The Calling

By ShinobiSpirit

[ ] - Inner Sakura

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"How far are we, Sakura-san?" Lee asked, walking up beside her with a look of anticipation. He was ready for some action and to find his beloved sensei.

"We're coming up on Hisai village." She muttered from behind the map as she walked. "It's about three hours away from the port, and from there we can take a boat to the Gatsua."

"Alright!" Lee shouted enthusiastically, holding a fist up in triumph. 'Then I can fight to protect Sakura-san!'

Sasuke smirked as he shuffled his feet along the dirt path. Not remembering the last time he had actually encountered a worthy adversary was tough for someone who had an ambition to become stronger-- strong enough to kill the man who destroyed his clan, that is.

Now that he thought about it, as an avenger, he had been lacking in his duties as of late. Not training six hours following their daily missions wasn't helping him, either. However, the reason concerning this change in his routine was quite an excuse in his book. The curse, though 'sealed,' still responded to large amounts of chakra, so he had been taking it easy lately. Mostly for his teammates' sake rather than his own; the last thing he needed was Sakura worrying about him.

Sasuke tightened his fist in his pocket, frustrated with the current situation. 'Damn.. I can't fight at 100% without the curse reacting.' He thought angrily, opening one eye to glance at the white-eyed boy walking a few steps ahead of him. Relying on a lone wolf like that didn't sit well with Sasuke at all--especially considering his independent nature. What was he going to do? Risk the curse taking over again, or risk the life of his teammate?

That should have been an easy answer. Why was it difficult to choose the 'right' one? After all, he wanted power. If it's one thing Orochimaru showed him, it's that if you want power, you must make sacrifices. Even if he lost his soul to the devil in the process, his mission in life was clear; he must get stronger. He must defeat Itachi. But was he willing to risk the lives of his teammate's for the sake of his ambition? That was the key question.

"Here!" Sakura hollered happily, slowing to a stop in front of a wooden sign with the symbol of the village imprinted in the weather-worn bark. 'Yes! Now to get cleaned up! Real food! Warm bath!' [HELL YEAH!]

"Wow.." Lee muttered, stopping beside Sakura to gaze at the village from their perch atop the small hill. The village, though obviously smaller than Konoha, was lit up with thousands of lanterns in multi-colored fashion, resembling that of a festival. Paper dragons draped along the buildings and hung in twisted patterns along poles, and there was a wooden palace mounted on higher elevation in contrast to the actual city. Lee was already plotting a way to convince Sakura to join him on a 'night on the town' kind of thing. 'Yes! For Gai-sensei!'

"Are we just going to stand here?" TenTen asked impatiently, giving Lee a look of annoyance. After traveling so long under the heat of the blood red sun, who could blame her?

"Eh.. well." Sakura began, turning to TenTen and the others while wringing her hands together anxiously. "We don't have our passports.. so, if they catch us.."

"As ninja's, I doubt we'll get caught." Neji remarked snidely, pushing past Sakura and descending down the steep hill that lead into the village. TenTen shrugged and followed in suit, giving Lee a 'you better come too' look before she too disappeared down the hill.

"I'm sorry about him.." Lee muttered, blushing bashfully. "He's a good guy, really.. he just doesn't have many people skills."

"I'm going." Sasuke said quietly, ignoring Lee's statement as he too brushed past Sakura, leaving her to gaze at his retreating back. She frowned.

'Sasuke-kun..'

"Sakura-san?" When she turned to look at him, Lee smiled at her reassuringly. "Come on, let's go too." Forcing a smile, she nodded. "Okay.." [Damn! Damn! DAMN!]

'I wonder what's wrong with Sasuke-kun..'

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"Wow! This place is beautiful!" Sakura squealed, glancing in every direction imaginable, taking in all the sites. 'No wonder my parents visited here all the time!' [Damn them! They were holding out on me!]

The streets were bustling with village people, some mingling at stores, others chowing down at local ramen carts. Children also littered the area, chasing each other and playing tag like most kids do. Overall, it seemed like a nice place to live considering it wasn't far from the dreaded islands of legend. Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted to leave right away.

"Hey you guys! Over here!" TenTen called, standing outside a small Inn a few feet away. Lee and Sakura hurried over to her as fast as they could through the enormous rush of people.

Arriving at the Inn, they stepped inside and followed TenTen up the stairs, down a hallway, and to a door which had the numbers "149" imprinted in the wooden exterior. Opening the door, they scurried in to find Neji sitting cross-legged on one of the many futon's and Sasuke leaning heavily against one of the spacious walls, his arms crossed over his chest. Neither of the stoic boys said a word to them.

"We already put in an order for a meal, and the bath is almost ready." TenTen said thoughtfully, gesturing for Sakura to follow her into the bathroom. Lee was left to grace the two boys with his company, who, at this point, were more like decorations than human beings.

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"Ahhhhhhh.." Sakura sighed blissfully as she slid into the warmth of the fresh spring water. After countless bathes in cold rivers, this was definitely heaven. At least for now, anyway. There were still many things on her mind as she sunk into the water to about chin level, closing her heavy eyes. 'What a day..'

To say the least, Neji was all but considerate, refusing to take breaks anywhere. It made her feel slightly sympathetic for TenTen and Lee, even though she was sure they were used to their leader's demands by now.

'Hm.. I think I'll ask Sasuke-kun if he wants to go out on the town with me.' Sakura thought, grinning smugly at the mental image. "Yeah! I'll do it!"

"Sakura? Are you okay in there?"

'Whoops..' She blushed in embarrassment. "Uh.. yeah! I'm fine!" Taking a deep breath, she dunked her head under water. 'I need to be more careful about what I say aloud..'

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Dried off, clothed, and settled down for the night, Sakura sat on the futon she claimed and calmly sipped at a steaming hot cup of green tea. Unfortunately, she was far too tired for sight-seeing. Plus, they were on a mission. This was no time for fun activities such as that. 'Maybe when we rescue Naruto, we can come back and stay for a few days..' She thought, smiling behind her cup. [Hell yeah!]

"Good night, Sakura.. san.." Lee muttered tiredly from across the room(She made sure he slept farthest away from her), falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

Sakura yawned. Neji and TenTen were already asleep as well. As for Sasuke, she couldn't tell. He hadn't moved much all night long, so she assumed he must be sleeping too.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun." She muttered silently in the darkness. Laying back and pulling the sheet up over herself, she too fell into a dream-filled sleep, unaware of an intruding presence lingering near.

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Midnight. Yeah.

SS