Chapter 8 ---- The Camp

Two weeks later, Sasuke was fully recovered from his injures. The bruises no longer hurt and the cuts on his face had healed.

It was mid-May. The school had initiated a bonding camp for the first year students. The camp was at Konoha Camp Site. The weather was to be clear and beautiful that weekend on which the camp was planned to be. Everyone was excited and the classroom during recess was full of chats about the camp since the groups were to be announced soon.

After lunch, the groups were posted on the hallway bulletin board. Sasuke went out to the hallway and saw a huge crowd in front of the bulletin board.

"I guess I'll check it after school," Sasuke thought.

Sasuke came back to his seat.

"Sasuke-kun, did you see the list, yet?" Sakura turned to him and asked.

"Uh…No. There were too many people," Sasuke answered. He could not help looking at her eyes.

"Oh. Do you want to check it with me after school?" Sakura said.

Sasuke was surprised, but said, "Ok."

Naruto had his face down on his desk as if he was sleeping, but he was actually listening to the conversation and was smiling.

"Naruto-kun..," Hinata came to Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto raised his head.

"We're in the same group," Hinata smiled.

"Oh are we? Fun! Who else?"

Sasuke listened closely still facing the front.

"Tenten and Shikamaru," Hinata answered.

Sasuke was relieved to hear it.

After the next class, Sasuke went to his locker to get a text book out. When he was coming back to his classroom, he passed by the group list. As he was passing by them, he shot a glance at it and doubted his eyes. He stopped and took a closer look at it. It said, "Group 4: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino." Sasuke looked around and went into the classroom. He sat down in his seat. His heart was beating fast. He could not believe it. It was supposed to be random members. He did not expect Sakura, his usual academic partner, to be in the same group.

After school, Sakura and Sasuke went to the list to check it out.

While Sakura was searching for her name, Sasuke stood next to her like a stick, waiting nervously for her to find their name.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura turned to him.

Sasuke looked at her.

"Have you already found your name?" Sakura sked.

"Um," Sasuke pretended like he was looking at the list.

"I found it! You're in my group!" Sakura exclaimed and smiled excitedly.

Sasuke blushed as Sakura looked happy.

Friday came. In the morning, the students gathered in the school yard for attendance and then got on the buses. The ride was about forty minutes long. Once all the busses arrived at the camp site, the students and the teachers broke up into their groups and headed to their of the camp sites.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino, led by Mr. Hatake arrived at their camp site. Mr. Hatake took out two tents for them to set up.

"Here, I'll give you the directions. You follow and set them up. It's easy," Mr. Hatake said.

Four of them set up the tests next to each other. They were nice tests with thick clothes and stability. Mr. Hatake and Sasuke were to sleep in one of them and the other one was for Sakura and Ino.

"All right. We have some free time," Mr. Hatake said.

"Can we go anywhere we want to?" Ino asked him.

"As long as you go with at least one of your group members, you may," Mr. Hatake answered.

"Sasuke, do you want to go with me?" Ino asked Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Sakura.

Mr. Hatake noticed Sasuke's worried expression and said, "Why don't you all go together?"

"Yeah, that'll be good. After all, this is a bonding activity anyway," Sakura smiled.

Three of them started off into the woods. They had some good conversations. While they were walking on the trails, they ran into Neji's group. Sakura looked at him and he looked at her, too. Sasuke observed the awkward eye contacts and were worried to his stomach. Neji gave Sasuke a look. They passed each other and went on. Sakura was quiet for a while. Sasuke shot glances at Sakura frequently. It seemed that Sakura's feelings for Neji had not been terminated by the incident quite completely.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino went back to their camp site after about half and hour. The next activity was water rafting. The three followed Mr. Hatake to the river, which was about five minutes from their tents.

"Water rafting is not that difficult. It requires coordination and cooperation and there are also some importations things to keep in mind. First, do not try to breathe under water. Second, do not try to stand up in the water. You are supposed to put your legs up if you fall into the water," Mr. Hatake instructed.

The professional arrived and he started teaching the three how to ride a raft. They all wore a helmet and life-saving vest. Sakura was excited to see the clear water and the bubbles created as the water ran over the rocks. After thirty minutes of instruction, the three were ready to go water rafting on the water.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino got on the raft and set off. As they paddled, they looked at the instructor and Mr. Hatake. They were nodding, meaning the paddling was proper. They started going down the stream. The group's coordination was perfect. They avoided each obstacle and went down the stream smoothly. However, after about three minutes, Ino suddenly jumped up and screamed as she spotted an arachnid crawling on Sasuke's shoulder. This rocked the raft and Sakura fell into the water. Sasuke tried to grab Sakura's wrist but she was submerged into the water by the tumbling water. Ino watched Sasuke worriedly. The shores were about ten meters apart.

"Ino, go back to the shore and get some help!" Sasuke instructed her with straight eyes.

"Ok," Ino agreed.

Sasuke jumped into the water and swam for Sakura. The turbulent water kept pulling him underwater.

"Sakura!" Sasuke was desperate to reach her. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Sakura by the wrist. As they were pulled underwater, Sasuke pulled Sakura over and held her securely. Sasuke tried to go up to the surface but the hanging belt of Sakura's life-saving vest got stuck between the rocks. He looked at Sakura. She was struggling for the air. Sasuke took out his knife and cut the belt lose. As they were carried away, Neji spotted them and started running along the shore. The rapid part of the stream was over and the water started to become calm. Sasuke held Sakura up so that she could breathe. He swam for the shore.

Sasuke pushed Sakura up onto the land and he came out of the water. Sakura was unconscious.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Sasuke called her name. He touched her cheeks and it was cold. He took off her life-saving vest and put her down flat on the ground. Sakura needed CPR. Sasuke did not know how. He panicked.

"Sakura! Hey! Sakura!" Sasuke tried calling her name again.

At that moment, Neji came running to them.

"What are you doing! CPR! She needs CPR!" Neji yelled at Sasuke.

Neji got down on his knees and started performing CPR on Sakura. Sasuke stood behind Neji, helplessly. He gripped his fist tightly against his thigh and could do nothing but watch and pray. He was ashamed of himself.

Sakura started coughing.

Neji moved away and Sasuke came forward.

"Are you ok, Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

"…?" Sakura stared at Sasuke and Neji in puzzlement. Then her eyes widened. She got up and looked at Neji. He was standing right next to her.

"He saved your life," Sasuke said solemnly.

Sakura looked at Neji. Neji's cheeks looked red. He turned his face away and stood up. He started walking away.

"Neji," Sakura coughed a few times.

Neji stopped and looked at her from the corner on his eyes.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled weakly.

"Sakura!" Ino and the rescuers were coming.

Neji walked away.

The rescuers arrived and wrapped Sakura in a blanket.

"Sasuke-kun. He jumped into the water for me," Sakura thought. She looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled sadly and followed the group.

Author Note: I hope you enjoyed this episode. It is bitter. The story will continue on! Please let me hear what you think!