After the countless obstacles and the struggle to climb the rigged ladder, the teams have made it to the top as they were now in front of the wooden altars. They stole glances at one another and nodded in confirmation to place the scrolls on the stand holders. Thus, they automatically activated the power that began to unleash the two twin dragons flying to the sky signaling their finish line.
Shikamaru and Temari whipped their heads with a startling look at the shimmering green light.
"Did they-?"
"Duh! We've gotta go!" She said giddily.
"Man, they're fast," he said exasperatedly as they both hopped onto her fan and flew off into the air.
The others decided to follow along by transporting themselves in a puff of smoke. Eventually, they set their foot on the grass as they witnessed the creatures swirling upwards around the stones. In such awe and admiration, they started applauding their teammates, patting them on the shoulders and their backs.
"Oh my, kunai! Y'all did it! That was top-notched!" Tenten squealed.
"We're proud of you," Hinata said smiling.
"Who would've known that y'all could beat the shit out of those hoolas?" Kiba smirked.
"It's like everything went as smoothly as I thought," Ino stated confidently.
"Wow. You're such a sneaky mind reader," Naruto said.
"It's what I do, duh," Ino pointed out.
"The final round was not as strenuous as it seems," Sai thought.
"Yeah, it looks pretty easy to me, but committing to it isn't," Choji said.
"Actually, it was hard," Neji corrected.
"Really? How did you pass the ladders?" Lee raised his thick eyebrows surprisingly.
"Well, we had to merge our techniques and fuse it to form an adhesive force underneath our sandals," Neji explained simply.
"Ooh, so that's why I felt those chakra strings flowing above my head," Lee gasped in awe.
"Yeah, they were shooting gummy stuff right towards us," Choji tapped his chin with intrigue.
"It was our first time to think of that idea," Shino said.
"That was still awesome, though. Not going to lie," Naruto nodded impressively.
"Thank you very much, Lord Hokage. I'm truly honored to hear that from you," Neji placed his palm on his chest and did a little bow gesture that made the others chuckle.
"What can I say? I'm a man of my words," he said, grinning.
"What about you, guys? Gaara and Sasuke…" Hinata asked in shock.
The dark-haired ninja blinked twice and made a small pause to look at his teammate meticulously.
…
FLASHBACK:
A few minutes later, the two young men were gazing sluggishly at the steep ladder after beating each other up.
"You know, you've done a lot of things that shouldn't have happened. Your presence is irksome," Sasuke affronted.
"Do you really think so? After all, who was the one who committed all the crimes against the people, including her? You're no better…" Gaara retorted, which his teammate huffed ignorantly and looked back at the front view.
They both became silent for a moment until he muttered in a calming manner. "We are just going to reconnect the rope around our wrists. If we don't, our friends will be skeptical about us."
"Alright…" the dark-haired ninja replied in agreement and sighed as he watched him interweaved themselves with four knots.
END OF FLASHBACK
He then began to speak with a composed smile. "We, uhh… both had a struggle with our sweaty grips and tried to take in on a challenge on not using our powers."
"Yes. Sasuke and I did a small negotiation, and learned it the hard way," the red-haired Kazekage stepped in uninhibited manner.
"Uh huh... That would've explained your bruises all over you guys," Kankuro said slowly as he pointed his finger directly at them.
Gaara kept a straight face, saying. "It's a stick-to-itiveness."
"He's right. We came up with that idea," Sasuke slightly chuckled.
"A clever one, I must say," Shikamaru smirked.
"If they say so," Kiba mumbled under his breath, then was nudged by Tenten, who shook her head cautiously, which made him pipe his volume down.
"Anyway, you guys still did a tremendous amount of work, so we will now tally the results…" Shikamaru said.
The teammates gathered in a circle and waited for one of them to resume.
"The first round of Archery, Team 1 earned 4 points and Team 2 also earned 5 points. The second round of Color Coding, both teams earned the same score of 4 points," Temari stated.
"Awww, man. I was hoping we get straight fives," Naruto sulked.
"Don't stress out. It's not over yet," Hinata reassured.
"And now, the winner of the last round of the Mountain Climbing Race is…" Temari said slowly with her eyes gazing between her friends, who were closing their eyes and crossing their fingers for luck. She opened the mini scroll to show them, declaring loudly in pep.
…
…
…
"Team 1!"
Then, the cheering abruptly escalated from their spots, along with their high fives, fist bumps, and leap of joy.
"Ahaha! In your face, Kiba! You owe me ramen!" Naruto hooted and blew raspberries at him.
"Fuck! Why me? Why?!" Kiba growled fumingly and dropped onto his knees, pulling his hairs out in vexation.
"Gee, and I thought that girls are more dramatic than boys," Inner Sakura snorted.
The girls burst out their giggle fits, whereas the others chortled at his expressive behavior.
Sakura, on the other hand, noticed Gaara and Sasuke glaring at each other callously in a subtle way. She guessed that they might have gone through affrays since they were both partnered in the last course.
"The tension between them is unlikely halcyon," the pink-haired kunoichi thought with her eyes glistening anxiously at them.
After handing out the medals to the winners, Shikamaru and Temari flipped the papers and reminded them to get back to their camping site.
Back in the hidden leaf village, Tsunade and the other leaf jounins found out about the enemy's true identity. She was alarmed and a bit distraught that there wasn't a single picture or an abysmal information of the ninja.
"He was part of the Uchiha clan, who went missing for decades and is still alive up to this present day," Kakashi described, much to the others' shock.
"No other Uchiha will survive that long, besides Madara," Iruka pointed out.
"I thought the same too," Guy agreed.
"Looks like there is another survivor left. Anyone can be popping right out of the blue," Kakashi noted.
"What if he's the creature that night of the attack? Again, it almost seems too implausible," Kurenai sighed.
"We can still catch up and make him divulge," Yamato said nonchalantly.
"The Uchiha clan is formidable. To say that they're closest to being normal is insane," Shizune murmured worriedly.
"Who do you think he's after this time?" Guy wondered.
"We don't know for sure. That is why I called you all here for the short meeting because I'm giving you orders. You must travel to the Island where Shikamaru and the others are right now and investigate what's going on there. If there's any suspicious thing on sight, confront it," Tsunade instructed with her hands folded and elbows resting on her desk. "You are dismissed."
The leaf jounins bowed down respectfully and saluted her before they walked out of the door.
Shizune turned to glance at her boss and asked. "Has Orochimaru responded to you in regards to this ninja?"
"Not as of yet. He's been occupied with his lab experiments. He will take it into research soon and will give me updates," Tsunade answered while she was shuffling the papers in one pile.
"Do you think the squad knows about it?" Shizune asked.
"They do. This isn't something new. They're not kids anymore. We need to trust them as always," Tsunade stated, which her assistant nodded in agreement.
Throughout the afternoon, the leaf squad and the sand siblings were trying to inspect what happened in the cave after figuring out that they were not alone at that time. The rogues detonated the bomb, just to attain the treasure chest. It wasn't surprising to the leaders, Shikamaru and Temari, who knew that there were still enemies lurking in the shadows. They did not expect that the Scavenger Hunt would be quite a disaster, but at least they had to be prepared for what was coming. Both of them are still relieved that all their friends are safe.
"I never want to go back there again. I would, however, still see the waterfalls again," Ino said.
"Same. They're so beautiful, especially the enchanted lake," Tenten agreed.
"That also reminds me. Gaara, Sakura… What did you guys do there while we were searching for you?" Naruto asked them in puzzlement.
"That's what I'd like to know too," Kiba slurred as he and the others took a casual glance at them with a bunch of expressions.
"I was lending a helping hand to Sakura's condition," The red-haired Kazekage responded simply.
"I'm glad you two didn't come across the rogues out there," Shikamaru said with a half-hearted smile.
"Of course, we almost fought-," The pink-haired kunoichi immediately stopped mid-sentence, just when her pupils suddenly started to dilate.
The memories came rushing into her mind when she remembered Sasuke attempting to kill her more than once. The first one was where she was about to duel with him at Orochimaru's hideout and the other moments of her confronting him at the Bridge to stop him from committing crimes against the hidden leaf village.
All at once, the adrenaline rushed through her whole body as soon as she snapped back to her senses and gasped out of breath. She staggered a little until she was caught in between the arms of Naruto and Hinata.
"Woah, woah. Are you alright?!" The blonde-haired ninja became worried.
"Do you need herbal tea?" Hinata offered.
But the pink-haired kunoichi was looking at her feet, trying to process her thoughts.
"Sakura…" Sasuke walked over to her with a frown.
"You were about to kill me…"
"What?" His face went blank, but as for Ino and Tenten, they covered their mouths in alarm.
"You were about to kill me during those times. Weren't you?" Sakura emphasized slowly with her eyes narrowing icily at him.
Everyone else stood frozen as they realized that their friend was starting to recollect.
Sasuke gulped and nodded to confirm her statement, saying. "Yes… I did…"
The pink-haired kunoichi then shook her head and stormed off hastily from the group.
"Sakura… Sakura!" He called out and followed her, whereas Gaara was about to do it as well.
"Give them a moment," Temari muttered.
"Why?! She's getting her memory back. I need to stop him from doing something erratic," the red-haired Kazekage said in annoyance.
"It's best not to intervene between them and their past issues that haven't been solved yet," Kankuro advised briefly.
"He's right. Sasuke and Sakura need to figure out their feelings towards one another. That's the first time I've seen her quite angry at him," Naruto murmured and watched them disappear into the forest trees.
Moreover, Gaara continued to stare at the sight solicitously, then felt a hand on his shoulder to console him with reassurance.
…
…
…
"Sakura…" Sasuke called out gently, but she kept moving her pace swiftly. He pleaded on, saying. "Please, just let me explain!"
She whipped her head around with the tears verging on her eyes and arms gesturing out, speaking indignantly. "Explain?! How could you be so relentless? You were a criminal! You even tried to hurt me, Naruto and our friends! I've given you a lot of chances to keep… whatever this is that we have."
"Yes! I was, okay?! But that was in the past! I care about you a lot," Sasuke reasoned out.
"I don't know how I feel about you anymore and I'll be glad enough if you have taken more punishments than you staying out of the leaf village!" Sakura spoke sharply and turned her back on him as she resumed her walking away.
Then, her eyes began to flutter in a sudden blur with her head spinning in dizziness. There, she fainted, but Sasuke caught her quickly and gently in his arms.
Both of them dropped onto their knees as he started to check her pulses. He patted her cheek a few times to wake her up, and yet she didn't budge.
"Sakura, Sakura!"
TO BE CONTINUED...