Chapter 2
Sakura lay in the newly created shelter that her teammates, Sasuke and Naruto had set up.
"Sasuke, I'm cold," she whimpered as she shivered for effect. Any normal person could tell that she hadn't really been too cold at all, she just didn't want to pass up a chance to get close to Sasuke.
"I sure wish Sasuke would ask me to come snuggle up with him, but he'll never do something like that," she dejectedly thought. She had hugged him a few times before, and while he didn't fight it, she was definitely the instigator of those occurrences.
"Oh Sakura. Here, come snuggle up with me," replied Sasuke with a sly grin on his face. Of course Sakura didn't refuse, and slowly crept down next Sasuke. As she lay next to him, she gazed into the dark abyss' that were his eyes.
"Sakura, you are so beautiful in the dark," he announced with a romantic and longing tone. He slowly moved his lips closer to hers, and she followed suit. She shut her eyes…and…
"Sakura! Get up, you have to get ready for your training exercise," shouted a familiar voice, though at that moment Sakura could have mistaken it for the devil.
"Yes, mother," Sakura retorted very irritably. She slowly crept out of bed still trying to put together the lingering thoughts of her dream
After making sure she had all her ninja tools packed, she set off for the Underground Caverns.
Sakura hurriedly rushed to the Underground Caverns, and arrived only a few minutes past 8. She hadn't worried too much about her tardiness, as she knew her sensei would be fashionably late anyway.
"Sorry for being late, but I was having a nice dream and accidentally slept in," Sakura explained with a slight blush showing up on her face as she continued to remember how nice it was.
A dream. Sasuke had also had a dream, although it was anything but nice. He wished every single day that his dreams would subside; that he would stop having to live through hell every single night. Wishes had a funny way of not coming true, at least for him.
Naruto had noticed it first. Sasuke's expression had gone from apathetic to excessively angry and hurt in a matter of seconds. Naruto tilted his head slightly trying not to attract Sasuke's attention and whispered to Sakura, "Hey, umm…is Sasuke alright?" Sakura had been caught too busy in her own little world to notice.
"Now that you mention it…Hey Sasuke, are you ok? Was it…something I said?" Sakura questioned very genuinely and softly.
Sasuke, however, wasn't paying attention. In fact, he had stopped listening the moment the term "dream" was brought into the conversation. Usually, he was able to hold back his feelings, but being forced to remember his dream that forced him to relive his horrific past had set him off. Remembering the motionless bodies of his parents uncaringly stacked made Sasuke's blood boil. He had to kill that man. He had to kill his brother. He was an avenger.
Filled with anger and hurt, the only thing Sasuke could do was release it. His right arm cocked back and was about to obliterate a small tree before suddenly it couldn't go any farther.
"I would save that energy for inside. You're going to need it," Kakashi informed him with one hand holding Sasuke's arm and the other holding "Come, Come Paradise." The teacher always arrived late, but somehow whenever he was really needed he turned up right on time. Sasuke glanced at his teacher before giving a "…whatever" and returning to his previously pococurante state.
"Well guys, all that I can say is good luck. Oh, and I almost forgot. Turn the radio on at 6 o'clock every night. I will contact you then every day, and if it isn't on we might have to come get you. Use the clock on the radio and…be careful guys," Kakashi explained as he whipped out "Come, Come Paradise" again.
"See ya later Kakashi-sensei. And you better not use any of your money these days, pretty soon you're gonna be paying for my ramen," Naruto boasted excitedly.
"I don't know if they actually know how hard this may be…after all, they did stop holding the chuunin exam there for a reason, although they don't know it," Kakashi thought worriedly.
Any of his worries were null by then however, as he watched trio step into the entrance of the caverns. Immediately, Sasuke could sense the death that had occurred within.
"Be careful...this place seems...odd," was all he said, in an almost monotone voice. He always warned them about such things out of care, but he didn't want them to notice so he would always put on a mask and act like he didn't. He also knew that even though Sakura was the weakest out of the group, it would probably be Naruto who got into trouble in a place like this. There were many traps around, and Naruto being the clumsy person he was, would probably set off a fair share of them.
"I don't need you telling me to be careful," Naruto stated bluntly. Naruto still hated Sasuke's arrogant ways, and he found it hard for Sasuke to be arrogant even after Naruto had saved both him and Sakura from the wrath of Gaara. He knew it would probably get Sasuke mad, and even though he respected Sasuke as a friend, he wasn't about to take directions that would lower his ego. "I was the one who fought Gaara off while you were the one lying on the ground Sasuke. I don't need to take directions from you."
Sasuke cocked his head to the side and stared at Naruto with the angry-white-eyes effect. This subsided quickly, as Sasuke remembered power that Naruto had unleashed. He was able to defeat that monster. He was sure Gaara would kill Naruto, especially after he had transformed into that gigantic badger. It was then that he saw Naruto's true power, and wondered if he would ever be able to have strength like that.
Sakura meanwhile was wondering what kind of power Naruto really had. She had been sure that it was Sasuke who saved her from the grip of sand, and even when he told her it was Naruto she still didn't fully believe it. She had been unconscious the whole time, so the likely candidate was Sasuke. She couldn't believe Naruto would have powers to destroy that thing, especially after Sasuke could do nothing. It was only when he fully explained it that she understood that Naruto risked his life for her, and that is where his strength arose from.
She always acknowledged Sasuke, and always lectured Naruto, but she was going to try her hardest to treat Naruto better. She gained a great respect for Naruto, so much that she even enjoyed his company. While it wasn't the same as Sasuke, she would always like to have Naruto around. Her thoughts were stopped by the sound of a dozen kunai flying towards Naruto. Sasuke was obviously waiting for Naruto to set off a trap, as he was right there to pull Naruto out of the way.
"You total moron," Sasuke sighed with a shake of his head. After nearly two hours of running through the caverns and Naruto setting off multiple traps, the trio reached the destination of their base.
"Ahh finally," Sakura felt very relieved that had reached the base. They called it the base, but actually it was nothing more than a dark, dank cavern, basically like the whole area. She knew she wanted to be strong enough to protect herself, but she still didn't have nearly the same amount of stamina that Naruto and Sasuke had. She just had to rest for a bit.
Sasuke, on the other hand, knew they all wouldn't be able to rest. They still had to set up traps and get oriented with their surroundings. They didn't have any water or food, so they would have to find some soon. Plus, they didn't know when the other groups would come try and take their flags, so they had to be ready. He also knew that Sakura wouldn't be able to do anything for a while, and he definitely didn't want to push her.
"I'm going to go find some water," he announced. "You two stay here and rest for a bit, I'll be back in a bit"
While Naruto was kind of peeved that Sasuke was leaving him behind, he also was being left behind with Sakura, so he didn't mind too much.
Sakura was sitting calmly, still with a slight pant to her breath. Was she really that important to Naruto she wondered? She knew that he liked her, he had always said so and always asked her to come out with him. However, she had never noticed just how much she meant to him, and to be honest, she was flattered.
"Naruto…I…just want to say thank you. Sasuke told me it was you who saved me from Gaara…so…thank you." She spoke softly and kindly with a smile on her face. She just kept thinking about it, and the more she thought about how much Naruto was willing to risk for her, she wanted to repay him in any way she could.
"Did she just thank me?" Naruto thought dumbfounded as he formed a smile on his face. As they both sat there, wondering about each other, Sasuke returned with some drinking water and had a very puzzled look on his face. He saw Sakura blushing shyly and saw Naruto with a large grin on his face and wondered what the hell happened. He decided it wasn't any of his business, as he would say the same thing if he was in their position, so he let it go. "As long as they aren't in trouble," he mumbled.
"There is a small pool of water about 2 miles or so away," he informed them as he tossed a canteen to Sakura.
"Thank you Sasuke," she replied without looking up. She couldn't get a hold of her feelings. "All I did was say thank you to Naruto," she thought. "Why am I blushing?" she asked herself. She thought it would just be something to make him feel good inside…but she felt something weird inside of her as well. "What is this I'm feeling," she pondered hopelessly.
Unfortunately for her, and the others, they didn't have much time for pondering. The enemy was approaching quick, and they had yet to notice.
Well, that's about all for this chapter…I felt it was a good time to end it. The enemy is approaching eh? Stay tuned to find out just who the enemy is, and if it was who the team would be expecting. Until next time…