Ok, I said two weeks but...um...it kinda turned into a month or so...oops. -sweatdrop-
Er...anyway...I'm back now! And to make up for it, I have a rather short chapter, but the next one is long and already half-written, so it should only take a few days. Hope nobody was pulling out hair waiting...
Disclaimer: If I owned it, you would know, many people in Japan would be pissed, and a few characters would have serious attitude adjustments...but since I don't, you may all sleep safely. For now...
Chapter 4: The Secret
Sakura knew she should never have stayed at Hinata's for as long as she had. She knew she was tired, knew she was nearing the end of her strength. I should have come home a long time ago. But there's no way I'll stop training with Hinata; we both need it.
Even if it kills you? Said a soft part of her mind, a gently insinuating voice.
She shoved it away. It won't kill me! I know better than that!
But the voice had one last comment before fading away. It might not need to...if you're too tired to fight IT away.
"Stupid conscience," she mumbled, lips barely moving. She was barely out of sight of the Hyuuga's place. If she hadn't been so tired, she might have sighed in resignation as she forced her tired body to move faster, willed her legs to move and her feet to push, until she was jogging clumsily. Then, with the hidden will no one credited her with, she pushed herself past what should have been her farthest limit, into a fast run that carried her numbly over the ground in great leaps that she was too tired to see.
She knew the way home; it was a good thing too, because she was letting her feet guide her now. She was getting too tired to even think. I thought I was getting stronger but...I can't keep staying up all night. Sooner or later this is going to catch up with me...and at this rate, it's going to be sooner.
She couldn't let that happen. But she couldn't see a way out, either. If she stopped going home and stayed with Hinata or Ino, people would ask questions. She couldn't afford questions, not now, when she was had been too mind-numb lately to fend people off as deftly as she had to, as well as she used to be able to.
If anyone found her out, her life would be over. She wasn't sure exactly what would happen, but she knew that it would be almost impossible to continue training to be a jounin. She would never be left alone, would become as notorious as Naruto or Sasuke. That was the last thing she wanted.
What if they didn't even let me stay anymore? Konoha would be completely within its rights to just chuck me out...
Even the Hokage had had no idea of the irony he had created when he placed her on Sasuke and Naruto's team. He would have had no way to find out; she never told anyone anything of herself. Never once had she offered any information other than her name, never shared dreams (beyond the cover-up ones of having Sasuke, of course) or hopes or especially anything of her life.
Sasuke had given her a good long dressing-down once, for having a family. He had told her that being scolded never compared to being alone. That no matter how bad it was, at least they were there.
He would be right—it is usually better to have a dysfunctional family than none. But then—I wouldn't know.
Sakura ran all the way to the edge of the forest. She didn't dare pause, knowing that as soon as she did she would collapse. And if she collapsed, if she didn't make it home...she would die.
Just a little farther, she promised her tired body. Come on, just a little more. It's not that much further...a little more.
Branches whipped her face, scratched her skin. Occasional thorns tore her dress, left angry red marks anywhere not covered by the cloth. She didn't even notice.
What finally woke her up was the stream. She had been completely blind and deaf with fatigue, her body numb. In hindsight, it was a wonder she didn't drown.
Sakura ran right off the edge of the bank, falling two feet into shallow water. She hit face-down, the remaining wind knocked out of her. She coughed and felt the water invade her lungs. The shock of the cold and the instinct to breathe snapped her awake, and without thinking she sat up and coughed the water out of her chest, reaching back and pulling the hair out of her eyes.
Looking around, she saw what had been her goal, hardly twenty feet away.
Almost every tree in the Forest of Shadows was enormous, beating out even the massive trees of the 44th training arena. They loomed overhead like natural mini-skyscrapers, proud and forbidding.
But one tree was magnificent even over the others around it, towering over its brethren in graceful ancient beauty. It seemed almost peaceful, radiating the faint aura of the old who have realized the meaning and balance between life and death.
The trunk was at least twenty or thirty feet wide, not counting where it widened before merging into the ground. Roots pierced and arced upward around it, some of them growing over the banks of the stream right into the flowing water's current.
Gritting her teeth, she dragged herself toward it. She didn't get out of the water; the slight buoyancy it lent her would probably make the difference between passing out and going just a few more yards.
High in the branches, impossible to see unless you knew it was there, was a small broken-down shack. It was almost completely held up by the natural cage of branches it was built inside, sagging tiredly in the U where one of the central trunks split into five. It reminded her of an old war veteran, wounded and weakening but stubbornly refusing to die. Clinging to life and standing as straight as it could, an old tired pride that it hadn't fallen yet, a refusal to go down.
In its own way, Sakura's home put up as much as a fight as she herself did.
She didn't dare stop to rest when she reached the first of the roots that grew into the water. Not even for a second, knowing that if she paused now she would never start again, at least not for a day or more. So she strained on, gaining a few inches a minute or so.
Half an hour later, her hand brushed the actual trunk of the tree. She used it as a crutch, pulling herself up and then sagging against it. Her breath stung her throat and her lungs were beyond fire. When she tried to rub her eyes, her hands were shaking so badly she poked herself in the nose four times before just giving up.
She closed her eyes and looked inside herself, trying to find any remaining chakra. There was a little bit, a very little bit. It was about all she could spare before going into a coma.
Opening her eyes, she concentrated and sent about a third of what remained to her feet. Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke had all been shocked when she mastered tree-climbing so fast as a genin. Of course, none of them had known she already used it every day, forced to learn it on her own years before. Survival was a fast teacher, and no one had ever called Sakura slow.
Sakura started to walk up the tree, almost falling several times. She pushed herself hard, knowing it would be a matter of seconds before she passed out. One hundred fifty feet later, she blacked out and slipped.
Luckily for her, she had reached the shack. She fell against the door, collapsing half-in with an arm and a leg dangling into space. If she had energy left, she might have cried in relief; she was home! She hadn't fallen to a squishy, undoubtedly painful death! Sakura wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and stay there forever.
But sense reasserted itself in a flash. She still wasn't safe. She pulled herself inside with an almost-silent grunt and kicked the door closed. She whispered the seal that would lock it, seeing the faint blue glow that meant the protective seals all over the suspended hut had been activated.
Then the will that had sustained her twice as far as a normal person would have gone finally left her, and she passed out where she lay.
Yeah...told ya it was short. I have discovered writer's block at long last...actually I'm surprised it took me this long. Anyway, heads up for the next badly-written excuse to torture uh that is, -nervous laugh-, the next chapter.
And now you may all skip to the bottom because I'm replying to people again. I think this is the last time I'll do it though, I'm going to start listing people who reviewed instead. Hope nobody minds.
understar-san
Um the site link didn't show up...no idea why. Glad I've been keeping it realistic, since I have no idea what anyone is like exept...no wait, nevermind, I'm really just guessing .
xx-Tsumi-Chan-xx-san
I've been trying to tell you her secret since Ch. 1, but something always comes up...(actually you still don't know all of it)
mad-killer-bunnies-alert-san
You welcome? Ch. 3 was irritable because I was cranky...now I am in a slightly better mood...still rather angsty, but I can't put that in "Illusion" yet. I like reading rampages...they're amusing.
figurechan-san
Here's your update, I'm so glad you like it! Wow you figured me out fast...
NJGangsta-san
Yay, you like it! -bows- This isn't the whole secret though. There is more to come...
waterfox96-san
Here's your update!
Sasuke Is Mine
Are you reading this story for flame practice?
frostfoxfire-san
Does that mean you like it? Here's the next chapter, and no way is it better than yours, your story is awesome!
Millie-chan-san
I'm sorry if you think I was too hard on Sasuke in Ch. 2. It's kind of an inside joke and I needed to make fun of someone. I have nothing against him, he was just an available target.
lostfreakfound-san
Did I already tell you I liked your screenname? If not, it's amusing...anyway. Thanks for reviewing...I understand with the chocolates point taken, but you shall have to wait for the pairing I feel like making! (which varies with the hour of morning/night I'm writing in...-sweatdrop-)
Yohko-san
Er...peace out to you too? Thanks for not handing me over to the nice people in white...-hands over a ball of yarn-...knock yourself out.
Dagorwen of Ithilien-san
Here's your update...hope I spelled your name right.
Magus Blank-san
Glad to hear it sounds right. Good to hear from you again, hope you have more free time.
neu chi no nai u-san
Here's your update! Is it rude if I ask if your name means something?
Woohoo! Another crappy chapter, over! Hope you didn't suffer too much! I've just about had it with trying to write humor though...I think I'm going to end up just saying "screw it" and changing it to drama.
Kage
(and her cat.)