The kunai knives and shurikens had clashed with a couple of clunking noises being made, whereas each of them kept throwing punches and kicks without backing down. They still weren't able to use their ninjutsu, nor even summon a weapon or an animal. They had to fight physically which they were not used to.
As for Lee, he is very skilled with his taijutsu and can take out their enemies by attacking them with his most common technique; the Primary Lotus. Neji and Hinata, both also possessed the kind of powers they hold since they've been trained hard by their fathers. The Hyuga bloodline is absolutely powerful because of the vision and chakra circulatory system, similar to Uchiha, Uzumaki, and other clans.
Choji, Kiba, and Kankuro continued to pummel Mingyu on the front and back. Shino and Sai had to create a human slingshot, using clothing for Ino to jump and land her foot on top of Raki. She beat him up so rapidly and gave him scratches on the side of his face because of her long nails and blew a sleeping powder to make him dizzy.
Contrarily, Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, and Hinata had been throwing other tiny metal spike blades across Hara and Zanchi, who were avoiding them all at once. However, the two rogue ninjas still received cuts on their arms.
By distracting them, they decided to pull out colorful smoking bombs, whereas the dark-haired ninja reminded Naruto and Hinata that he will be the one to search for Gaara and Sakura.
"We'll see you guys later!" The seventh Hokage said loudly.
"Be careful!" Hinata added in.
"Same goes to you too," Sasuke replied back and escaped from the battle. He then tries to activate his Mangekyo Sharingan to find them, but he isn't able to. He scowled and decided to run as fast as he could to pass the tree shrubs and hopped from the uneven rocks.
"Damn… If only those bastards didn't get in my way, I would've been with Sakura right now…" His fists were clenching firmly and keeping his focus towards the front. His eyes began to darken and didn't want to let any thoughts or ideas get through his mind.
Meanwhile for Temari and Shikamaru, the explosion had them perturbed as they both were hurrying themselves over to where it was taking place.
"Did you hear that?" She asked suspiciously.
"Sounds like trouble," he stated the obvious.
"We need to make sure they are all safe," Temari noted.
"Trust me. They are. They can handle things on their own," Shikamaru said.
"Not for Sakura in her condition," Temari pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it, but don't worry… I'm sure her friends are with her. The more we panicked, the more the situation will get worse," Shikamaru murmured reassuringly.
"It already is," she said, then was running at a faster pace ahead of him.
"Aye, woman," Shikamaru sighed with a mumble and plainly shook his head to go catch up with her.
Through the depths of the forest lies beyond the ancient roots of every tree that were known to be rare. The flowers and plants have been altering in different seasons, and some have bloomed faster than the others while the rest are withering.
For Gaara and Sakura, they were both mesmerized in awe of the majority of the fireflies swarming the area, so they stopped for a moment to notice a huge tree, just a few kilometres away.
"Where are we now?" She asked blankly.
"I don't know. I've never seen something so alluring," he uttered.
"Wait… I think I recognized this place…" the pink-haired kunoichi murmured as her eyes glistened back and forth and pointed, saying. "The dream that I had before…"
The red-haired Kazekage was staring at her softly and curled his lips half-heartedly. "We should go ahead and see for ourselves."
"Hmm," Sakura hummed in response.
Then, he took her hand as he was leading their way towards the tree. They jumped onto the stones in the water where the fishes are swimming.
In just a split second, a bright, huge creature flashed right before them with its teeth growling viciously, alarming them at a shocking rate.
They can only guess what it is; the White Wolf.
"Step back," Gaara warned as he held his arm out.
"I can fight it," Sakura intervened.
"No, you cannot. This is menacing," he pointed out.
The white wolf continued to growl as it wagged its own tail and changed its eye color into a glowing red one. As soon as it hovered in the air to pounce with its claw, the sand quickly blocked its attack. Thus, the wolf was pushed off to the side, but made a backflip and stood firmly on the ground.
"It's going to prance back at us," Gaara said, then he lifted his hand up to form a cafe, surrounding it with a couple of thorns. "There, now it won't let loose-"
All of a sudden, the wolf broke out to claw his paws towards him, scarring his arm.
He cried out painfully as he staggered a little until Sakura huddled him closely and smacked the wolf's lower stomach in a slow motion.
"Cha!" She exclaimed when she saw the creature fly off, but was able to stand again.
This time, the wolf's body enlarged as its fur transformed into spikes. The teeth were gnashing strongly and began to bleed between them.
Gaara was trying to get up on his feet, but fell back with an arduous grunt. "Ugh…"
"Don't force yourself. Your wound will worsen," Sakura recalled and gazed at the wolf that was about to charge. She walked five steps and halted as she clenched her fists.
The wolf began to howl and opened the mouth to absorb the black aura into an enigmatic ball, full of molecules.
Once it was shooting longingly, the pink-haired kunoichi closed her eyes for a moment and slightly stretched her fingertips calmly before tightened her fist. The defense barrier took shape all over them, which struck the ball out in explosion.
The wolf was dashing at a faster speed and tried to bite and lacerate it. Sakura reopened her bright-green pupils as she burst into a fury of outrage, instantly pounding the creature with just one single blow.
Thus, it whimpered as soon as its whole body began to dissipate in dust, much to Gaara's stupefaction.
"It's gone…" he mumbled quietly and got up while holding onto his wounded arm.
The pink-haired kunoichi was panting breathlessly in a shallow tone of her voice and regained her posture. The two of them began to notice that their surroundings were lighting up in every corner where all the plants and flowers were.
"Thank you," a female voice spoke delicately that alerted them to turn around.
"You are-" Sakura gaped her mouth in realization.
"Yes, it's me," she replied.
"Serulata…" her eyes glistened happily at the Sacred Tree and continued on. "You are not a dream. You are real."
"That's right. I'm glad you found me and I couldn't thank you enough for defending this place and restoring the power back to us," Serulata stated.
"Hold on. Does that mean we can…" Gaara trailed off of his words.
"Hmm. You all now have the access to your chakra," Serulata concluded.
"That explains why I was able to use my sand," he chuckled and groaned at the pain that was occurring in his arm with a hiss. "Ah…"
"Come a bit closer, so I can see. Please raise your arm up," Serulata instructed.
Gaara nodded and approached her, whereas Sakura was assisting him. Then, his wound started to heal promptly, reducing the lines of the three scratches. It was an extraordinary type of cure that they both haven't seen.
"You are lucky that she is with you. Otherwise, you would be alone and lost," Serulata informed him.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't wish for more than having her here," Gaara smiled at her, with whom she did the same thing.
"I do not think this is a coincidence. You two end up by fate, even I do not know of. Again, I sincerely thank you, young lovers, for saving me and my fellow friends," Serulata said pleasantly.
"Young lovers?" The pink-haired kunoichi repeated out loud.
"Yes, dear. You may not remember it now, but sooner you will. Anyway, I shall bless you both with a prayer," Serulata noted as she releases a couple of flower petals above the tree, reciting an incantation.
The two ninjas stared at the power in amazement as the energy was flowing around them immensely.
"Anyway, I leave you all now in good hands. Best of luck," she said and dozed off peacefully after nature was back to its original embodiment.
"Yay! You did it!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping for joy and hugging him.
"No, we did it," Gaara corrected and embraced her.
She then let go and faltered a little as she looked away shyly at her recent action towards him. "So… are we really together?"
"That depends on what you think, but I know the answer…" he said and touched her hands before he leaned in to kiss her passionately, which made her heart beat skip.
She reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his neck without even thinking of letting go. She knew that the moment felt right here with him.
TO BE CONTINUED...