Chapter Ten

Lessons

The days and weeks in the Black Army barracks seemed to fade into one another in steady procession. Sakura's wounds were healing; the stitches had been removed from her side and temple, leaving behind pink scars that decorated her skin with visual memories. Her bruises were fading, but her ribs still smarted and made some of her tasks difficult to bear. Kabuto was still in the infirmary. She'd learned that Kakashi had broken his nose and jaw, and three of his ribs. Tsunade had to wire his jaw shut until it healed on its own. Kakashi's promise of Kabuto not speaking, it seemed, was holding true. Sakura was glad that Tsunade had not taken it easy on him and given him a quick fix. He deserved to suffer after what he did to her.

Sakura's healing abilities were still growing, and Tsunade and Rin had taken her into the civilian village on a few different occasions to heal some of the elderly that had fallen ill in the unforgiving winter cold. She'd been permitted to ride Frost – albeit remaining blindfolded as they traveled into the village. The snow-white mare knew the way down the mountain regardless of the others leading, and Sakura trusted the horse with her life. Most of the villagers had been kind to Sakura and accepted her into their home. They'd all heard the tale of her kidnapping as an infant, and knew she was the prophesized Healer that Chiron had promised to deliver unto their village.

Sakura had not seen her parents again, but her mother wrote her letters and had them delivered to the barracks. They were mostly stories about the few short months she'd had with her as a baby; sometimes Mebuki would include pictures of her relatives that had passed, and give her recipes that belonged to her grandmother. Sakura kept each letter inside the wooden chest in her quarters, reading them over sometimes before bed. These people were still strangers to her, but Sakura felt something inside her chest expanding every time Mebuki sent her a new letter. Maybe they would never be parents in the same sense that Juro was to her, but Sakura felt the invisible thread that tethered them together nonetheless.

Her presence was only tolerated in the barracks. There were still plenty of warriors that shot her dirty looks and cursed at her and called her names if she passed them in the halls. Her only reprieve was the stables and the time she was given to spend with Frost. Ino and Rin were kind to her, and in another life, Sakura could see them being friends – but this was Konoha and she was still their prisoner.

There was a break in the February weather, and the snow had begun to melt. She and Ino were outside hanging linen on the line as the warriors practiced sparring with weapons and shields in the arena. The clanging of metal and wood rang rich in her ears, making her long for her own weapons and a chance to work her muscles. Sakura squat between the rows, peeking between the sheets as she watched the warriors' footwork.

Ino plopped down beside her. "Are you listening to me?" She waved her slender hand in front of Sakura's face.

"Sorry," Sakura said. "What were you saying?"

"Oh, I see," Ino sang, turning her attention to where Sakura was staring. "Which one of the boys out there has caught your fancy?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "It's not the boys that caught my attention. It's the fighting."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Of course it is."

"Look," Sakura said, pointing to where Naruto and Sasuke were sparring. It was probably nearing forty degrees outside and the men had stripped down to sleeveless tunics or abandoned their shirts all together. It was still chilly, but the fighters were warmed-up and used to temperatures below freezing. Sakura had never seen a pair so equally matched on the battlefield – not even in her time spent training in Kumoga. They fought like they were dancing, Sakura thought, their movements so calculated and controlled. "They're incredible."

"They've been fighting together since they were five," Ino told her. "Both sets of their parents were warriors, and they died in the third war."

Sakura had heard tales about the violence the third war wreaked between their clans, and knew that a great number of lives were lost. It was devastating on both sides.

Ino continued, "Danzo wanted Naruto, you know? The night you and Sai were taken from the village, another team had been sent to retrieve Naruto, but his father managed to kill off the attackers. Minato was a Black Army elite; he was in line to become the next Hokage but he didn't come back from war."

Sakura looked out at the blond warrior as he threw up his shield; muscles flexing as he fended off Sasuke's sword attack. He'd stood up for her in the dining hall and escorted her to the village on the day the Hokage had taken her to meet her parents. He'd been kind – wrapping her cloak around her shoulders in the brisk winter cold. Perhaps, Sakura thought, his kindness was due to the fact that he could have been handed the same fate as she and Sai.

"He's a prophesized demi-god then?" Sakura asked, looking at Ino.

"Naruto is… special," Ino said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "He's what the gods call a Jinchuriki. He's a vessel for the spirit of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

A crease formed between Sakura's brows. She knew the word of course. She'd heard that there were very few of the Jinchuriki vessels left in the world – their spirit's sealed inside demi-gods to preserve massive amounts of power that could only be unleashed in times of war. They were supposed provide the balance between good and evil. Sakura's eyes expanded. "So, he's technically stronger than everyone."

"Technically," Ino agreed. "Naruto is a good man through and through. There's not a wicked bone in his body."

"Speaking from experience?" Sakura grinned mischievously.

Ino snorted. "I wish Naruto would look my way… He's spoken for."

"By whom?"

"You don't know her. Her name is Hyuga Hinata. The Hyugas are actually the most prestigious family in all of Konoha. Her father is a lord."

"So, she's not a warrior." Sakura lifted a heavy sheet and draped it over the line, clasping the ends with wooden pins.

"No, but she was touched by the gods," Ino told her. "She's half mage. She can see through things."

Sakura wondered why the girl hadn't joined the elites with a power like that, but perhaps her high-born blood was far too precious for her family to risk losing by becoming a warrior. Marrying her off to a warrior like Naruto seemed a good match that would surely bring honor and glory to their family.

Sakura continued to watch the warriors spar as she hung up the linen. Her attention fell from Naruto and Sasuke at the turn of a familiar sound. It was the sound steel made when it deflected from a target. The thwack was unmistakable to her ears. Sakura looked up, watching as the spinning blade glittered in the arc of sunlight on its path towards Ino. "Get down!" Sakura, in an instinct that was as inherent as breathing, threw herself on top of Ino as the rogue dagger came barreling down. The blade skidded to a stop in the mix of ice and snow just a mere inch in front of Sakura's head.

Ino, flattened in the snow, turned her head and looked at Sakura. Her large blue eyes seemed to speak a question as Sakura met her gaze.

Sakura lay frozen. Without even thinking, she had put her own life on the line to protect the life of her natural enemy. Recoiling, Sakura pushed up to her knees in the snow and reached for the dagger. The wooden hilt fit perfectly in her palm. Her chest heaved as air began to circulate faster in her lungs. An invisible battle began in her mind: The shame of betrayal to her own clan tasted bitter on the back of her tongue. She'd saved a Konoha life. And yet… how could she not? Sakura shook her head to try and clear the chaos, the world coming into a sharper focus as the warrior Naruto squatted down in front of her in the snow.

He held out his hand, palm up, and nodded at her once.

Sakura looked at the blade in her hand, turning it on its side as she slowly placed the dagger in Naruto's palm.

The warrior placed it in his belt. "Thank you, Sakura."

She couldn't respond.

"Are either of you hurt?" he asked, offering his hand to Ino. She accepted and let him pull her to her feet.

"No," Ino said. "Sakura… saved me."

"Warrior's instinct," Naruto said with a smile. "When you've spent your whole life training, the sound of steel sings in your blood. If you close your eyes and listen to someone sparring, you know the angles in which the blade meets the target just by sound alone."

"I can only image," Ino said.

"It would be an honor to spar with you, Sakura," Naruto surprised her by saying.

"Thank you," she managed, "but I'm not allowed."

He grinned. "We'll see." Naruto bowed before heading back to the training arena. The young warrior who had thrown the blade was apologizing profusely when Naruto returned it to him.

"Is that true?" Ino asked.

"Is what true?"

"You knew what was happening with that blade just by the sound?"

"Yes," Sakura answered, reaching for her empty laundry basket in the snow.

"You could have let it hit me."

Sakura perched the basket on her hip. "I could have," she agreed.

Ino grinned. "You saved me."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and started walking towards the barracks. "Don't let it go to your head."

"I told you," Ino said, jogging up to her side, "we're the same."

"We're not."

"Yes, we are," Ino persisted. "Maybe this was supposed to happen all along, Sakura. You getting stolen and being brought back here all these years later… Maybe you'll be the bridge that closes the gap between our clans. Maybe you can end the fighting."

Sakura snorted as she walked inside. "It's a nice thought, Ino, but nothing will ever stop the fighting. Our clans have too much history – too much bad blood."

"Things change," Ino said simply. "Things change."

~oOo~

Sweat cooled on Sakura's skin as she leaned heavily against the pitch fork. She was finished mucking stalls for the night and not at all eager to return to her chamber room in the servants' quarters. She decided to spend a little time with Frost before returning to the barracks. The mare had a way of quieting her mind and easing her anxiety; when she reached Frost's stall, it was empty.

A twinge of panic took hold of her chest as she considered the possibility that the horse had escaped or been taken. But then she remembered that Frost was stubborn and would not tolerate anyone getting close to her with the exception of she and Kakashi. Sakura had only seen the silver-haired warrior in passing, but she had not gotten much of an opportunity to speak with him after she'd healed his hands.

Curiosity pulled her in the direction of the horse arena. It was dark outside, and yet firelight danced on the wooden planks that made up the arena walls. Kurenai would not approve, Sakura thought as she stood at the door and peeked through the cracks. Kakashi stood in the center of the ring; there was a long rope in his hand and it was attached to the halter of the snow-white mare. Slowly, Kakashi turned in a circle as the mare trotted along the walls at the end of her rope. Her liquid-silver mane shifted in the wake of her own wind, and when she passed Sakura, she caught the sweet-smelling scent of horse and raw earth that Frost kicked up with her hooves.

Shadow and light danced upon the arena walls; the contrast played against Frost's coat and shimmered in the musculature of her regal form. Had it not been for the sound of her hooves drumming on the ground, Sakura would think the horse a ghost. She had not seen her move this way before, and even though she were attached to a rope, Sakura thought she seemed like the epitome of freedom.

"You don't need to hide in the shadows," Kakashi said, his even timbred voice startling her from her hiding spot. She'd been quiet and invisible to his eye, yet he somehow sensed her presence.

Sakura pushed against the sliding door and slipped into the arena, crossing her arms about her chest as she walked inside. "How'd you know I was there?"

Kakashi didn't spare her a glance, nor did he answer her question. He continued to rotate in the center of the ring as Frost ran along the outside edges. The warrior's hair hung in his face, and Sakura wondered why he didn't wear it back in a braid or a knot like so many others. She approached him slowly, mindful of the rope. She watched a moment longer before the warrior shifted. Before she could even blink, Kakashi was standing behind her, his hands gently prying her arms from her chest as he placed the end of the rope in Sakura's hand.

Sakura felt heat rising in her cheeks. "I don't know how."

"Frost will do the work," he told her softly, "just turn with her." Kakashi put his hands on her hips, shifting her body as Frost turned about the arena. "Like this."

The heat spread to Sakura's chest. She wanted to hate Kakashi. She wished she could go back to seeing the world in black-and-white concepts; when the people of Konoha were neatly labeled as the enemy in her mind. She wanted to see him as the man she loathed, but something had begun shifting her perspective the night he saved her life; blurring the defined edges until all Sakura could see were shades of grey. Instead, she saw him as a man who lived and breathed the burdens of war, harboring the weight of all he'd been through in his stoic veneer. Perhaps, Sakura thought, that is why he chooses to wear the mask… so no one can see what he feels.

Sakura could not hate him. Not even a little.

"It's a warm-up exercise," Kakashi explained. "Lower your arm and she'll walk in to you."

"How do you know?"

"Trust," he told her. He fit his hand over Sakura's wrist and gently pushed her arm down. When the rope fell slack, Frost flicked her inner ear towards them and turned and walked in their direction. Kakashi stepped out from behind Sakura to unclasp the rope from Frost's halter. There was something cylindrical and dark lying at his feet, and when he bent and pulled it into the light, Sakura's heart dropped into her stomach.

Arrows.

Arrows made her think of Sai.

"Are you good with a bow?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm decent," Sakura answered. "Sai taught me." I'm nowhere near as good as him, she thought.

"What about from horseback?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "I've never fired a weapon from horseback."

Kakashi lifted the quiver over Sakura's head and adjusted the strap across her shoulder.

"I can't – Tsunade–"

"–Isn't here," Kakashi interrupted. "You need the practice. Your muscles will weaken."

"But…" Sakura didn't want to protest. She longed for the feel of weapons; the familiar weight of them in her hands and on her back. She felt more secure and sure of herself when she was armed.

Frost did not have a saddle on, and Kakashi lifted Sakura effortlessly from the ground and placed her on the mare's back as if she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes. Sakura did not particularly enjoy being tossed around like a doll, but with her ribs still bruised and tender, she would not have been able to pull herself up on Frost's back without his help. Kakashi handed her the bow.

"Set yourself up about forty yards from the target," Kakashi told her, pointing to a wooden structure with black and red painted circles. "Get the feel of it from the seat and then we can try it moving."

"Moving?!"

The corner of Kakashi's eye creased in the dim lighting. "Why did you think I put you up on the horse?" Without further instruction, Kakashi smacked Frost on the rump, sending her off as Sakura scrambled for the reins with one hand, and held onto her bow with the other. The bounce in Frost's gait jostled Sakura's ribs so she pressed her knees into the mare's shoulder to hold on as she lined herself up about forty feet in front of the target.

Sakura drew an arrow from the quiver on her back, letting the fletching slide between her fingers as she notched it into the string. Sakura drew breath and pulled back; ribs protesting under the strenuous pressure. She rested her thumb at the corner of her mouth, lining up her shot and then letting loose. The arrow sailed through the air, smacking into the wood just along the outer edge of the bullseye.

"Not bad," Kakashi said, "for someone with fractured ribs."

Sakura grinned. Her blood was pumping through her veins and organs, warming her skin.

"Again," Kakashi instructed.

Sakura took another shot, this time managing to sink her arrow inside the bullseye. She thought vaguely of the warrior's trust in her. It occurred to her that he would not have armed her had he thought she would turn on him and put another arrow in his body. Kakashi wasn't wearing armor – it would be too easy to put one right in his heart if she wished him dead. Now that she was armed and on horseback, it would be easier to try and make an escape.

Sakura didn't want to think about the reasons why she chose to focus on the target instead…

After she'd sank her third arrow into the target, Kakashi told her to work Frost up to a canter. Sakura clucked her tongue, asking the mare to trot. Sakura pushed her knees into the mare's shoulders, leaning forward as she drew an arrow from her quiver and pulled back on the string. They circled the arena once, and then twice, until Frost had sped up to a nice, even three-beat gaited canter. The target blurred in Sakura's vision. Her ribs were smarting but the adrenaline coursing through her being was numbing the pain as Sakura inched forward and focused her sites. She loosed the arrow, watching as it whirled through the air and sank just outside of the bullseye. Sakura was grinning and out of breath as the mare slowed her pace and came to a halt in front of Kakashi. She wanted to go again, but feared her ribs would not be able to tolerate the burden.

"How did that feel?" Kakashi asked, reaching for the bow and quiver as Sakura handed them down to him.

"Incredible," she told him. "I'll probably feel it tomorrow, but it was worth it." She leaned forward, sliding her fingers through the mare's coat and patted her neck.

Kakashi sat the bow and quiver down at his feet, stepping closer to Frost's side as he lifted his arms up to Sakura. She swung her leg over and began sliding down the mare's back when Frost decided to step towards Kakashi. Sakura's feet barely hit the ground as Frost bumped into her back, shoving her against the warrior's solid chest.

"Sorry," Sakura said, stumbling against him. Heat was crawling up the back of her neck again as Kakashi's hands pressed into her back to help steady her. She was grinning nervously, and Kakashi's face was hovering just inches above hers. He was too close, Sakura thought. Too close to be looking at her like he saw something hidden in the planes of her face. "Thank you," she said, stepping away from him. "It felt really great to hold a weapon again. To use a weapon," she corrected.

"You need to keep your strength up," Kakashi said simply. "I can help you. After your evening work is done in the stables. We can meet here and I'll see that your training doesn't fall behind."

Sakura's lips parted. "I don't want to get you in trouble." Sakura doubted that he would get into trouble considering he was as high ranked in the military as they came, but he still had to answer to the Hokage. Tsunade had made it perfectly clear that she was not to touch weapons or practice while she remained a Konoha prisoner.

"I spoke to Tsunade about taking you on as my ward, Sakura. While you're in my service, you can do as I say and you won't get into any trouble."

Sakura frowned. "Why would you do that?" She was not keen on the idea of being in the warrior's service; the old fire sparked in her blood, kindling her hatred of the enemy. But this was Kakashi, she told herself… He would not treat her unkindly.

Kakashi reached for Frost's neck, pressing his fingers into her snowy coat. "So I can protect you, Sakura," Kakashi answered without meeting her gaze.

So he could make sure that nothing like what Kabuto did happened to her again. The same feeling that had been stirring inside her when she thought of Kakashi saving her life, spread through her chest and loosened something that had been knotted too tightly. She heard herself breathe the question but didn't recognize the sound of her voice. "Why?"

"Because," Kakashi said, stroking the length of Frost's neck, "we're the same."

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I'm pretty far ahead of myself, so I'll probably be posting Wednesdays/Sundays for a while.

Snickiebear - Thank you so much for your kind review. Sai really is an awesome character, and I can promise you he will be making an appearance in the story (eventually.) ;)

Always good to hear from Leafshadow2, your miss cadaverous, and Skittles116. Skittles told me they are usually a SasuSaka shipper, so I'm totally excited to have them on board the KakaSaku ship. I love it when people give things outside their norm a chance! The guest reviewers have been awesome too, so just wanted to say thank you and I see you!

As always, thank you for reading,
~Sparrow