' TEXT ' = Character's thoughts
[ TEXT ]= Inner Sakura
Chapter 4:
Sasuke gently made his way through the marshlands with Sakura behind him. They had to preceed cautiously, because they were getting closer to the border of the Fire Country. So, it was a very slow and tedious journey today. Sakura just held her hands together and walked silently. Sasuke, however, was deep in thought at the moment. Most people would consider bringing Sakura along a stupid move, seeing her as dead weight. Sasuke had considered that, but now he realized he felt a little better with Sakura along. Even if they aren't the strongest person, it's nice just to have someone by your side that you can talk to. He also felt stronger having her there. She was the only one he trusted.
It was indeed a disgusting day outside. The sky was clouded with grey, no sun shone through to lighten anyone's spirits, but the heat remained. It had been 4 days already. Since she cut her hair during the Chuunin exam, Sakura's hair had grown a little bit. Enough so she was able to put it in two low,small pigtails. It was a good thing she had only brought the sleeveless version of her red dress. Sasuke hacked away some bushes that were in his way with a kunai. He was getting frustrated, so he just stopped, so suddenly that Sakura almost bumped into him.
" What's wrong? " Sakura whispered. She was about to offer to help him cut away the opposing weeds, but stopped. Sasuke sighed and formed a few seals that Sakura couldn't see. Next thing she knew, the entire marshland in front of them was in a blazing fire coming straight from Sasuke's mouth. Sakura sighed, ' Well that's one way to do it. '
The entered yet another grove of trees that led into a deep forest. Sakura frowned. [ ANOTHER GOD DAMN FOREST?]. Even Sasuke was getting sick of this trip, and the weather wasn't helping. Not a single ray on sunshine was shining through the sky or the forest trees. The forest was just a dark mess of trees and weeds that Sakura felt uncomfortable in (A/N: she's uncomfortable because it's a dark/creepy forest with a forboding atmosphere, not because of the weeds XP). Suddenly a flash of lighting went across the sky, followed by a loud crack of thunder that seemed to shake the ground they stood on. Sasuke's head bolted up. In a second, a large bolt of lighting struck in the marshlands they were just in. Both heads whipped around at the sudden noise. Sasuke looked at Sakura.
" Come on, let's get going. " Sakura nodded in agreement. They walked quickly throught the woods in search of some shelter. " Over there. " Sasuke called to Sakura, pointing to a small cave. They stomped throught the mud and splashed throught the puddles towards the gave. Sasuke and Sakura, who was covering her head, ran into the cave. Water was pouring on the entrance to the cave. As soon as the entered the cave, they stopped to catch their breath. Sakura untangled her pigtails and let her hair free. She tried to squeeze the water out of her locks, as Sasuke dug took a small lantern out of his bag. He pointed it towards the inside of the cave, then upward. As he pointed it up to the ceiling a large swarm of bats flew out. Sakura went over and clung to the back of Sasuke's shirt and he walked forward cautiously towards the back of the cave. He shined the light all around, it appeared to be empty. The cave curled slightly, so they went to the very back to avoid the storm at the entrance.
Sasuke sighed as he rolled out his sleeping bag, which was one of the two he and Sakura had bought at a small village this morning, and set the lantern between Sakura and himself. Meanwhile, Sakura rolled her sleeping bag out and smoothed it gently. A loud crack of thunder was heard, taking away their hopes that the storm would pass.
" I guess we'll be staying here the night then? " Sakura asked as she was still smoothing out her sleeping bag. Sasuke, who was sitting cross-legged against the wall, responded,
" A storm this bad could kill us, and I don't intend to die by something stupid. It will also cause mudslides on the east side of the forest, making it extremely difficult to get through. Lightning will strike the trees, so we can't travel through those. Looks like we have to stay here. " Sasuke's eyes hardened. " Damn! Another waste of a day! " Sakura curled up her knees towards her body. She didn't want to say anything else to upset him further. She looked up towards the ceiling.
' I wonder how Naruto is doing now..."
~*~ A few days earlier ~*~
It was early in the morning when genin, Uzumaki Naruto, ran to the Hokage's home. He had gone over to Uchiha Sasuke's house to settle their little arguement. He was going to make Sasuke apologize for being such a cold-hearted bastard, and making Sakura-chan cry (A/N: these are references to events that happened before the beginning of our story). He knocked on the door, no answer. He knocked again, no answer, then he preceeded to start pounding on the door, screaming, " SASUKE, YOU BASTARD! OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW! I KNOW YOU HERE ME!! " Naruto thought Sasuke would at least come out to tell him to shut up. Wait! He was mocking Naruto wasn't he? Naruto grew angry at this thought. He was going to make Sasuke respect the future Hokage! He hit down the front door and stomped into the house. He was about to yell, but stopped when he realized he had never been in the bastard's house before.
' Heh, perfect for a cold-bastard like Sasuke. " He said, looking around. But, his eyes widened and he shuddered. ' It really is cold in here. This house... it's so empty. ' Sasuke's house did include furniture, a bed, TV, etc. But, it was just missing everything. It only had the basic things a person needed to actually live, but... there was no cheer at all. The depression of the appartment was contagious. It sucked any bit of happiness that was left in you. ' Sasuke must of been so alone, like me. ' Naruto paused there. ' Heh, loneliness... the pitch-black hell. Even a guy like Sasuke... who always acted cool, must of felt it. '
Naruto made his way in. He looked at his shelves, there were many picture frames, but they were all broken or pushed down. Naruto picked one up. It was Sasuke's family. It must have been taken before the tragedy where the entire clan was wiped out. He looked at his mother and father. They appeared happy. His father had his arm rapped around his wife. The other person...wait...someone had ripped that person out of the picture. But, a younger Sasuke was on their shoulders. To Naruto's surprise, he was enjoying himself. There was large grin on his face, he appeared to be laughing. Naruto placed the picture down and called Sasuke's name. He found his way to his bedroom. He threw open the door, but was shocked to find it empty. The bed was empty, the closet was empty, everything was empty. He looked at the picture frame on the windowsill that was thrown down. He picked it up, it was their team picture.
' Bastard. '
Naruto was concerned on the whereabouts of Sasuke, so he went to Sakura's house to see if she knew. But he had to be careful, he didn't want to worry her. He knocked on the door, but almost had a heart-attack when a crying woman threw open the door and screamed,
" SAKURA!!!!" Tears were streaming down her face, her red face showed that she had been crying for a while. Her pink hair told Naruto this must be Sakura's mother.
" Hello, er... Haruno-san. " He had never really shown respect to any adult before, but this was the girl-he-loved's mother..so..., " Um... my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm on Sakura-chan's team. Is she home? " The woman burst out in tears. A man with blond hair ran over to his wife. Naruto saw ANBU in the house.
" What do you want, Fox-Demon? " Haruno-san asked, pushing his wife inside. Naruto glared at him for a moment.
" Is Sakura-chan home? " Naruto noticed Haruno-san's solem face.
" She has disappeared. " Nothing could have prepared Naruto for that. He spun around as fast as he could and made his way to Hokage's office. He burst open the door.
" OLD-LADY HOKAGE!!! SAKURA-CHAN AND SASUKE ARE MISSING!! "
"W-What....?" Tsunade sat up, rubbing her eyes. Naruto twitched.
" W-were you asleep on the job?"
" No! Of course not! " Tsunade laughed. A few minutes later she was very quiet, after Naruto told Tsunade what happened. After she had finished talking to the ANBU and Jounins, she came back in. " Sit down Naruto. "
" What happened?!?!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
" Sasuke has gone to Orochimaru, and we believe he took Sakura with him. "
" WHAT!? HE'S GONE TO OROCHIMARU! AND HE DRUG MY SAKURA-CHAN WITH HIM????? THAT BASTARD! SASUKE!! "
" Naruto! Calm down! We sent the ANBU after them. " Kakashi said to reassure Naruto, but Naruto couldn't stop worrying for his two teammates.
~*~ Back to Sakura and Sasuke ~*~
Sasuke gazed out out the pouring rain and crashing thunder and lightning. Yep, this was a waste of a day. He turned around to make his way back to Sakura. He stopped walking and turned around to get one last look at the entrace. But, to his surprise he was face-to-face with a sound ninja.
" Ahh! " He jumped back and whipped out a kunai. Suddenly, he heard Sakura scream and looked back. Sakura was backed up against a wall, holding out a kunai at the three sound ninjas staring at her. Sasuke recognized these guys as " the four sound ". " What the hell are you doing here? "
" Hello Sasuke-sama. We have been ordered to escort you to the Sound Village. "
-----------
Sorry for the late update. But, I think I made up for it with this long chapter... my hands hurt from typing lol.
Just for a little Author's Note:
Despite what you may think about Sasuke and Sakura because of the last chapter, nothing has really changed. They're are JUST COMRADES at the moment. They have a strong friendship, but Sasuke hasn't developed romantic feelings for Sakura.
Thanks for the reviews!!!
[ TEXT ]= Inner Sakura
Chapter 4:
Sasuke gently made his way through the marshlands with Sakura behind him. They had to preceed cautiously, because they were getting closer to the border of the Fire Country. So, it was a very slow and tedious journey today. Sakura just held her hands together and walked silently. Sasuke, however, was deep in thought at the moment. Most people would consider bringing Sakura along a stupid move, seeing her as dead weight. Sasuke had considered that, but now he realized he felt a little better with Sakura along. Even if they aren't the strongest person, it's nice just to have someone by your side that you can talk to. He also felt stronger having her there. She was the only one he trusted.
It was indeed a disgusting day outside. The sky was clouded with grey, no sun shone through to lighten anyone's spirits, but the heat remained. It had been 4 days already. Since she cut her hair during the Chuunin exam, Sakura's hair had grown a little bit. Enough so she was able to put it in two low,small pigtails. It was a good thing she had only brought the sleeveless version of her red dress. Sasuke hacked away some bushes that were in his way with a kunai. He was getting frustrated, so he just stopped, so suddenly that Sakura almost bumped into him.
" What's wrong? " Sakura whispered. She was about to offer to help him cut away the opposing weeds, but stopped. Sasuke sighed and formed a few seals that Sakura couldn't see. Next thing she knew, the entire marshland in front of them was in a blazing fire coming straight from Sasuke's mouth. Sakura sighed, ' Well that's one way to do it. '
The entered yet another grove of trees that led into a deep forest. Sakura frowned. [ ANOTHER GOD DAMN FOREST?]. Even Sasuke was getting sick of this trip, and the weather wasn't helping. Not a single ray on sunshine was shining through the sky or the forest trees. The forest was just a dark mess of trees and weeds that Sakura felt uncomfortable in (A/N: she's uncomfortable because it's a dark/creepy forest with a forboding atmosphere, not because of the weeds XP). Suddenly a flash of lighting went across the sky, followed by a loud crack of thunder that seemed to shake the ground they stood on. Sasuke's head bolted up. In a second, a large bolt of lighting struck in the marshlands they were just in. Both heads whipped around at the sudden noise. Sasuke looked at Sakura.
" Come on, let's get going. " Sakura nodded in agreement. They walked quickly throught the woods in search of some shelter. " Over there. " Sasuke called to Sakura, pointing to a small cave. They stomped throught the mud and splashed throught the puddles towards the gave. Sasuke and Sakura, who was covering her head, ran into the cave. Water was pouring on the entrance to the cave. As soon as the entered the cave, they stopped to catch their breath. Sakura untangled her pigtails and let her hair free. She tried to squeeze the water out of her locks, as Sasuke dug took a small lantern out of his bag. He pointed it towards the inside of the cave, then upward. As he pointed it up to the ceiling a large swarm of bats flew out. Sakura went over and clung to the back of Sasuke's shirt and he walked forward cautiously towards the back of the cave. He shined the light all around, it appeared to be empty. The cave curled slightly, so they went to the very back to avoid the storm at the entrance.
Sasuke sighed as he rolled out his sleeping bag, which was one of the two he and Sakura had bought at a small village this morning, and set the lantern between Sakura and himself. Meanwhile, Sakura rolled her sleeping bag out and smoothed it gently. A loud crack of thunder was heard, taking away their hopes that the storm would pass.
" I guess we'll be staying here the night then? " Sakura asked as she was still smoothing out her sleeping bag. Sasuke, who was sitting cross-legged against the wall, responded,
" A storm this bad could kill us, and I don't intend to die by something stupid. It will also cause mudslides on the east side of the forest, making it extremely difficult to get through. Lightning will strike the trees, so we can't travel through those. Looks like we have to stay here. " Sasuke's eyes hardened. " Damn! Another waste of a day! " Sakura curled up her knees towards her body. She didn't want to say anything else to upset him further. She looked up towards the ceiling.
' I wonder how Naruto is doing now..."
~*~ A few days earlier ~*~
It was early in the morning when genin, Uzumaki Naruto, ran to the Hokage's home. He had gone over to Uchiha Sasuke's house to settle their little arguement. He was going to make Sasuke apologize for being such a cold-hearted bastard, and making Sakura-chan cry (A/N: these are references to events that happened before the beginning of our story). He knocked on the door, no answer. He knocked again, no answer, then he preceeded to start pounding on the door, screaming, " SASUKE, YOU BASTARD! OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW! I KNOW YOU HERE ME!! " Naruto thought Sasuke would at least come out to tell him to shut up. Wait! He was mocking Naruto wasn't he? Naruto grew angry at this thought. He was going to make Sasuke respect the future Hokage! He hit down the front door and stomped into the house. He was about to yell, but stopped when he realized he had never been in the bastard's house before.
' Heh, perfect for a cold-bastard like Sasuke. " He said, looking around. But, his eyes widened and he shuddered. ' It really is cold in here. This house... it's so empty. ' Sasuke's house did include furniture, a bed, TV, etc. But, it was just missing everything. It only had the basic things a person needed to actually live, but... there was no cheer at all. The depression of the appartment was contagious. It sucked any bit of happiness that was left in you. ' Sasuke must of been so alone, like me. ' Naruto paused there. ' Heh, loneliness... the pitch-black hell. Even a guy like Sasuke... who always acted cool, must of felt it. '
Naruto made his way in. He looked at his shelves, there were many picture frames, but they were all broken or pushed down. Naruto picked one up. It was Sasuke's family. It must have been taken before the tragedy where the entire clan was wiped out. He looked at his mother and father. They appeared happy. His father had his arm rapped around his wife. The other person...wait...someone had ripped that person out of the picture. But, a younger Sasuke was on their shoulders. To Naruto's surprise, he was enjoying himself. There was large grin on his face, he appeared to be laughing. Naruto placed the picture down and called Sasuke's name. He found his way to his bedroom. He threw open the door, but was shocked to find it empty. The bed was empty, the closet was empty, everything was empty. He looked at the picture frame on the windowsill that was thrown down. He picked it up, it was their team picture.
' Bastard. '
Naruto was concerned on the whereabouts of Sasuke, so he went to Sakura's house to see if she knew. But he had to be careful, he didn't want to worry her. He knocked on the door, but almost had a heart-attack when a crying woman threw open the door and screamed,
" SAKURA!!!!" Tears were streaming down her face, her red face showed that she had been crying for a while. Her pink hair told Naruto this must be Sakura's mother.
" Hello, er... Haruno-san. " He had never really shown respect to any adult before, but this was the girl-he-loved's mother..so..., " Um... my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm on Sakura-chan's team. Is she home? " The woman burst out in tears. A man with blond hair ran over to his wife. Naruto saw ANBU in the house.
" What do you want, Fox-Demon? " Haruno-san asked, pushing his wife inside. Naruto glared at him for a moment.
" Is Sakura-chan home? " Naruto noticed Haruno-san's solem face.
" She has disappeared. " Nothing could have prepared Naruto for that. He spun around as fast as he could and made his way to Hokage's office. He burst open the door.
" OLD-LADY HOKAGE!!! SAKURA-CHAN AND SASUKE ARE MISSING!! "
"W-What....?" Tsunade sat up, rubbing her eyes. Naruto twitched.
" W-were you asleep on the job?"
" No! Of course not! " Tsunade laughed. A few minutes later she was very quiet, after Naruto told Tsunade what happened. After she had finished talking to the ANBU and Jounins, she came back in. " Sit down Naruto. "
" What happened?!?!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.
" Sasuke has gone to Orochimaru, and we believe he took Sakura with him. "
" WHAT!? HE'S GONE TO OROCHIMARU! AND HE DRUG MY SAKURA-CHAN WITH HIM????? THAT BASTARD! SASUKE!! "
" Naruto! Calm down! We sent the ANBU after them. " Kakashi said to reassure Naruto, but Naruto couldn't stop worrying for his two teammates.
~*~ Back to Sakura and Sasuke ~*~
Sasuke gazed out out the pouring rain and crashing thunder and lightning. Yep, this was a waste of a day. He turned around to make his way back to Sakura. He stopped walking and turned around to get one last look at the entrace. But, to his surprise he was face-to-face with a sound ninja.
" Ahh! " He jumped back and whipped out a kunai. Suddenly, he heard Sakura scream and looked back. Sakura was backed up against a wall, holding out a kunai at the three sound ninjas staring at her. Sasuke recognized these guys as " the four sound ". " What the hell are you doing here? "
" Hello Sasuke-sama. We have been ordered to escort you to the Sound Village. "
-----------
Sorry for the late update. But, I think I made up for it with this long chapter... my hands hurt from typing lol.
Just for a little Author's Note:
Despite what you may think about Sasuke and Sakura because of the last chapter, nothing has really changed. They're are JUST COMRADES at the moment. They have a strong friendship, but Sasuke hasn't developed romantic feelings for Sakura.
Thanks for the reviews!!!