A/N: SimplyRainbow, I wanted to say thank you for all of the reviews you've left since this story started! I've added some more details on Sakura's new haircut in this one since you were wondering in your last review:) I'm not sure why, but I stopped getting email notifications when reviews were left at some point. I would like to give a shoutout to iluvfairytale for being a regular reader and leaving reviews too. The idea that people have read my story and come back to it, taken the time out to leave a review, truly means a lot to me. Thank you so much.
I hope y'all enjoy!
Kakashi woke us up before the crack of dawn the next morning. Long before Tazuna typically leaves for work. As far as preparations are concerned for us, we only have 15 minutes. Naruto was taking the early morning harder than the rest of us as he sat up on his bed mat, shoulders drooping downward. At that point, Sasuke and I had gathered our packs and clothes, and I walked into the kitchen to fill up a tall glass of water.
My eyes remained fixed on the yellow-haired boy as his head lulled to one side. His chin was tucked down into his neck as it rotated, slowly rolling forward. The palm of Sasuke's hand rested on his hip as he stood in front of him. In the other hand, he held Naruto's bag by the strap.
When Sasuke threw Naruto's pack down on his lap, I couldn't help but laugh, pressing my hand against my mouth to restrain myself. Suddenly, Naruto jerked awake, eyes wide as he searched for the assailant. As Naruto began to realize what had happened, he glanced up, intending to direct his unimpressed gaze directly at the only person he knew would do such a thing. He searched the room for Sasuke, furrowing his brows in confusion. Instead, he caught my eye as I finished downing my water.
Smirking, I pointed over at the small hallway leading up to the stairs, where I suspected the soundless Uchiha boy was already halfway up. Our hosts wouldn't wake up for two hours, so applying that level of stealth was a considerate gesture.
I'm all for training dark and early.
It made for a fun reaction from Naruto too. When he grumbled about "rude assholes throwing shit too early in the morning", my face burst into a grin.
Getting ready, I spent a few extra minutes looking in the mirror. Craning my neck, I inspected my hair better with my back turned. In my efforts to recuperate from chakra exhaustion, I never really looked at Tsunami's handy work.
Despite her lack of experience, she had done a good job. In comparison to Sakura's after the Forest of Death, this was a little longer. It was still possible for me to braid it, so I did. The braid fell a few inches below my collarbone, over my right shoulder.
As soon as everyone was dressed and ready to leave, we left through the back door. Upon closing the door, it was Sasuke who broke the silence.
"Where are we going?" Our teacher merely raised a finger to his masked lips, indicating that we should stay quiet. He led us through the yard and up a path. It led to a tall forest in the distance.
I guess he scouted the area last night for a body of water large enough to train on. It would need privacy from curious eyes so they don't pry into what we're doing...
Birds chirped high in the trees as we hiked a steep incline. After a few minutes, the land leveled before beginning to disincline. We arrived at the bottom of a trail that led to a tract of land cleared of wood and brush. A man-made waterfall directed water from somewhere in the forest and poured into a large cattle pond below. Kakashi led us closer to the pond, stopping to turn to us after we had come to a satisfactory distance.
Internally, I sighed and wished I had packed something to cover my hair.
While there is an ocean just a few miles away from Tazuna's home, he chooses pond water. The water comes from a larger source at least. It rained this week, too...
I would give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Our preparations for battle will take place here." Kakashi explained. It was still a bit dark out, but it wasn't difficult to see thanks to the rising sun. I could tell his eye was closed, indicating he was smiling at us.
Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration, his eyes scanning the cows grazing on the land a few yards away, before shifting back to Kakashi.
"I mean, no offense, but how are cows meant to... help us?" A yawn escaped Naruto's lips as he replied. Although Sasuke did not speak, his arms crossed in silent agreement.
Poor Kakashi.
A sigh escaped Kakashi as he feigned hurt at the doubtful looks Naruto and Sasuke were sending him.
"It's my own fault that my students thought I would train them with cattle, I suppose." Our Sensei spoke as he raised the back of his hand to his head dramatically, walking back towards the pond. The closer he got to the water, the wider Naruto's eyes became.
That woke him up.
"Sensei, what are you-"
As Naruto chased Kakashi down the curve of the bank, his pitch grew higher. The back of the man's sandal touched the edge of the water, causing ripples to push across the surface. "Don't get into the pond!"
"I might as well leave..." Kakashi raised his other leg and rocked on his heel towards the water. "Now."
"I was kidding, just kidding!" Naruto cried, leaping towards the silver-haired trickster as his foot came down towards the water, intending to stop him.
Naruto's foot slid into the mud as Kakashi's foot disturbed the surface of the water. He fell against Kakashi's shoulder, who's eye widened. Stumbling back on the surface of the water, Kakashi caught his yellow-haired student from falling in.
"Is he...?" Sasuke muttered next to me, eyes narrowing at Naruto's dangling feet, plunged into the water. Next to our Sensei's feet, which stayed on the surface of the water. I smiled at Sasuke as I watched the gears click in his brain.
"Yeah, he's definitely standing on water." I confirmed. The corners of Sasuke's lips tugged up into a wide smirk, his excitement contagious as it spread. I raised my hand up to cover my mouth as a short giggle bubbled up from my stomach and threatened to escape my lips.
"Alright, walking on water!" Naruto cheered, hugging the life of Kakashi in his joy. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Kakashi-sensei!"
"That's fine, Naruto. Can you let go of me now?" Kakashi managed to breathe, a sour and defeated expression on his face.
"Yeah, yeah!"
We lined up at the pond, watching Kakashi as he walked across it. He carried a large stick, which he sank into the soft ground, tying three different ribbons to it.
Blue, orange and pink.
"Tsunami was kind enough to let me borrow some of her hair ribbons for this exercise. Naruto, your ribbon is orange. Sasuke's is blue. And Sakura, I thought that pink would be fitting." Kakashi explained after walking back over to us.
Creative. When did he have time to talk to Tsunami? My eyes twitched.
"Before we get started, I'd like to talk about a few key differences that exist between tree climbing and walking on water. The ability to gather the right amount of chakra in your feet is crucial to tree climbing. Maintaining that level will allow you to stick to stationary objects. Kind of like a suction cup." Throughout the refresher on tree climbing, his eye wandered over us for confirmation that we were following along.
"However, you will have to gather and adjust the amount of chakra as you push it into your feet to be able to walk on water. Release it continuously, fine-tuning it to your body weight, so that you float on top of it, rather than sinking in..." His voice trailed off as he glanced over at Naruto, whose pointer finger was scratching his cheek.
"By doing this type of chakra control exercise, you will learn to maintain a continuous flow of chakra instead of maintaining a fixed amount." Kakashi finished.
"Hmm..." Naruto hummed, his arms beginning to cross over his chest in a defensive manner when he noticed Kakashi's gaze focused on him. "I don't get it!"
"Err... Sakura, do you mind helping me out?" My lips curled into a side smile as Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
"Alright, Naruto." A determined look crossed my face as I turned to the boy. It didn't bother me that Kakashi delegated this task. "You know when you're eating a big bowl of ramen and you find... the forever noodle?"
"The forever noodle?" Naruto's eyes shined. A pique of interest in his eyes became evident as he turned to me, his hands clenched in front of him. Sasuke snorted and I glanced back at him with warning eyes. He raised his brow at me, as if to ask what I would do. As I pushed on, I painted a smile on my face and continued my explanation, injecting a bit of dramatic flair into my next sentence.
"Yes, the forever noodle. A traditional way of consuming ramen would be to slurp it down with continuous suction... Is that right?"
"Right!"
"When you discover the forever noodle, you want to savor it, but you also do not want to lose it. It's better not to move too fast, as your teeth might accidentally cut into it. In order to enjoy the noodles to their fullest, you need to adjust the amount of suction power you're using as you're slurping." His eyes shone with realization as I finished.
"Oh, so I have to be careful not to suck too hard? That's my favorite part!" My lips pressed into a thin line as I fought off an ill-timed and inappropriate joke.
"That's what she said, idiot." Sasuke deadpanned. "Not that you have any experience..."
Did Sasuke just? Noo, there's no way! As I laughed from the bottom of my heart, I couldn't stop. A comeback was impossible for Naruto, who pouted and glared at Sasuke.
And the way he said it!
"Yes, that's exactly what I said." Having stopped laughing, I gently wiped away the tear that had gathered at the edge of my eye and sighed contently.
"Well then..." As he muttered, Kakashi's tone indicated disbelief. "Seeing that you were so quick to master tree climbing, why don't you try it first, Sakura?"
As everyone stared at me, I bit the inside of my lip, feeling awkward at being the center of attention. Then I turned and walked to the pond, staring down at its dark depths. Despite my reluctance, I begrudgingly pulled off my shirt, getting down to my purple cami and black mesh undershirt. Tossing my maroon shirt onto the grass, I stepped away from the soft, wet earth along the bank of the pond.
The good news is I knew this was going to happen and dressed in a practical outfit. Those lightweight spandex shorts I've been hoarding back home came in handy.
Okay, gotta focus...
Raising my hands into the Ram seal, I conjured chakra and channeled it into the bottom of my feet. Water reflected the faint blue glow of my chakra onto my ninja sandals.
First, gather chakra to the soles of my feet. The ripples produced by my foot touching the water fascinated me. The experience sparked an idea, and I tried out the same technique that I used when practicing my water style.
Inhaling deeply, I pulsed measured chakra into my soles, riding the ripples as they danced from my sandals. A wave pattern forced opposition against the water current, which faltered its flow and disrupted its pattern. With trepidation, I placed more weight on the water and shifted my balance. It was instinct that alarms sounded in my body as I watched my ninja sandal sink a bit deeper, telling me I was about to fall deeply below the surface. As my thoughts wandered back to Konoha Lake, I remembered the water prison I had created there, at the training grounds. I shook my head, closing my eyes in attempts at focusing better.
Next, release a set amount continuously, while adjusting it for my body weight...
The cold water crept up to my toes as I leaned all my weight into the first step. Inhaling another deep and calming breath, I fine-tuned my chakra emission rate, waiting for the cold sensation to subside before continuing.
Here goes nothing.
Opening my eyes, I took another step, pausing as my other foot touched the water, repeating the same process. A hesitant smile enlivened my face as I walked forward, increasing my pace until it felt natural. Jogging was something I wanted to try once I got the hang of it.
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S OUR SAKURA-CHAN!" While jumping up and down, Naruto shouted cheers. With confidence and excitement coursing through me, my smile grew.
"Yeah, I did it!" My fist shot into the air as I turned to face my teammates, now oblivious to the state of undress I was in. A bright pink flush spread across the boys' faces, and my cheeks responded in kind. Like a stone, I sank under the surface of the water when my focus slipped.
Gasping was an automatic reflex that took some effort to resist. After I was submerged, the muscles in my arms and legs kicked in to lift me back up. My head rose above the water a few seconds later to see Naruto and Sasuke standing at the edge of the pond. As their shirts were thrown aside, they landed close to mine. They glared at each other as their hands formed the Ram sign. A strong chakra glow emanated from both pairs of sandals.
Too strong.
The pair raised their legs in synchrony, stretching them over the water, exuding overconfidence as their sandals descended towards the water.
Oh, no.
First, Naruto's chakra control slipped, causing him to sink waist deep below the water, prompting a brief yell of surprise.
In Sasuke's case, he had the knack for it. He was only submerged to his knees in the water.
And the race is on.
From the center of my palm, I radiated my chakra back up over the surface of the water. Upon repeating the process with my other hand and my knees, I began to float securely above the water again.
Hoisting myself out of the water using water feels so... alien.
The pink ribbon on the other side of the pond caught my eye, the ends of it flying in the breeze.
Naturally, I got mine first, and tied it around my right arm afterwards. Despite the fact that I was there, I continued to practice. Repetition is the key to training so that the exercise becomes second nature. I continued walking for another couple of hours, but eventually ran out of stamina. Seeing the clouds float by, I sat back on the grass next to Kakashi and gazed up at the sky. My sleep was lulled by the wind and the occasional sound of a page turning.
So maybe I wasn't 100% after all.
My impromptu nap had ended, but Kakashi was not among the people I woke up to. Probably left us to our own devices since Tazuna still needed to work on the bridge. He was the best candidate for guard duty while we trained. After rolling on my side, I searched for my teammates, who were still in the water.
Considering their stamina, it's not surprising I was the first to stop. Or that they're still going.
What did surprise me was that Naruto was the second to get his ribbon. It was missing from the stick. He still seemed to struggle with adjusting to new wave patterns, his ankles and knees sinking back into the water each time the wind picked up and roared through the trees, dancing across the water. My eyes wandered over to find the lone Uchiha, who still struggled the most with this technique.
He's been knee deep in the water for a long time...
Naruto was no help, gloating and rubbing it in Sasuke's face each time he passed him by, walking laps around the entire pond. In response, Sasuke further sank, making him even more frustrated. That would grate on anyone's nerves.
Sasuke managed to get the water up to his ankles every now and then. But every time Naruto passed, his control slipped and he became agitated again.
Naruto's decision to go back to Tsunami's for breakfast later was not surprising to me. I imagined his constant exertion and the amount of chakra and stamina he had were the real reasons he ate so much. Sasuke was still standing at the edge of the pond, his bare back soaked. There was no way to tell whether it was drenched in sweat or water.
"Are you coming, Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked me as he put on his shirt. Not wanting to give the wrong impression, I kept my eyes averted. "If you want, I can bring something back for you."
"I'm persevering, Naruto," I replied, offering him a smile as he put on his ninja sandals. We'd all taken them off after 20 minutes of practice earlier. Wet sandals weren't too comfortable to train in the long term. "So don't worry about that. Tell Tsunami I'll eat a big lunch to make up for it."
"Alright, then!" After a brief silence, Naruto cast a satisfied smile at Sasuke as he set off on the hike back to Tsunami. Since there were limited food supplies, she couldn't cook every meal for us, but she insisted that we eat something at every meal time.
She reminded me of Sakura's mother.
I walked over to Sasuke, standing a bit apart from him so as not to intrude into his personal space. As I stood on the water beside him, he pretended like I wasn't there, staring at his bare feet with his jaw set. With his biggest distraction's departure, he was staying ankle-deep in the water now.
With Naruto absent, he can focus on his work. There must be some bruises on his ego after this training session...
In a state of patience, I kneeled down and placed my palm on the water in order to practice making shapes with it. The rest of the team wasn't aware of it, but Sasuke was. When he found me at my training spot that one night, he started training there more often, so he eventually saw it.
"We'll train together tonight."
"Oh, we will, huh?"
"It would be annoying if my new teammate accidentally drowned themselves."
He deserves my gratitude for not bringing it up openly with others.
I smiled and pulsated the chakras in my palm differently as I thought about the memory. As opposed to trying to make it float, I visualized a star in my mind. My hand slowly rose as I adjusted the pulses to a more pronounced pattern. The water gathered a small distance away from my palm as it pulled up like fluid ribbons from below.
"You've gotten faster." The tone of Sasuke's voice was tinged with a sense of honest exhaustion as he spoke. My eyes did not leave the glistening water in front of me even as I tilted my head toward him. As the last drops of water were absorbed into the completed star, I lifted my gaze to him.
That didn't take long.
"Learning water walking helped. I was mimicking wave patterns before when I should have created a current."
"I'm not sure what you mean by that." My surprise was hidden behind a hum, giving me time to formulate the right response.
This is the sort of thing that is taught at the Academy, right? Maybe not... I don't remember reading anything about it in the journals.
"Waves don't always travel in the same direction as the current." Sasuke was not as successful at hiding his surprised expression, so I continued explaining. "They share some key causes but their effects differ. There are differences in how ocean and lake water work, too. I haven't felt ocean water yet, though."
Kakashi knows the densities differ. We should be practicing in the ocean.
"So what are the causes?"
"Wave patterns are normally caused by wind blowing in the water, which moves energy through the water. Currents are caused by wind, too, but also by gravity, temperature, depth..."
We fell into a short silence as my voice trailed off, my star of water splashing back down to its original source. I wiped the palm of my hands on my shorts, drying them.
"The fact that you're a fire style user probably makes it more difficult for you to adjust your chakra to water." I speculated, rising up to stand.
Among his affinities are fire and lightning. The wind energy in the water would be felt by Naruto. And water is one of mine...
"Aah." Following a few more moments of silence, Sasuke agreed, his eyes closing. My lips twitched in a frown at his troubled expression.
He's been trying to come to terms with it for a while now.
"What if I showed you how I form it?" His eyes opened again as I spoke and shifted to the side. In spite of his neutral face, he looked thoughtful at the idea.
"How would you go about doing that?" Sasuke asked me, turning his full attention to me now. My body responded in kind.
"Give me your hands." My hands reached out to him, palms facing upward, as I spoke in a no-nonsense tone. My eyes stayed locked on his, not daring to stray down to his bare chest.
"My hands?" His brow raised. "You're joking, right? It's water walking."
"It's not just walking." Rolling my eyes, I reached out and grabbed Sasuke's hands, pulling him from the water and over to some dry grass. I held our hands between us, not missing the rigidity of his posture or the way his hands were limp against mine as I stared at them.
"Are you able to feel my chakra?" Getting to the point, I began emitting short and constant bursts of chakra from the middle of my palms. The tips of his fingers twitched against my wrist, then slowly lowered. Our palms were flush against each other as he tightened his grip.
"Yeah." The aura of Sasuke's chakra flared against my own as he answered quietly. The shock and warmth it brought to me did not deter me from continuing.
"From what I've seen of your practice, you are able to manipulate your chakra to match the currents because they are more consistent and predictable."
"There's a rhythm to it." As I glanced up at him, he nodded, his eyes focused on our hands.
"Exactly. What you're facing trouble with is wave patterns. These disturbances create temporary disruptions of the water's natural flow."
"It should feel like two distinct rhythms when you touch the water. As an analogy, think of it as a piano. It is water itself that makes up the keys on a piano. The current is the chords..." As I struggled to continue with the short bursts in my left palm, I trailed off. The reason for this is that my right palm started emitting sharper, more random pulses of chakra simultaneously.
"The wave patterns then compose the melody." It took Sasuke some time to synchronize his chakra rhythm with mine. Since I had picked a melody from one of my favorite songs from my world, forgetting the rhythm wasn't an issue. When he had it down, I slowly pushed against his palms until resistance returned.
"Playing the piano requires pressure on the keys, right? The ripples you create in the water are your touchpoints. Your body weight will act as an additional force against the water that you must account for." The external flow of my chakra stopped and I pulled my hands away. I ushered him toward the water and watched Sasuke raise his hands into the Ram seal with tired, hopeful eyes.
Taking time to adjust his chakra, he placed his foot on the surface of the water and held it for a minute. As he put all of his weight on his foot, he pushed off the bank of the pond with the other.
"Hn..." He smirked, gazing down at his feet, which for the first time ever had successfully stayed on top of the water. My grin spread across my face as I walked slowly with him towards his ribbon, looking at the satisfaction on his face. Before we turned around, he tied it around his right arm, like I did with mine.
When we got to the middle, he suddenly sank down to his knees and grabbed my arm with both hands out of reflex. With my free hand under his elbow, I helped him up to the surface, leaning down a bit. He eventually regained control of his chakra flow after a brief period of time.
"I'm not completely useless." I said quietly after he released his hold on my arm, more to myself than to him, as he took a few steps on his own. Seeing his improvement brought a smile to my face.
"I don't think you're useless." Sasuke paused and turned his head to look at me. There was confusion on his face as he furrowed his brows.
"I can understand your anxiety." I stared at Sasuke with wide eyes. Upon hearing his voice for the second time, his mouth had not moved.
What's going on?
"No, you're not like me. You're strong, Sasuke."
The sensation of the world turning upside down froze me to my core as I heard Sakura's voice echo in my head. In addition to dizziness, my vision became blurry as I tried to focus on Sasuke.
"Am I wrong?" The question Sasuke asked sounded familiar to me.
"Am I wrong?" As the voice of the other Sasuke boomed in my mind, I clenched my eyes in pain and put my hands over my ears. Closed eyes did not lessen the overwhelming sensation of my vision whiting out into green.
My face was downcast as I kneeled on the grass. I felt my hair shorten and become lighter, letting a cool breeze pass against my neck.
When I fell to my knees into the water, my chakra wavered against my command as I instantly sank to waist level.
"No!" Opening my eyes, I cried out in fear as my vision of the present world began to diminish, and I sank deeper, above my chest. As I felt the cold water bite my skin, time seemed to slow down.
I had my headband in its usual place, firmly secured through my hair to keep it from getting in my face. The fear twisting inside my chest caused my hands to clench shut.
There is a certain doom for the Uchiha who unlocks those eyes.
The moment I was thrown back into my surroundings, my arms flew up as I reached blindly for something to grab onto. My body betrayed me once again that day and began shaking as memories of drowning heaved over me, weighing heavily on my chest.
As a dark cloaked figure approached me, I looked up at him. The man was Sasuke, but he was older, taller.
"Sakura!" While I sank beneath the surface, Sasuke's shadow began to fall over me, his voice muffled by the water rising over my head. The moment he reached out for my hand, my vision quickly clouded over with darkness as I was thrown back into vivid memories.
A few wrinkles were beginning to appear around his onyx eyes, his left one being covered by a longer, tamer hairstyle. The frown on his face was evident as he offered me his hand.
Where is my mind right now?
"I don't think you're weak." Taking in his words, I stared at his hand for a moment before slowly grasping it. "Besides, back then, we were all like-"
My hands were firmly grasped by Sasuke's, and I could feel his grip tightening as he pulled me from the water and out of the memory.
After gripping my hand tightly, the older Sasuke pulled me up from the ground. At the same time, he seemed to slip further and further away, the light around him distorting. The next words he spoke reverberated throughout my head.
When I broke the surface of the water and sucked in deep, greedy breaths of fresh air, the memories slowed to a halt.
" . . . ?"
Sasuke's voice was pitched, panic rising as his ankles began to sink. "Sakura, you need to focus." he urged.
Hyperventilating, I focused on my multiplying vision of him to try and overcome the overwhelming sensation of vertigo.
I don't understand.
"Sakura! Dammit!" Sasuke cursed, letting go of the idea of walking on water as he began to swim, pulling me along with him.
Why do I keep seeing things?
Feeling things, that aren't here?
After getting us to the shore, he dragged me up onto the grass.
What do they mean? Why do I keep seeing things?
"This isn't... real..." Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I gasped for air, sitting up on the grass. "Get me out... Of..."
"Out?" He questioned, kneeling down beside me, but I avoided his gaze. "You're out of the water now, Sakura."
Why am I here?
"My head..." I admitted, trying to hold my breath, to stop the gasps. I raised my hands to my teary eyes, rubbing them away harshly in my embarrassment before they could fall. My hands were pushed down as Sasuke leaned closer to me. We made eye contact for the first time since I had been submerged.
It's you.
"You have to breathe." The lack of air had left my head feeling light as I turned away from him. And I felt nothing but shame as I sucked in another trembling breath.
It's always you, seeing me like this.
A strong hold was placed around my shoulders, forcing me to turn back to him. As I raised my hands, I tried to push him away from me, closing my eyes tightly.
"I'm not leaving you. You can take your time." At his words, I raised my wide eyes to his again, my breath caught in my throat for a moment.
"But you can't hide, this is reality." The expression on his face was one of understanding and recognition. As if he knew exactly what I was going through. And he proved that he did, with his next words. "You have to breathe with me."
"The more you fight it, the more you're going to choke." A deep, audible breath was taken in through his noise, held in briefly. Then slowly released from his mouth, demonstrating the pattern.
"Breathe in." His expectant eyes were trained on me as he ordered me to repeat the process. My nose was congested with tears as I sniffled a quick, short breath. Almost immediately, it came out of my mouth, and I exhaled another shuddering gasp.
He did this for me once, too... The boy back home.
"Breathe out." Nonplussed that I was having trouble following along, he breathed the word.
"Breathe in..."
. . .
"Out."
"In..."
. . .
"Out."
Over and over, he repeated those words until I stopped gasping. Whenever my mind wandered back to the disturbing vision that almost brought me to death, I had to focus on the sound of his voice and breathing.
He repeated the words until my tears dried up.
Until I could keep up with his own breaths.
"In..." Inhaling deeply with him, I paused as we held the breath.
"Out..." We both exhaled slowly from our mouths, breaths mingling lightly.
When Sasuke was satisfied that I was able to breathe on my own, he stopped speaking, a short silence falling over us as we kept looking at each other. He hadn't released his hold on my shoulders yet.
"Are you okay?"
"Better now." I mumbled, resisting the urge to turn my neck and look away again.
"What happened?" Sasuke questioned, tone light as he seemed to be searching my eyes for answers. Answers that I couldn't give to him yet.
Some answers, I didn't even have to tell.
"I don't know, Sasuke... It was like I was here, but somewhere else at the same time." I finally spoke, offering him the small amount of truth that I could. "I'm sorry you had to deal with... all of this. You were finally getting somewhere with your training."
His lips tugged downward and he slowly released my shoulders, eyes lingering over my right one.
"We all got our ribbons today, I'll call it good at that. Let's go back to Tsunami's." Sasuke stood, pointing between my right arm and his, where we had tied our ribbons. He walked over to our shirts, collecting them from the ground. With some effort, I raised from the ground with shaky legs, eyes downcast.
This is becoming a serious problem. Sasuke knows this is related to the things I can't tell him. He would have pushed for more answers if he didn't think that. How am I going to explain this? How long is he going to be patient with me?
My internal conflict was interrupted by a flash of maroon flying at my face. The shirt fell from my face, landing in my hands. I looked up to see Sasuke, now with a shirt on, smirking at me with amusement.
"For the record, I wouldn't have dealt with it if I didn't want to. Remember, it goes both ways, Sakura." My eyes widened as he turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets. He began walking towards the path leading to the house. His voice was softer, harder to hear, when he spoke next. "Flowers open up eventually... Right?"
A flush of warmth rose to my face as I processed what he had said, eyes following him as he walked away. I shook my head, snapping out of it and pulling my shirt on when he reached the edge of the forest. I hurried to catch up with him, my arms falling to cross behind my back as I fell into step beside him.
Chancing a glance at him, the first thing I saw was the corner of his mouth quirk up, the second was him looking back at me.
"I didn't forget..." I grumbled, my eyes darting off to the other side in my embarrassment of being caught.
"Hn, sure." He replied, his tone suggesting that he didn't believe me.
We fell into another one of our usual comfortable silences as we continued up the path, interrupted only by our stomachs growling in unison.