Chapter II
Sakura's words echoed in her mind as she felt Naruto's grip tighten around her. She leaned her head away from his, listening to the rustling of the leaves, desperately trying to identify the sound of footsteps approaching in the distance.
Her pulse quickened as the realization of the situation hit her: they were being ambushed, and she didn't know from which direction. Was it the Akatsuki? She wanted to tell Naruto he could put her down, but fear halted her words, freezing her in place. The forest seemed much darker to her now. The once cloudless sky that soothed her transformed into her enemy, the darkness now shrouding the fiends who hunted them in the night, a pure nothingness all around her like a meadow without flowers.
"Good job you two, you pass." The loud banging of her heart inside her chest made it hard to discern Kakashi's voice. Hold on..
"KAKASHI-SENSEI, DID YOU TRICK US?" She couldn't hold back her fury, transforming it instead into as thunderous of a shout she could muster. Her throat felt raw as she heard his chuckle from across the trees, the devilish sound bouncing around the silence of the forest.
"Wait a minute…" Naruto had caught on now, "Why would you do that to us, Kakashi-sensei?!" He still hadn't put Sakura down yet, his unusually loud voice sounding like a siren in her ears.
"Naruto, ow," Sakura put her hands to her ears, "Can you put me down now?"
"What?" Naruto blushed, "Sorry, Sakura-chan!" He jumped off the tree with her still in his arms and quickly placed her gently on her feet before he yelled again "Wait a minute, I'm still pretty confused here. You told me you heard something in the distance when.. You…" The pace of Naruto's sentence had slowed down significantly at the end, the slow realization of the sensei's game rattling his brain.
"That's right, Naruto," Kakashi stated smugly, "I told you I heard something in the distance when I woke up. Except I didn't." Kakashi shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you both were done playing games on this mission." The sensei's voice lost its playful tune. Sakura and Naruto both gulped. "This might be only a C-rank mission, which I know doesn't seem very important to you both," He eyed them dangerously, "But it is important. You must always stay vigilant, no matter how easy the mission may seem to you. Do you understand?"
"YES, SENSEI!"
"SORRY, KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
Naruto and Sakura clamorously spouted apology after apology as Kakashi smiled at them both lightly. He felt bad abusing their trust in him, but years of training had taught him that sometimes light deceit was the only way to get through to your teammates.
As Sakura and Naruto wrapped up their sniffing, Kakashi started to pack up the campsite. "Okay," he announced, "Now that we are all centered on the mission again, it's time to get going."
The Water Temple Village was surrounded by rivers. Sakura noted that the village was very well defended. There were only two main entrances to the village, including the bridge they were now crossing, and the lengthy staircase that connected to the river beachfront on the East side of the village. The river was large enough to be mistaken for a lake to undiscerning eyes, wrapping around the entirety of the village and going on for another to four miles in every direction.
"Wow!" Naruto's breathless whisper caught her attention. "I know, it's beautiful." Sakura replied.
"Yeah.. it is." Naruto was looking at Sakura now. She caught his glance in her peripheral vision. She felt her cheeks flush slightly as the realization hit her. Was he talking about her? Sakura balled her hand into a fist, ready to knock Naruto straight into the river below, when he lightly grabbed her other hand and ran forward with her. She had a hard enough time getting him to stand near her again as it was, let alone touch her, so she decided to cut him a break just this one, final time. Besides, he was obviously talking about the village. No need to overthink it.
"Come on, Sakura!" Naruto giddily exclaimed, "Last one to the Temple has to buy the other ramen!" With that, he dropped her hand, letting it brush against the fabric of her black shorts with a dull thud. She watched him get further away, the daylight shining on his honey hair, his tanned skin soaking in the light, her skin feeling hot underneath the beating rays. She felt open, exposed. Where the sun suited Naruto, it made her feel mismatched and crestfallen, like he was her golden shield and without him she was open to an enemy attack.
What am I thinking? Sakura broke into a light jog, knowing Naruto would make her pay regardless of if she beat him to the Temple or not. This is Naruto we're talking about here!
"Please, no running!" Kakashi exclaimed as Naruto dashed past him, the warm breeze following suit, running through the sensei's argent hair. The three of them made their way towards the Temple Village, passing various merchants and restaurants along the way. The bright, early morning light of the sun reflected off small trinkets in a shop window, casting a rainbow of color onto Sakura's cheek. She slowed her pace slightly, taking in the various coins, gems, and rings in the shop window.
Naruto noticed her footsteps fall off from behind the group and glanced back towards his teammate and watched her cherry blossom colored hair fall over her face, the way the sun radiated off her like a mirrorball. To him, she was beauty incarnate. He walked over to her, drawn in like a moth to a flame, and followed her gaze towards a silver-banded ring with an oval morganite gemstone, the color just slightly paler than Sakura's hair. The gem was surrounded by small, moissanite stones, the morning sunlight illuminating them at the perfect angle, creating a rainbow effect that shone all around in a symphony of colors.
"I said no shopping." Kakashi's voice was unusually frustrated and tired now as he glanced towards his two students. They looked up at him, jerked away from their window-shopping and came towards him, silently.
"Sorry, Sensei." Sakura mumbled. Why do I feel so distracted today? This isn't like me at all. Stupid Naruto. It's all his fault. Sakura cast the blame towards her teammate in her mind throughout the rest of their short walk, until they were greeted at the Water Temple gate doors.
"Aha! My good friends from The Leaf, thank you very much for traveling all this way." The man bowed before them, snapping Sakura out of her distracted haze, catching on to her duty as a Ninja of the Leaf. They had a mission to do. No more distractions.
"I am so sorry for our delay." Kakashi replied, his voice diligent. "We ran into a small hiccup on the way here." He glared towards his students, too quickly for the man to take note, before he smiled back at him apologetically through his mask.
"Not at all! You are right on time. We expected nothing less of such fine Ninja as yourselves." He smiled towards the group as he gestured, "Please! Come inside. We have breakfast waiting for you all. I'm sure you're hungry from the journey. We wanted to ensure you were fully rested before this afternoon's escort."
"BREAKFAST? Wow, thanks a lot!" Naruto exclaimed overenthusiastically as he pushed his way forward, entering the Temple and turned to Sakura, flashing her his famous wide-grinned smile and shouted, "Guess ramen is on you when we're home, Sakura!"
"Hey!" Sakura shouted, "That's not fair. We all got here at the same time!"
"Hm, mayyybeeee… but I entered through the door first which means I'm the first one in." And with that, Naruto turned around and followed the man again, Sakura huffing to herself as she followed suit. What a pain in the-
"Sakura is a very pretty name." She heard their host say from up ahead.
"Oh, thank you." She felt her face flush slightly. "I'm sorry. We never asked your name."
"Oh yes, how silly of me to not introduce myself. I'm Makoto. I'm actually Akira's grandfather."
"Ah, so we are to be escorting your granddaughter, then." Kakashi replied.
"Precisely!" Makoto's voice was enthusiastic.
The group all enjoyed a grand breakfast. Sakura couldn't remember the last time she had seen so much food all at once, let alone the last time she had eaten so much! As usual, Naruto had doubled her own portion size. He was still chewing and grabbing any remaining food off the table, ensuring nothing went to waste, surely as a way to not 'insult' their hosts, at least in his mind. Sakura shook her head lightly at the thought. What a dork.
"So," Naruto mumbled through his last bites of eggs, "We're escorting this Akira girl through the forest and to the rendezvous spot. Sounds easy enough."
Sakura elbowed Naruto in the stomach, hard, making him cough as his eggs scrambled around in the back of his throat. "Hey!" Naruto coughed out, "What the hell was that for?!"
"What he meant to say," Sakura stated over her comrade, "Was that we will do our best to ensure Akira's safety to her destination!"
Naruto blushed as the realization hit him. Calling a mission easy in front of the requester certainly wasn't the best turn of phrase he could have used. Luckily, Makoto didn't seem to notice the comment Naruto had made as he was looking past all three of them now towards the hallway as Naruto heard soft footsteps approaching.
"Ah!" Makoto's eyes lit up, "And here she is. Akira, meet the Ninja Team from the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
Naruto turned around and was met with amber eyes looking back into his own. He scanned the girl's pale face, noticed how her soft pink lips protruded slightly as she studied him right back. Her chestnut-colored hair was long, pulled back into a long braid that fell behind her back. Thin strands of hair outlined her face, and she smiled at him before her eyes moved from his to examine the rest of the group.
"Hello, everyone," Her voice was like a bell, crystal clear and sharp, delicate enough to send a wave of excitement through Naruto. Her beauty was the opposite of Sakura's. Where Sakura's beauty was bold and exaggerated, Akira was beautiful in a more subtle way, overtaking him slowly like the transition of green leaves on the trees from summer to fall, the colors slowly changing into deep red, rich brown, and glorious gold until, eventually, the world was surrounded by the warm toned leaves that fell to the cold pavement.
Sakura noticed Naruto's expression as he looked at the girl, saw the blue in his eyes deepen slightly, the way his mouth hung slightly ajar and formed a small 'o' shape, the way his hands had gripped the edge of his collar to adjust it ever so slightly, feeling the warmth torture him and craving even a small bit of relief. This is the way Naruto typically looked at her, and now…
Sakura looked at Akira again. Saw her small frame, her light mahogany hair, her hazel eyes locked on Naruto's, her simple smile, and Sakura felt rage. It bubbled beneath the surface like a witches cauldron, the pressure almost palpable in the air now as Sakura tore her gaze away from the girl to look to her friend, noticing his gaze still locked onto Akira's, and in an instant, Sakura's rage was snuffed out and she was left feeling like a deflated balloon that had served its purpose at the birthday party, now laying on the floor, forgotten, as everyone exited the house towards the next event, the next rush, and she stayed there, lifeless.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading! I am sorry for the delay in uploads. Basically, life is chaotic at the moment and it's harder to get to updating, but I assure you I am hell-bent on finishing this. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Next chapter will hopefully be within the next week, and yes, it will have even more angst than this. This will be a VERY slow-burn, so I hope you're buckled in.