man that we fought against, Orochimaru, is its creator."
"Hold up!" Naruto exclaimed, his blond eyebrows furrowing with confusion. "Man? I thought the person we fought against was a woman!"
"Of course that's the part you're hung up on, dobe," Sasuke scoffed, although he too fell quiet as if he were contemplating the question.
"Well," the kunoichi began, "he's actually a..."
Wait a second. That's a good point, she reflected, pausing in the middle of her sentence. Is he a man or a woman? Is he neither?
"He's...he's more of a thing," she unsteadily finished, chewing her lip as she tried to decipher the Sannin's gender. "Anyway," she moved on, waving her hand as if to dismiss the subject, "back on topic. Orochimaru is a Legendary Sannin, the same as Tsuande-sama. He was actually Tsunade-sama's teammate when she was younger."
"How do you get rid of it?" the Uchiha immediately asked, his hand holding the back of his neck as if he could contain the seal.
"I know a way to seal it, but at the moment I don't have enough chakra," Sakura answered, watching how Sasuke's lips fell into a slight frown, his eyes darkening with disappointment and silent anger. I don't blame him, she thought, her face falling with pity she silently observed her teammate. If I were Sasuke, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.
"Do you know anything else?" Naruto prompted, but Sakura simply answered with a shake of her head. I can't tell them too much, she reminded herself, ignoring the guilt clawing at her heart. Even if I want to tell them the truth, the whole truth may put them in much more danger than if I remain silent.
The three of them fell into a brief lull of silence, each one of them lost in the depths of their own thoughts. Every now and then, Sakura peeked at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye, his furrowed brow and clenched fists caused her to deepen her frown. A myriad of emotions fought for dominance within her, twisting and tumbling in her stomach, rising and falling within her chest, nearly overwhelming her with their struggle. There was one, however, which seemed to trump the rest, rising within her over and over again and threatening to overflow.
Pain.
Not physical pain, but emotional pain. The kind that makes you stop in your tracks because it feels like there is something tearing at your heart, your chest squeezing and tightening to the point where you can barely breathe. The kind that makes you feel so full yet hollow at the same time, the kind that causes tears to brim in your eyes and your eyelashes to get wet. The kind that you feel, not only when you're the one who's hurt, but when someone close to you is hurt, when their pain becomes your pain simply because of the bond you share. That's what Sakura felt as she glanced at Sasuke, traces of confusion, anger, and desperation etched onto his features. The one that hurt Sakura the most, however, was the uncharacteristic display of fear in his eyes.
Eventually, the three of them seemed to find themselves and realize the current predicament they were all in: the second stage of the exams were coming to an end, and they still only had one scroll. All of a sudden, the events of the last few hours seemed to take a back seat, and the three genin scrambled to pack up camp and set out to steal another scroll.
Naruto stuffed any spare weapons or bandages lying around into their travel packs, quickly jogging towards the sleeping Sound ninja and nabbing whatever leftover goodies he came across in their pouches while Sakura moved to dismantle the traps she had set up earlier, tucking the spare wire into her weapons pouch. Once she finished, she made her way over to Sasuke, who was busy stomping out the fire and removing whatever trace they left behind.
"Sasuke," she called out softly, moving to stand next to the boy. The Uchiha peeked at her for a moment before continuing to stomp out the flame, although she could tell she had his attention. The kunoichi stole a moment to study his profile, her eyes following the slope of his nose down to the light frown gracing his lips, back up to the messy locks of hair that seemed to blend into the palette of the midnight sky. Atop his forehead was the Konoha headband, the symbol for Konohagakure proudly etched into the metal.
"I just want you to know that..." she began, her voice almost a whisper as she moved her gazed up to the vast sky. "I'll stay by your side."
The stomping stopped.
Curious, Sakura moved her gaze from the sky back down to earth, but she only found herself lost once more in darkness. Sasuke stared at her in silence, his expression as calm and unflinching as always. However, his eyes were like infinite pools of obsidian, their depth nearly swallowing Sakura's viridescent orbs.
"I won't let you deal with this on your own," she continued, gazing meaningfully into the Uchiha's eyes. "We're teammates after all, right?"
Her petal pink lips pulled into a warm smile while the gentle breeze played with her hair, tickling the skin of her arms. Sakura could care less about the cold, however, as she was enraptured by the soft glint resting in Sasuke's eyes. She didn't need to hear him say the words, because she could already see what he would say.
Thank you.
Looking back on the past twenty-four hours, Sakura thought that it was safe to say that the universe didn't want Team Seven to complete the exams.
As soon as they had set out on their quest to retrieve the last scroll, the unsuspecting genin were swept up in a monstrous sandstorm, their limited knowledge of Suna's turbulent climate catching them off guard. As soon as the ominous jaws of copper swallowed the powder blue sky, the three of them decided to hunker down, their common sense to not travel during a storm outweighing their lack of knowledge. However, as soon as the bitter winds died down and they had shaken off the sand from their packs and clothes, they set out once more.
Now, with parched throats and the thick, sweltering humidity, they struggled through the final stretch towards Suna.
"Oh my god, it's so hot!"
Sakura peeked behind her shoulder at her blond teammate, who was barely dragging his body through the sea of sand. Naruto had long ago stripped off his short sleeve vest and drank through his water supply, leaving him with nothing but his own determination to drive him forward. And even Sakura could see that was waning, although she knew it would reignite once they approached Suna.
"Just a little bit further," she encouraged, although her tone was dragging like her feet in the sand. "Once we reach the village, we can intercept teams heading back and snag one of their scrolls."
"We're running out of time though," Sasuke reminded, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "We'll have to pick up the pace if we want to make it in time."
"That's right," Sakura agreed, straightening her hunched shoulders. Summoning whatever strength she had left, she increased her pace until she was beside Sasuke, pressing her mouth into a firm, determined line. "There's no way we're going to fail this. We're too close."
"Heck yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, his aqua eyes sparkling with reignited passion. "We have to win! After all, how else am I going to win the exams?"
"Sure, loser," Sasuke snickered, a taunting smirk on his lips. "You do that."
"What, you don't believe me?" Naruto snapped back, wrinkling his nose. "Who do you think the strongest one here is?"
"I am," the three of them answered simultaneously, their voices ringing in the air.
Three pairs of wide eyes stared at each other.
After a lengthy silence, Sakura cleared her throat. "Well then, how do we settle this?" she asked, although she already knew that the three of them were thinking the same thing.
A familiar flame ignited in Sasuke's eyes, his lips pulling into a slight smirk. "A spar," he stated, his gaze honing in on Sakura. "That way we can truly see who's the strongest."
He's challenging me specifically, the kunoichi realizes, meeting Sasuke's sharp gaze with her fiery jade eyes. The corners of her lips tilted up, her own competitive spirit awakening.
"That sounds like a great idea."
Before anyone else could add anything, a colossal boom could be heard in the distance. Gallons of sand flew up into the air, crashing down like a tsunami and sending a wave of dust into the surrounding area. Sakura's hands flew to her ears, the sound of the explosion still ringing in her head.
"What the hell was that?!" Naruto yelled, although his voice was muffled by a second explosion, this one slightly smaller.
The kunoichi squinted as she peered into the distance and was startled to discover various figures jumping around on the horizon.
"It's another team!" she exclaimed, a bright smile growing on her face as excitement coursed through her veins. This is our chance!
"There are two," Sasuke corrected, his Sharingan already engaged. "They might be battling."
"Let's go check it out!"
Naruto leaped forward and sprinted past them, not bothering to wait for her or Sasuke. The two of them soon followed, easily catching up to their impulsive teammate. The three of them approached the battleground with caution, hiding behind a particularly large dune and silently surveying the battle.
As soon as she could see the shinobi's faces, Sakura barely held in a gasp. She clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes bulging as shock jolted through her.
"Ino," she whispered to herself, studying her former best friend's state with growing concern.
Bumps and bruises covered her normally smooth, porcelain white skin, while dirt and dust were smudged on her usually meticulously clean clothes. Her normally pristine, high ponytail was now tangled and knotted, half of her hair falling out of the elastic as if ripped out. Her stance was hunched and unstable, her body quivering as if it were to fall over at any moment.
Beside her stood Shikamaru, who also seemed as if he were a house of cards just waiting to topple over. His brown pants were torn and bloody, while he cradled an injured right arm close to his belly. At the moment he was standing in front of a figure, whom Sakura assumed was Choji, as if he were protecting him from the enemy team. He probably got knocked out, she reasoned, a deep frown plaguing her features. Maybe he's the cause of the explosion we heard earlier.
"Wow," Naruto gasped beside her, his jaw slack with shock as he took in the scene before them. "We have to help them."
The three of them seemed to be in agreement as none of them even spoke a word in protest. After all, seeing one's comrades, the shinobi who you had grown up alongside, beaten and bruised like that didn't settle right with most ninja.
The enemy team didn't look that special, although it was obvious they were from Kumogakure. The symbol for the village was engraved in their headbands, and bits of lightning sparked and flew in the atmosphere. They all wore standard Kumo attire, with white chest plates and black pants. The shinobi also seemed slightly beaten up, and were clearly exhausted from the battle, but, in comparison, they appeared much less damaged.
"Ready to give up?" one of the Kumo shinobi taunted, thrusting his palm out. "Hand over your scrolls and we'll leave you alone."
Team Seven exchanges glances with each other, silently communicating as they watched the scene unfold before them. She nodded at both Naruto and Sasuke, signaling that she was ready to fight. Let's do this.
"What's wrong? Still not giving up?" the Kumo kunoichi chuckled, a wicked smirk pulling at her lips. "How's this? I'll give you till the count of three to hand over your scrolls. Otherwise...well, you both know what'll happen."
Sakura summoned her chakra to her fists, relishing the feeling of the powerful energy soaking into her muscles. Beside her, Sasuke readied his hands, his fingers flying through the signs with ease.
"Three...
Two..."
The kunoichi didn't get to one.
A burst of flame enveloped the three Kumo shinobi, causing them to reel back and split up with haste. Team Seven didn't waste any time to take advantage of their surprise, each one of them splitting up to take down one of the Kumo nin. The Kumo kunoichi nearly jumped into Sasuke, lightning crackling at her fingertips as she attempted to exact her revenge. Sakura sprinted past the two of them, confident in her teammate's outstanding strength, and instead threw herself in front of the Kumo shinobi attempting to attack Ino.
"Get out of the way, bitch!" he bellowed, raising his hand with a palm full of lightning.
The pinkette swiftly dodged the blow, countering with an enhanced kick at his side. The boy skidded back, his face warped with pain as he nearly collapsed from the blow. He has some powerful jutsus, but he seems weak in the taijutsu realm, she observed, already formulating a plan of attack.
The kunoichi gave her opponent no time to recover, aiming a finishing punch at his abdomen. At the last second, the Kumo shinobi scrambled out of the way, one hand protecting his injured side while the other holding a bloody kunai. He swiped the blade at her, beginning a relentless series of slashes in an attempt to keep her back. Slipping out her own kunai, she met his blows with a strong defense, and soon overpowered him with her superior strength.
"Shannaro!"
In one final blow, she knocked him out. Behind her, she heard a small sound.
Thump.
"Ino!" the pinkette called our, running over to her collapsed friend. Wasting no time, she washed the healing chakra over the blonde's body, her trained eyes quickly diagnosing her condition. It's mainly chakra exhaustion, she thought, but she has had some significant blood loss.
Despite her body giving out, Ino's baby blue orbs remained open, her head propped up on Sakura's lap.
"Sakura?" she quietly called out, the dry air likely the cause for the cracks in her voice.
"Shhh, don't talk," Sakura hushed, her medical training kicking in as she focused solely on her work.
"Sakura-chan!" She heard Naruto's voice across the battleground, his thundering footsteps making their way towards her. He slowed down as he approached the two kunoichis, his eyes skimming over Ino's collapsed form.
"Wow! I've never seen you without your ponytail, Ino!" he commented with genuine surprise, oblivious to the nasty glare Ino directed at him.
Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes at her ever so predictable teammate. "Do you know where Shikamaru and Choji are, Naruto?"
"Over by those dunes," he replied, pointing towards a series of golden dunes nearby. "They're just resting a bit now. Apparently, they already have both scrolls, and the other team was just trying to snatch one."
"What kind of scroll do they have?"
"We don't know yet," Naruto answered, pointing over to the unconscious bodies of the Kumo nin. She spotted Sasuke crouched over the shinobi she had just battled, his fingers sitting through the various weapons and supplies. "Sasuke is looking for it right now."
The pinkette nodded, running her chakra over the last cuts and bruises on Ino's skin before pulling her fingers away. The blonde immediately turned her head away, refusing to look her childhood friend in the eye.
"Thanks, Forehead," she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably.
"No problem, Pig," Sakura replied without missing a beat, not bothered at all by Ino's taunt. After all, she had known Ino for years. They teased and mocked each other so much that, at this point, it seemed strange to not tease each other. Even if she hates me in this timeline, she was still my friend in the last one. One day, maybe sooner or later, we'll be able to have the same relationship as back then. At least, I hope so.
Sakura's pondering was interrupted by the sound of racing footsteps, closely followed by a set of much calmer ones. She glanced up to find Naruto and Sasuke standing in front of her, with the former wearing a gigantic smile and the later sporting a slit tilt with his lips.
A familiar voice called out eagerly behind her. "We have the scroll, Sakura-chan!"
Naruto was nearly bouncing out of happiness, his fists pumping into the air in victory. Sasuke silently held up the scroll, although his onyx eyes seemed to eagerly await her reaction.
A single character was painted onto the parchment.
Heaven.
Hello there everyone!
I know, I know, I've been gone for a REALLY long time and I haven't been able to update, and I'm very, very sorry from the bottom of my heart :(
IMPORTANT: In the Blink of an Eye will update every Sunday (or if not, Monday) except this Sunday, because you all got this update :)
I promise that I will update more regularly from now on, although the chapters will be slightly shorter than the previous ones (but I doubt you guys will notice that). Don't worry, there is plenty more story left to tell (heck, we haven't even gotten to the climax yet) so buckle your seatbelts! Team Seven is going to go through a whole rollercoaster after this!
And yes, this is mainly a Sasusaku story, so their relationship will basically skyrocket after these next two chapters and the events. I actually have a specific point laid out where their perspectives of each other totally change (you can think about what that means), so look out for that ;)
Also, even though there was a cute Sasusaku moment in the chapter, there was also an Ino and Sakura friendship moment! No, I have not forgotten their friendship and they too will be going through some development (just a little more slowly).
Thank you to everyone who has stayed with this story, despite my lack of updates, and everyone else who has supported and commented on it. You guys all make my day :)
Don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts! I really enjoy hearing from you all about what you think! Have a wonderful day!